In this week's Expatica cinema section - in collaboration with Picturenose - James Drew reviews Lou Reed's 'Berlin', the "unmissable" 'Before the Devil Knows You're Dead', plus 'The Other Boleyn Girl', all now on release across Europe.

Lou Reed's Berlin

The year 1973, when Lou Reed was at the peak of his popularity, if not yet his powers, saw the artist release Berlin, an ambitious album chronicling a couple's drug-and violence-spattered descent.

Then, a critical and commercial disaster, the album subsequently gained cult status over the years, eventually coming into the remit of director Julian Schnabel (Basquiat (1996) and, more recently, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)) in 2006, who filmed the concert (and just the concert) over five different evenings in St. Ann's Warehouse, Brooklyn, New York, for posterity.

And it's only the concert itself that will be preserved because, unusually, there are no accompanying interviews, either with star or director, just an introductory post-titles on-screen explanation about the Berlin story.

But even Reed non-devotees may well forgive Schnabel the approach, because the classic album's dark ambience is wonderfully complemented by the abstract visuals of the director's daughter Lola and Emmanuelle Seigner, while Schnabel's unflinching, sure hand captures an extraordinary concert experience perfectly, with an enormous debt owed to lead camerman Ellen Kuras.

The audience is largely absent from view, which gives the experience a personal, intimate feel for the viewer, while the band, which includes original musicians such as lead guitarist Steve Hunter and young guest vocalist Anthony from Anthony and the Johnsons (check out his beautiful take on Candy Says, a perfect antithesis to Reed's customary grating-gravel tones), are obviously having a whale of a time. As a special bonus, Reed also includes the Velvet Underground retread Sweet Jane and his later composition Rock Minuet.

Pure cinema it may not be, but it's a cool gig.
85 mins.

The Other Boleyn Girl

British director Justin Chadwick, who won his spurs recently directing several episodes of the BBC's masterful adaptation of Bleak House (2005) before big-screen duties beckoned, gives the world Scarlett Johansson as Mary Boleyn, who sees her devotion to sister Anne (Natalie Portman) undermined by love and betrayal concerning the affections of King Henry VIII (Eric Bana), with their father Sir Thomas (Mark Rylance) desiring to advance the family’s status above all else.

Portman and Johansson unfortunately struggle with on-screen credibility , and the Peter Morgan screenplay from Philippa Gregory's novel takes more than a few historical liberties, but, thankfully, Eric Bana is on hand, and his turn as Henry is just about worth the price of admission alone, with his voice, long stares, and imposing walk giving us a man, truly, who would be king.
115 mins.

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

Having had a sporadic release schedule across Europe (and to celebrate its first Netherlands showing this week), this seems the perfect opportunity to remind Expatica readers just how much they have to see Before the Devil Knows You're Dead.

As one of the few truly great directors who appears to have kept all his marbles as the years have advanced, Sidney Lumet (12 Angry Men, Fail-Safe, Dog Day Afternoon, Network, Equus and many more) could do no better than this as an epitaph, but thankfully the octogenarian (83) is already hard at work on his next and still shows little sign of easing up.

Power to his elbow, because Before the Devil... (the title of which is based on the Irish blessing '...And may you be in heaven half an hour, before the devil knows you're dead') is one of the most harrowing, hand-in-mouth evocations of family breakdown ever committed to screen. It begins with two brothers, Andy and Hank Hanson (Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke), who are on the financial skids and decide to rob the jewellery store of their father Charles (Albert Finney), knowing that dad will get the insurance money, so it's a victimless crime, right? Oh Lord, no. Fancy knowing how bad things can really get? Watch Hoffman and Hawke deliver two seamless performances, backed up by a wonderful ensemble cast and water-tight script from Kelly Masterson, and you'll know soon enough. Unmissable.

123 mins.

James Drew
 

'Expatica's weekly cinema-review section is brought to you in collaboration with Picturenose.com'  

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(expatica 2008)