A QUIET PLACE PART II

 Emily Blunt     Millicent Simmonds     Cillian Murphy     Noah Jupe     Djimon Hounsou

            Part II follows along nicely from the first one, although I don’t think the first one really warranted a sequel.  The vignettes from the previous one were helpful.  And certainly the eeriness of the silence punctuated with loud squawking of the monsters is even more effective this time.  It produced a number of jumps and convulsive gasps on my part.  

            Evelyn (Blunt) and her three children are trying to survive after the destruction of their farmhouse.  The oldest, Regan (Simmonds) is deaf, but eminently resourceful and brave.  Poor Marcus (Jupe) gets his foot caught in a trap early on, giving him excruciating pain and risk of infection.  Not only that, he has asthma, which presents an additional challenge.  The baby is still an infant in his mother’s arms, and his cries are a major threat.  It stretches plausibility that their bundling him up in a box with oxygen pumped in could be effective, but…  I went with it.  (The monsters are blind, but their sense of hearing is acute; hence, the need for absolute silence.)

            Mother and children run across an old friend, Emmett (Murphy) who is far from welcoming because of the scarcity of resources.  He is grieving the loss of his family, and Evelyn has to use guilt-inducing strategies even to stay one night.  The story gets more complicated when Regan insists on going to a place she is sure will save them and sneaks off, but Emily insists Emmett go find her and bring her back.  She also needs to go out to get medicine and oxygen for Marcus.  Each of these ventures are harrowing.

            Some relief from the tension is provided when Regan’s speculations pan out, after she and Emmett meet a character played by Djimon Hounsou, but only after a dangerous encounter that almost kills them.

            John Krasinski, who was writer/director and a major actor in the first Quiet Place, and as writer/director here, is a master of timing and sequencing to get the most out of suspense and horror.  However, he like so many other directors and editors now, love frequent cuts back and forth between scenes.  It makes me dizzy, and I resent having to try to figure out over and over again where I am in following the story.  I see absolutely no benefit to this practice.

            The ensemble cast in A Quiet Place Part II is superb, starting with Emily Blunt, who has earned her place as a top-notch star numerous times (The Adjustment Bureau, Edge of Tomorrow, The Devil Wears Prada, A Quiet Place).  Millicent Simmonds as her hearing-impaired daughter is a rising star (Wonderstruck, A Quiet Place), as is Noah Jupe (Honey Boy) playing her son.  Cillian Murphy and Djimon Hounsou as experienced actors in numerous films play their roles here perfectly.  It may be a high point in Murphy’s career.

 

A Quiet Place Part II is successful in producing jumps and gasps during a true horror show.

 

Grade:  B                              By Donna R. Copeland

THE PARTY

Timothy Spall     Kristin Scott Thomas     Patricia Clarkson     Bruno Ganz    

Cherry Jones     Emily Mortimer     Cillian Murphy

     This is a British comedy, probably not to American tastes, that presents as a staged theatre production in black and white film.  It starts as a drama among a group of intelligent academic types, and quickly transforms into a satirical comedy.  Janet (Thomas) is celebrating a political victory with a party in her home with close friends after she wins the position of shadow health minister.  With the support of her friends, she has aspirations eventually for party leadership and even prime minister.  Her husband Bill (Spall), a professor, seems a bit out of it, sitting in his rocking chair and drinking wine, until their friends April (Clarkson) and Gottfried (Ganz) arrive and he spends most of the rest of the time talking and drinking with Gottfried.  April is rather cynical, and satisfyingly reports that she and Gottfried are separated.  Gottfried is a “healer” of some kind who always takes an optimistic view of whatever is confronting him; hence his and April’s conflicts.  She constantly puts him down, but he never seems to notice.

     Janet is in the kitchen preparing canapes, while periodically taking calls from an apparent lover, when financier Tom (Murphy) arrives, looking very agitated, disappearing into the bathroom repeatedly, and conflicted about a gun he is carrying/hiding.  The other two guests at the party are Lesbians, Martha (Jones) and Jinny (Mortimer), who announce they are having triplets.  Jinny is the pregnant one, and she also has to disappear into the bathroom now and then, where she runs into Tom.

     The “fun” comes when crises erupt and secrets emerge, which seem to be related to all their relationships.  It turns out that the group is enmeshed with a colorful history that is impinging on their current lives.  As the secrets unfold, we see the reactions of each, and in the process are greatly entertained by their all-too-human reactions and solutions. 

     The Party does not contain profound observations, but it has sharp-witted conversation and striking characters played by top-tier actors.

Sit and enjoy the banter and barbs of long-time friends gathering for a celebration, which gets completely lost in the revelations of so many secrets.

Grade:  B                                    By Donna R. Copeland

DUNKIRK

Mark Rylance     Tom Hardy     Kenneth Branagh     James D’Arcy     Cillian Murphy    

Harry Styles     Fionn Whitehead     Barry Keoghan     Aneurin Barnard     Tom Glynn Carney

     Chaos reigns in the thick of battle, which Dunkirk exquisitely illustrates.  Christopher Nolan (writer/director) knew that it was critical to show the defense and evacuation in air, on the sea, and on land, and that cutting back and forth among these arenas was essential to a realistic account of the operation.  In 1940, before the U.S. entered the World War II, Germany had separated the northern Allied forces from the French forces in the south, and hoped to wipe out the Allies at Dunkirk.  In response, the Allies came up with an ambitious plan to evacuate their 330,000 troops from Dunkirk and transport them to England. 

     We are there as two young British soldiers (Whitehead, Bernard) find themselves in a throng on the beach waiting for British destroyers to pick them up.  German flyers saying, “We surround you” litter the beach, which is being periodically strafed, and when the two soldiers see a wounded man on a stretcher who needs to be carried to a waiting ship, they pick him up and run toward the ship.  There is chaos, and after much difficulty, they get him to the boat, only to have the boat bombed, and they have to figure out how to survive.  Nolan will get back to them time and again.

     Another arena is the air, where Farrier (Hardy) is an ace pilot on a Spitfire determined to shoot down every German fighter plane he sees.  And he sees and blasts many that we see go down and drown in the sea.

    The naval officers are waiting impatiently for British destroyers to show up, but they’re delayed, and other boats loaded with servicemen keep getting blown up, with the passengers who aren’t killed by the blasts jumping into the roiling sea.

     One of the more entertaining and uplifting—although also horrifying at times—segments in this film has to do with a private boat in the area requisitioned to rescue fallen troops in the sea.  The captain of this ship is Mr. Dawson (Rylance), who epitomizes the Wise One.  He rescues troops thrown into the sea, and instructs his son on board about PTSD (which had not yet been identified), boating, and simple human kindness.

     Stand-outs among the actors are Rylance as a brave and noble soul, Hardy as an ace pilot who is able to convey so much even with a mask covering his face, and Murphy as a crazed pilot rescued from atop his wrecked plane in the ocean.

     This is an extremely difficult film to watch, in that almost every scene is tension-filled with life-threatening struggles.  It’s not always clear what exactly is happening or what is being said by the characters.  The cinematography by Nolan’s favorite, Hoyle Van Hoytema, is brilliant in instilling a “You are there” experience in the viewer.  Likewise, Hans Zimmer’s score suffuses every scene with high emotional valence.

     For a fitting coda, Nolan includes excerpts of Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s actual speech following the Battle of Dunkirk, underscoring the British spirit of never giving up:  “We shall go on in the end…we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be.  We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.”

From the air, on the land, and in the sea, the battles wage on relentlessly.

Grade:  B                                    By Donna R. Copeland

FREE FIRE

Brie Larson     Armie Hammer     Cillian Murphy     Sharlto Copley   Enzo Cilenti   Sam Riley   Michael Smiley   Babou Ceesay

     Pandemonium ensues during an arms deal in an old warehouse between two gangs.  With little plot, British comedy among the players is the entertainment during 90 minutes of continuous deafening gunfire, explosions, arson, and general mayhem.  This seems to be a spoof about puffed up men and their need for guns.

      In the beginning of their encounter, they quarrel mightily, which stalls the deal until finally the buyers accept the guns that were delivered, which weren’t what they ordered.  But after testing one out with about 20 rounds of shots, they pay with a case full of cash, the guns are carried from one vehicle to another (an orange van) and they start to walk off.  But hold on—a gang member spots one from the other team with whom he had an altercation the night before.  All it takes is for one gun to fire, and off they go.  Everyone is wounded to varying degrees, and there are near deaths, resurrections, and final deaths. 

      The comedy is led by the leader of one gang, well dressed, well spoken, meticulous Ord (Hammer) who manages to keep a cool head, but is clearly most concerned about his own well being.  “Is no one wondering how I am?” he shouts out at one point.  The other leader is older, somewhat befuddled Frank (Smiley), who seems generally inept but tries to appear smart and shrewd.  Other high points of comedy are offered up by annoying babbling Vernon (Copley), Ord’s sidekick with a South African accent. 

     The one “bird” involved is Justine (Larson), who has arranged the whole transaction.  She maintains some control over the crowd, partly because she’s a woman and attractive, but she’s also a crackerjack shot.  One of her accomplices, Chris (Murphy) is smitten with her, and keeps pestering her for a date.  They finally agree to have dinner after the deal, but there will be a lot of crawling around on the floor just trying to survive before that will happen.  The slapstick comedy rests on their bumbling when they continually wound one another, crawl around in the dirt, glass, and whatever is on the floor.  Few can walk because of their wounds. 

     Director Ben Wheatley wrote the unusual script with Amy Jump, choreographing the gunfire and writing bursts of dialog that are like a series of stand-up comedy skits.  The talented actors carry the show, and should be praised for being willing to crawl around in the filth for however long it took to film it. 

     Free Fire is not for everyone, but will appeal to those who appreciate the characteristic British humor and think playing with guns can be hilarious.

A British spoof on bumbling males and their reliance on guns over conversation.

Grade:  D+                        By Donna R. Copeland

ANTHROPOID

Cillian Murphy     Jamie Dornan     Toby Jones     Marcin Dorocinski     Charlotte Le Bon     Anna Geislerova     Jirí Simek

          Anthropoid is a ghastly account based on the Allies’ secret plan in World War II to assassinate the “Butcher of Prague”, Reinhard Heydrich (Detlef Bothe), who was the leader of the Nazi forces occupying Czechoslovakia in the early days of the war.  Hedrich was Adolf Hitler’s third in command who had designed the Final Solution meant to complete the Nazi effort to exterminate the Jewish people.  Self-exiled Czech and Slovak soldiers Josef Gabcik (Murphy) and Jan Kubis (Dornan) were charged by the British government and the exiled Czech government officials in London to carry out the assassination. 

           It’s an extremely dangerous mission since the Nazis had all but wiped out the Czech resistance, but Gabcik and Kubis were able to connect with two who were still operating, Uncle Hajsky (Jones) and Ladislav Vanek (Dorocinski).  Vanek was openly against the mission from the beginning, and tried numerous times to get Gabcik and Kubis to abandon the plan. Two others initially opposed, but who ultimately helped were two women, Marie (Le Bon) and Lenka (Geislerová).  They were asked to pair with the men when they went out, to lessen the suspicion that a lone man would arouse. 

          The men were given a room in the Moravec household and carefully mapped out the habits of Hedrich, who was to be killed on his way from home to the Prague Castle in a Mercedes convertible.  He liked to ride with the top down to make a statement about the successfulness of the German occupation.  Gabcik was to jump into the street to shoot him when the car slowed to make a curve, and Kubis would be ready with hand grenades for backup.  Karel Curda (Simek) another resistance operative was to be further backup, but he turned out to be unreliable.

         The film shows the operation in vivid detail, as well as the horrendous aftermath, which the Nazis were so enraged about, they wiped out two villages (wrongly tied to the operation) and killed or sent to concentration camps over 5,000 men, women and children.  The final standoff takes place in a church that was harboring Gabcik and Kubis and a number of other parachutists needing protection, with the Czechs showing uncommon bravery in trying to fight off an army of Nazi soldiers storming the church after a tip from a traitor.

        Anthropoid, co-written with Anthony Fresin by director Sean Ellis presents a very graphic account of a bloody, torturous time during the war, which reminds us of how plans hatched far away from the battle scene can have far-reaching, perhaps unpredictable, consequences.  It also reminds us of how bravely men can fight when the stakes are so high our basic freedoms are jeopardized.

        Murphy and Dornan carry the bulk of the show with their excellent acting skills, showing all the emotions and thought that can roil inside a person under such circumstances.  Le Bon, Geislerová, Jones, Dorocinski, and Simek provide quality support in their roles.  Another shout-out is deserved by Ellis, who served as cinematographer of the film, along with his other roles as writer and director.  Chaotic battle scenes are clear and easy to follow visually, and there’s a nice balance between black and white and vivid colors.

A brutal account of a dark time in Czechoslovakia during WWII.

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland

ALOFT

Jennifer Connelly     Cillian Murphy     Melanie Laurent

Aloft, written and directed by Peruvian filmmaker Claudia Lhosa, is a bit of a mess for the first part of the film because we get no back-story and see characters behaving incomprehensibly.  About half- to two-thirds of the way in when we have more history, the characters and their behavior make more sense.  I’ll give you some of that background—without spoilers—because I think the movie is at fault for leaving the viewer mystified for so long. 

Nana (Connelly), the main character is a healer who has had some success, but finds it important to keep her identity as such a secret from the public, partly because otherwise she would be deluged but partly because she doesn’t really want to take credit.  She has two sons, Ivan (Murphy) and Gully (Winta McGrath) who has been diagnosed with a life-threatening tumor.  Ivan is a falconer like his grandfather, and finds it important to take the bird with him wherever he goes.  Because of tragic events in his life, Ivan as a grown man is eccentric and hot-tempered, is married with a child, and falconry is his profession.  The film jumps back and forth in time, which creates more disorientation. 

           Another confusing aspect of the film is that the actor in the role of Ivan’s wife looks so much like Connelly, so it’s not always clear who the characters are.  Sometimes scenes are included that appear to be extraneous, such as Nana’s affair and a falcon getting shot.  Perhaps they have symbolic meanings, but if so, I missed it.

           At any rate, in his adult life, Ivan is approached by reporter Jannia (Laurent), working on a documentary on falcons and requests an interview with him.  When she begins to ask him questions, however, he realizes she has another agenda and he bolts from the room in anger.  As is typical of him, he has second thoughts, and gets back in touch with her, does interviews about falcons, and they make a short journey together.

           All the action takes place in the Arctic and in Canada where the picture was filmed (Manitoba), and cinematographer Nicolas Bolduc (Enemy) takes full advantage of high winds, blanketed snow, and ice-covered lakes for dramatic effect in underscoring the emotional scenes and experiences of the characters.  Panoramas of the landscape are chillingly beautiful.

           Especially in the last half of the story, Connelly (many awards for performance in A Beautiful Mind) shows again that she knows her craft and she and Murphy (a frequently nominated Irish actor) reflect very well their mother/son conflicts.  Laurent (Inglourious Basterds), a French actress likewise popular on the award circuit, provides refreshing relief from the other two characters’ neuroses and dilemmas. 

           Aloft is a quiet, thoughtful film that will not appeal to everyone; the viewer needs to enjoy and feel comfortable thinking about the dialog and understanding the characters.  It does bring up the issue of healing practices outside the medical profession as well as emotional healing, which I found interesting, along with parenting in a family with a life-threatening illness.  The picture it shows of families with a seriously ill child, the desperation they feel and the tendency to ignore the siblings, is entirely realistic.  Something rather disconcerting, perhaps, is that this mother leaves her young children alone far more often than we Americans do, especially those of today.

Quiet and thoughtful in exploring the issue of healing.

Grade:  C                                      By Donna R. Copeland