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Tag Archives: Ron Boyer
film/dvd review: “pan’s labyrinth” directed by guillermo del toro
AT THE CINEMA
With Ron Boyer
***** Pan’s Labyrinth (2006). If you’re curious, but haven’t seen it yet, now is the time to enjoy one of the truly outstanding films of the last year, recently released on DVD. Directed by Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro (No, not Benicio del Toro, the actor-the other one!), Pan’s Labyrinth was my favorite film last year. Nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Film, Pan’s Labyrinth lost out to the equally brilliant and socially-relevant drama The Lives of Others, arguably the two most important films of 2006.
Film Review: “Ten Canoes”. Directed by Rolf de Heer.
AT THE CINEMA with Ron Boyer
*** Ten Canoes. In this visually beautiful but wandering story-within-a-story by filmmakers Rolf de Heer and Peter Djigirr, we are introduced to the fascinating and magical world of an exotic and primitive people, the Yolngu Aborigines of Australia’s Northern Territories. Part anthropological field work and part epic ancient legend, the parallel storylines begin a millennia ago (about the time William the Conqueror invaded England), then use that time as a point of departure to visit the primordial past, the mythical Paleolithic “dreamtime” of the Aborigines. The twin stories unfold as an ancient aboriginal leader relates a much more ancient legend of his people, a parable of how a tribal leader in a similar position to his own once addressed the difficult moral and social problem confronting him, with the fate of the tribe hanging in the balance.
Film Review: Away from Her
AT THE MOVIES with Ron Boyer
“AWAY FROM HER”. Directed by Sarah Polley. Co-starring Julie Christie and Gordon Pinsent. Supporting roles by Michael Murphy and Olympia Dukakis.
Not long ago I had the pleasure of attending the Toronto screening for Sarah Polley’s directorial debut, “Away From Her”, based on “The Bear Came Over the Mountain, a short story by author Alice Munro. Now playing at local theatres, the film is the feature debut of Canadian actress-turned-director Polley, a former child actress best known for starring roles in film’s like Atom Egoyan’s “The Sweet Hereafter”. Here, as director, she tells a sad love story with a twist: a husband and wife who’ve passionately loved each other deeply since their youth are inevitably torn apart late in life by the devastating onset of Alzheimers.
