The Immigrant (2013) - Cotillard scintillates in Gray's classical New-York storytelling

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Three mysteriously looking stars veiled in seriousness adorn this poster for James Gray's The Immigrant

Ewa and her sister arrive to the US from Poland in 1921 but are split up on Ellis Island, and Ewa winds up with a dubious man, hidden from the watchful eye of the law.

 

The Immigrant is written by Ric Menello (Tougher Than Leather (1988)) and co-writer/co-producer/director James Gray (Little Odessa (1994)).

Gray again here shows his gift as a sublime storyteller with a classical film and a story that could have been told 80 years ago as well. The Immigrant has beautiful cinematography (by Darius Khondji (Okja (2017))), production design and costumes. Fine performances from Joaquin Phoenix (Joker: Folie à Deux (2024)) and Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker (2008)), - but it is Marion Cotillard (The Dark Knight Rises (2012)) who once again astounds the viewer with a fully authentic turn as the Polish Ewa, a cowed but not beaten woman, who fights for her sister and her own life.

The Immigrant may seem only distantly relevant to some. For me it was a pure pleasure.

 

Related posts:

 

James Gray: 2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

The Lost City of Z (2016) - Gray's grand, adventurous Amazonia epic 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 16 mil. $

Box office: 5.9 mil. $

= Mega-flop (returned 0.36 times its cost)

[The Immigrant premiered 24 May (Cannes Film Festival, main competition) and runs 117 minutes. Gray based the story mainly on recollections from his own grandparents. Shooting took place from January - March 2012 in New York. When the film's investors sold the distribution rights to The Weinstein Company, against Gray's wishes, and when Harvey Weinstein demanded a different ending, which Gray refused to give him, the distribution was left in shambles, with the film only getting a very small and unsupported release in North America. The film opened #47 to a 44k $ first weekend in 3 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #18 and in 150 theaters, grossing 2 mil. $ (33.9 % of the total gross). The biggest market for the film was France with 2.2 mil. $ (37.3 %), with North America 2nd biggest and Spain 3rd with 464k $ (7.9 %). The film lost the Palme d'Or to Blue Is the Warmest Color. It was also nominated for 2 Independent Spirit awards, among other honors. Gray returned with The Red Road (2014, TV-series) and a Chanel commercial prior to his theatrical return with The Lost City of Z (2016). Cotillard returned in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013); Renner in American Hustle (2013); and Phoenix in Her (2013). The Immigrant is certified fresh at 86 % at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Immigrant?

The Green Inferno (2015) - Roth - of course - exhumes cannibal horror

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A snarling native Amazonian indigenous man with questionable teeth look positively fearsome on this poster for Eli Roth's The Green Inferno

A searching female graduate student from New York joins an idealistic group of activists, who venture to the Amazon jungle to save an indigenous tribe and some trees from the pending destruction of modern civilization. But the world isn't as they think.

 

The Green Inferno is written by Guillermo Amoedo (Que Pena Tu Vida (2010)) and great Massachusett co-writer/cp-producer/director Eli Roth (Cabin Fever (2002)).

Instead of the direct homage to the cannibal horror subgenre of the 1980s that one may have expected, Roth creates his own entry in the long-dead discipline, effectively unearthing it for a show: He builds a good, very entertaining story around a group of more or less insufferable idealists, (several of whom Roth humorously give Spanish accents.) A lot of typically Rothian, cynicial fun springs from the underlying misanthropy. And the film never pauses or gets dull, which is a feat.

No doubt there is something amoral about the very creation of films like The Green Inferno, (although it may have been more pronounced in the 80s, when real animal slayings were also integral to the cannibal movies,) but it seems fitting for an exploitation movie, which is supposed to be on the border region of what is moral (and not too concerned about stepping over that border.)

The protagonist Justine is played well by Lorenza Izzo (Feed the Beast (2016, TV-series)), SPOILER who in the end prefers to fall back on the tit of political correctness rather than inform the worldviews of the ever-'correct' New-York class with the actual, revolutionizing facts of her trip (about the savage tribesmen.) Richard Burgi (Hostel: Part II (2007)) garnishes in a small part.

Unfortunately the film's photography (by Antonio Quercia (No Filter/Sin Filtro (2016))) and aesthetics are not too exciting, just very contemporary, and another criticism: Ugly CGI-mega-ants instead of a male castration scene or another classic bestiality just isn't okay, Roth!

 

Related posts:

Eli Roth: The Last Exorcism Part 2 (2013) or, The Not So Last Chicken Exorcism (co-producer)
Aftershock (2012) - Extreme tastelessness in one of 2012's worst films (co-writer/co-producer/co-star) 
Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel (2011) - Stapleton's Corman doc. is among the year's best films (interview subject)
Inglourious Basterds (2009) - The Movies take revenge on Nazi scum (co-star)
2007 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]  

2007 in films - according to Film Excess 

Hostel: Part II (2007) - Roth's return to Eastern Europe is a wicked horror blast 
Cabin Fever (2002) - Eli Roth's awesome skin-rash-inspired breakthrough (co-writer/co-producer/director)

Roth gives a five-minute interview about the movie here

Cost: 5 mil. $

Box office: 12.6 mil. $

= Box office success (returned 2.52 times the cost)

[The Green Inferno premiered 8 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 100 minutes. The film is especially inspired by Ruggero Deodato's masterpiece Cannibal Holocaust (1980), which has a film within the film titled The Green Inferno. Shooting took place from November - December 2012 in Peru, Santiago, Chile and in New York. The film opened #9 to a 3.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it grossed 7.1 mil. $ (56.3 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Russia with 3.8 mil. $ (30.2 %) and Italy with 686k $ (5.4 %). The film was met with praise from horror writer maestro Stephen King and condemnation from indigenous peoples activist group Survival International. A sequel was announced but has not materialized. Roth returned with Knock Knock (2015). Izzo returned in I Am Victor (2013, TV movie) and theatrically in The Stranger (2014). The Green Inferno is rotten at 38 % with a 4.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Green Inferno?

Strangerland (2015) - Farrant debuts with creepy piece of Aussie dirt

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+ Worst $ Return of the Year: 0.01 Times

 

Nicole Kidman, just about unrecognizable, finds herself in a sandstorm on this unusual, curiosity-sparking poster for Kim Farrant's Strangerland

 

A family under pressure move to a small town in a heat-plagued part of the Australian outback, where their two kids after a while disappear, and the two parents deal with the troubling situation very differently.

 

Strangerland moves closer and closer to us like a creeping quiver as a parental nightmare and another film that rests assuredly in the local subgenre that I've dubbed 'Aussie dirt'; films that have oppressive story-lines (incest, drugs, abuse, murder and neglect are popular elements) set against Australian landscapes.

SPOILER The ending of Strangerland is left open, which is somewhat unsatisfying, - although I know what I think is up and down, (and it isn't comforting.) But the film is well photographed, by P. J. Dillon (Penny Dreadful (2014-15)), and it becomes a tense and fascinating watch especially due to its three stars, who all give outstanding performances: Joseph Fiennes (American Horror Story (2012-13)), Hugo Weaving (True Love and Chaos (1997)) and particularly Nicole Kidman (Billy Bathgate (1991)) as the afflicted mother is customarily intense and simultaneously realistic in her portrayal.

Strangerland is written by Michael Kinirons (Lowland Fell (2008, short)) and Fiona Seres (Love My Way (2004-07)) and directed by feature-debuting Kim Farrant (Bombshell (2008, short)).

 

Related posts:

 

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

 Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 10 mil. $

Box office: 0.1 mil. $

= Mega-flop

[Strangerland premiered January 23 (Sundance) and runs 112 minutes. Farrant has reportedly stated that it took 13 years to get the film made. It was shot in and around March 2014 in New South Wales, Australia. The film was only in release in North America for 3 days, in which is was #51 and grossed 17k $ in 15 theaters (17 % of the total gross). That was its 3rd biggest market. The two biggest were Russia with 22k $ (22 %) and Portugal with 18k $ (18 %). It additionally made 924k $ on home-market (Australia I guess, because it is an Australian-Irish co-production) video-on-demand, but it doesn't change its status as a mega-flop. Critics were divided on the film: Strangerland is rotten at 39 % with a 5.2 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Strangerland?