AUGUST CINEMA RUNDOWN: PART 1

*An American Pickle (in cinemas) - ***
*Pinocchio (in cinemas) - ****

I’ve been slacking a bit lately - both when watching and writing. Since the end of June, I’ve failed to catch up on a substantial bulk of releases on streaming services. Both the critically lauded (‘Lynn and Lucy’ (2020)) and derided (‘Irresistible’ (2020), ‘Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga’ (2020)) have slipped under my critical eye. Meanwhile others such as ‘Clemency’ (2020) (shaping up as one of my 2020 favourites) have been seen, but not reviewed.

Perhaps my summer slack in film watching and writing is synonymous of the industry’s own slack in wake of the lifting of lockdown. UK cinemas have been allowed to open since July 4th, but only Odeon and Showcase chose to open their doors on that date; scraping by on re-releases of beloved cinematic classics (I’ve now seen ‘Jurassic Park’ (1993) for the zillionth time as a result!). 

Other chains such as Cineworld chose to stagger their reopening plans; shifting from July 10th to July 31st on the basis of a lack of new releases. To say the whole cinema relaunch has been haphazard is a joke.

August finally saw the theatrical release of Christopher Nolan’s ‘Tenet’ (2020). Delayed three times in the past 2 months, the film finally dropped on August 26th. I’ve often described Nolan as the “saviour of mainstream cinema” when it comes to creating cerebral, original content amidst the Hollywood cacophony of sequels, prequels and reboots. However, in Covid times, such a statement has never felt more physical. I just pray people - social distancing and all - head down to the local multiplex to support ‘Tenet’ in person. If we want cinema to survive that is…

I will review ‘Tenet’ here on the website once I’ve seen it one more time. In the meantime, though, I saw a fair few films at the pictures last month. Surprisingly Nolan’s blockbuster of the year isn’t the only movie playing at the Corner House...

First it was down with Seth Rogen, an eggscruuciaating Eastyern Euuropeaan accyent and a jar full of pickles in ‘An American Pickle’ (12A, 88 Mins). This enjoyably outrageous fish-out of-water comedy casts Rogen in a ‘Fight Club’-style double role. On one side, he’s Herschel. This is a Polish Jewish laborer waking up after being preserved in a vat of pickles for 100 years.

Greeting him in modern-day Brooklyn is his great grandson Ben (also played by Rogen) - his only living relative. He’s a freelance app developer with his own app “Boop Bop” that checks company ethics. Naturally adjusting to 21st century life proves harder than it looks…

The film is funniest when experimenting with typical “man out of time” tropes such as Herschel misjudging pop music. There’s a hilarious moment where he beats up a group of construction workers for putting up a poster for newly-flavoured “Vanilla Vodka” (loathed for killing the authentic Polish tradition of straight Voddy). Such a scene is a masterstroke in Keaton-esque slapstick. Later, Director Brandon Trost pumps up the stakes in a chase through the forests that has something of the reckless energy of the Coen Brothers.

Herschel eventually becomes an American symbol of free speech albeit for all the wrong reasons. When hosting a friendly university debate, he condemns Christianity and blasphemes against Christ. With Herschel despised by the public, posting un-PC Twitter rants and missing his immigration files, the Government soon tries to deport him.

Here proceedings are increasingly more farcical and frankly less funny. Meanwhile Rogen’s other role of Ben is sorely underwritten. Still it’s great to see Seth truly enjoying himself as he licks up the scenery as Herschel (ridiculous accent and all!). Along with definitely more than 6 laughs, ‘An American Pickle’ comes underpinned with poignancy and pathos. 

For all the bobbins absurdity of its premise, there’s a classically down-to-earth story of tradition vs. progression at the film’s heart. Of a man struggling to adapt to the changing delicacies of modern America (vanilla Vodka and “Boop Bop” app I’m looking at you). That and ideas about what it means to be Jewish in the 21st century (a scene where Ben camps out in a local synagogue is particularly moving). This is a very personal role for Rogen and he relishes it.

Reviewing Disney’s ‘Pinocchio’ (1940) for LeftLion back in May, I noted that the film managed to “shiver me timbers” through funhouse excesses of blow-up policemen, gurning clowns and red-faced statues showering children in tobacco. That is despite a universal age rating and Pinocchio not killing Jiminy Cricket, getting his feet burned off or hanged. 

The same is true of Matteo Garrone’s 2020 adaptation of ‘Pinocchio’ (PG, 124 Mins) which is closer to Carlo Collodi’s 1883 source material and does indeed feature the marionette boy doing all those things. Far creepier, though, is its menagerie of textured creatures. A woman with a snail’s body is a Del Toro-esque treat (unsurprising considering Guillermo Del Toro is currently working on a stop-motion version of the classic for Netflix). Meanwhile a Tuna with a human face provides the stuff of kiddie nightmares.

Garrone’s film differentiates greatly from the Disney version. Most significantly, the beautiful Blue Fairy doesn’t coo the immortal line “a lie keeps growing and growing until it’s as plain as the nose on your face”. That is when casting the spell that makes Pinocchio’s nose elongate.

I saw this movie on a sunny Saturday afternoon at Showcase; sitting behind a young family of four. As well as breaking any cinematic code of conduct, they were audibly repulsed by the young puppet’s revulsive mutation into a donkey. The fact that these Cronenbergian touches creep their way into a PG-rated family film is an astounding feat. This is certainly not a kids movie.

What it is is a terrifically physical fantasy. Where many modern fairytales prefer to create their creatures lazily on laptops, Director Garrone puppeteers his monsters with an abundance of rubbery practical effects and prosthetics. For example, a slobbery chimpanzee judge reminded me of Donald Trumbull’s sinewy and azure primate make-up applied to the winged monkeys of ‘The Wizard of Oz’ (1939). The other puppets of Mangiafuoco’s company also call to mind the grotesque “Muppets from hell” goblins from Jim Henson’s ‘Labyrinth’ (1986). 

Like that film, ‘Pinocchio’s world wasn’t carved by today’s CGI or green-screens. Its picturesque Italian sets and marionettes were chiseled with time, care and, most importantly, heart. Add to this a lovely performance from Roberto Benigni as Geppetto and this is a fantasy film with some real magic.