Chicago – The relationship between American families and their foreign maids is a subject that has been tackled in a variety of previous indie pictures, from Alejandro González Iñárritu’s “Babel” to Todd Solondz’s “Storytelling.” Yet in “Mammoth,” the English-language debut from Swedish-born filmmaker Lukas Moodysson, the material is dealt with in a refreshingly humanistic way, devoid of sensationalism (the story concludes with neither deportation nor asphyxiation).
Unlike an Oscar-winning social critique like “Crash,” which succinctly summarizes its overarching message in its opening line of dialogue, “Mammoth” dodges the opportunity to preach. Moodysson is confident enough as a storyteller to allow his characters to develop organically, without feeding them through the contrived machinery of a self-consciously moralistic plot. While his previous work, such as his stellar 2000 picture “Together,” blended comedy with pathos, this film delves into considerably darker waters, exploring the connection between globalization and alienation. A more fitting title may have been,...
Unlike an Oscar-winning social critique like “Crash,” which succinctly summarizes its overarching message in its opening line of dialogue, “Mammoth” dodges the opportunity to preach. Moodysson is confident enough as a storyteller to allow his characters to develop organically, without feeding them through the contrived machinery of a self-consciously moralistic plot. While his previous work, such as his stellar 2000 picture “Together,” blended comedy with pathos, this film delves into considerably darker waters, exploring the connection between globalization and alienation. A more fitting title may have been,...
- 4/21/2010
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Holiday festivities are about to kick into full gear, but you wouldn't know it looking at this angst-ridden release slate, since the closest we come to Christmas is Nicolas Cage's "Bad Lieutenant" doing a lot of "snow." Instead, planets are discovered, new moons rise and suns set.
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"Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans"
Ever since Nicolas Cage was shown clinging to his "lucky crackpipe," cinephiles have been jonesing for Werner Herzog's re-imagining of Abel Ferrara's arthouse cop thriller. After months of backbiting between Ferrara, who suggested that the film's producers "burn in hell," and Herzog's admission that he had never seen the original film, audiences will finally see Cage in the shoes of Terence McDonagh, the hopped-up, hopelessly bent detective who shakes down suspects and random pedestrians on the trail...
Download this in audio form (MP3: 18:21 minutes, 16.8 Mb)
Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [Xml] [iTunes]
"Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans"
Ever since Nicolas Cage was shown clinging to his "lucky crackpipe," cinephiles have been jonesing for Werner Herzog's re-imagining of Abel Ferrara's arthouse cop thriller. After months of backbiting between Ferrara, who suggested that the film's producers "burn in hell," and Herzog's admission that he had never seen the original film, audiences will finally see Cage in the shoes of Terence McDonagh, the hopped-up, hopelessly bent detective who shakes down suspects and random pedestrians on the trail...
- 11/16/2009
- by Neil Pedley
- ifc.com
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