Chicken with Plums

Based on the graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi, Poulet aux prunes (Chicken with Plums) is the story about the final days of a violinist as he recalls his life and the love that he lost. Written for the screen and directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Parronaud, the film is a look into the life of a musician whose passion for music has him being conflicted with the realities of his own life as he continually thinks about the woman he loved and lost. Starring Mathieu Almaric, Edouard Baer, Maria de Medeiros, Golshifteh Farahani, Eric Caravaca, Chiara Mastroianni, Jamel Debbouze, and Isabella Rossellini. Poulet aux prunes is a ravishing yet heartfelt film from Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Parronaud.

The film is this visually-imaginative tale about the life of Nasser Ali Khan (Mathieu Almaric) in the eight final days of his life as he is a man eager to find the right violin to replace the one his wife Faranguisse (Maria de Medeiros) had destroyed out of anger. After some trials and tribulations where he traveled all the way to find the right one, it becomes clear that his journey had been unfulfilling as he spends these last eight days wanting to die and thinking about his life. Notably as he thinks about the love of his life in Iran (Golshifteh Farahani) whom he had fallen in love with when he was a young man but circumstances kept them apart forcing him to channel his pain through his playing where they wouldn’t see each other for more than 20 years.

The screenplay by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Parronaud takes Satrapi’s story about this man who is really her uncle as he had led a life that was quite adventurous but also troubled due to the heartbreak he endures as well as how his life turned out. Yet, the narrative isn’t told in a conventional manner as it sort of moves back-and-forth to those eight final days to the life that Nasser Ali had as a child to an adult. The material about Nasser Ali’s life is also told in an unconventional manner by showing parts of his life in a non-linear manner as it relates to his relationship with his mother (Isabella Rossellini) and his younger brother Abdi (Eric Caravaca). There’s also moments in the story where Nasser Ali thinks about his children when they become adults where his daughter Lili (Chiara Mastroianni) would endure her own troubles while his son Cyrus (Christian Friedel) conforms to the mediocre life in America. Though Nasser Ali wasn’t the perfect father, he was at least there for his kids as it would involve their more uptight mother.

The film’s direction is definitely full of imagination in the way they recreate 1958 Tehran and the years before that as it has a wonderful sense of style where a lot of its dramatic moments are straightforward but are filled with very mesmerizing shots. Some of the more stranger moments involves lots of bizarre visual effects and makeup work to play up the sense of fantasy that Nasser Ali had lived in as it includes moments of death and other strange sequences. Some of which involved animated sequences where it plays to the story about Azrael, the Angel of Death (Edouard Baer) during a meeting with Nasser Ali. There are also moments where reality clashes with surrealism in a scene where Nasser Ali meets a strange man about the ideas of death. It all plays into this journey of loss as the overall result is a fascinating yet enchanting tale in the life of a man by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Parronaud.

Cinematographer Christopher Beaucarne does amazing work with the film‘s colorful photography from the look of 1958 Tehran with some of its lighting schemes to the more entrancing shading for some of the film’s interior scenes. Editor Stephane Roche does brilliant work with the editing in creating some montages to play up Nasser Ali‘s love life with Iran to some of the more comical moments involving the life of the adult Cyrus. Production designer Udo Kramer and set decorator Bernhard Henrich do fantastic work with the set pieces from the look of 1958 Tehran and some of the strange set pieces involving Nasser Ali’s life and his family.

Costume designer Madeline Fontaine does wonderful work with the period costumes from the suits that Nasser Ali wears to the colorful dresses of the women in Nasser Ali‘s life. Makeup supervisor Nathalie Tissier does terrific work with some of the makeup from the look of Azrael to the look of Iran in the years of her life. Visual effects supervisor Damien Stumpf does excellent work with some of the backdrops of Tehran of the times to some of the stranger moments to play up the idea of soul and faith. Sound designer Yves Renard and sound editor David Vranken do superb work with the sound to create some sound effects to the intimate moments involving his family. The film’s music by Olivier Bernet is exquisite for its mixture of classical music to more traditional Iranian music to play up the sense of melancholia in the film while music supervisor Elisse Luguren provides some of the classical pieces that Nasser Ali plays.

The casting by Anja Dihrberg does phenomenal work with the ensemble as it features appearances from Mathis Bour and Enna Balland in their respective roles as the young Cyrus and Lili, Julia Goldstern as the adult Cyrus’ wife, Chiara Mastroianni as the mysterious adult Lili, Christian Friedel as the dim-witted adult version of Cyrus, Serge Avedikian as Iran’s father, and Isabella Rossellini in a wonderful performance as Nasser Ali’s mother. Jamel Debbouze is excellent in a dual performance as an antiques dealer and a mysterious homeless man while Edouard Baer is terrific as the very chilling Azrael. Eric Caravaca is superb as Nasser Ali’s younger brother Abdi who always care for him while dealing with the decision he’s making in his life.

Maria de Medeiros is brilliant as Nasser Ali’s very proper but uptight wife Faranguisse as a woman who doesn’t understand what it’s like to be with an artist while being unaware of how much pain he has endured in his life. Golshifteh Farahani is fantastic as Iran as a woman who falls for Nasser Ali only to be forced to leave him as she would also endure the kind of pain of what she loses. Finally, there’s Mathieu Almaric in a remarkable performance as Nasser Ali Khan as a man who is a gifted violinist that is adored by everyone but hides the pain of his loss as he becomes more lost in his final days as he looks back as it’s one of Almaric’s finest performances.

Poulet aux prunes is a dazzling and imaginative film from Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Parronaud that features a brilliant performance from Mathieu Almaric. It’s a film that is filled with amazing images and a heartfelt story about the life of a musician that is told with an element of fantasy and drama. Especially as it carries something very personal as it is about Satrapi’s uncle. In the end, Poulet aux prunes is a sensational film from Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Parronaud.

Marjane Satrapi Films: Persepolis - The Voices (2014 film) - (Gang of the Jota) - (Radioactive (2019 film)

© thevoid99 2013

Pulp Fiction

Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino from an original story by Tarantino and Roger Avary, Pulp Fiction is a multi-layered story about intersecting events around Los Angeles involving a mysterious briefcase, a gold watch, and a crime boss’s wife. The film is an exploration into the world of crime, drugs, and other situations involving various people in the span of a few days in Los Angeles. Starring John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Eric Stolz, Christopher Walken, Rosanna Arquette, Maria de Medeiros, Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, Ving Rhames, Harvey Keitel, and Bruce Willis. Pulp Fiction is a thrilling and captivating film from Quentin Tarantino.

The film is essentially a multi-layered story revolving around various people in the course of a few days in Los Angeles. The first involves two gangsters named Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) retrieving a mysterious briefcase for their boss Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) where things eventually go wrong following as they‘re forced to call on a man known as the Wolf (Harvey Keitel). Another story involves Vincent Vega taking Wallace’s wife Mia (Uma Thurman) to dinner where things go wrong when she accidentally overdoses on heroin. Then there’s the story about a gold watch that belongs to a boxer named Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) who doesn’t throw a fight under Wallace’s orders where he eventually crosses paths with the man that leads to all sorts of trouble involving some seedy individuals.

It’s all part of this unique world that Quentin Tarantino sets up where it doesn’t play into the traditional schematics of a crime film. Instead, it’s about the lives of various people who are part of a world full of drugs and violence along with those who don’t want any part of it. Tarantino takes the approach of what legendary French filmmaker says about narrative structure where the film has a beginning, a middle, and an end but doesn’t necessarily have to follow in that order. Even as the film opens with a scene involving a couple named Pumpkin (Tim Roth) and Honey Bunny (Amanda Plummer) eating a diner as they’re about to rob it as the film would later return to this couple towards its ending. Then the narrative cuts to the first half of Vincent and Jules story where they would get the mysterious briefcase and kill the young man who had it.

This would then go into the Vincent-Mia narrative that opens with a scene where Wallace tells Butch Coolidge to throw the fight and then goes directly to Vincent’s story. The narrative would then go into Butch’s story that opens with a prologue about this gold watch that belonged to his father as he would retrieve it only to encounter all sorts of trouble including Wallace himself. The narrative then goes back to Vincent and Jules’ story where it would reach its ending involving Pumpkin and Honey Bunny. It’s all part of the schematics Tarantino wants to set up to tell a story that doesn’t follow a traditional narrative but rather to help use this unconventional approach for its dramatic impact.

It’s not just the way Tarantino takes this unconventional approach to the narrative that makes the screenplay unique but the character themselves. Vincent Vega is a hitman who has just returned from Europe that has a love for heroin and having a good time though he is quite flawed about some of the things he does and the trouble he brings. Jules Winnfield is another hitman who would always have a biblical quote to say something before he kills someone where an incident would have him face some very deep questions about his own existence. Mia Wallace is a woman who loves to do cocaine as she was once an actress who starred in a failed pilot. Butch Coolidge is an aging prizefighter who loves his father’s gold watch as he has a French girlfriend named Fabienne (Maria de Medeiros). Marsellus Wallace is an intimidating crime boss with a big presence but also a man who will show a bit of mercy if necessary.

Tarantino’s direction is intoxicating for the way he presents the film with its sense of style and graphic depiction of violence. Particularly in the way he opens the film with this chat between Pumpkin and Honey Bunny at a diner where he maintains a sense of intimacy as well as stylized shots for this conversation. Tarantino would maintain this kind of intimacy in many group shot scenes while creating a world that is stylized. From the suits Jules and Vincent wears to the clothes that Mia wears at her dinner with Vincent. It’s all part of this very unique world that these characters live in where they live by their own rules and talk in their own language. Even in the places these characters go into such as the 50s/60s style restaurant that Vincent and Mia go into where waiters and waitresses dress up like icons of that time.

Another aspect of Tarantino’s direction is the way he depicts graphic violence where it is very stylized but also realistic in terms of its impact. Notably in some key scenes such as Vincent and Jules meeting with a young man or Butch’s encounter with Marsellus where they meet a couple of sick men who will do very awful things to them. Tarantino does find ways to create interesting framing devices to maintain an element of suspense in some scenes while knowing when not to show too much. There’s also the MacGuffins in both the gold watch and the mysterious brief case. While there is information known about the gold watch, there is nothing known about what’s inside the brief case as Tarantino maintains a sense of ambiguity throughout the film. Overall, Tarantino creates a truly engaging yet exciting film that explores the world of crime in Los Angeles.

Cinematographer Andrzej Sekula does brilliant work with the film‘s very colorful and vibrant cinematography from the look of the nighttime exteriors in Los Angeles to the daytime exteriors along with some very colorful shots of some of the locations such as Marsellus Wallace‘s bar and the restaurant that Vincent and Mia eat at. Editor Sally Menke does amazing work with the editing to help play out the film‘s unconventional narrative style along with some rhythmic cuts for some of the film‘s violent moments along with the rhythm to Vincent and Mia‘s dance scene. Production designer David Wasco, along with set decorator Sandy Reynolds-Wasco and art director Charles Collum, does wonderful work with the set pieces such as the home of Marsellus and Mia Wallace to the stylized look of the restaurant that Vincent and Mia go to.

Costume designer Betsy Heimann does nice work with the look of the suits Jules and Vincent wear along with the clothes that Mia Wallace wears as well as the Wolf‘s tuxedo. Sound editor Stephen Hunter Flick does terrific work with the sound to capture the atmosphere of the restaurant as well as the tense intimacy of the scene where Butch and Marsellus are inside a place run by two sick fucks. Music supervisor Karyn Rachtman does fantastic work with the film’s soundtrack that is a wide mix of soul, rock, rockabilly, country, surf music, and pop ranging from acts like Dusty Springfield, Dick Dale, Kool and the Gang, the Tornadoes, Ricky Nelson, Chuck Berry, the Centurions, Urge Overkill, Maria McKee, the Revels, the Statler Brothers, and the Lively Ones.

The casting by Ronnie Yeskel and Gary M. Zuckerbrod is incredible for the large ensemble that is created for the film as it features some notable small performances from Julia Sweeney as a junkyard owner’s daughter, Quentin Tarantino as Jules’ friend Jimmie, Frank Whaley as the man who had the briefcase named Brett, Phil LaMarr as Brett’s friend Marvin, Alexis Arquette as a man who tries to kill Jules and Vincent, Steve Buscemi as a waiter dressed up as Buddy Holly, Angela Jones as a death-obsessed cab driver, Kathy Griffin as a car crash witness, and the duo of Duane Whitaker and Peter Greene as the two sick fucks who try to torment Butch and Marsellus.

Christopher Walken is great in his small but unforgettable performance as Captain Koons who tells a young Butch about the significance of the gold watch that belongs to Butch’s father. Eric Stolz and Rosanna Arquette are excellent in their respective roles as the drug dealer Lance and his wife Jody where they would take part in one of the film’s most tense moments. Ving Rhames is wonderful as the very intimidating crime boss Marsellus Wallace while Maria de Medeiros is very good as Butch’s French girlfriend Fabienne. Tim Roth and Amanda Plummer are terrific as the diner-robbing couple Pumpkin and Honey Bunny. Harvey Keitel is superb as the professional Winston Wolf who makes sure Jules and Vincent clean up their mess in a short span of time.

Bruce Willis is marvelous as the aging prizefighter Butch Coolidge who deals with Marsellus wants him to do only to get himself into serious trouble as he tries to get back his father’s gold watch. Uma Thurman is brilliant as Marsellus’ wife Mia who has a love for cocaine and five-dollar milkshakes while proving herself to be an engaging person to hang out with as it’s definitely one of Thurman’s great roles. Samuel L. Jackson is amazing as the hitman Jules Winnfield who loves to do bible quotes before he kills as he maintains an air of intimidation while going into an existential frame of mind following a chilling moment. Finally, there’s John Travolta in an outstanding performance as the very cool Vincent Vega as a hitman who is truly a guy who lives by his own rules and has no qualms about killing anyone while doing whatever to not get himself into serious trouble.

Pulp Fiction is a magnificent film from Quentin Tarantino that features an amazing collective of actors that includes John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, and many others. It’s a film that is still as vibrant and as engaging nearly 20 years since its release. Armed with amazing visuals, a fun soundtrack, and witty dialogue, it’s truly a film that is one for the ages. In the end, Pulp Fiction is a riveting yet mesmerizing film from Quentin Tarantino.

Quentin Tarantino Films: Reservoir Dogs - Four Rooms: The Man from Hollywood - Jackie Brown - Kill Bill - Grindhouse: Death Proof - Inglourious Basterds - Django Unchained - The Hateful Eight - Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood

Related: The Auteurs #17: Quentin Tarantino - Growing Up with Quentin Tarantino

© thevoid99 2012

The Saddest Music in the World

Directed by Guy Maddin and written with George Toles based on a script by Kazuo Ishiguro, The Saddest Music in the World tells the story of a beer magnet who creates a contest to find the saddest music in the world during the Great Depression. A comic musical that is presented in the style of early 20th Century cinema of silent films, it is a film where Maddin brings an old cinematic style back to the 21st Century. Starring Isabella Rossellini, Mark McKinney, David Fox, Ross McMillan, and Maria de Medeiros. The Saddest Music in the World is a cosmic yet enriching film from Guy Maddin.

It’s 1933 during the Great Depression in Winnipeg as a beer baroness named Lady Port-Hunley (Isabella Rossellini) holds a contest to find the saddest music in the world. The prize is $25,000 as she hopes to get people to buy her beer once Prohibition ends as joining the competition is a failed American producer named Chester Kent (Mark McKinney) who hopes to win with help from his amnesiac girlfriend Narcissa (Maria de Medeiros). Also entering the contest is Kent’s father Fydor (David Fox) who plans to represent Canada as he is carrying the guilt over what happened to Port-Hunley’s legs as she was once Chester’s lover. Even as Chester has been seeing Port-Hunley hoping to get back in her good graces by charming her.

Also entering the contest is Chester’s older brother Roderick (Ross McMillan) who is to represent Serbia as he is still in mourning over the loss of his son as well as his wife’s disappearance. Roderick is happy to see his father though neither are very happy to see Chester who often serves as the brunt of their own issues. Chester gloats about the idea of winning as the Kents compete with Chester and Roderick playing different styles of music. Chester with lavish productions and Roderick playing his cello as they teach the finals while Chester buys out the countries he’s beaten. Yet, Roderick is haunted by Narcissa’s presence as she sings on Chester’s performances while Fydor creates glass legs filled with beer for the baroness in hopes for her forgiveness.

Roderick presents the legs to the baroness as she is overjoyed but it only furthers the wedge between the brothers. Even as Roderick hopes to win even more not just for himself but for everything he had lost.

The film is about a contest to find the saddest music in the world prompting three men from the same family to compete for the money. Yet, two of the family members have more honorable reasons to win while the youngest brother is more interested to wipe his debts and win back the baroness for selfish reasons. The film begins with Chester meeting a strange medicine man (Louis Negin) who casts a strange premonition about Chester’s fate. Yet, Chester scoffs this premonition as he continues to be this happy yet arrogant man that wants to win money while juggling two women at the same time.

The screenplay by Guy Maddin and George Toles is truly mystical in its setting while creating lively characters with elements of satires about these contests. Yet, it’s in Maddin’s direction that gives the story something far more imaginative than what the script could suggest. Since Maddin presents the film in a period of 1920s/1930s style of cinema with grainy film stock as if it’s making a film in the 1930s. There is something to the look of it that is truly out of this world as Maddin even creates something that is dream-like to the film with a lot of black-and-white and some color shots. Setting it in his home of Winnipeg adds a more personal feel as the compositions and shots he creates is very engaging. Overall, Maddin creates what is definitely a dazzling film to watch.

Cinematographer Luc Montpellier does a phenomenal job with the film‘s cinematography by taking in different film stocks from Super 8mm, 16mm, and 35mm to create a film that is dream-like. While the majority of the film is shot in black-and-white, some of it is presented in grainy color where some parts of the film is shot like a home movie. Editor David Wharnsby does an incredible job with the editing in creating a stylish approach by using jump-cuts to play up with the music and for some of the dramatic moments of the film.

Production designer Matthew Davies, along with set decorator Stephen Arndt and art director Rejean Labrie, does a spectacular job with the creation of 1930s Winnipeg along with the look of the contest and the beer pool Costume designer Meg McMillan does a fabulous job with the costumes from the black clothes that Roderick wears to the lavish look of the baroness along with her beer-glass legs that is the highlight of the costumes. Sound designer David Rose and sound editor David McCallum do a great job with the sound work to by capturing the energy of the contests along with the sounds that is more in tune with what films sounded like back in that period.

The film’s music by Christopher Dedrick is superb for its melodramatic orchestral music that is mixed in with upbeat pieces that is true to that period of the Depression. The rest of the music soundtrack that supervised by Brenda Blake features show tunes from Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II to play up the lavishness of Chester’s performances along with a classical piece from Frederic Chopin for Roderick‘s piece.

The casting by John Buchan is brilliant as the film features memorable small roles from Jeff Sutton and Graeme Valentin as the young Chester and Roderick, respectively, along with Claude Dorge and Talia Pura as the broadcasters commenting on the contest. Other notable small roles include Louis Negin as the medicine man and Darcy Fehr as the baroness’ lover Teddy. David Fox is excellent as Fydor Kent, the recovering-alcoholic father haunted by his own actions as he hopes to win the baroness’ forgiveness while helping out Roderick with his own issues. Ross McMillan is superb as Roderick Kent, a musician still dealing with his son’s death as he is haunted by the presence of Narcissa while becoming determined to defeat his arrogant younger brother.

Maria de Medeiros is wonderful as Narcissa, an amnesiac who has a gorgeous voice while wondering about the Kent brothers as she becomes interested in Roderick. Mark McKinney is great as Chester Kent, the arrogant brother with lavish ideas as McKinney brings a winning smile throughout the film as he creates a character that is un-likeable yet very charming. Finally, there’s Isabella Rossellini in a fantastic performance as Lady Port-Hunley, the beer baroness with no legs as she holds a contest while dealing with the Kents. Rossellini’s performance recalls some of bits of her legendary mother Ingrid Bergman in look as there is also a wonderful sense of radiance to her complex yet larger-than-life character.

The Saddest Music in the World is a magnificent film from Guy Maddin that features amazing imagery and ambitious ideas that is topped by a wonderful ensemble led by Isabella Rossellini. Audiences who are new to Maddin will find this film as a wonderful place to start where they even get to see how he takes old 20th Century film style and make it vital again in the 21st Century. In the end, The Saddest Music in the World is a dazzling yet spectacular film from Guy Maddin.

Guy Maddin Films: (Tales of the Gimli Hospital) - (Archangel) - (Careful) - (Twilight of the Ice Nymphs) - (Dracula, Pages from a Virgin’s Diary) - (Cowards Bend the Knee) - (Brand Upon the Brain!) - My Winnipeg

© thevoid99 2011