Billabong Odyssey (2003)
Posted by davidpeterssblog on ธันวาคม 26, 2009
.
Admiring “The Singing Detective” is easy, and so is appreciating the
originality of the story’s conceit, the artistry of the actors and the
directorial intelligence of Keith Gordon. But loving it would take an act of
will.
Based on the 1986 six-part British miniseries written by Dennis Potter, the
screenplay was adapted and refashioned by Potter himself, before his death in
1994. It’s a perspective-leaping fantasia about a pulp fiction writer in the
hospital with a grotesque and debilitating case of eczema. “The Singing
Detective” shifts from reality to scenes from the screenplay the writer is
imagining, to the writer’s paranoid fantasies. One melts into the other,
although Gordon’s direction is so smooth that we usually know where we are,
and when we don’t, we know we’re not supposed to.
As in Potter’s “Pennies From Heaven,” the movie makes abrupt transitions
into musical numbers, which are lip-synched. But because Potter, for reasons
hard to fathom, changed the setting of the story from the 1940s to the 1950s,
we’re no longer in the big-band era but find ourselves instead at the mercy of
“At the Hop” and “How Much Is That Doggie in the Window.” This music is more
to be endured than enjoyed.
“The Singing Detective” is a film of individual outstanding scenes. When
Downey, covered in scabs and rigid with pain, tells his doctors that he’s at
the end of his tether, his intensity is riveting. And co-star Robin Wright
Penn is one of the screen’s best listeners. Half the success of her scenes
with Downey has to do with the pleasure of watching her assess him, as she
reacts and tries not to react to his provocations. Producer Mel Gibson has a
nice featured role as a bald, genial psychiatrist.
In fact, the human interaction throughout “The Singing Detective” is
exceptionally rich and nuanced — no surprise when we remember that Keith
Gordon directed the beautiful “Waking the Dead.” Unfortunately, there’s
Potter’s screenplay to contend with, with its story that pretty much stands
still most of the way. The movie makes its point and still has another hour to
go.
Advisory: This film contains sexual situations, strong language and
violence.
– Mick LaSalle
Documentary. Starring Mike Parsons, Brad Gerlach, Shawn Barron, Ken Collins,
Josh Loya and Darryl Virostko. Directed by Philip Boston. (Not rated. 83
minutes. At the Galaxy.)
.
The opening scene in “Billabong Odyssey” is as exciting as any James Bond
sequence.
A surfer getting towed by a Waverunner hurtles into the wake of a
developing wave. As a helicopter camera slowly pans back, the wave gets
impossibly big, with the surfer shooting through the collapsing six-story-high
barrel like a snowboarder being chased by an avalanche.
Mammoth waves like the ones at Maverick’s in Half Moon Bay are nature’s
greatest special effect, and “Billabong Odyssey” is a superb documentary that
delves into the science, emotions and danger surrounding the handful of men
and women who risk their lives searching for the ultimate thrill.
As exciting to watch as any Warren Miller ski film, “Billabong Odyssey”
also has the sensibility of a good PBS documentary, showing how the use of
better weather technology and Waverunners with tow ropes have allowed surfers
to tackle bigger waves than ever before.
The documentary centers on the journey of Brad Gerlach and Mike Parsons,
two former world-class surfing circuit superstars who have retired from those
competitions to search the globe looking for the perfect wave. Along for the
ride are the Santa Cruz boys — Shawn “Barney” Barron, Ken “Skindog” Collins,
Josh Loya and Darryl “Flea” Virostko — who are rivals of Gerlach and Parsons
but join forces for the mission.
Download full mp3 songs, share mp3 with your friends, find out bio facts about artists, express your mind and much more. Listen to Pink Floyd online for free.
While “Billabong” was made by surfers, it was made for the public by
director Philip Boston, who explains the technical details and motivations
with equal skill. He gets a huge assist from Mike Prickett, the director of
photography who brings his cameras above, alongside and under the surfers.
There are one or two low-caliber swear words, but “Billabong Odyssey” is
appropriate for teens and older children. The first scene will blow them away.
And as the rest of the movie unfolds, they might not even realize they’re also
getting an education.
- This film has some adult language.
– Peter Hartlaub
‘BUS 174′
Documentary. Directed by Jose Padilha. (Not rated. 122 minutes. At the
Lumiere in San Francisco and Shattuck in Berkeley.)
.
Tourists in Rio de Janeiro are familiar with the boy gangs who scavenge
beaches for purses or cameras or anything else they can get their hands on.
These boys, most of whom sleep on the streets, always look so forlorn and
dirty.
The powerful documentary “Bus 174″ tells a sad and disturbing story of what
became of one of these children. On June 12, 2000, 21-year-old Sandro do
Nascimento hijacked a commuter bus in an upscale area of Rio and held the
passengers hostage for five hours before violence erupted. The hijacking was
bungled by police, who, for example, made little attempt to secure the area.
As a result, TV cameras were able to get incredibly close.
Filmmaker Jose Padilha interweaves the news footage — broadcast live at
the time — throughout his documentary, so movie audiences feel as if they,
too, are watching events unfold live.
But Padilha does much more than just present a hostage situation. He hunts
down people who knew Nascimento and reconstructs his tortured life. As a boy,
he witnessed his pregnant mother being stabbed to death. With no father, he
took to the streets and a life of petty crime. His young life was touched by
violence again when he survived a massacre of other street children.
The remaining hostages also were interviewed, and Padilha intercuts their
emotional comments with the continuing hostage drama. In effect, we hear from
them exactly what they were feeling during the moments we have just witnessed.
The hijacker himself seems aware of the disconnect between reality and
fiction. Holding a gun to a hostage, he yells out a window of the bus, “This
ain’t no action movie thing. This is serious s–.”
“Bus 174″ attempts to make Nascimento’s actions understandable. His friends
speculate that he was motivated by a fear of being put in Brazil’s medieval
prisons.
The film takes us behind bars to hear horror stories from prisoners.
They’re illuminated by a black light to hide their identity. The effect is
like looking at an X-ray. Moments like this attest to Padilha’s artistry as a
filmmaker.
Advisory: Graphic violence.
– Ruthe Stein
Documentary. Directed by John H. Smihula. Narrated by Martin Sheen. 71
minutes. At the Roxie.
.
‘PLAN COLOMBIA: CASHING IN ON THE DRUG WAR FAILURE’
Documentary. Directed by Gerard Ungerman and Audrey Brohy. Narrated by Ed
Asner. 58 minutes. At the Roxie.
.
There was a scene in “The Quiet American,” last year’s art house hit that
won a few Oscar nominations, in which Michael Caine’s British journalist
explains to American agent Brendan Fraser, “The trouble with giving the people
their freedom to vote is, what if they choose Ho Chi Minh?”
That was a work of Graham Greene fiction set in 1950s Vietnam, but its
politics are spot on: Ever since the beginning of the Cold War, American
foreign policy has, rightly or wrongly, devoted much time and attention to
preventing unfriendly dictatorships through covert military operations.
Nowhere is that philosophy more evident than in Latin America, and the Roxie
has booked two complementary documentaries that raise tough question about U.S.
policy in the region.
“Hidden in Plain Sight” focuses on the effect of the U.S. Army School of
the Americas, which has trained more than 60,000 Latin American soldiers. The
United States contends that it’s an effective way to help bring democracy and
stability to Latin American countries, but critics call it the “School of
Assassins” because they believe such handy techniques as torture and other
methods of terrorism are taught there.
They may have a point; among the alumni of the SOA are former Panamanian
dictator Manuel Noriega and Salvadoran death squad leader Roberto D’Aubuisson.
“Plan Colombia: Cashing In on the Drug War Failure” examines the U.S.
policy of beefing up the Colombian military and spraying rebel-held coca
fields, as well as training police and military at the School of the Americas -
- the film, completed before the Iraq situation became what it is, points out
that Colombia is the third-largest recipient of U.S. military aid.
Neither film is very cinematic — the subject matter is king, and it would
play just as well on television, so don’t expect a “Bowling for Columbine”
type of look. This is nuts-and-bolts, left-wing documentary video-making, and
they fulfill their mission expertly.
“Hidden in Plain Sight” is the better work because Shimula has gone the
extra mile to include those who support the School of Americas, including Maj.
Gen. John LeMoyne, in charge at Fort Benning, Ga., where the school is (it is
now called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation). Among
those who support the film’s view who are interviewed are Oakland Rep. Barbara
Lee, investigative journalist Christopher Hitchens, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology Professor Noam Chomsky and Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano.
The best comment comes from Hitchens: “The incredible thing is everybody
knows where it is — and it’s still there!”
“Plan Colombia’s” most insightful salvo comes from Illinois congresswoman
Janice Schakowsky, who calls what’s going on there a war: “This is an under-
the-radar kind of war that the United States is using its taxpayer dollars to
engage in.”
Certainly worth thinking about in this day and age.
Advisory: These films contain violent newsreel footage graphically
depicting victims of war and guerrilla violence.
– G. Allen Johnson