Author: Kate Larkindale

NZIFF Review: ‘The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology’

Posted by | Aug 7, 2013 |

I’m not sure there’s such a thing as a stand-up philosopher, but if there was, Slavoj Zizek would be one. Here he turns his eye to the cinema, taking classic (and a few barely remembered) films and turning whatever we may have thought they were about on its head. And he does this cleverly, from within the films he’s using as examples. He begins with the little known John Carpenter film, They Live, citing it as a ‘forgotten masterpiece of the Hollywood left’. From there he moves on at breakneck speed, analysing a slew of popular films from Jaws to Taxi Driver and even The Sound of Music to show how they reinforce or contradict popular and deep-seated ideologies. Until I saw this film I’d never imagined there was a connection between the London riots, Coke commercials and a Nazi propaganda film, but Zizek has set me straight there! I consider myself to be a fairly deep thinker when it comes to cinema, which is why I prefer films with substance and complex underlying themes. Yet in many cases here I struggled to follow Zizek’s train of thought. Partly this was due to the denseness of the material and Zizek’s thick accent. But those I managed to grasp were surprising, and often very funny as well. The film’s editing work must be commended because it seamlessly joins the original movie footage with the recreations of...

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NZIFF Review: ‘Like Someone In Love’

Posted by | Aug 1, 2013 |

Iranian director Kiarostami leaves the Tuscan setting of his last film, Certified Copy, and slips easily into the hustle and bustle of Tokyo, capturing the energy and mystery of that unique city. The story is simple and romantic and is told in such an unhurried way that we have an opportunity to see every subtlety in the relationships between the characters. Akiko is a sociology student who moonlights as an escort. She’s at a café with her friend when she’s called by her pimp to do a job on the far side of the city. She doesn’t want to go. She has an exam. She’s tired. And her grandmother is visiting from the country. Yet the pimp insists and she finds herself in the back of a cab, sleeping her way to the home of an elderly gentleman. Once there she finds a kindly gentleman who is more interested in talking with her and making her some soup than in sex. In the background is Akiko’s boyfriend, a boorish mechanic who’s given to outbursts of rage. When he sees the old man dropping Akiko at the university, he becomes determined to find out more and approaches him. While Akiko takes her exam the men talk, comparing ideas about love and marriage from two very different generations. This is a film filled with yearning and passion, but it all brews beneath the surface. The filmmaker’s attention to the...

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NZIFF Review: ‘Behind the Candleabra’

Posted by | Jul 30, 2013 |

Based on the memoir of Scott Thorson and co-writer Alex Thorleifson, this film gives us a glimpse behind the glitter and sparkle that was the signature of flamboyant pianist Liberace. In the late 70s, Liberace became involved with a gorgeous young hunk, Thorson, who was 40 years his junior. This is Scott’s story of what happened when he was swept into Liberace’s kitsch and privileged world. And what a decadent and hedonistic world it is. When Scott moves into Liberace’s Las Vegas mansion, the boy who held this position is pushed out. Scott is lavished with gifts of jewellery, cars and even a house in his name. Champagne flows freely, and sex is enjoyed many times a day. For a boy who worked as an animal wrangler on LA film sets, this new world is intoxicating, and Liberace (Lee to his friends) is a benevolent lover. But nothing this good can last. Soon Lee is making strange demands on his young lover, making him part of his stage act and asking him to go under the knife to make his features more like those of a young Liberace. The plastic surgeon puts them both on the California diet to rid them of the chub they’ve amassed while languishing in their love nest. Things become even more twisted when Liberace begins adoption proceedings – to make Scott his son. Scott...

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