Mark Jenkins

'Dangerous Liaisons' Gets A Far-East Makeover

Mark Jenkins — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 22:03:00 +0000

Relocating Dangerous Liaisons, the 18th-century French erotic intrigue, to 1930s Shanghai is a bold move. And yet it's not especially surprising. In Chinese movies, that city in that decade frequently serves as shorthand for decadence. And what could be more decadent than two debauched ex-lovers cold-heartedly planning to destroy the innocence of not one but two virtuous women?

A 'Big Picture' Intently Focused On The Details

Mark Jenkins — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 21:03:00 +0000

The original French title of The Big Picture — an adaptation of a novel by American expatriate writer Douglas Kennedy — means "the man who wanted to live his life." That's pointedly ironic, since this existential thriller is about a person who seeks personal freedom by becoming somebody else.

'For Ellen,' With Something Distantly Like Love

Mark Jenkins — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 21:03:00 +0000

The centerpiece of For Ellen is the long-postponed meeting between a rock-band singer, Joby Taylor, and the 6-year-old daughter whose name is in the title. But writer-director So Yong Kim's wintry character study is primarily a solo act, punctuated by the occasional duet.

Played by executive producer Paul Dano, Joby materializes out of widescreen darkness in the shaky, blurry opening sequence. He's a rock-and-roll ghost — thin, pasty and barely visible.

An 'Ambassador' Of Sorts, But Hardly Diplomatic

Mark Jenkins — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 20:04:00 +0000

"If the Congo was the heart of darkness, this is the spleen."

That's how Danish guerrilla filmmaker Mads Brugger introduces the Central African Republic, the focus of his hidden-camera documentary The Ambassador.

Brugger — who toured North Korea under false pretenses for his previous film, Red Chapel — actually flatters his latest destination by comparing it to the noble spleen. If the CAR is not the most publicized African nation, that's not because things are going well there. It conducts elections, but can't be termed a democracy.

In A French Confection, A Hollywood Aftertaste

Mark Jenkins — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 22:01:00 +0000

It's summer in France, time for stressed urbanites to head to the beach and forget their problems. For the circle of friends featured in Little White Lies, however, this year's problems are a little more memorable than most.

Writer-director Guillaume Canet's moderately engaging ensemble piece begins in Paris, where coked-up charmer Ludo (The Artist's Jean Dujardin) leaves a club, climbs on a motorcycle and zooms into the path of a truck. His close friends gather at the hospital, where Ludo is in intensive care.