Review: Rescue Dawn

If you don't know anything about Werner Herzog, you may be a little surprised by what you find in Rescue Dawn. He is a German director, and not of the same school as the Hollywood breed. I've mentioned him here before. He does nothing stylized (besides shot composition), nothing glorified, nothing even dramatized in the sense of enhancement or melodrama. It is simply a reenactment. He just tells the story, almost as though it were a documentary. He relies on the strength of the story itself, which is a move I can respect.

That style is especially interesting for Rescue Dawn, as this is a story Herzog has done before. It tells about Lt. Dieter Dengler, who was a real POW during (arguably before) the Vietnam war. In 1997, Herzog released a documentary about Dengler's capture, imprisonment, and escape. Christian Bale does an excellent job as Dengler for Dawn.

The selection of Steve Zahn is worth noting, given his striking resemblance to Herzog's lifelong friend and frequent collaborator, Klaus Kinski. Especially where Zahn is not playing his usual jokester role, he is Kinski incarnate. Give him a shave and conquistador garb, and he would turn into Don Lope de Aguirre, of Herzog's Aguirre: The Wrath of God.

Both films deal with survival in the jungle, surounded by hostile natives, and slowly going mad in the process. Seems Herzog has a thing for wilderness and mania. See Grizzly Man, you'll get an idea of what I mean.

Speaking of mania, why is it that some of the most inspired artists are also some of the most insane? And successful film makers seem so singular in their ambition. They just want to make movies. Herzog is certainly a good example. He got his start making movies after he stole a camera from the Munich Film School.

If you haven't seen Aguirre, enjoy this clip. It is one of the closing scenes, when he is the sole survivor of his exploration party. His final speech is born out of madness, and includes a vow to conquer North and South America, find the city of El Dorado, and, "I, the wrath of God, will marry my own daughter and with her I'll found the purest dynasty the earth has ever seen."

Rescue Dawn is not a thrill ride, just a remarkable story. If you're in the market for one of those, enjoy. If you're not, go see She's the Man.

Review(s): In Theaters Everywhere

I see a lot of movies. Probably too many. Here are a few I've seen lately.

Transformers: See previous entry.

Take: Ultimately, though it had a redemptive message, and was very well made, it was too little, too late, to bring you back from the cold, dark place that film put you in.

Live Free or Die Hard: Quit possibly the BEST action flick of all time.

That's just in the last week. I've also seen...

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End: Potentially the most WORTHLESS movie of all time. Okay, I exaggerate, but an enormous production value can't make up for awful story telling. They are just desperately trying to tie up all the loose ends from the second one (also worthless).

Paris, Je T’Aime: Not mainstream, and that's because it's daring enough to break the conventional mold of what a movie should be. And you know what? It pulls it off superbly. Excellent movie.

Spiderman III: Over the top, even more than the first couple. The romance angle of the story was overplayed, I just didn't care after a while. And Peter Parker, when he bonds with the symbiote and becomes "Bad Spiderman", he mostly just becomes an emo kid. It's funny, but then it just keeps happening, and a joke overplayed is a joke nobody wants to hear anymore.

Ocean's Thirteen: It was great. Read an article where they said it was the movie they should have made last time (instead of Ocean's Twelve). I really liked Ocean's Twelve, but hey, it wasn't my movie. Thirteen takes a different angle on a couple things, in that in the first one, you don't really know how they pulled off the heist till after the thing is done, putting the viewer in the seat of an outsider, i.e. not part of the gang. You're just an admirer in fairly close proximity. Twelve was even more that way, but it was less noticeable because they were just having so much fun, that whole crew messing around in Europe. Thirteen, however, let's you in on the secret. It plays out pretty much like you're expecting. Not a lot of curve-balls. But people go see these movies for their unparalleled style, and this one isn't lacking one bit in that department.
P.S. My roommates and I dressed up for the premier.



Movies I still want to see this summer:
Rescue Dawn: Werner Herzog is nuts, and always delivers something interesting. This is a dramatization of a story he's already covered.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: Always fun movies, and I've read the books up to this one.
The Simpsons Movie: This had better be funny.
The Flying Scotsman: Not going to be anything groundbreaking, but it looks good.
Ratatouille: I always love Pixar movies, they're everything a family film should be.
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer: I don't even expect this to be good, but I'll probably see it anyway. Don't ask why.
Eagle vs. Shark: Stars one of the guys from Flight of the Conchords, an HYSTERICAL duo out of New Zealand.
1408: Some sick part of me wants to see this psychological thriller. I'm sure it's terrifying, and I don't know why I want to see it.
Bourne Ultimatum: I don't even really want to see this, I didn't like the first two. I know this is exactly what they are going for, but I feel like they are too gritty, they are too realistic. I can't root for an assassin, especially if he is believable. Even a reluctant one. But all my friends will see it, and I'll probably come along.
Stardust: Don't know anything about it, but it looks like fun.
Hot Rod: Andy Samberg is an HYSTERICAL man.
Hot Fuzz: I do and don't want to see this. Shawn of the Dead (cleanflicked) was one of the funniest and best written movies I've ever seen. However, this one is supposed to be even gorier than the zombie movie. Wow. I can't make any guarantees here, people.