Birth
Jonathan Glazer (1994)
Jonathan Glazer followed up his pulsating London
gangland debut with this strange, floating, singular film about a woman who
loses her husband before believing he's returned in the body of a ten year old
child.
Birth was marred by controversy upon its release, largely due to a
daring bathtub scene featuring Nicole Kidman and her very underage co-star
Cameron Bright. Ten years on that sequence still holds an eerie quality but it's in no way out of whack with Glazer's film as a whole.
Kidman offers the performance of a lifetime and Bright
plays it just as startling by her side. Glazer's imagery, of course, is never in
question but he hones those Kubrickian leanings with a remarkable sense of
patience and a clear deftness of touch. The plot line seems to boarder on urban
mythology at times but the director manages to keep it tantalizingly in check, knowing
exactly when to hold firm on reality and knowing exactly when to let go.
The results are just devastating. A forgotten mystery about love and loss
which soars across the screen on Alexandre Desplat's breathtaking,
counterpointed chords, never allowing you to catch a grip but always letting you think that you can. Birth still sits
with 39% on Rotten Tomatoes but, with the celebrated release of Under the Skin this year; people are
beginning to take another look. That’s exactly what this writer did and,
if you haven’t already, perhaps you should too.
If the opening minutes don't catch your eye it might be time to find a new hobby.
The Last Temptation of Christ
Martin Scorsese (1988)
Willem Defoe is Christ but not quite as we know it. He gets
pinned up to the cross (after about two hours viewing) but before he goes off to kick the proverbial
bucket, the Devil shows up to take him on one last lap of temptation
Although far from outright sensationalism, many a feather was still ruffled when Martin Scorsese brought his
radical take on the Crucifixion to the big screen. Perhaps it's a shame, you do get the feeling the catholic raised director was just trying to get a humanist grasp on the man he was
brought up to worship but hey, try telling that to the group who Molotov Cocktailed
a Parisian cinema upon the film's release.
Indeed, many other crimes were recorded.
Harvey Keitel’s performance and haircut were just some of them.
Stoker
Park Chan Wook (1988)
Oldboy director Park Chan Wook made his English language
debut last year with this super stylised incestuous thriller in which the wife
and daughter of a recently deceased Doctor are visited and seduced by his prodigal brother.
The film is quite heavy on visual innuendo and a great deal
of Wook’s style seems a touch lost in translation but Stoker is still a solid piece of work. Strangely, Nicole Kidman plays a wealthy widow for the second time in this very list- and Harmony Korine inexplicably pops up as an Art teacher for about 5 seconds- but the dazzling Mia Wasikowska- who confirmed
her ethereal screen presence here after her Alice in Wonderland breakout- is the lightest of anchors in the lead role.
