Kathryn Bigelow’s sprawling Bin Laden hunt picture is a spotty affair, a film sectioned off into often disjointed segments over the course of ten years only finding it’s rhythm in the final 30mins or so. The rivetting climax is a masterwork of military procedural execution, easily smoothing over the rocky 2 hours which came before it. Zero Dark Thirty thus resounds as both a conversation piece and a rip-roaring action film.
Point Break (1991) dir. Kathryn Bigelow
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Patrick Swayze, Gary Busey, Lori Petty
***½
By Alan Bacchus
Point Break was a decent action/cop film back in its day, but for some reason it has persisted in the cultural and cinematic zeitgeist, rising above others of its genre as one of the best action films of its time.
Remember, this was the ‘90s, a decade of cop action flicks, buddy movies and male-driven cinema where the male 18-24 demographic dominated. Ironically, Point Break remains one of the timeliest and most muscular of this masculine genre despite being directed by a female when there were almost no female directors in mainstream big budget Hollywood – let alone action cinema.
Well, Kathryn Bigelow is one big exception. Point Break is just one pit stop in a career-long exploration of male camaraderie, an angle on which Bigelow seemed to have found a unique perspective. Early on in her career there was Near Dark, a vampire film mashup, which plays today like a Midwestern biker version of Twilight. Most recently, The Hurt Locker further expanded the notion of male camaraderie in real battle.
Bigelow’s strong visual style, including her golden textured cinematography, strong camera moves and idolatry of the male body in Point Break compares well to any of the Tony Scott oeuvre, including the granddaddy of ‘80s cock-cinema, Top Gun.
Keanu Reeves surprisingly looks exactly the same now as he did back then. His face is a bit fuller now, but he has the same haircut and the same blank expression. He also has the same curious star quality that has continued to shine in the 2000s.
Swayze is perfectly cast as the charismatic criminal, Bodhi, a new wave Hippie who, as an expression of his rebellion, surfs, skydives and robs banks. He has always been the hero in his other films, but Swayze is adequately diabolical and menacing here. And he fits the sun bleached blonde surprisingly well for a country boy. But the genius of this film is the dynamic duo of Reeves and Swayze, who display a mutual respect between adversaries that is so tight, the thin line between good and evil of hero and villain were never more precarious.
This is the stuff of superb formula screenwriting. Formula is not a dirty word in this case. Peter Iliff’s script fits well in the mould of the buddy cop genre. John C. McGinley’s heart attack-in-waiting chief sergeant could also be Axel Foley’s chief in Beverly Hills Cop or Dirty Harry’s chief played by John Larch. There’s also the rival cop duo working parallel to the heroes and the veteran cop (Gary Busey) invigorated by his young partner.
Illiff admirably busts the formula by incorporating the adrenaline junkie theme on top of true and genuine characters, whose motivations we believe wholeheartedly. Bigelow’s panache in making each skydive, car chase, bank robbery and surf break look fantastic on screen is like sweet icing on the cake.
Point Break is available on Blu-ray from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
K19 The Widowmaker (2002) dir. Kathryn Bigelow Starring: Harrison Ford, Liam Neeson, Peter Sarsgaard
****
By Alan Bacchus
The Oscar hardware received by Ms. Bigelow this year is likely the reason for the timing of the K19 Blu-Ray release, a largely forgotten-about actioner from the early 2000’s. I remember when it came out, it was barely registered as Fresh by Rotten Tomatoes (61%), and despite some decent praise from respective critics, it was generally perceived as a failure.
Boy we all must have missed something back then! Because 9 years later the film comes off as a near masterpiece of its genre – certainly one of the best in the narrow genre of submarine/u-boat movies.
Kathryn Bigelow weaves some cinematic magic within the confines of a Soviet cold war nuclear submarine which has been launched as a means of frightening the American government into a full nuclear stalemate. It’s 1961 and the height of the Cold War, with the Cuban Missile Crisis both Soviet and American governments have their fingers on the trigger. The latest submarine built for nuclear deployment is K19, dubbed the ‘widowmaker’ on account of the number of its crew members who have died. Capt. Mikhail Polenin (Liam Neeson) is the people’s captain with a deep connection with the crew; unfortunately he’s been relegated to #2 when the Soviets assign their hard-line veteran Capt. Vostrikov (Harry Ford) to command their first mission. Despite the crew and the ship not yet battle ready, K19 ventures off into the Atlantic.
Vostrikov is immediately a hard ass, drilling his crew to death and coming into major conflict with Polenin. But when their nuclear core goes haywire the two adversaries must work together to ensure the safety of the crew, avoid the Americans and prevent pre-emptive nuclear war in the process.
The story beats ring out all the same dramatic situations we’ve seen in other submarine flicks. The Capt vs. Capt battle is the stuff of mutiny films like ‘Mutiny on the Bounty’, ‘Run Silent Run Deep’, or ‘CrimsonTide’. Neeson and Ford square off admirably with neither actor trumping the other. Neeson’s large presence feels like Burt Lancaster’s heroic performance in ‘Run Silent Run Deep’. Harrison Ford, who has phoned virtually of his roles since the 80’s, arguably, gives his best performance in the last 25 years. His subtle Russian accent is not great but good enough for us to believe he’s not an American.
Bigelow’s staging of the claustrophobic close-quarters action is typically superb – and as good as the top drawer work of Wolfgang Peterson, Tony Scott, Robert Wise et al. But its the character work which stands out and makes us believe wholeheartedly in the survival of these sailors. Peter Sarsgaard as the cowardly nuclear technician uses his sleepy eyes to great effect, generating sympathy for his inability to man up risk his life for his work. And the real life tragic heroism which befalls the crew members who fight to stave off the radioactive leaks in the ship is heartbreaking.
The film runs a good 20 mins past its climax, giving us a lengthy denouement which under anyone else’s watch would be agonizing to sit through. But the landlocked scenes in the aftermath of the disaster as well as its present day scenes remarkably add even more emotional depth to the story. I went to town of Steven Spielberg’s use of present-day book end scenes in ‘Saving Private Ryan’, yet in the case of ‘K19’, the same device is used but to infinitely greater effect. Why does Bigelow’s scene work at the end of ‘K19’ and not in ‘Private Ryan’? For one, Spielberg blows his load early when he opened his film with that scene, whereas Bigelow’s scene comes as an unexpected surprise, but really it comes down to the fact that Bigelow is a better director now than Spielberg is now. Hell yes, I said it!
K19 lingers substantially as the credits role. There’s a speech early on from Liam Neeson when he explains the little known fact that Yuri Gagarin was NOT the first Soviet in space, but another man whose death in space was covered up in the name of political pride. It’s a great piece of foreshadowing and a prophetic tragedy which makes us think what other kinds of tragedies occurred behind the iron curtain and how many forgotten heroes suffered at the hands of its stifling government.
‘K19: The Widowmaker’ is available on Blu-Ray from Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment
The Hurt Locker (2009) dir. Kathryn Bigelow Starring: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Ralph Fiennes, Guy Pearce, Evangeline Lilly
***
"The Hurt Locker" might be the best of the recent Middle East-themed films - the story of a bomb disposal unit in Iraq is told with documentary-like realism and with Bigelow's trademark flare for rough and rumble action. It's certainly a well deserved comeback for Ms. Bigelow, but I just had the knawing feeling that it's all been done before.
Jeremy Renner is staff sergeant William James, a soldier through and through, a fearless renegade who seems to have already accepted his death, and thus he's the perfect man for the job of disarming bombs. When he joins B-Company, he quickly takes the frontline detail. Shocking his superiors, he boldly puts on his armour gear and approaches his bombs without a second thought.
Few people in B company want to be there and few want to go above and beyond the call of duty especially after the tragedy of the intense opening scene. Does James have a death wish? His loyal wife and daughter who remain at home awaiting his return seems to contradict his carefree attitude. He rarely opens up and keeps an emotional distance from his fellow soldiers, only to the audience does he expose his fragile emotional state - like being alone in the shower. So Bigelow saves from military melodrama and dramatic confessions, keeping it all on the sharp edge of reality.
While Renner is a fine discovery, showing us some skills in arena of enigmatic cinema loners, he's also a familiar character. We're specifically reminded of Colin Farrell's breakout performance in Joel Schumacher's "Tigerland" - a rebellious anti-hero, marching to his own beat eschewing the traditional military procedures. And as expected he's also kind and protective of the local children as well as his overwhelmed younger, more scared compatriots.
The action scenes are intense and compelling but the dramatic sniper ambushes and tense bomb disarmings are nothing we haven't seen any other war films. And the central conflict of James, who seems addicted to the rush of combat and who finds himself out of place in the real world, is also familiar.
For fans of Kathryn Bigelow, it's an important addition to her body of work. Bigelow has always seemed to capture the rawness of masculinity better than most others. The distraction of the soldiers' hardcore video games and the thrashing metal music they listen to are classic Bigelow touches. There's also a sloppiness to her male characters, and like "Near Dark" and "Strange Days" Bigelow exposes the juvenility of men and their instinctual need for self-destruction. At one point Bigelow shoots a scene of James and Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) wrestling aggressively on the ground for no reason other than boredom. It's brutal and rough, ending in a knife being drawn. While it shows the fragile state of James it points the finger at the military for training these youngsters with base animal aggression.
"The Hurt Locker" is a good war film, though not the earth shattering masterpiece as proclaimed by many other critics. Enjoy.
