A subtle, innovative and inventive gem, Estomago can rightly be considered a small masterpiece. Taking its' cue from the inevitable connection between Food, Sex and Power - the film tells the story of a young man; Raimundo Nonato who arrives in town, on a coach bus, without a penny in his pockets and starts working as help in a bar -  sleeping in the storage room on the back, and under a cold neon light learning how to fry "pastel" and "coxinhas", outdoing his "master", Zulmiro (Zeca Cenovicz), the owner of the bar. Nonato is ignorant, but talented. He knows how to work the kitchen, soon others realize it too. The first one to notice him, is Iria (Fabiula Nascimento), a prostitute, who loves to eat, Nonato's coxinhas are enough to seduce her, she starts an affair with him, where she provides sex in exchange for food. Then, Giovanni (Carlo Briani) the owner of the Boccaccio - an Italian restaurant in the neighborhood - offers Nonato a job as his apprentice. Nonato's talent doesn't go unnoticed in prison, among his jail mates - whom we meet through a series of scenes. For the prisoners and their boss, the violent Bujiù (Babu Santana), Nonato is a savior; in fact soon their meager meals turn to a feast of exotic dishes orchestrated by Nonato's magic. As a consequence of this, Nonato is given the following the nickname, a well suited one indeed: Rosemary. How the he ends up in jail - especially, the reason behind his imprisonment - is concealed to us.  And it is this concealment, the unwrapping of this mysters that propels the whole narrative forward.

Estomago is also a very funny, very wry film. The relationship between the three main ingredients are explored cleverly, without resorting to any ridiculous speeches. The main character is ably played by Joao Miguel who gives the right sense of naivete and desire. He is an unbridled force, one which does not know how shape or control his own destiny. His one love, the prostitute Iria is also portrayed amazignly: she is a sensuous woman and this extends to her enjoyment of food - although sex is a commodity to her, food is something more sacred - the way she devours Nonato's meals is nothing short of amazing.
And of course the food! The vibrant colors in the film bring out the life in each dish we see and Nonato's ability to turn anyhing into an edible and lovely meal with nothing more than a little rosemary, some garlic and black pepper is portrayed brilliant because of this colorful cornucophia.

Estomago is a surreal ride: an amazing genre-defying film that rewards those who give it a chance. It is simply something different by showing us a side of Brazil we don't usally see in the imported films: a world of food, a world that's a million miles away from recent films like Elite Squad. and just for this Estomago deserves as wide an audience as possible.

   Srdjan Vuletic's second feature is a small but perfectly formed film ; and also happens to be one of the best films playing at Raindance at the moment.
 
 Set in Sarajevo, the film tells the story of taxi-driver Fudo who alongside driving also hovers around the fringes of organised crime by giving local thugs tips on which houses to target to rob. He is also not above accpeting sexual favours as fare if customers can't pay and spends his remaining hours at a grill house which also serves as the taxi rank. Fudo's wfie  Azra is not happy about her husband's dodgy dealing - she thinks that now that they have a baby together , he should become more of an honest man. However Fudo is not ready to switch : not until a well-inteded tip goes wrong and Azra walks out on him. A genunie belief that he should only do good propels Fudo to start making some serious attempts at changing and finding out for himself how really hard it is to be nice.

  Sasa Petrovic plays Fudo as a sort of average everyman: he's mid forties, balding and is just like any ohter taxi driver one might encounter in the streets of Sarajevo. What sets him apart however is his sense of humor as well as his devotion to his child: the first shot of the film opens as Fudo drives his son around the city whilst giving him 'sagely' advice.

 Once the whells of change are set in motion, we watch Fudo desperately try to do his best. He wants to be nice, he wants to do good: but circumstances keep trying to trip him up. From his friends to even the fares he ends up picking up, the film shows post-war Sarajevo as a place where to be honest is a genuine effort. Fudo approaches each obstacle with a good sense of humour and although the film gets very dark towards the end, it is his inherent humanity that serves as a remainder of why the human race must always pull through the bad times and the atrocities.

  The rest of the cast is very good, too: Fudo's friend Sejo played ably by Emir Hadsihafizbegovic comes across as between a grumpy old man and stubborn child, Daria Lorenci plays Azra as a woman with a strong will who's ready to take a lot of risks for her husband - the smaller, more quirky characters also amuse: a customer whom Fudo keeps encountering but simply cannot give  a ride to is one of the more amusing running gags in the film.

  The look of the film might be gritty but it also is very bright - a realistic sort of canvas upon which the director is able to paint the portrait of the city: Sarajevo features perminently in the film and we are constantly reminded of a city still trying find its' identity and shed the horrors' of the past. Most of the scenes are bright and it is hard not to get a good sense of the place and time.

  In the end, It's Hard To Be Nice succees because it creates characters in which the audience has to invest: perhaps European and Western audiences might be lost at some of the more Eastern humor and logic but this should not stop anyone from making an effort to see this subtle, humorous and touching film.

 'Dean Spanley' is a perfect example of how an enormously talented cast can raise average material way , way above its' station. Although by no means bad, the script for 'Dean Spanley' would amount to much less in actors not as talented as Jeremy Northam, Sam Neill, Bryan Brown and Peter O'Toole. However ,as it stands , it is a beautiful and moving tale of fathers, sons , paternal love and dogs.

 Set in Edwardian England where upper lips are always stiff and men from the Colonies are not entirely to be trusted, Fisk Senior  (Peter O'Toole) has little time or affection for his son, but when the pair visit an eccentric Indian, they start a strange journey that eventually allows the old man to find his heart.
 
 Entirely unusual and compeletely cuckoo, 'Dean Spanley' is a film that is at best experienced first hand for trying to describe it could do no justice. It takes some pretty outrageous ideas but manages to turn them into something else, something so innately human that it becomes almost impossible to resist.

 Jeremy Northam is very good in the role of Frisk Junior - however his is the most sraightforward part - almost playing the straight man to feed lines to everyone else. He still manages to find a heart for his character and enthrall the audience enough that they care about what happens to him and subsequently the other people he involves on his journey.

 Bryan Brown is one of the most talented actors working in down under or for that matter anywhere else and it is always a relief to see him flex his acting muscles. In the role of the slightly shady 'Wrather' , he exhudes charm and sleaze in equal measure , making every scene he's in a joy.

 Sam Neill once again proves why he can be relied on time and time again with almost any role. His titular character 'Dean Spanley' might be , in less talented hands, be no more than a caricature but Mr. Neill here does wonders with the material. His mannerisms, his facial expressions all add up so much so that by the end of the film all the outrageousness of the characters has turned into believable character traits. It is also quite possible that just because of Mr. Neill's acting, Tokai wine might become even more widely known and ordered.

  And finally Peter O'Toole: aged 76, Mr. O'Toole gives a masterclass in acting.  It is singulary amazing his domination and control of every scene that he is in, and the last twenty minutes of the film involving him, Sam Neill and Jeremy Northam are practically faultless. Having lost none of his striking handsomeness over the last decade, Mr. O'Toole is still the finest actor of his or any other generation.

  To be honest, it is hard to talk about 'Dean Spanley' without giving away any of its' surprises. However it is a film which deserves to be experienced - for it is sure to warm the hearts of anyone who watches it with an open mind.



'Dean Spanley' will play at the London Film Festival on Friday 17th October at 18.00 at Odeon West End and Sunday 19th October at 16.00 at Curzon Mayfair. Tickets are available.

 Already having created a huge stir in Berlin Film Festival this year, director Damian Harris's film 'Gardens of The Night' arrived at Raindance with not much fanfare. However, at least for this reviewer, it turned out to be one of the more honest and interesting experiences in the cinema this year.
 
  'Gardens Of The Night' focuses on 8 year old Leslie who is abducted from her home by Alex (played magnificently by Tom Arnold who here is exercising his own demons) and Frank (Kevin Zegers). She is convinced by Alex that her parents no longer want her and through a number of encounters is made to rely more and more on Alex. In the house is also 9 year old Donnie who also seems to be a victim. Slowly Leslie and Donnie establish a friendship which will be the only one they have once they are abandoned by their captors.

  Although not an easy film to watch, 'Gardens Of The Night' is neither expolitation nor dry, matter-of-fact teledrama. Damian Harris conducts a very sharp passage through the world of child abduction, child molestation and the subsequent results for the children involved and because of this the film manages to feel incredibly sharp and honest at all times.

  The first half, dedicated to the abduction and breaking down of Leslie, is thorougly horrific to watch at times: everything is presented very plainly and honestly without ever resorting to cheap tactics. There are no swelling violins HBO Movie Of The Week style here, just good storytelling augmented by astute and exciting acting.

  Tom Arnold is possibly the finest actor in the whole film: his portrayal of Alex is complex and disturbing in equal measure: a character to match Brian Cox's Big John Harrigan in Micheal Cuesta's L.I.E. If Kevin Zeggers Frank feels more generic, it is not because the character is underwritten but because Tom Arnold does such a spectacular job that everything else looks faded next to his performance. (with the exception being the child actors who pull through a very hard part with immense skill and grace)

  If there are any problems with the film, it is the second half: detailing Leslie and Damian's later years where it starts to feel more and more like one of those 80's films about run-away kids. However this does not affect the movie as a whole because Harris keeps injecting the film with a brutal honesty at regular intervals. Events that mirror each other occur to show us the damage that these kids have received, brief glimpses into their psyche offer us perhaps no new insights but a better understanding of what we already know.

  Although it will never be to everyone's tastes, 'Gardens Of The Night' is an important film that deserves to reach as wide an audience as possible.

  Yesterday at the LFF saw the press screening of Il Divo - Paolo Sorrentino's new film. After the relatively small scopes of 'Consequences Of Love' and 'The Family Friend' , 'Il Divo' finds Sorrention expanding his vision to a much grander scale - in an epic that runs at almost 2 hours, Sorrentino tears into Italian politics, focusing his gaze on one Guilo Andreotti, an Italian Politician of the centrist Christian Demoratic party who served as Prime Minster from 1972 to 1973, from 1976 to 1979, and from 1989 to 1992 as well as serving as Minister Of The Interior (1954 and 1978), Defense Minister (1959-1966 and 1974) and Foreign Minister (1983-1989), and he has been a Senator for life since 1991.

  The film , in particular, focuses on Andreotti's seventh term as Prime Minister - however most of the events that occur druing this time are all tied to earlier key moments in Italian politics so the film moves back and forth on the timeline without ever pausing for breath!
Sorrentino's ambition is remarkable: when one considers the amount of information he manages to convey within the film, the two hour running time suddenly seems like a joke. At breakneck speed he introduces characters, events, dates, confessions: and none follow each other too linearly. Key scenes only link later in the film, fragmenting the already cracked narrative even further. It's almost as if the film intends for the viewer to experience the byzantine structure of Italian politics first hand - where secret organisations, the Vatican, the Mafia and the Senators are inexplicably linked but no-one can quite draw the lines straight from one organisation to the other

  In the role of Guiseppe Andreotti, Toni Servillo gives a masterclass in acting. He manages to embody a man who most of the time gave the impression that there was nothing to embody. Almost like a saint whose beyond the squabble of this world, Servillo's Andreotti remains passive, always emotionless in the face of events that happen around him. He is a cynical observer, ever-ready with little quips which ,most of the time, are so dry that they are not even noticed by the intended party. Even at his most vulnerable hour, Andreotti remains an enigma - his only moment of emotion comes from (what feels like) an imaginary confession midway through the film where he speaks directly to the camera and admits to everything. Even then he still justifies each act, each moment and his guilt does not seem like the guilt of someone who has committed a crime but a matryr who is suffering for the sins of the others.

  Unfortunately none of the supporting cast get nearly as much attention and end up being brief scribbles on paper: Andreotti's wife, his secretary, his political allies all pass through the film , merely playing second fiddle to Andreotti. Perhaps that's the point, perhaps Sorrentino is portraying a man to whom everyone always had to be second fiddle to. However this does weaken the dramatic structure of the film somewhat.
 
   The major problem in the film is the choice of subject matter. Sorrentino excels at intimate character studies and his previous two movies are testament to this. However in Andreotti, the subject matter is simply too big to create a sense intimacy with the character so Sorrentino tries to create a fim which is epice in its' scope ; a scope which he tries to filter through a sense of intimacy- and unfortunately fails. The film ,neither political history nor mere character study, tries too hard to fulfill the requirements of both being a verbal political history and the story of one man simulatenously and ends up turning into something else entirely. Add, on top of this, the fact that unless you are well-versed in Italian Politics post 1945 until now, a lot of the material is going to go right over your head, and you have a film which although deserves to be seen, is going to have a very small chance of getting to its' intended audience. After all it is not hard to appreciate what Sorrentino is trying to do: and one must admit that this is as fine a way of exercising the demons of Italian politics as any. Unfortunately unprepared audience members will find themselves very much at a disadvantage.