NYLON - November 2007 - (Page 106)

FILM STRIPS EDITED BY LUKE CRISELL NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN Considered by many an accessible door into Cormac McCarthy’s robust canon, the novel No Country For Old Men is a pageturning, gripping affair that skips like a stone across key McCarthian themes— symbolism, descriptive set-pieces, the relationship between good and evil—while never getting bogged down in any of them. And while the book’s brevity has been criticized by those who prefer McCarthy when he’s at his most Faulknerlike (two-page long descriptions of an ear of corn, and so forth) No Country seems perhaps the best (if most obvious) choice for adaptation into a movie; and the Coen brothers have done a great job of it. The trouble begins when salt-of-the-earth Llewelyn Moss (the riveting Josh Brolin), out hunting antelope, comes across the remnants of a shoot out. Among the bullet-ridden pick-up trucks and ﬂy-covered bodies he ﬁnds two million dollars in cash and a considerable amount of heroin. He takes the cash (come on, you would too), and thus instigates a man-hunt as he is pursued HOLLY Soaked in the saffron haze of summertime in Vietnam, Holly, a glacially paced yet harrowing examination of the sex trafﬁcking industry in Phnom Penh, quickly warps any tourist’s fantasy of a nation teeming with temples, lagoons, and rice paddies. Artifacts dealer Patrick—played with sublime American detachment by Ron Livingston—is distracted from his ambitionless expat existence by Holly (Thuy Nguyen), a 12-year-old prized for her virginity by the local businessmen (and women). Snapped out of his stupor by Holly’s plight, Patrick risks his reputation to protect her, dropping by the brothel and ﬁnding odd activities with which to lure the girl from her “job.” The ﬁlm, part of the K11 Project, an outreach organization named for the infamous child molestation destination Svay Pak, is propelled forward by the dark and fragile bond between Patrick and Holly, that, given its context, lends the ﬁlm a spooky suspense— and an unlikely hero. SARAH HAIGHT by an ex-Special Forces agent (Woody Harrelson), an aging police ofﬁcer, Sheriff Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), and a psychopathic murderer armed with an air gun meant to use to kill cattle (Javier Bardem). But, as is typical for both McCarthy and the Coens, who adapted the novel for the screen, there is much more going on here than a simple chase. And, as with the novel, it’s the cornpone character of Bell that elevates this story from a straightforward thriller to a somewhat profound study of a man confronting seemingly unassailable evil late in his life. It’s a theme that could be explored further, however: Word is that McCarthy ﬁrst turned the manuscript of No Country into his publisher at around 600 pages; that it was only published at 300 might suggest that a masterpiece was lost at the expense of commercial viability. Nevertheless the Coens have brought the major themes of the novel out expertly in a powerful ﬁlm that manages to be gripping and meditative at the same time. LUKE CRISELL before the devil knows you’re dead The title of Sydney Lumet’s new ﬁlm is derived from the Irish blessing “May you be in heaven in half an hour before the devil knows you’re dead.” Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke play brothers Andy and Hank who have decided to take their ﬁnancial woes into their own hands by teaming up to rob a local mom-and-pop jewelry store. Hank is still living with his daughter and ex, and has just begun sleeping with another woman. Though he is hesitant to commit to the robbery Andy eventually persuades him on the promise that the scheme is foolproof and violence-free. We quickly learn that Hank’s new lover happens to be Andy’s trophy wife and the term “mom-and-pop jewelry store” is quite literal—the business they plan to rob is owned by their parents. In a melodramatic move of squirm-inducing irony, their father makes it his personal mission to catch the thieves, thoroughly unaware he is hunting his own sons. Though their bizarre circumstances can be fun to watch in that peeking-through-your-ﬁngers kind of way, the brothers’ responses to their absurd positions are a depressing commentary on human nature that isn’t quite as easy to stomach. MALLORY RICE WAR/DANCEof northern Ugandans For the tens of thousands forced into militarized refugee centers as a result of an ongoing 20-year civil war, any kind of escape is welcome. In War/Dance, husband-wife documentary ﬁlmmakers Sean and Andrea Nix Fine focus our attention on three young members of the displaced Acholi tribe preparing to compete with their schoolmates in a nationwide music and dance competition. We are introduced to Dominic, a former boy soldier who has killed farmers with their own hoes, and who has become a preternaturally talented xylophone player. Softspoken Rose who sings even after having lost both parents to savage rebel forces. Nancy is a dancer whose father was chopped to pieces in front of her mother. The ﬁlm’s heavily aestheticized HD cinematography is stunning, at times distractingly so, coming off like the mutant offspring of a National Geographic special (of which the Fines have done several), a faminerelief telethon, and a Benetton ad. The result is so beautiful that it pulls your attention away from the day-to-day political problems at hand. In fact, much of War/Dance’s structure follows the familiar patterns of recent children-in- competition movies, and those choices threaten to turn the ﬁlm into a Mad Africa-Hot Ballroom, or Spellbound in stone huts. Formal problems aside, however, it is impossible not to be moved by the ﬁlm’s jubilant ﬁnal performances and the burgeoning selfconﬁdence of children discovering life beyond war. GREG ZINMAN BELLA Mexican writer/director Alejandro Gomez Monteverde triumphed at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival when his ﬁrst ﬁlm unexpectedly garnered the Audience Choice Award. But Bella looks nothing like a ﬁrst feature. This touching tale stars Emmy award-winning Tammy Blanchard in a radiant performance as a waitress who is ﬁred from her job the day she discovers she’s pregnant, and Eduardo Verástegui as a quiet, sensitive chef (and only soul around) who sympathizes with her plight. The two embark on a 24-hour life-changing journey as they grasp how much one’s present choices reﬂect your difﬁcult pasts. The message to accept life as it comes is clear just as Monteverde’s extraordinary ability is expressed in every shot. The surprise ending will leave you stunned yet relieved that Hollywood can still recognize talent like this. REBECCA RODRIGUEZ

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of NYLON - November 2007

Contents Editor's Letter Par Avion Behind the Scenes Contributors Stars and Stripes Forever Mass Appeal: Los Angeles Mass Appeal: Austin Mass Appeal: New York Mass Appeal: Sneakers Haute Stuff Private Icon: Slums of Beverly Hills Cult Of: Ralph Lauren Blue Label Memory Lane Nesting: Top of the Block Factory Girl: Road Rules Fashion Road Trip Fashion News Mania: The Price is Right Canned Heat Counter Culture: Universal Picture Private Icon: Jane Fonda Beauty News The Future is Now Smoke And Mirrors King of the Jet Set Rock America Country Death Songs A Fond Farewell Personal Investment Stranger Than Fiction Film Strips Culture Club En Route: The Grapes of our Content Miller's Crossing I'm Too Sexy The Perks of Being a Wallflower Tourist Attraction Star Maps: Fair Isle Shopping List Bag Check: Roam If You Want To

NYLON - November 2007

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