UK/Canada 2003
Director: Deepa Mehta
Score: ***

The Republic of Love, Mehta’s follow-up film to Bollywood Hollywood shows her once again in a jovial romantic mood experimenting with camera angles like overhead, slanted and laterally reversed shots before settling down with a scene.  Her tongue-in-cheek opening sequence involving the training of the perfect home-maker, which incidentally has nothing to do with the rest of the film, is indicative of the tone her film is to follow.  Republic is basically a white Canadian romantic comedy filmed in Toronto, (with British and Canadian actors) that traces the affair between a radio talk show host, Tom (Bruce Greenwood) and his newly found true love-at-first-sight, museum curator Fay (Emilie Fox).  Tom has survived three divorces while Fay is surviving a three-year long relationship.  Interestingly enough, their love affair is contrasted with Tom’s parent’s perfect marriage - until Tom and Fay get together and Tom’s dad (Edward Fox) decides to leave mother. 

Mehta has the knack of introducing bright and lively sequences in her films.  One love scene involving foot fetishes is particularly hilarious.  There are some spirited performances, notably from the stellar supporting cast of Edward Fox, Jackie Burroughs, Martha Henry and Claire Bloom.  The film is based on the late Pulitzer Prize winner Carol Shield’s novel, but this emotionless telling plays like a slightly upgraded Harlequin novel.  An interesting point to note is Mehta’s Indian influence – in the (film’s) music and in her casting of the minor roles. 

Review by Gilbert Seah.

Spain/2002
Director: Emilio Martinez Lazaro
Score: **

The Other Side of the Bed is the kind of bedroom farce that the hot-blooded Spanish claim they are good at making.  Nominated for multiple Goyas (the Spanish equivalent of the Academy Awards), the film was also a box-office hit in 2002 but took its time in reaching North American theatres.

The film centers on the love affairs of two couples.  At the start, couple Javier (Ernesto Alterio) and girlfriend Sonia (Raz Vega) comfort their distraught friend Pedro (Guillermo Toeldo) that his girlfriend Paula’s (Natalia Verbeke) leaving him is just a phase.  Paula has fallen in love with someone else.  It does not take long for the viewer to guess that the secret lover is none other than Javier himself nor predict that Sonia will eventually fall for Pedro.  Supporting characters are thrown in for good measure, like a skirt-chasing Rafa (Alberto San Juan) and the bumbling private-eye (Ramon Barea) Pedro hires to find Paula’s lover.

All these antics should provide ample opportunity for comedic high jinks but the humour is slight if funny at all.  The film’s best scene – the tennis match in which both Javier and Pedro are paired up, after they discover that each has slept with the other’s girl is less hilarious than expected.  Lazaro’s decision to add song-and-dance numbers in between segments do not work that well either, especially for non-Spanish viewers unfamiliar with the local pop songs.  The central character Javier, which turns out to be more irritating than amusing because of his attitude and the smugness of his sleeping around, does not help in making the film more likeable either.  The supporting cast fare better, especially San Juan as Rafa who talks more than he can handle.  His spill on why he gets the uglier girls is particularly amusing.

Probably the only reason the film got a release (none of the other Lazaros’ films have) is the fact that it garnered various awards.  The film was originally slotted to open on St. Valentine’s weekend, but is delayed two weeks, if not already for an entire year. Obviously, the distributors do not have high hopes for this comedy.

Review by Gilbert Seah.

2003, Action
Director: Kenta Fukusaku
Starring: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Ai Maeda, Riki Takeuchi,

Plot: Japan has fallen victim of the Wild 7, a group lead by Shuya Nanahara, a survivor of the Battle Royale program. Wild 7 takes credit for the bombing and declares a war against the Japanese government. And the government responds the way it only knows, it launches a new Battle Royale program. And a lucky class of junior high graduates is sent on to a mission of “do-or-die” to take out Wild 7.

Just like the original Battle Royale, the US will not ever welcome Battle Royale II, ever. This is why. The film is very sympathetic to terrorism. And if that’s not bad enough, the country responsible for the fascist state of affairs in the film is, you guessed it, the US. This film is directed by Kenta Fukusaku. He took over the project shortly after death of his father. And the result is a disappointing one. Just like the original, an over-the-top performance by Tatsuya Fujiwara is not easy to watch. The gunfights are not really exciting. The film is about individual choices and how society prevents us from making them. It is way too thematic and metaphoric, it seems not enough thought was given to making the plot of the film as coherent as it should or could have been.

I am sure there are people who will enjoy Battle Royale II for its over-the-top everything. But the film feels just plain silly. And if you were truly impressed by the original, well, you may be disappointed.

Review by Shogo.

Can/Fr/Belg 2002
Director: Sylvain Chomet
Score: *****

Cutesy and adorable characters are replaced by often obese and grotesque figures in Quebecois Sylvain Chomet’s fascinating and imaginative new animated flick that has deservedly been nominated for the upcoming Academy Award for Best Animated feature alongside Finding Nemo and (yes- ugh!) Brother Bear.  From the film’s first sequence, which pays tribute to the old Felix the Cat and Betty Boop type TV cartoons, the film gets better and better, finally ending in a hilarious bicycle/limo chase through the streets of imaginary Belleville.

The marvel of it all is that this foreign film goes without subtitles.  Yet, the complicated plot involving the granny training Champion (the grandson) for le tour de France, the abduction of the three cyclists, her heroic rescue with the faithful dog in the city of Belleville, the encounter with the singing ‘triplets’ is simple and intriguing enough to follow.  The film’s charm derives from Chomet’s grand imagination.  The cyclist wind-vane changing direction in the wind and the slowing down of the train each time it passes the cottage window, so that the faces of the passengers can be seen by Bruno, the dog particularly stand out.  But it is the colours (often yellowish brown), caricatures of real-life figures and dark shadowy city with the slanted buildings that give the film is characteristic look.  Art director Evgeni Tomov claims to have got his inspiration from Caro and Jeunet’s Delicatessen and City of Lost Children.  And it shows.

Les Triplettes was also nominated for best song and with reason.  Leaving the cinema, the catchy tune Belleville Rendezvous stays in the head for at least a day or two.  Les Triplettes is not to be missed for its sheer achievement!

Some points to note. The North American title goes as THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE and the British title Belleville Rendez-vous.  In Canada, this film only just opened a few weeks back while the U.S and Britain were fortunate to have it played since last year.  And if you were in London or Dublin during the festive season, BBC2 played the entire film on prime time at 9 pm Christmas Day.

Review by Gilbert Seah

I’ll admit it… I was prepared to hate this film. I didn’t know much about it. Only that it was a short shot-on-video “horror” film that was going to be released on an upcoming Kevin Lindenmuth anthology called Monstersdotcom. It didn’t sound promising. But even though I was prepared to hate it, this creepy no-budget tale of a swamp-monster in pursuit of a serial killer won me over.

Shadows in the Garden is an atmospheric film about a vicious serial killer on the loose, an evil company making “bloodmeal” for dogs and cats, a missing police officer and a Swamp Thing like swamp creature. These elements combine on a lonely rainswept night as the creature searches for his identity while the serial killer stalks another victim. All of these ingredients could have easily added up to nothing more than a cheesy waste of time, but the talent of director Wayne Spitzer lifts the project to a higher level.

Spitzer makes a very wise choice for a low-budget director—Shadows in the Garden is essentially a silent film. He cheats a bit with radio broadcasts and newspaper headlines which definitely help communicate the complicated and fractured storyline. He also employs a very expressionistic dynamic visual style. The lack of dialog combined with the surreal imagery and steady downpour of rain really create a creepy and lonely atmosphere.

A monster suit can make or break a movie, and monster suits almost ALWAYS look terrible in shot on video flicks. Realizing this, Spitzer keeps his swamp beast obscured by shadows and rain and it works pretty ***censored*** well. The glimpses we do get of the swamp beast are impressive. This is definitely a nice monster suit. The beast looks like some kind of reptilian gorilla covered in swamp vegetation. That being said, the monster does have flowers growing out of his head which takes him down a notch or two on the coolness scale.

This is obviously a very low-budget effort so you have to look at it from a different perspective than you would a mainstream movie. Ultimately, Shadows in the Garden only amounts to an interesting diversion, but it definitely shows a real talent at work behind the camera. Spitzer shows real talent and has put a lot of energy into realizing his vision and pushing the limits of his budget and available technology.

(Note: Shadows in the Garden is available as part of the Brimstone Media anthology Monstersdotcom. We haven’t been supplied with the other segments to review. In addition to being a talented director Wayne Spitzer knows how to promote his work. Note to aspiring filmmakers: There’s a lesson be learned here.)

Review by Christopher Sharpe.