Movie Reviews
‘Without Blood’ Review: Salma Hayek Pinault and Demián Bichir in Angelina Jolie’s Overly Cautious War Parable
A woman (Salma Hayek Pinault) walks into a plaza sparsely occupied by patrons enjoying an afternoon coffee and a magazine and lottery ticket kiosk. She approaches the booth and fingers a stack of newspapers before asking the attendant (Demián Bichir), an older man with rounded shoulders and reading glasses perched on his nose, a question. Her delivery is studied, as if a more natural cadence battles against an inherent severity. She begs the man to close up the shop and have a drink with her. Her mannered sweetness becomes more urgent with his refusal. This is a command, not a request.
Premiering at the Toronto Film Festival, Without Blood is Angelina Jolie’s latest foray into directing. The actress, who is making waves this festival season with her performance in Pablo Larrain’s Maria, adapted this thinly plotted parable from the novella of the same name by the Italian writer Alessandro Baricco. Without Blood obliquely investigates the psychological and generational toll of war.
Without Blood
The Bottom Line Plays it safe.
Venue: Toronto International Film Festival (Special Presentations)
Cast: Salma Hayek Pinault, Demián Bichir, Juan Minujin
Director: Angelina Jolie
Screenwriter: Angelina Jolie, Alessandro Baricco
1 hour 31 minutes
Jolie treads familiar ground here: A handful of her previous directorial efforts, including In the Land of Blood and Honey, Unbroken and First They Killed My Father, set their action against the distressing backdrop of war. Whereas these other films grounded themselves with the details of real conflicts like the Bosnian War or the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia, Without Blood claims no land or era. This lack of specificity may have worked in the hands of a more risk-taking helmer, but Jolie’s approach to direction can be as stiff as the woman’s initial encounter with the kiosk attendant. Despite bursts of intelligence, especially when it comes to conveying the fractured quality of trauma narratives, Without Blood’s vagueness ends up blunting many of its lessons.
An uneasy tension hangs in the air as the man and woman settle into a nearby restaurant. She begins to tell her story, parts of which Jolie shows early in a confidently staged scene. Her name is Nina, and when she was a young girl, three men broke into her house and executed her father (Alfredo Herrera) and brother (Alessandro D’Antuono). While her father’s screams overwhelmed the bungalow and her brother’s blood dripped onto her ankle, Nina hid silently in a burrow beneath some floorboards.
Her fate became lore in this unnamed country where a years-long battle brewed between two factions. Whether that conflict is regional or political is never made clear and, in Jolie’s estimation, is not relevant. Without Blood is more concerned with how all war wounds people, from its youngest victims to its oldest perpetrators. Most of the film takes place in a cafe, where Nina and the man, whose name we later learn is Tito, exchange different versions of her fate. In Nina’s telling, she is adopted by a pharmacist (Pedro Hernández), who gambles her off to a count (Luis Alberti). She ends up married at 14 and bearing the wealthy baron three sons. As Tito tells it, Nina’s union was a botched assassination turned marital arrangement: The count fell in love instead of killing her. The truth lies somewhere between Nina’s scarred memories and Tito’s vague recollections. In between these exchanges, the pair offer platitudes about the dangers (but never the details) of war.
The conversation between Nina and Tito swings between gripping moments and duller ones that are helped along by Hayek Pinault and Bichir’s tense banter. Their chemistry is defined by mutual recognition and shared trauma. Hayek Pinault hones in on understated motions — tears welling up in the eyes, tightening the grip on her spoon or pursing her lips — to convey the depth of her character’s pain. Bichir nails the subtle shifts required from his character, whose innocence becomes less black-and-white over the film’s brisk 90-minute runtime.
Still, Jolie’s overly cautious visual language limits the impact of the drama. Flashbacks to the pair’s past offer some dynamic moments, like bird’s-eye-view shots that suggest Tito has been watching Nina over the years, gesturing at their linked fates. There’s beauty here, too, as Jolie captures the vividness of the ochre landscape. For the most part, though, she relies on close-ups, toggling between the two diners’ faces in straightforward edits by Xavier Box and Joel Cox.
That innocent people suffer from conflict is not a provocative stance. But it seems like the only point Without Blood can make when it’s not focused — more interestingly — on observing how trauma lives in the body and shapes the mind. Despite flashes of power, the story ultimately seems too thin to bear the weight of its themes.
Movie Reviews
Kanguva Movie Review – Gulte
2/5
02 Hrs 34 Mins | Action Adventure – Fantasy | 14-11-2024
Cast – Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Anandaraj, Kovai Sarala, Redin Kingsley, Natarajan Subramaniam & others.
Director – ‘Siruthai’ Siva
Producer – K. E. Gnanavel Raja, V. Vamsi Krishna Reddy & Pramod Uppalapati
Banner – Studio Green & UV Creations
Music – Devi Sri Prasad
It’s been about two and a half years since Suriya’s film in a lead role was released in theatres. In an attempt to deliver an out-of-the-world experience to the audience, he teamed up with director, ‘Siruthai’ Siva for Kanguva, an action-adventure fantasy film with a period backdrop. It’s been a while since Suriya delivered a hit at the Box Office and he has pinned all his hopes on the film. After raising expectations with the teaser, and trailer, especially the release trailer which was released a few days back, Kanguva, was finally released in theatres today. Did it live up to the expectations? Did the director, Siva, come up with a memorable film for the fans of Suriya and movie lovers? Let’s figure it out with a detailed analysis.
What is it about?
Francis(Suriya), is a bounty hunter based out of Goa along with his Ex-Girlfriend, Angela(Disha Patani) and friend(Yogi Babu) During a bounty hunting job, Francis and his friend meet a kid(Zeta) who is on a run. Both Francis & Zeta find a strange connection between themselves. What is the connection between Francis and Zeta? Why is Zeta on a run? Who is Kanguva & Poruva? What is their connection with Francis and Zeta? Forms the rest of the story.
Performances:
Suriya as Francis Theodore looked a bit out of the place but he did well in the role of Kanga aka Kanguva. The way he used his eyes to perform in the role of Kanguva is fantastic. Disha Patani as Angela is wasted. All the sequences involving her are irritating.
Bobby Deol as Udhiran got a poorly written role with a very weird look and there’s not much to talk about his role. The child artist who did the roles of Poruva & Zeta did well. There’s a surprise cameo during the climax of the film by a ‘Most Loved Star’ but even the cameo did not work out. The cameo is used in the film just to give a lead to the second part.
Yogi Babu, Kovai Sarala and a few more notable actors are wasted in poorly written roles. Probably for the first time in the recent past, Yogi Babu’s comedy failed to evoke laughs.
Technicalities:
Vetri Palaniswamy’s cinematography is first-rate. The way he captured the lush green forests and the way he and his team shot the film during the night is fantastic. Cinematography is the only department that gave their hundred percent to the film. Devi Sri Prasad was disappointed big time with poor songs and a soulless & loud background score. Apart from the ‘Mannippu’ song and the background score during a sequence in the second half, his work is below par and works against the film. Nishad Yusuf’s editing is poor as well. His fast cuts especially in the first half were a pain to the eyes. There’s a lot of VFX used in the film but it is strictly average at best. Production values by Studio Green and UV Creations are grand but the producers would have invested a bit more to fine-tune the VFX part.
Director, Siva selected a very good core point but his lack of experience in executing a film of Kanguva’s scale and his tendency to overdo drama worked against the film big time. He and his writers would have come up with better writing. All we get to see in the film is one action sequence after another without a soul and emotional connection. His work overall is below par.
Thumbs Up:
Two blocks each in both halves
Suriya’s performance as Kanguva
Core Plot of The Film
Thumbs Down:
DSP’s Songs & Background Score
Weird Looks of Actors
Entire Goa Episode In The First Half
Lack of Emotional Connect In The First Half
Over-the-top drama
Analysis:
Since the release of Baahubali, many filmmakers across the country from multiple film industries have come up with ambitious films that are mounted on a huge canvas & interesting storylines to cater to the PAN India audiences but only a very few of those films worked out. Staying away from an overdose of local flavour is the basic rule that a PAN India filmmaker has to follow but unfortunately most of these filmmakers, especially the Tamil filmmakers inability to stay away from overdoing the local flavour is working against these PAN India films more often than not.
Kanguva has a very interesting plot and a setup that may have been very exciting on paper but the director, Siva and his team’s execution is loud, predictable and filled with an overdose of native flavour. Every actor in the film shouts and screams all the time for no reason. Along with the over-the-top execution and acting by almost all the actors, the weird looks designed for each of the actors, especially when the plot was set up in the year 1070, worked against the film.
The film starts on an interesting note with a monologue by an old woman in the year 1070 that questions the true purpose of each of us human beings’ birth, followed by another interesting sequence involving a kid named, Zeta at a lab in 2024. But, what follows after these two sequences in the first half is a mess filled with people screaming all the time and very predictable pre-interval sequences.
The second half of the film is marginally better compared to the first half with a couple of well-executed blocks but again, apart from those couple of blocks, remaining everything is unexciting. Also, the sequences Suriya, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu and others in the first half in the backdrop of Goa are forgettable. All those sequences are executed very poorly and test the patience of the audience.
It is the director who is to be blamed for wasting the potential of a very interesting plot with below-par execution barring four blocks. Another culprit is Devi Sri Prasad. Both his songs and background score are forgettable, to say the least.
Overall, Kanguva has an interesting plot but the below-par execution made it a disappointing film that may find it difficult to sustain at the Box Office. There’s a lead given during the climax of the film using a surprise cameo by a star hero for the second part but it is highly unlikely that the second part of the film will be made.
Verdict – Too Loud & Over-The-Top
Rating: 2/5
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Movie Reviews
'Heretic' Review – A Rube Goldberg Machine Dripping With Theological Boredom
Written and directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods (65, Haunt, writers of A Quiet Place), Heretic is a so-called psychological horror that is disappointing on all fronts. After only seeing the trailer once months ago, I initially thought that Heretic was a film about a serial killer (Hugh Grant) who used his crazy mouse trap-contraption house to lure in religious, door-to-door service people and kill them.
While that is partially the case, Heretic follows two missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher, The Book of Boba Fett) and Sister Paxton (Chloe East, The Wolf of Snow Hollow). The two women go to the house of Mr. Reed (Grant) who has expressed interest in hearing more about their religion.
As Sister Barnes and Sister Paxton make their way inside, they soon find themselves trapped in Mr. Reed’s bizarrely intricate home featuring electricity on a timer, a front door that supposedly won’t open again until morning, and metal construction that blocks cell phone signals.
Reed, a theology major with vast knowledge of all religions, claims to have found the one true religion. Whether the two women will escape or if Reed knows what he’s talking about all factors into the cerebral aspect of the film.
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Martin Freeman constantly looked miserable and bored out of his mind when he appeared in films like The Hobbit trilogy and the Sherlock TV series. He suddenly looked like he was having the time of his life when he shifted film genres, plunged into horror, and starred in the 2017 film Ghost Stories.
It seems to be the same case for Hugh Grant. While this isn’t his first horror film, Heretic is his first film in the genre in 36 years (Grant starred in The Lair of the White Worm in 1988). Grant is noticeably lively in his performance in Heretic though and seems downright giddy to be torturing people.
With cinematography by Chung Chung-hoon (Last Night in Soho, The Handmaiden), Heretic has two visually memorable sequences thanks to how they’re shot. When Sister Barnes and Sister Paxton first arrive, Mr. Reed leaves the room to check on his “wife.” While he’s gone, Barnes turns the candle he blew out and discovers what the scent of the candle is. As she slowly turns the candle, the camera turns with it.
Reed has a miniature duplicate of his house complete with little figures that represent Sister Barnes and Sister Paxton. In a sequence when Sister Paxton is trying to run away from Mr. Reed, we’re following her movements in the miniature but it seamlessly transitions from the model to the real thing when she enters the room and slams the door.
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The method in which Heretic is written is somewhat odd. Not quite horrific enough to be scary with its religion-defying dialogue taking center stage, Heretic is essentially a two-hour sermon attempting to destroy your faith with some splashes of blood and a raggedy woman or two dying in a blueberry pie.
It feels like if you walked into Heretic devoted to the Mormon religion, you’ll walk out of the theater a different person. Mr. Reed’s arguments regarding all religions stemming from the same concept are portrayed in a way that is believable and convincing.
He somehow rambles about Monopoly and board games, music, and vinyl records to demonstrate similarities between certain board games, how some songs are essentially the same tunes with different lyrics, and that all religions are more similar than dissimilar.
While the dialogue-driven film can be interesting, it’s also rather boring. There’s an unsettling aspect to Mr. Reed’s behavior that capitalizes on the tension in the film. But there are also these long stretches where nothing happens besides the next topic of conversation or a weak payoff where someone’s throat is cut with a box cutter or it builds up to a whisper.
Heretic is beautifully shot with a stellar performance from Hugh Grant, but its intriguing concept is drowned out by the desire to deconvert the audience and have a lukewarm reveal regarding whatever the one-true religion is. Watching the film is like being trapped in a church of a religion you don’t believe in with an overwhelmingly passionate pastor trying to dissuade you from ever coming back.
Heretic (2024), A24.
PROS
- Hugh Grant
- Well thought out dialogue
- Strong writing
CONS
- Talks the audience to death
- Horror aspect feels secondary
- Gets dull during final act
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Movie Reviews
Review: ‘Emilia Pérez’ is the most wildly original film you’ll see in 2024
‘Wicked,’ ‘Moana 2’ and more must-see films this holiday season
USA TODAY film critic Brian Truitt reveals his list of the holiday season’s must-see films in theaters, including “Wicked, “Moana 2” and more.
The next time you can’t decide what kind of movie to watch, stream “Emilia Pérez.”
In just over two hours, there’s pretty much everything: noir crime thriller, thought-provoking redemption tale, deep character study, comedic melodrama and, yes, even a go-for-broke movie musical.
The other important thing about Netflix’s standout Spanish-language Oscar contender? You won’t find a more talented group of women, whose performances keep French director Jacques Audiard’s movie grounded the more exaggerated it gets as the cast breaks into song-and-dance numbers.
Trans actress Karla Sofía Gascón is a revelation as a drug kingpin desperate to live a different, female existence in “Emilia Pérez” (★★★½ out of four; rated R; streaming Wednesday). She’s one of several strong-willed personalities seeking inner joy or real love in their complicated lives: Selena Gomez plays a mom driven back into old bad habits, while Zoe Saldaña turns in an exceptional and multifaceted performance as an ambitious attorney caught in the middle of drama.
Join our Watch Party! Sign up to receive USA TODAY’s movie and TV recommendations right in your inbox.
Rita (Saldaña) is a defense lawyer in Mexico who toils for an unappreciative boss while also making him look good in court. But someone does notice her skills: Rita receives an offer she can’t refuse from Manitas (Gascón), a notorious cartel boss who yearns to live authentically as a woman and hires Rita to find the right person for the gender affirmation surgery. After moving Manitas’ wife Jessi (Gomez) and their two boys to Switzerland, Rita helps him fake his death while Manitas goes under the knife and becomes Emilia.
Four years later, Rita’s in London at a get-together when she meets and recognizes Emilia, who says she misses her children and wants Rita to help relocate them back to Mexico. (Emilia tells them she’s Manitas’ “distant cousin.”) Rita moves back home and helps Emilia start a nonprofit to find the missing bodies of drug cartel victims for their family members. While Emilia tries to make amends for her crimes, she becomes increasingly angry at Jessi for neglecting the kids and reconnecting with past lover Gustavo (Edgar Ramirez).
And on top of all this dishy intrigue is how it works with the movie’s musical elements. Original songs are interspersed within the narrative in sometimes fantastical ways and mostly for character-development purposes. They tend to be more rhythmically abstract than showtunes, but by the end, you’ll be humming at least one rousing melody.
Saldaña gets the lion’s share of the showstoppers, including one set in a hospital and another at a gala where Rita sings about how their organization is being financed by crooks. Gomez gets jams of the dance-floor and exasperatingly raging variety, and Gascón has a few moments to shine, like the ballad that showcases her growing feelings toward Epifania (Adriana Paz), a woman who’s glad when her no-good criminal husband is found dead.
Gascón is spectacular in her dual roles, under a bunch of makeup as the shadowy Manitas and positively glowing as the lively Emilia. What’s so good is she makes sure each reflects the other: While Manitas has a hint of vulnerability early on, sparks of Emilia’s vengeful former self become apparent as past sins and bad decisions come back to bite multiple characters in an explosive but haphazard finale.
The stellar acting and assorted songs boost much of the familiar elements in “Emilia Pérez,” creating something inventively original and never, ever bland.
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