Netflix and various other movie rental and streaming DVD mediums are making it easier and easier to see films in the comfort of your own home. To go along with this YouTube, blogs and podcasting (which I am a huge fan of) all provide more information than you could possibly want to know about every topic you could dream up. A direct result of this for me is a avenue to see world film. I am not resigned to going to the local cardboard box of a movie theater and watching Twilight for the 10th time. Truthfully I have never seen any of the Twilight films.
I am so glad to see that so many film makers are taking advantage of both the new technology that makes getting your films out to the public easier than ever. I an avid fan of foreign this is an excited time for me. Where in the 90's and 00's Mexican and Indian films started to make small waves in American film markets, the 10's seem to belong to the Romanians and Australians. Once the curtain of communism was raised Romania has been producing a few wonderful films a year and even heavily competed for a best picture Oscar last year. Australia seems to come and go in the American eye when it comes to cinema. Right now there is a repertory company that is starting to come into its own and I am loving their output.
The film I am talking about on this blog is The Square. Written by Joel Edgerton and directed by his brother Nash Edgerton, The Square is a thriller in the vain of Hitchcock and the Coen Brothers. The film is about a married man cheating on his wife with the wife of a criminal. The lovers plan on stealing some money from the crook and burn her house down so no evidence can be found, then they can run off together and be happy. But as things would have it there are complications. One botched event turns into another and another. I couldn't believe how far the film makers would allow this story to spiral down.
All the performances in this film are good to great. David Roberts as the married man, Joel Edgerton as the thug husband and the absolutely beautiful Claire van der Boom as the femme fatale. I think the script is solid. It plays with the tropes of film noir without getting too cute. The Edgerton's also have a great ear for music in their films.
The Edgerton's are on the cutting edge of the Australian film market. They work under their label "Blue Tongue Films". Last year they made the wonderful crime family drama Animal Kingdom. The first time I saw The Square I watched it with a film-wise friend and we were commenting "oh, there's Scorsese's influence", "PT Anderson must be proud" and "I bet the Coen's are pissed that the didn't make this film". That is some pretty good company to keep or be compared to.
I love this film. My wonderful girlfriend bought me the Blu Ray for Christmas and we watched it the other day. She seemed to enjoy it as well. I will give The Square 4.5/5 stars. Check out the Trailer Park to see for yourself.
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