Latest news with #KazuoIshiguro
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘The Secret Agent' Review: Wagner Moura Makes a Stunning Return to Brazilian Cinema in Kleber Mendonça Filho's Masterful Period Political Thriller
An inspired streak of absurdism runs through The Secret Agent (O Agente Secreto) connected to an urban legend about a 'hairy leg' that moves autonomously, causing trouble in the northeastern Brazilian capital of Recife in 1977, when the country remained under military dictatorship. The leg turns up or is mentioned various times — being pulled from the messy guts of a large shark carcass; stolen from the morgue and disposed of by evidence-tampering police; tagged as the culprit in sensational tabloid crime stories; and literally kicking asses in a gay cruising ground, where men are getting it on under trees or on park benches. The rogue limb is a clever metaphor for the regime's persecution of the queer community, among other groups, including dope-smokers, longhairs and anyone else who might be automatically branded as a communist. The entire scene is a brilliant comic set-piece, starting with the gorgeous sight of chonky capybaras grazing in a field at night before shifting to the park, where all that al fresco friskiness is rudely interrupted when the leg strides into action. More from The Hollywood Reporter 'A Pale View of Hills' Review: An Overly Cautious Adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's Haunting Novel Sissy Spacek Shares 'Carrie' Audition Doubts at Spirited 'Awards Chatter' Podcast Taping in Cannes 'The Phoenician Scheme' Review: A Brilliant Benicio del Toro Leads Wes Anderson's Poignant Narrative Jigsaw Puzzle It's the kind of bizarro detour you don't expect to take in a period political thriller centered on a widowed father whose life is in danger. But moments of anarchic humor amid genuine suspense are exactly the kind of thing that makes Kleber Mendonça Filho's fourth narrative feature such a thrilling original. There's also a conjoined-twins cat, with two faces on one body; a woman experiencing demonic possession while being helped out of a movie theater showing The Omen; a less perturbed gentleman at the same screening getting a zesty blowjob in a back row while poor Lee Remick gets whacked by her Antichrist child; a kid so obsessed with Jaws he has nightmares but is too young to see the 14-certificate release; and a shark motif that even appears in an old black-and-white Popeye episode. Oh, did I mention it takes place during Carnival week, when revelers pack the streets by the hundreds of thousands and music saturates the air? But even that collective jubilation doesn't escape the specter of mortality. A broadsheet headline late in the film reads 'Death Toll of Carnival: 91,' as the pages are draped over the lifeless face of a contract killer in a pool of blood on a barbershop floor. The magic of the film is that all these incongruous elements fit organically into the larger picture, without ever diluting the tension or undermining the life-and-death stakes for the central character, initially known as Marcelo. He's played with soulful eyes and a cloak of melancholy and hurt by Wagner Moura, in a stellar return to Brazilian cinema after several years away. He's always been a good actor, but Mendonça Filho makes him a movie star. Despite its humorous flourishes and droll characters, The Secret Agent is a deeply serious movie about a painful time in Brazil's past, when people were disappeared in countless numbers, hired assassins haggled over rates, and even far-flung cities where the dictatorship was largely invisible felt its long reach. It's both of a piece with and completely different to Walter Salles' Oscar winner from last year, I'm Still Here, the main action of which takes place in Rio at the start of the '70s. Mendonça Filho's gift for exploring Brazil's complex sociopolitical realities in idiosyncratic ways was already apparent in Neighboring Sounds, Aquarius, and especially Bacarau, an anti-colonialist Western in which UFOs hover over a remote village mysteriously wiped from the map. But this new feature is his strongest yet and deserves to lift him into the ranks of the world's top contemporary filmmakers. The previous work that now feels almost like a companion piece to The Secret Agent is the elegiac 2023 documentary Pictures of Ghosts, about the director's childhood home in Recife and the now-vanished movie palaces where he found his calling. The seven years he spent making that film while poring over city archives is a significant part of the seed from which this new movie sprouted. It opens with Marcelo pulling in for gas in his yellow VW at a middle-of-nowhere station, where he's startled to see a dead body lying on the gravel in the blazing sun, only partly covered by a sheet of cardboard. He learns the man was shot by the night-shift attendant while attempting to rob the place, and the police are too busy with Carnival to come, though the stench attracts wild dogs. But two cops do pull in, showing no interest in the corpse. Instead, one of them does a close inspection of Marcelo's documents and car, looking for drugs, weapons or any kind of infraction. Finding nothing, the cop puts out his hand for a police fund donation. That scene clues us in that Marcelo is already on the authorities' radar. It also explains the urgency once he arrives in Recife to get things sorted and get out. The unofficial mayor of a tight-knit leftist community, 77-year-old Dona Sebastiana (Tânia Maria, wonderful), sets him up in an apartment and provides an envelope full of cash and details for a contact who can help facilitate fake IDs for himself and his son. Marcelo's late wife's parents have been taking care of young Fernando (Enzo Nunes) while he's been away. His father-in-law Alexandre (Carlos Francisco) is one of a handful of disarming characters, along with voluble Dona Sebastiana (historically the patron saint of death), who give the movie a buoyancy that works in lovely counterpoint to the corrosive fear driving the plot. Alexandre works as a projectionist at one of the movie palaces revisited in Pictures of Ghosts; scenes in the booth as well as posters in the lobby and outside provide a fresh hit of the affection for the moviegoing experience that was so intoxicating in the doc. Only gradually does it become clear that Marcelo (whose real name is Armando) made an enemy of Ghirotti, a crooked federal official from Sao Paolo, who stripped public funding from the university research department he headed. He condescendingly tells Marcelo's team to focus on work more in line with local business concerns, like tanning cow hides, and leave the sophisticated technological developments like lithium batteries to the more advanced experts in the southern cities. Marcelo has already patented lithium batteries, which doesn't go over well. He manages to hold his tongue during an uncomfortable dinner in which Ghirotti gets drunk and dismisses the Recife research team's work. But Marcelo's wife, Fatima (Alice Carvalho), lets loose with an angry tirade that turns into a physical altercation. Marcelo has explained her death to Fernando as the result of pneumonia, though the suspicion lingers that Ghirotti might have had her iced. The part of the movie in which Mendonça Filho jacks up the tension and gets to demonstrate razor-sharp genre technique comes when Marcelo is anxiously awaiting his and Fernando's fake passports from a resistance facilitator known as Elza (Maria Fernanda Candido), while two hitmen paid by Ghirotti, Augusto (Roney Villela) and Bobby (Gabriel Leone), arrive in town to track him down. The extended sequence where the killers get closer and closer to Marcelo is almost Hitchcockian in its tightly wound dread, made more agonizing by the raucous brass and drums of Carnival music. Perhaps the most daring trick Mendonça Filho pulls off is revealing the close of Marcelo/Armando's story through a present-day Sao Paolo researcher, Flavia (Laura Lufesi), who goes through audio tapes of bugged conversations and newspapers from the time to discover what became of him. But rather than cheating us out of a satisfying conclusion, it cuts a path to a profoundly affecting one when Flavia travels to Recife to share her findings with the now adult Fernando (also played by Moura), who runs a blood bank. That medical facility occupies the spot of a phantom movie theater. Expertly chosen music gives a rhythmic pulse to much of the action in a 2-hour-40-minute film that never drags. The atmospheric score by Tomaz Alves Souza and Mateus Alves has exquisite passages steeped in mystery and sorrow, combined with an eclectic mix that ranges from the festive Carnival bands to international hits like Chicago's 'If You Leave Me Now' and Donna Summer's 'Love To Love You Baby' to Brazilian songs of the period, notably a swoony number that Marcelo plays on the stereo when he first settles into his Recife apartment, which amplifies the emotion of his hometown return. Shot with Panavision anamorphic lenses in the slightly saturated colors of film stock from the era, the movie looks ravishing, every frame packed with interesting details thanks to the expert production and costume design of Thales Junqueira and Rita Azevedo, respectively. Enlivened by a populous, almost Altman-esque gallery of characters — way too many to mention — played without a single false note, and by the strong sense of a community pulling together for safety from the oppressive forces outside, the movie luxuriates in an inebriating sense of time and place that speaks of Mendonça Filho's intense love for the setting. It's a major achievement, and for my money, sure to be one of the best films of the year. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 'The Goonies' Cast, Then and Now "A Nutless Monkey Could Do Your Job": From Abusive to Angst-Ridden, 16 Memorable Studio Exec Portrayals in Film and TV The 10 Best Baseball Movies of All Time, Ranked
Asahi Shimbun
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Asahi Shimbun
Ishiguro talks about movie based on his Nagasaki novel
Kazuo Ishiguro, front, and the cast of "A Pale View of Hills" acknowledge the applause May 15 at the Cannes Film Festival (Haruto Hiraoka) CANNES, France—The movie depicting survivors of the Nagasaki atomic bomb based on a novel by Nobel laureate Kazuo Ishiguro drew thunderous applause at the Cannes Film Festival at a recent screening. Ishiguro, who won the Nobel Literature Prize in 2017, published 'A Pale View of Hills' in 1982. It touches upon the lives of those in Nagasaki after the dropping of the atomic bomb on Aug. 9, 1945. The novel is focused more on how the hibakusha strove to rebuild their lives rather than on the devastation caused by the bomb. The movie, directed by Kei Ishikawa, is a look back on the life of the protagonist Etsuko who eventually moves to Britain from her native Nagasaki. Ishiguro himself was born in Nagasaki, but he and his family moved to Britain when he was young. The movie, screened at Cannes on May 15, is entered in the Un Certain Regard section. Ishiguro, who also served as an executive producer of the movie, said it was important that its release came in the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. In an interview with The Asahi Shimbun, Ishiguro said he wrote the novel because he wanted to do something about the many negative stereotypes of Japan in Britain as a war enemy. He added that he avoided writing about the damage caused by the bomb because he felt that since he was only in his mid-20s when he wrote 'Pale View' he was not yet qualified to write about the tragedy of war. Ishiguro said he focused on the effects on each individual from a major event that an insignificant individual could not control as well as about the process by which people recover through the courage to make their lives a little better even with the scars that they carry. He felt that theme had a universal quality. The movie also does not show any actual damage from the bomb, but the scars of those in the movie are expressed through their conversation with others. They strive to better their lives while also praying for the rebuilding of Nagasaki. Their conversations contain such words as 'hope,' 'dawn' and 'awakening.' Ishiguro recalled feeling surprised that the movie was very similar to how he described the war in his novel. He added that it was likely difficult for a Japanese in 1980, when he wrote the novel, to think about the war and why the atomic bomb was dropped on Japan because of the still bitter memories many held. He said it was easier for him to write about it living in Britain. He added that in the same way, Ishikawa could distance himself from the war since he is still in his 40s. Touching upon the fact that his mother died in 2019, Ishiguro raised concerns about the day when there will be no people with actual experience of the war. He said he felt as though the war had become a myth from the distant past. Ishiguro added there was a need to find new ways of describing the war so that children and young people will become interested by relating it to what is occurring today rather than describing only the fear and anger felt by the victims. The movie will be released in Japan in September. Kazuo Ishiguro responds to an interview with The Asahi Shimbun in Cannes, France. (Haruto Hiraoka)
South China Morning Post
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Cannes 2025: author Kazuo Ishiguro on films, adapting his books and becoming Homer
Kazuo Ishiguro's mother was in Nagasaki when the atomic bomb was dropped. Advertisement When Ishiguro, the Nobel laureate and author of Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go, started writing fiction in his twenties, his first novel, 1982's A Pale View of Hills, was inspired by his mother's stories, and his own distance from them. Ishiguro was born in Nagasaki but, when he was five, moved to the UK with his family. A Pale View of Hills marked the start of one of the most lauded writing careers in contemporary literature. And, now, like most of Ishiguro's other novels, it is a film, too. Kei Ishikawa's film by the same name premiered on May 15 at the Cannes Film Festival in its Un Certain Regard section. The 70-year-old author has been here before; he was a member of the jury in 1994 that gave Pulp Fiction the Palme d'Or. 'At the time it was a surprise decision,' he says. 'A lot of people booed.' Ishiguro is a film watcher and sometimes maker, too. He penned the 2022 Akira Kurosawa adaptation Living. Advertisement Movies are a regular presence in his life, in part because filmmakers keep wanting to turn his books into them. Taika Waititi is currently finishing a film of Ishiguro's most recent novel, Klara and the Sun (2021).
New Indian Express
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New Indian Express
Kazuo Ishiguro: ‘When you go from book to film, that's a fireside moment'
CANNES, France: Kazuo Ishiguro 's mother was in Nagasaki when the atomic bomb was dropped. When Ishiguro, the Nobel laureate and author of 'Remains of the Day' and 'Never Let Me Go,' first undertook fiction writing in his 20s, his first novel, 1982's 'A Pale View of Hills' was inspired by his mother's stories, and his own distance from them. Ishiguro was born in Nagasaki but, when he was 5, moved to England with his family. 'A Pale View of Hills' marked the start to what's become one of the most lauded writing careers in contemporary literature. And, now, like most of Ishiguro's other novels, it's a movie, too. Kei Ishikawa's film by the same name premiered Thursday at the Cannes Film Festival in its Un Certain Regard section. The 70-year-old author has been here before; he was a member of the jury in 1994 that gave 'Pulp Fiction' the Palme d'Or. 'At the time it was a surprise decision,' he says. 'A lot of people booed.' Ishiguro is a movie watcher and sometimes maker, too. He penned the 2022 Akira Kurosawa adaptation 'Living.' Movies are a regular presence in his life, in part because filmmakers keep wanting to turn his books into them. Taika Waititi is currently finishing a film of Ishiguro's most recent novel, 'Klara and the Sun' (2021). Ishiguro likes to participate in early development of an adaptation, and then disappear, letting the filmmaker take over. Seeing 'A Pale View of Hills' turned into an elegant, thoughtful drama is especially meaningful to him because the book, itself, deals with inheritance, and because it represents his beginning as a writer.
Malay Mail
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Malay Mail
Kazuo Ishiguro goes cinematic: Quiet classic ‘A Pale View of Hills' gets its Cannes close-up
CANNES, May 17 — Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro's first novel, set in post-war Nagasaki and 1980s England, needed to be made into a film while there were still some of Japan's World War Two generation alive to share their stories, director Kei Ishikawa told Reuters. 'The hurdles were high, but I felt strongly that if I had the chance to make the movie, I should do it now,' Ishikawa said at the Cannes Film Festival, where A Pale View of Hills is competing in the second-tier 'Un Certain Regard' category. 'In a few years' time, we might not be able to get to hear their stories, and that weighed heavily on me,' said the Japanese director, whose 2022 film A Man premiered at the Venice Film Festival. A Pale View of Hills intertwines the central character Etsuko's memories of life in Nagasaki after the atomic bombing in 1945 with her interactions with her daughter in 1980s Britain. The film, which stars Suzu Hirose and Yoh Yoshida, premiered yesterday, with The Hollywood Reporter describing it as a Cannes hidden gem. Adapted for new generation Ishiguro, an executive producer on the film, is also in Cannes. Adapting the novel, which he wrote when he was 25, was different from taking his other books, including The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go, to the big screen, he told Reuters. 'Not just because it's so very personal, but because at the time when I wrote the book, it was just 35 years after the end of the Second World War,' the Japanese-born British author said. Now there have been at least two generations since the one that experienced the war that ended 80 years ago, he said. 'For me, that's a very special thing. Possibly this is the first time maybe the Japanese people are prepared to look carefully at those experiences,' said Ishiguro. He praised Ishikawa, 47, for making a film that was relevant to younger audiences from what he called an 'apprentice book'. 'He's made the movie really for today's audience, for his generation and the generation actually even younger than him,' said Ishiguro, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2017. Director Ishikawa said he hoped the film would also alter foreign perceptions of Japanese women, who 'are often seen as demure, walking a step behind their husbands'. But that's not the case at all, he said. 'There were definitely such strong women in that era,' he said. 'We've made this film from our own lived experiences and I believe that if many people see it, it could really refresh the image of Japan itself.' — Reuters
