Archive
CLOUD ATLAS – Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Trying to write a brief synopsis of Cloud Atlas is an exercise in futility, given that it is one of the most dense, multi-layered, and complicated – but brilliant – films in several years, but I’ll give it a go. It’s based on David Mitchell’s sprawling 2004 novel, and at it’s core is a story about humanity’s continual yearning for freedom in all its forms, the way in which the threads of life are interlinked across time and space, and how the smallest gestures in one lifetime can have enormous and profound effects on generations to come. The film spans six separate time periods across multiple geographical locations, and even different genres. Contrary to appearances, these disparate elements all do connect with each other, having been expertly woven together by directors Andy and Lana Wachowski and Tom Tykwer, who worked separately on three segments each, which were then edited together to form the final cut of the film. It stars an ensemble cast including Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Jim Sturgess, Hugo Weaving, Ben Whishaw, Susan Sarandon and Hugh Grant, all of whom play multiple roles across the different stories, under varying applications of hair, false noses and prosthetic teeth. Read more…
THE INTERNATIONAL – Tom Tykwer, Reinhold Heil and Johnny Klimek
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
The International is a contemporary – and somewhat prescient – action movie/political thriller starring Clive Owen as Louis Salinger, an Interpol agent who teams up with a Manhattan district attorney to expose a high-profile financial institution’s role in an international arms dealing ring. The film, which also stars Naomi Watts, Armin Mueller-Stahl and Ulrich Thomsen, was directed by German leading light Tom Tykwer; as he did on his previous movies (notably Run Lola Run and Perfume: The Story of a Murderer), Tykwer teamed up with regular collaborators Reinhold Heil and Johnny Klimek to provide the film’s score. Read more…
PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER – Tom Tykwer, Reinhold Heil and Johnny Klimek
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Das Parfum: Die Geschichte Eines Mörders, by Patrick Süskind, is the most successful and popular post-war novel published in Germany. Since its release in 1985 it has sold over 15 million copies worldwide, and has been an inspiration for a myriad of people in a number of creative arts. Set in 18th Century France, the story follows Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, a young man born with no personal odour, a complete lack of emotion or compassion, but possessing an incomparably keen sense of smell. After charming his way into becoming an apprentice to a perfumer, Grenouille embarks on his life’s work: the creation of a perfect scent that, he believes, will make him fully human. However, in order to achieve his obsessive aim, Grenouille begins to seduce and murder virginal young women in order to “steal” their smell. This unusual, evocative, somewhat disturbing tale has been brought to the screen as Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by popular German director Tom Tykwer (of Run Lola Run fame), and stars Benjamin Whishaw as Grenouille, Dustin Hoffman as perfumer Baldini, Rachel Hurd Wood as the beautiful Laura (the ultimate subject of Grenouille’s twisted affections), and Alan Rickman as Laura’s father, Richis. Read more…
LAND OF THE DEAD – Reinhold Heil and Johnny Klimek
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
George A. Romero and zombies go together like peaches and cream, Tom and Jerry, or peanut butter and jelly. The 65-year old American director has built his career on movies such as Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead, up to the point where today his name is virtually synonymous with the shambling, moaning creatures of our nightmares. His latest horror effort is Land of the Dead, the fourth installment in the “Dead” series, which stars Simon Baker, Dennis Hopper, John Leguizamo and Asia Argento as some of the last surviving humans, battling to stay alive in their fortified walled city after the zombies have finally taken over the world. Although some of the previous “Dead” films have included cult-like scores by artists as varied as Italian pop group Goblin and composers Claudio Simonetti and John Harrison, I have never seen their appeal. Although they inarguably suit the bleak nature their films, and though I acknowledge the fact that many of them are extremely popular with devotees of the genre, they have always seemed to me to be too bizarre, too experimental, too much out in left field to be truly enjoyable listening experiences. Read more…
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