Surprise Film: Rescue Dawn [Werner Herzog, 2006]
A safer choice compared to last year's Heart of Gold. And with
Herzog as director there was a possibility of something really special.
However, although Rescue Dawn is interesting, and somewhat engaging, it
feels very much like Herzog goes to Hollywood. It's a conventional
film that has flashes of inspiration but ends unforgivably with a
nauseous all American hero (or rather German American hero) flourish.
More like Herzog is the central character: the single-minded, driven,
almost crazy man, fighting for survival against all the odds. The
character never has that Herzog edginess, that sense of the dangerous
and unexpected. Even though based on a true story, the character has
little sense of the real; he is more the vehicle of a familiar plot.
OK, but slightly disappointing.
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Tengers [Michael Rix, 2007]
It's a rough old place, Johannesburg. And the people look even
rougher; or at least the clay figures in this film. These figures have
been rescued from Aardman's dustbin, and a weird mouth stuck on
their slapdash faces.
There aren't rough edges to this film, it's all rough. In a
way, this anti-aesthetic works with the grim subject matter. It depicts
an anarchic world, where it's a matter of maintaining sanity to try
and rustle up a laugh from somewhere. There's plenty of grim and
tasteless humour in Tengers, some of it is very funny.
An interesting curiosity.
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