Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain
Film Review by Kam Williams
On the night of December 2, 1984, a pesticide plant located in Bhopal, India spewed tons of toxic gas into the air as the result of a reaction of water with a chemical called Methyl Isocyanate (MIC). By morning, over 10,000 dead bodies lay in the streets of the city, while the manufacturer company responsible for the disaster, Union Carbide (subsequently acquired by Dow Chemical), proceeded to lawyer up.
In the end, the corporation settled the mammoth wrongful death lawsuit for just $300 per corpse without taking responsibility or publicly apologizing for the industrial accident. Instead, the firm claimed it was a victim of sabotage on the part of a disgruntled employee, an allegation which was ultimately never substantiated. Yet, despite the existence of evidence that Union Carbide had ignored warning signs of an impending calamity, the Indian government let it off with out any criminal consequences.
Directed by Ravi Kumar, Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain is a historical drama ostensibly inspired by the book “Bhopal: Lessons of a Gas tragedy” by the New York Times reporter Sanjoy Hazarika. The picture stars Martin Sheen as Warren Anderson, the sloganeering CEO in denial fond of spouting company lines like “We set the highest safety standards in the industry” and “We are Union Carbide, united in our efforts to build a better future for everyone.”
This fictionalized account, which revisits the events leading up to the catastrophe, revolves mostly around the efforts of a couple of investigative journalists questioning Carbide’s commitment to safety, given the rumors swirling that the plant was leaking a very dangerous chemical. Both Motwani (Kal Penn), a local, and Eva Gascon (Mischa Barton), a writer for Paris Match, were stonewalled at every turn whenever they confronted executives and managers about whether an exposure to just one drop of MIC was lethal.
The picture inexorably leads to the unfortunate meltdown which scarred an entire country while the conniving culprits escaped unscathed. A sobering lesson about controlling the corporate message in this age of double speak where symbolic gestures have replaced sincerity, substance and any concern about viable solutions.
Excellent (3.5 stars)
Unrated
In English and Hindi with subtitles
Running time: 96 minutes
Distributor: Revolver Entertainment
To see a trailer for Bhopal, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nw7dZiYzKBY
Isabella Rossellini
The “Green Porno” Interview with Kam Williams
The daughter of actress Ingrid Bergman and director Roberto Rossellini, supermodel/actress/director/singer/author/conservationist/feminist Isabella Rossellini grew up in Paris and Rome. At the age of 19, she moved to New York, where she became a translator and later a reporter for RAI-Italian Television. Her popular segments led to appearances as the New York correspondent for the weekly Italian comedy show THE OTHER SUNDAY, with Roberto Benigni.
At the relatively advanced age of 28, Isabella began a modeling career when she was photographed by Bruce Weber for British Vogue and by Bill King for American Vogue. She has since worked with the industry's most distinguished photographers - from Richard Avedon to Steven Meisel, from Helmut Newton to Peter Lindbergh, from Norman Parkinson to Eve Arnold. And she has appeared on the cover of such magazines as Vogue, Elle, Marie Claire, Bazaar and Vanity Fair. An exhibition of photographs of Isabella, Portrait of a Woman, was held in March 1988 at the Museum of Modern Art of the city of Paris.
Isabella wrote, directed and starred in a series of shorts called GREEN PORNO, about the reproducing habits of various bugs, insects and other animals. The shorts are comical, but insightful study of the curious ways certain animals “make love,” featuring Isabella in colorful, vibrant costumes. GREEN PORNO premiered at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival and launched on Sundance Channel later that same year.
Isabella made her cinematic debut in 1979 in Paolo and Vittorio Taviani's IL PRATO (THE MEADOW). Her American film debut was opposite Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines in Taylor Hackford's WHITE NIGHTS. In 1986, she starred opposite Dennis Hopper as Dorothy Vallens, the tortured lounge singer, in David Lynch's haunting and controversial BLUE VELVET.
Her other film credits include, THE ACCIDENTAL HUSBAND, MY DAD IS 100 YEARS OLD, THE ARCHITECT, THE FEAST OF THE GOAT, HAVE YOU HEARD, THE SADDES MUSIC IN THE WROLD, ROGER DOGER, COUSINS, ZELLY AND ME, WILD AT HEART, DEATH BECOMES HER, FEARLESS, WYATT EARP, BIG NIGHT, THE IMPOSTORS and THE FUNERAL. Her portrait of the Jewish Hassidic mother in LEFT LUGGAGE directed by Jeroen Krabbe, won a special award at the Berlin Film Festival in 1998.
Isabella's modeling and acting career also led her into the world of cosmetics. Beginning in 1982, she was the exclusive spokesperson for the international cosmetics brand Lancome for 14 years. In 1990, Lancome launched the very successful fragrance Tresor, which was her first involvement with product development. In 1995, she began collaboration with Lancaster Group to develop her own brand of cosmetics, Manifesto, which launched internationally in May 1999.
Isabella's fictional memoir "Some of Me" was published in 1997, and her photographic book, "Looking at Me," is currently in stores. She also wrote a book about her father entitled IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, THE DAUGHTER AND THE HOLY SPIRITS: REMEMBERING ROBERTO ROSSELLINI.
Isabella is very involved in Wildlife Conservation. The Disney Conservation Fund just awarded her for her commitment to this cause by giving her $100,000 to donate to a conservation organization of her choice. She is also a volunteer for the Guide Dog Foundation and trains puppies for their program.
Isabella has been married to director Martin Scorcese, and romantically-linked to director David Lynch as well as actor Gary Oldman. She now lives in New York City with her two children, Elettra and Roberto, though she is currently touring the U.S. with the production of her one-woman show, GREEN PORNO, adapted from the celebrated Sundance Channel series.
With day-glo costumes, paper puppets, and text by legendary French screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière, she acts out a panoply of reproductive oddities: the praying mantis that consumes its partner while copulating; the male bee who loses his penis in the act; and the shrimp, whose foreplay involves it shimmying seductively out of its shell. The play, which is part nature documentary and part DIY cartoon, is scheduled to continue its run into the spring of 2015.
Kam Williams: Hi Isabella, I’m honored to have this opportunity to speak with you.
Isabella Rossellini: Thank you for doing the interview, Kam. How are you?
KW: I’m great, thanks. In preparation for this interview, I did a little research, and I read that interview you recently did with a jaw-droppingly rude reporter from Vanity Fair.
IR: Thank God, I never read it. That’s good. [LOL]
KW: Don’t worry. I think you’ll have a lot of fun doing this interview. I always tell my readers who I’m interviewing ahead of time so they can send in questions. So, if it’s okay with you, I’ll be mixing in mine with theirs.
IR: Sure.
KW: Bobby Shenker says: I love you! Will you marry me?
IR: Of course I will, Bobby! I’m single, so there’s absolutely the possibility.
KW: Here’s another guy who’s gushing. Gil Cretney says: Kam, please tell Isabella from me… she is a goddess!
IR: [Laughs again] That’s very wonderful to hear. Sometimes I get called beautiful or kind. But a goddess has it all, supernatural powers. Thanks, Gil!
KW: Let me share one more message from someone with a personal comment.
IR: Not a nasty one, I hope.
KW: No it’s also very positive. Larry Greenberg simply says: You are so wonderful! I’m too smitten to come up with a worthy question.
IR: That’s very nice, Larry. And it’s very kind of you to read me all these comments, Kam.
KW: I’m just reading what was sent in. Editor Lisa Loving says: We just love Green Porno. She asks: Have you ever watched any of the John Lydon [of the Sex Pistols] Mega Bugs programs? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytkV9Fk-zKk
IR: No I haven’t. I’m not familiar with him. But I’ll write down his name and look it up.
KW: Lisa was also wondering whether, as one of the most beautiful women in the world, and the daughter of one of the most beautiful women in the world, and a lifelong inhabitant of circles of famous people in the news, you see anything new in how the public “consumes” celebrities?
IR: No, I don’t see anything new. Maybe it’s different in Los Angeles where they have more of a problem with paparazzi. That part of being a celebrity is not so pleasant. It all started in Rome long ago, you know, before spreading to L.A. and elsewhere.
KW: That makes sense, since paparazzi is an Italian word.
IR: It began in Italy with amateur photographers stalking celebrities. They would be so persistent trying to provoke something, and if you lost your patience, then they could get the sort of sensational photo they were after. It is more widespread in the U.S. in recent years than it used to be, especially in Los Angeles, not so much in New York yet.
KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks, purely hypothetically: How do you think your father as a director and your mother as an actress might ‘comment’ on Green Porno?
IR: I think they would like it, quite frankly. They both loved animals. We certainly shared that in the family. And they were also interested in science, especially the new science of animal behavior, which Jane Goodall founded. And as you know, Kam, most of my films and my studies are in animal behavior. So, I think my parents would be happy about Green Porno. It’s comical, why not? [Chuckles] They were entertainers, too.
KW: Children’s book author Irene Smalls asks: How did you come up with the idea of using paper penises in Green Porno?
IR: The reason why we used paper costumes is because we had a very limited budget, and it seemed to be the cheapest way to go. So, we managed to make something stylish out of our weakness by creating all of the costumes out of paper.
KW: Irene has a follow-up: What led you to develop this one-woman play?
IR: The success of my short films, and the encouragement of friends. Also, this wonderful, Oscar-winning writer, Jean-Claude Carriere, agreeing to help me write the monologues was very tempting. That’s what did it.
KW: Irene has one more: Which of your many roles as a supermodel/actress/director/singer/author/conservationist/feminist do you enjoy the most and which do you think expresses the essence of who you are?
IR: I sort of divide them in my head. Some of those roles are professional, like modeling or acting or writing. But being a feminist is not a job. What I think has been wonderful about my life is that it has been diverse, and that I’ve been able to do so many different things. I was able to evolve from modeling into acting. And then when acting opportunities became limited because of my age, I was able to become a writer and director and author. So, I am grateful to myself that I didn’t just sit around and become nostalgic about the past that has been and can’t come back, but that I instead decided to move on.
KW: But if you could only be remembered for one thing, what would that be for?
IR: As the mother of my children.
KW: Cynthia Groya says: I am a huge admirer of yours! All the unexpected and courageous moves you have made in your life. What was it like working with Dennis Hopper and David Lynch on Blue Velvet?
IR: Well, it was actually, a very, very nice set. We all became very good friends, and remained close all our lives. The film is very scary, very serious but it was very pleasant on the set because of our friendship. We all met filming, and hit it off very well. And it was also one of the most important films I have done in my career.
KW: Cynthia also asks: What was the best thing about growing up Ingrid Bergman's daughter?
IR: Well, she was really “mom,” whether or not she was Ingrid Bergman the actress. She was a very warm, charming, funny, tender, entertaining and playful mother. That was the best. The fact that she was famous came along with those qualities was a bonus, although we might have liked for her to be less famous so she’d stay home more.
KW: Filmmaker Ray Hirschman says: Isabella, you are so multi-talented. But if you had to follow only one artistic road, which would you choose?
IR: I would probably pursue the one I’m doing now, because that’s the one you can control the most, writing, directing and performing your own pieces. It’s the best, because I can create jobs for myself.
KW: Yale grad Tommy Russell would like to ask: How much time do you spend in the United States?
IR: I’m a U.S. citizen and I’ve lived here since I was 19. I spend a total of about 4 or 5 months a year in Europe, but the majority of the time I’m here.
KW: Tommy also says: I hope she gets a kick out of this question. Can I have your love life? Tell her I'd take the ups and the downs.
IR: [LOL] I wonder why. Tommy must like some of the husbands and boyfriends he knows I’ve had. [Laughs some more]
KW: Kate Newell says: I loved you in your role on 30 Rock! What was the best piece of advice your mother gave you?
IR: My mom was very down to earth, very concrete, and I think her biggest lesson was setting that as an example, rather than giving me a piece of advice.
KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier asks: What advice do you have for aspiring female filmmakers, given that there is still a scarcity of women in that field?
IR: Keep doing it. Persevere! It’s hard to make a living in any of the arts. When most people think of artists, they think of the stars and the celebrities. But that’s such a tiny minority of the elites who are able to make those millions of dollars. The reality is that it’s very hard for the rest to make a living as an artist. So, you really have to persevere and understand that achieving the sort of success where you’re making the big money is like winning the lottery.
KW: Patricia also asks: Is there a biography of an icon you dream of adapting into a movie?
IR: No, I have never thought about that.
KW: Marcia Evans says: As a woman of color, I appreciated your conscious decision to not continue your Lancome campaign contract. Was that due to a personal stance on not supporting a beauty campaign whose message about beauty by societal standards can only be reflected by youthful skin? I wasn't surprised to learn that you did not want to represent that message/mentality that beauty only exists with youth. Bravo! I would like to see among the faces of a campaign championing the beauty of mature women of all ethnicities.
IR: You’re right, Marcia. There’s still this problem that hasn’t been resolved. We are working towards that goal of having women of all ages and ethnicities well-represented in the industry.
KW: Thanks again for the time, Isabella, and best of luck with Green Porno.
IR: Thank you, Kam. Bye.
To order tickets for the Philadelphia performance of Green Porno, at 8 pm on November 14th, visit:
http://tickets.worldcafelive.com/event/617715-isabella-rossellini-green-philadelphia/
Interstellar
Film Review by Kam Williams
Christopher Nolan is one of my favorite directors, and four of his pictures have made my annual Top Ten List, including Memento, The Dark Knight, Batman Begins and Insomnia. However, I hard a hard time understanding exactly what was going on in Inception, an inscrutable mindbender that I found to be a little too hip for the room.
The same could be said about Interstellar, an over-plotted, post-apocalyptic sci-fi with a few too many layers for its own good, in this critic’s humble opinion. Clocking in at a patience-testing 169 minutes, the movie had me harking back to 7-time Oscar-winner Gravity, a similarly-themed outer space adventure which managed to resolve its loose ends in about half the time.
At the point of departure, we find the Earth devastated by drought and dust storms that have brought it to the brink of famine. With the planet almost uninhabitable, NASA decides that the last hope for humanity rests in finding another capable of supporting life.
To that end, the agency is mounting a mission, codenamed Lazarus in order to search for a place with a compatible environment. The reluctant hero is Coop (Matthew McConaughey), a man understandably torn about being coaxed out of retirement to captain the Spaceship Endurance.
On the one hand, the veteran test pilot is eager, since he never got a chance to experience a real spaceflight during his career. On the other hand, as a widowed dad, he hates the very idea of leaving behind and possibly orphaning his already motherless kids.
Sure, 15 year-old Tom (Timothee Chalamet) might be able to man-up, but daughter Murph (Mackenzie Foy) is only 10 and proves particularly clingy when he informs her of his imminent travel plans. Her angry reaction is perfectly reasonable, given the blight on Earth and the odds of ever seeing her papa again.
But with his father-in-law’s (John Lithgow) blessing, Coop nevertheless opts to depart, which affords him an opportunity to belatedly pursue his lifelong dream. Joining him in that endeavor is a crew comprised of brainy scientist Brand (Anne Hathaway), astrophysicist Romilly (David Gyasi) and intergalactic cartographer Doyle (Wes Bentley), as well as a couple of very sophisticated robots (Bill Irwin and Josh Stewart).
After blastoff, they head for a distant wormhole near Saturn rumored to provide a portal to a parallel universe. At this juncture, the picture turns terribly talky, relying on pseudoscientific claptrap to explain every farfetched development from black holes to unusual gravitational pulls to time slowing down. Eventually, Endurance rendezvous with a NASA space station stranded on a remote planet where they rouse the sole survivor from a cryogenic sleep only to discover it’s Matt Damon. How cool is that?
I’m not too proud to admit I couldn’t follow the convoluted storyline anymore from about this point forward. At least the panoramic visuals remained absolutely breathtaking. Think, a remake of Gravity with a bunch of polysyllabic brainiacs borrowed from The Big Bang Theory.
Good (2 stars)
Rated PG-13 for intense action and brief profanity
Running time: 169 minutes
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
To see a trailer for Interstellar, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vxOhd4qlnA
Whiplash
Film Review by Kam Williams
19 year-old Andrew Neyman (Miles Teller) got more than he bargained for when he entered the hallowed halls of mythical Shaffer Conservatory. The promising prodigy had reasonably expected what was arguably the best music school in the entire country to be the ideal place to pursue his ambition of a glorious career as a jazz drummer.
But, from the first day of class, he ends up under the thumb of Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons), an impatient perfectionist with a twisted teaching method. This Machiavellian professor’s approach involves not only belittling his students but pitting them against one another by making them compete for spots in the school’s elite performance band.
In Andrew’s case, he has to contend for the coveted drummer’s chair with both an upperclassman (Nate Lang) and a fellow newcomer (Austin Stowell). Meanwhile, he finds himself having to duck chairs being thrown at his head while simultaneously being called everything from a “retard” to a “pansy ass” to a “tonal catastrophe” by a taskmaster who rationalizes the abuse on the tough love theory that his job is “to push people beyond what was expected of them.”
A perverse relationship evolves in which Andrew willingly breaks up with his patient girlfriend (Melissa Benoist) and surrenders any semblance of a social life in order to “Practice! Practice! Practice!” for the sake of his Svengali-like coach. However, such a narrow, self-negating path gradually takes a toll on his body and soul, as evidenced by bloody, calloused hands and ensuing bouts of depression.
Written and directed by Damien Chazelle (Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench), Whiplash is a wonderfully-electrifying drama very much akin to an overcoming-the-odds sports saga. Yet, it might be better thought of as a novel variation on the protégé-mentor theme typified by such relatively benign offerings as The Emperor’s Club, Dead Poets Society and Mr. Holland’s Opus.
The groundbreaking adventure has already generated considerable Academy Award buzz, thanks to universal critical and popular acclaim. Look for veteran thespian J.K. Simmons to land a well-deserved nomination at the very least, but don’t be surprised if his co-star Teller and up-and-coming director to be reckoned with Chazelle are invited to Oscar night, too.
A compelling, coming-of-age tale about a lifelong dream-turned-neverending nightmare, all because of a sadistic studio bandleader from Hell!
Excellent (4 stars)
Rated R for profanity and some sexual references
Running time: 107 minutes
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
To see a trailer for Whiplash, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7d_jQycdQGo
Beyond the Lights
Film Review by Kam Williams
Noni (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) has it all, or so it seems. After years of trying to make it, the emerging pop singer is finally on the brink of superstardom, thanks to several hit singles she recently released, duets with her famous rapper boyfriend, Kid Culprit (Machine Gun Kelly).
Nevertheless, when we meet Noni in the midst of a whirlwind tour of appearances on award shows, she’s secretly miserable and seriously considering suicide. That’s because every step of her assault on showbiz has been dictated by her abusive mother, Macy (Minnie Driver), the proverbial stage-mom from Hell.
Noni no longer recognizes her real self in the mirror underneath the purple hair extensions, the provocative wardrobe, and the phony smile that masks the hard cold truth about a vulnerable soul at the end of her rope. Then, just as she’s set to launch herself from the balcony of a penthouse suite at the posh Beverly Hills Hotel, fate intervenes in the person of Kaz (Nate Parker), the quick-thinking LAPD officer assigned to protect her from the paparazzi and overzealous fans.
Springing into action, he grabs an arm and pulls Noni back over the rail. Now that she has been afforded a second chance at life, one can’t help but wonder whether she’ll wise up and declare her independence from her miserable misanthrope of a mother? Or, will she notice that the right man for her might be the handsome hunk with bulging biceps who saved the day, even if he’s not a rich celebrity like the unreliable bad-boy she’s currently dating?
These are the foremost questions subsequently explored by Beyond the Lights, a steamy romantic romp written and directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood (The Secret Life of Bees and Love & Basketball). Don’t be duped into thinking that you’ve seen this same story somewhere before, given how the plot is vaguely reminiscent of Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner’s The Bodyguard (1992).
Beyond the Lights unfolds in a unique fashion all its own. This amorous tale of female empowerment might be better thought of as an engaging blend of hip-hop performances and soap opera drama that’s at its best when leads Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Nate Parker generate beaucoup chemistry while sharing the screen.
Love in the time of hip-hopera!
Very Good (3 stars)
Rated PG-13 for sexuality, profanity, suggestive gestures, partial nudity and matures themes
Running time: 116 minutes
Distributor: Relativity Media
To see a trailer for Beyond the Lights, visit: