Coming before the patented Besson film-o-matic conveyor belt of identikit action thrillers Leon (known as The Professional in the States) in 1994 cemented Luc Besson as filmmaker to watch.
His first American outing after a trio of accomplished cult films (Subway, The Big Blue, La Femme Nikita) it's a great action thriller and at the same time a drama based around the growing relationship between an orphaned girl and the emotionally cut off man who comes to be her carer
The film centers around Jean Reno's "Cleaner" character who cameo'd in La Femme Nikita (although this is a different version of the same character rather than literally being the same), a professional hit-man who lives alone with his handler being the only person he knows.
He ends up taking in the girl, Mathilda (Natalie Portman) who lives down the hall after her family are killed by corrupt cops. She discovers how he makes a living and eventually convinces him to let her learn from him so she can avenger her baby brother.
The pair slowly grow closer as adopted father and daughter. Giving him the personal connection he's never had and her the caring father figure she has never had.
With strong performances all round, from Reno's stoic title character who loves musicals, Gary Oldman's unhinged corrupt DEA officer and of course Natalie Portman's startling debut performance. Showing a range well beyond her then 13 years.
Besson's style perfectly suits the film, zooms (with some great use of depth of field) and tracking shots work to emphasize moments of action & tension as well moments of reflection and emotion.Whilst the framing brings the feel of the French new wave of the 80s from which he emerged and is almost comic book styled at times.
In short a thriller that is guaranteed to bring a tear to your eye at the end. Just don't watch the trailer first, it gives basically everything away.
I have said it a number of times before but I believe that in amongst a basically legendary filmography that Jurassic Park is the time that Steven Spielberg knocked it out of the park. The time that he basically made a practically perfect film.
That's not to say that the like of Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Munich aren't all very good films but Jurassic Park is the perfect example of it's adventure blockbuster genre.
So let's have a look at some of the reasons why; these are some general thoughts as to write about each masterfully executed shot and moment would take a very, very long time.
The film opens with a deliberate slight of hand sight gag that demonstrates a fantastic confidence. Spielberg knows we've all come to see dinosaurs and so the film opens with swaying trees as something big heads towards us (the audience) and group of nervous and determined looking men. After a few seconds it's revealed to be...a forklift with a boxed cargo.
There are number of these smart visual cues within the film. Another great example is the Jurassic Park gate which is deliberate homage to King Kong, the peak of all creature features. My favourite comes right towards the end of the film as the "When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth" banners flutters in front of the roaring T-Rex. (Just, look past the fact it managed to sneak up on everyone!)
Seamlessly we move from this gag into something with an air of menace as the transfer goes wrong and we get a view, albeit a smartly restricted one of the dangerous that will be faced later in the film. From here it's on to a sequence of scence that establish the characters and start the wheels of the plot in motion. (A later spot of exposition is cunningly inserted as an explantory film forming part of a theme park ride). Crucially we get to know the characters before they are fighting for thier lives, including the supporting characters like Nedry & Muldoon.
So unlike so many of today's films we actually care what happens to people once the actions starts. These all tap into the themes that run through the film. Corporate greed, morality in science (the core themes of Micheal Crichton's novel - who worked on the screenplay as well), the power of nature and set up Dr. Grant in particular for Spielberg's trademark missing father and father figures themes. (Can you honestly say that a lot of a modern blockbusters having any themes beyond EXPLOSIONS? I'm looking at you, Mr Bay.)
We even get sly tip-offs. Note Grant's struggle with the seat belt in the Helicopter as he tries to connect two of the 'female' ends of a belt. Eventually he finds a way by tying the straps together. Only females present but life finds a way....
Following this we get one of the key sequences twenty minutes in and it's time for our first dinosaur proper.
The sequences starts by building anticaption masterfully as we watch the reactions of the characters to what they are seeing whilst crucially not seeing it ourselves. The looks of wonder lead the audience towards the same feeling as the music builds, then we get the shot of the huge creature they are observing and it's perfectly timed.
It's a technique used to great effect again as the characters witness the Raptors for the first time. We see the swaying foliage and the looks of horror on the faces of the characters but not the Raptors. In another canny move we are told that THE classic dinosaur, the T-Rex will appear, but we're not shown one yet. But we know it's coming. Anticpation is once again used to sway the audience as the early dinsosaur tour shows no dinosaurs.
Indeed once again Muldoon's tension is used to build the audience's as the tour passes the T-Rex paddock of the first time. Smartly this tension is allowed to pass unresolved.
(In fact the second creature we get a good look at is a sick Triceratops.)
Spielberg later demonstrates his mastery of suspense with the T-Rex attack sequence. (A sequence so good I might well write a full post just on that) It all kicks off with the by now legendary cup of water showing the impact of the steps from the approaching menace. (A trick so good Spielberg uses it twice in the same film).
Also look at the fence climb/power breaker sequence. A master class in the cross cut art of building suspense. Brilliantly finished off with a moment that shows judiciously used jump scares can be fantastically effective.
Again it's a case of showing something is coming, something is about to happen. But what? The audience feels the same panic as the characters., frozen with fear.
In general the pacing of the film as a whole is as sure footed as pacing within individual sequences. It flows and ebb,s starting with a snap then quietening down before settling into a pattern almost like waves as it builds to each set piece then allows space for the audience to breathe before building up again. Whilst always moving at a pace to keep you swept up in the adventure.
The film progressed CGI technology massively and it is very well done (note the details like the DNA code like pattern of light and the Raptor's face as it looks towards the ceiling) but crucially Spielberg was smart enough to also use a range of practical effects.
Effects which help ground the creatures in reality (there are more practical effects then you think. Pretty much everything that doesn't feature a dinosaur moving at speed or over a distance was done practically with animatronics) making it really feel like the dinosaurs do exist in the same time and space as the cast. Something so often neglected in a lot of more recent films. Everyone remembers the CGI in the film being so good because it's actually used a lot less than people assume.
Yes, it's not totally perfect (Lex's computer skills are handled clumsily, some of the spatial geography is a bit off) but it nails the crucial sense of wonder, excitement, fear, suspense, & elation that an adventure like this needs.
For want of a different way to say it, it has soul. It has a heart. It's not a cynical, technically proficient blueprint with an empty mind like say the Transformer's films. And next time someone says a director is the new Spielberg, ask yourself, could they have made Jurassic Park anywhere near as well as he did?
Ok, so I thought I'll once again try writing a few posts on here since I've had a few ideas and since we're still early into the year it makes sense to start with a preview of a few of the films I'm looking forward toward this year.
So in no particular order lets have a look see. First up is Jurassic World. Ok, the trailer is a bit hit and miss but the original film remains to this day one of my favorites and I'm still a sucker for dinosaur related mayhem it seems.
There are some interesting ideas at play which do riff on Crichton's original premise and theme of "just because you can doesn't mean you should" amongst others. Add to that a decent looking cast with rising star Chris Pratt and the hope is for a daft but fun effort.
Recently given it's title officially Spectre is the next Bond installment. Skyfall was an interesting thriller but didn't feel like a Bond film so with Sam Mendes staying in the director's chair it's going to be interesting to see if he goes back towards more familiar ground for the franchise or retains that 70s thriller feel.
American Sniper is already attracting a certain level of controversy over in the states over it's message but critical word is positive. I'm hoping it'll be something along the lines of Jarhead or The Hurt Locker looking at what it means to be a soldier under high pressure without necessarily taking a stance on the wrongs or rights of the wars being fought.
Micheal Keaton plays off his own legacy in Birdman as a former superhero star trying to relaunch a fading career. Inarritu;s film already has a very positive critical reaction and is tipped to do well in this year's award season.
After a lack lustre couple of years by their high standards it looks like Pixar are returning to form with the imaginative Inside Out.
Meanwhile Tarantino returns with Hateful Eight. I loved Inglorious Bastards, but was less keen on Django Unchained however QT's films are always worth watching and he's talking more often about retirement these days so we may only get a couple more from him.
Malick also returns with Knight of Cups. His films often split people but they're always look amazing and are a welcome bastion of slow burn in amongst so much frenetic output.
Terminator: Genisys is either going to be terrible ot quite good. (But I'm in the minority liking Salvation) Initial looks sere not promising but the trailer showcases a potentially canny timeline altering curve-ball recreating shots for the opening of the original film only to almost literally crash through it.
Pixels hopefully will have the wit and imagination of Wreck-It ralph and be a smart comedy fusing retro gaming with Pacific Rim's baisc plot!
Closing to release is Ex Machina which is Alex Garland's debut behind the camera. It certainly looks stylish and Garland is fond of playing around with expectations.
In on a totally different note look out for Night Will Fall coming up on Channel 4 towards the end of this month. A documentary which promises to be a moving and fascinating look at the efforts of filmmakers to document the Holocaust camps at the end of the second World War.
Back to lighter things we get more super-heroing this year as the Avengers return in Avengers: Age Of Ultron. Can it deliever on being the next BIG thing in the Marvel Universe? Whedon certainly has a strong track record and the cast by now really wear these roles.
I'm sure there will be surprises along the way, films that appear almost out of nowhere that i will love (like Brick and Winter's Bone) but in all honesty my most anticipated film comes towards the end of the year....
JJ Abrams style suits Star Wars much better than it does Trek and Lawrence Kasdan is on writing duties so he should recapture the feel of Empire and Jedi. At the end of the day it just taps into my inner child and I'm hopeful he won't be disappointed!
