Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky (2009)

Directed by Jan Kounen
Written by Carlo de Boutiny and Jan Kounen
Cast Mads Mikkelsen, Anna Mouglalis, Yelena Morozova, Anatole Taubman
IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1023441/




Reviewed by Paivi
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There are two Coco Chanel biographies released this year. Coco avant Chanel stars Audrey Tautou (Amelie) as the leading lady and the movie is released later this year. Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky (starring Anna Mouglasis as Coco and Mads Mikkelsen as Igor) shows only a small part of Coco's life and focuses on her relationship with the Russian composer.

Coco Chanel was a very independent woman for her time. After her lover called Boy (Anatole Taubman) was killed in a car accident, she decided to live alone in her huge mansion, interiors designed by herself. The actual Chanel mansion is used in filming the scenes. Coco is a fan of music and an admirer of everything brave. When she witnesses the almost riot that follows the "scandalous" premiere of Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, she wants to get to know the composer.

Stravinsky lives with his wife (Yelena Morozova) who is sufferfing of tuberculosis and children in a small flat and Coco invites them all to live in her mansion - allowing Igor a possibility to more space for his musical creativity. Coco and Igor are drawn to each other and finally end up having an affair.

Brilliantly filmed movie uses beautiful visuals. Every single frame is like a work of art. However, the story itself is missing the passion that should be present between the two artists. Coco even though very well presented as an independent woman feels calculating and cold without any emotions.

The Danish actor Mikkelsen makes Igor a vulnerable man, a man drawn to two directions - the wealth and love of Coco and on the other hand his loyalty to his wife and children. Also for a man and an artist it is difficult to accept the fact that the woman is also an artist and with her own will and self esteem.

Chéri (2009)

Directed by Stephen Frears

Written by Christopher Hampton, based on Colette's novels
Cast Michelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Friend, Kathy Bates

IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1179258/

Reviewed by Paivi

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Michelle Pfeiffer and Stephen Frears worked together in 1988, doing the romantic 3-Oscar-winning drama Dangerous Liaisons, which gained the first nomination also to Pfeiffer. Three years ago Frears made The Queen that gathered success around and brought its leading lady Helen Mirren an Oscar.

With Chéri Frears and Pfeiffer travel back to France and to the time before the World Wars, the time known as Belle Epoque, when courtisans were a visible part of the society. The most successful courtisans lived luxurious lives in beautiful houses, surrounded by beautiful dresses, jewelry and their own staff. The story is based on novels by Colette.

Pfeiffer is Lea, a luxury courtisan who is aging and planning on retiring. She has experienced all kinds of love, except the true love. One day when visiting her old colleague Madame Peloux, played by brilliant Kathy Bates, she is tempted to kiss Madame's 19-year-old son Fred, nick named Chéri (Rupert Friend). Unexpectedly the kiss turns their lives upside down and they find themselves living together for many years.

When Madame Peloux informs that she has arranged a good marriage with a wealthy young girl Edmee (Felicity Jones) for her son, both Lea's and Chéri's dreams come tumbling down and they realise their affection is something deeper than just lust and friendship.

Wonderful Pfeiffer is the heart of this movie. As an aging beauty, insecure and troubled at the inevitable fate of her body slowly losing its youth and glamour, Pfeiffer does a convincing job. Also as a woman so involved in all sort of love affairs in her life, finally finding true love and losing it to a younger woman she is a fragile work of art.

Rupert Friend as the young courtisan's son is at ease in a role many others might have been afraid of performing. He is a good looking angel face with a gorgerous body when naked, and considering he's working with such a big name as Pfeiffer, he pulls his role as her lover professionally.

Visually stunning surroundings, beautifully framed pictures give the drama an extra essense. Frears is at best in directing movies of interesting personas - Chéri shows this the similar way as The Queen did.

Final verdict: Beautifully shot Belle Epoque drama of the love affair of an older woman and a younger man. Strong and convincing characters played by brilliant actors, especially the lovely Michelle Pfeiffer. Watch for next year's Oscar nominations and especially costume design category.

Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009) - Movie Review

Confessions of a Shopaholic is based on two different Sophie Kinsella books (Confessions of a Shopaholic and The Shopaholic takes Manhattan), and the name just tells you all. This is an ironic story about a young college graduate Rebecca Bloomwood (Isla Fisher) who happens to live in New York City and happens to have a bit of a problem. The fastly growing pile of credit card bills and the urge to shop beautiful things whenever possible, is giving her a headache of a lifetime. She just doesn't seem to be able to resist the beautiful mannequins on the display windows and is drawn into the luxurious, definitely over her budget stores, time after time, despite the unpaid bills she has.

After a funny girls night out and a little mix-up with mailing two letters, she soon finds herself working for a financial magazine (how funny is that!) writing a column by the name: The Girl in The Green Scarf, even though she dreams of doing something else, writing for a Fashion Magazine Alette. But here she is, giving advice on how to save money and use it wisely at the same time as she herself is in a pretty bad shape financially. And as you may guess, all this will end up being revealed and her boss Luke (Hugh Dancy) is not that crazy about all this, especially when her financial crisis comes to public in a TV show where they both are guests, talking about their magazine and Rebecca's amazingly popular column.

At the end she finds out that her true dream is actually not to work for Alette and she even decides to auction most of her clothes away to get the money to pay off all the credit card bills. She also realizes that she and her boss Luke might have a future together. So yes, happy ending after all this nonsense.

Rebecca Bloomwood is such a naive young woman, obsessed with high quality shoes, purses, scarfs, basically anything that you can name. She seems to face all the possible obstacles that you can face in the "cruel" world of materialism in the Big Apple. For some reason she reminds me of Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde, but just like a cheap copycat compared to her. For me she was a bit goofy and her big, innocent Bambie looking-eyes made me want to laugh. I understand that there are thousands and thousands of women who can relate to her and feel for her, but still something was seriously wrong and lacking here.

The story gave nothing new, except one new trick to prevent me from using my credit card too often. Freezing it! But what a meaningless movie this is. It just goes on and on and on about her shopping, and the end, it was just ridiculously predictable and all those talking mannequins at the very end were like the icing on the cupcake expired days ago.

This is just one of those movies where you go empty headed and where you come from as empty headed as you went in. Or worst case scenario, you may find yourself at the closest Macy's and shop till you drop, or until your credit cards get overheated... Or who knows if the mannequins start talking to you? Spoo-ky!



Directed by P. J. Hogan
Written by Tracey Jackson, Tim Firth and Kayla Albert (screenplay), Sophie Kinsella (books)
Cast Isla Fisher, Hugh Dancy, Krysten Ritter, Joan Cusack, John Goodman, John Lithgow, Kristin Scott Thomas
IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1093908/

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) - movie review

David Fincher came to my knowledge a few years ago with his terrific horror movie Se7en. With that he owed me a few nights of sleep. Then came Fight Club that solidified Fincher's skills in my books. Couple of years back came Zodiac which was also a nice piece of work.

This time Fincher has taken a totally different kind of story in his hands - a romantic drama of a man who is born old and gets young all his life. The story is loosely based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald in the 1920's.

Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) is born in 1918 and his mother dies in childbirth. His father is devastated by her death - and even more when he sees his baby boy who looks more like a dying old man than a cute little newborn baby. He abandons him at the door of nursing home for old people, where he's taken care of by Queenie (Taraji P. Henson). Queenie believes all God's creatures deserve to live, and especially because she could not have children on her own, she takes Benjamin as her son.

Soon she realises that Benjamin is very special. He refuses to die as doctors predicted, and starts growing up, and at the same time getting young. When he meets a cute little blue eyed granddaughter of a lady living in the house, his life gets a new turn. Somehow the old young man and the girl get connected. The blue eyed girl grows up to be a stunning young lady called Daisy (Cate Blanchett) and eventually her and Benjamin's paths cross again.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a delicate romantic drama. The story holds up surprisingly well for its whole duration of 2 and a half hours. Surprisingly, because when I first heard about the movie, I thought the story sounds stupid. But it is far from stupid. It is a very sweet story, and even though you know exactly where events lead to, even just seeing other people get old and Benjamin get young is fascinating. The idea of being able to use all your old age wisdom and experience when young is interesting. But the idea has major downsides: the people around you just die of old age when you still continue to flourish. This will eventually lead to serious loneliness.

This is the third time Fincher and Pitt work together, and every time they do brilliant job together. It is beautiful to notice how Pitt has grown into a great actor after his "cute boy" years, and him working with one of without doubt the greatest actresses of our time, Blanchett, is fantastic to watch. Blanchett's variability is just amazing, how she can do pretty much any role she's given, and always in such a passion that captures the viewer deep into the story she's telling with her presence.

Benjamin Button was nominated for 13 Oscars which made it the most nominated film this year.



Directed by David Fincher
Written by Eric Roth
Cast Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Julia Ormond, Taraji P. Henson, Tilda Swinton
IMDb http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0421715/

Changeling (2008) - movie review

The true story of a woman who lost her child is something that I'm sure wakes up every mothers' feelings. Director Clint Eastwood seems to like these powerful stories that are emotionally challenging to the viewers.

Changeling, true story that happened in 1920's is a story of Cristine Collins (Angelina Jolie) who lives alone with her son Walter (Gatlin Griffith). One day she is forced to stay at work for a bit longer than usual, and when returning home she finds to her horror her son nowhere in sight. Night falls and no news come from him. Mother calls the police and the police just tell her to wait till morning.

Days, weeks, months pass and the police is unable to find the boy. Mother is devastated and making everything she can. Suddenly she gets news: they have found Walter! She hurries to the train station, only to find out that the boy in question is not her true son. This starts the battle of a desperate mother in her search for her real son - battle against the corrupted police, and leads to terrible findings.

Jolie's portrayal of a desperate mother is impressive, and she clearly has been able to pull emotions from her real life as a mother. However, from the viewer's point of view all the crying and screaming of wishing to have her son back are not only positive. The movie could have been more efficient if the lenght was not as long as it is now. The film would have hold itself together more as now the excess focus on the suffering face of Jolie starts to lose its emotional power.

I liked the way Eastwood takes into account the role of women during this time. For a feminist as myself it is always a pleasure to see strong women who fight against the corrupt power of men. The scenes in the asylum strenghten this point of view nicely.



Directed by Clint Eastwood
Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Cast Angelina Jolie, Gatlin Griffith, John Malkovich, Jeffrey Donovan
IMDb http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0824747/