DVD Review - District 13

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the plot of District 13 (original French title Banlieue 13) is a little more interesting than the average martial arts action flick. Not that its Seven Samurai or anything of that calibre, but nevertheless there is a concerted effort to touch on several resonant themes. Foremost of those is the divide between rich and poor, or perhaps more specifically, the middle-class and the underprivileged.

District 13 itself is a walled off area of an alternate Paris, set in 2010 (remember this film is from 2004, so that was still a little way off then rather than a few months). The reason for this isolation is a rising crime rate which the authorities are unable to deal with: instead, they shut themselves off, hoping to restrict criminal elements to containable ghettoes.

The BBC World Service recently ran a program on South Africa as part of its 'Islands' series, with a focus on the rise of high-security residential compounds. This in effect creates 'islands' cordoned off from the world outside, a perhaps understandable action in as dangerous a place as South Africa.

On the other hand, as the presenter discussed, this has unpleasant echoes of apartheid. Rather than attempting to integrate, those who can afford to simply disengage, hiding from their erstwhile neighbours out of fear for their property and their lives.

I can entirely sympathise with that attitude, having been a victim of crime myself a few times, but it does raise those uncomfortable questions: is the best way to deal with crime to try and shut out the poor who are perceived as responsible, or is this giving up on society?

District 13 explores that question through the character of Leito (played by David Belle) a resident trying to do the right thing. He wants to clear his area of drugs and crime, but gets no help from the outside world: police stations and schools have been closed down. As he says later in the film, "is it my fault I was born here?" Leito and the rest of district 13 have been condemned to poverty and crime, without even the possibility of one day escaping through education. Clearly the filmmakers are trying to make a point, as becomes ever clearer as the plot unfolds.

Social commentary aside, this is an action film, and a beautifully choreographed one at that. It is French, and perhaps unsurprisingly, therefore benefits from the French sport of parkour, also known as free running. David Belle demonstrates his mastery of parkour early on (he happens to be the guy who invented it in the first place), with a chase scene reminiscent of that other major exhibition of free running two years later, Casino Royale (featuring another of parkour's founders, Sébastien Foucan).

Alongside Leito, another acrobatic protagonist is introduced, this time a policeman, Captain Damien Tomaso. The man of law is just as talented as the man of the street, though his training is more clearly in martial arts rather than parkour. The actor who plays him, Cyril Raffaelli (also credited as the film's choreographer, something he's done plenty of times before), is somebody I recognised from an excellent Jet Li film, Kiss of the Dragon. He is just as good in this, flipping and kicking his way through hordes of assailants.

That also sets up the old dynamic between the law-abiding cop and his streetwise guide through the world of the ghetto. Equally clichéd is the use of the Ultimate Fighting Championship as the epitome of violence, a rather outdated concept by this point. Admittedly, the clip they show the head antagonist watching is one of the most violent moments in UFC history, when Tank Abbott knocked out Steve Nelmark in Ultimate Ultimate '96.

District 13 delivers not one but two impressively talented physical performers in roles that fully explore their abilities. Great action sequences and a bit of social commentary make for an entertaining watch. Definitely worth your while.

DVD Review - Animalympics

Like most people who at all rate this film, I've loved Animalympics since my childhood. It has become something of a mythical film for me because I've never found it on DVD. At least, until 2007: that year it was released in Germany (where it is called Die Dschungel-Olympiade, which translates - as you've probably guessed - to 'The Jungle Olympics'). It has both English and German audio, so for those of you who don't speak German, don't worry. ;)

Probably the main three things of note are that it features Billy Crystal's voice talents, music from Graham Gouldman (of 10cc fame) and the director was the same guy who did Tron, Steven Lisberger. The interview with him (looking very hirsute) on the DVD is especially interesting. It reveals just how much work went into the film, not to mention skill. Lisberger frequently laments how pen and ink is a lost art in today's world of digitally enhanced animation.

Originally the intention was to produce a series of short clips for the Olympics coverage in the US. Each clip featured various animals competing in the related events, providing plenty of comic potential. Lisberger's company was also going to provide the title animations for the various events.

Unfortunately, President Carter announced that due to the invasion of Afghanistan the previous year, the US would be boycotting the 1980 Moscow Olympics. It was a crushing blow for Lisberger, whose short animations now had no accompanying broadcast. The clips didn't go to waste, instead being strung together into a feature-length animation, but it was very much a case of right place, wrong time.

The songs are just as great as I remember, and the animation remains beautiful. Graham Goldman ranges from disco funk to ballad, each song naturally backed by animation. In effect, this was an early example of the music video, and for many the soundtrack LP was a disguised 10cc album (though Goldman never acknowledged it as such).

It would be interesting to know would might have happened if the Olympics hadn't been boycotted that year: this could have been a big success. As it was, Animalympics has become more of a cult film than an aging blockbuster.

DVD Review - The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (Animated)

I re-watched the animated film last night, which must be the first time in at least ten years. However, when re-reading the books over the last two weeks, it was the animated film that stuck in my mind whilst reading The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, and in a variety of ways, the animated film is more in keeping with the book than either the series or the more recent Disney release (my review of that here). One instance where the animated film is the only one of the three to follow Lewis is found in Aslan's camp:

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, p129:"And so," continued the Witch, "that human creature is mine. His life is forfeit to me. His blood is my property."

"Come and take it then," said the Bull with the man's head in a great bellowing voice.

In the BBC series, the same challenge is made, but this time by a faun. In the new film, it is Peter himself who says it. A very minor scene, but its interesting that each version went a different route. It may be that a bull with a man's head was a rather bizarre image, perhaps even difficult to recreate in a live-action setting (though this would only pose a problem for the BBC series, as no doubt the CGI of today’s version could easily produce such a creature).

That bull is not the only unusual creature in the animated film; amongst the statues in the Witch's castle are also a flying tiger, a tiger with a unicorn's horn, and a man with the head of an eagle. This trend of genuinely fantastical beings is continued into the battle sequence, which features perhaps the weirdest battle ever seen on the screen: at the opening of the battle sequence to the far left of the view, a giant yellow duck, gripping a weapon in its wing, fights with a grim-faced tree. Such license is one of the advantages in animation, particularly a children's cartoon.

The interpretation of Mr Tumnus is similarly in keeping with a cartoon. Red-skinned, green-haired, and literally prancing like the goats who provide his lower half, we see him scampering around Lucy, eventually alighting on top of the lamp post. His initially devious is emphasised to a greater degree than usual, with sidelong glances and a malicious smile as he prepares his deception of Lucy. Rather than sending her to sleep, he follows his first rousing tune with a melody that sends her into a trance (from which he has to snap his fingers to free her). The Tumnus of the series or the film does not, in my opinion, make a similarly large transition from cruel to kind; the Tumnus is the animated film is the only one who initially appears genuinely wicked.

Mr Beaver is quite different from the new film or the series, as he does not have a regional accent (West Country in the BBC series, cockney in the new film). Instead, he is voiced by Arthur Lowe (who sadly died three years later in 1982), best known as the upwardly mobile Captain Mainwaring from Dad's Army. Lowe plays the character in similarly clipped tones to Mainwaring, complete with pipe, while Mrs Beaver also speaks with an upper class voice. Religious comments like Aslan being 'the son of the Emperor-across-the-sea' are still there, though still no mention of Lilith (which from what I've read and seen of Narnia adaptations only occurs in the 1967 TV series).

On the approach to the beaver's house, Edmund has flashbacks of the White Witch offering him Turkish Delight. Significantly, it is not Edmund who first suggests Turkish Delight, but the Witch herself. His flashback causes him to salivate and lick his lips in anticipation. This is in keeping with the description of the Turkish Delight in the book, where it sounds rather like the Witch gets Edmund addicted to them, as if they were a Class A drug, in order to get him to do her bidding:

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, p38: At last the Turkish Delight was all finished and Edmund was looking very hard at the empty box and wishing that she would ask him whether he would like some more. Probably the Queen knew quite well what he was thinking; for she knew, though Edmund did not, that this was enchanted Turkish Delight and that anyone who had once tasted it would want more and more of it, and would even, if they were allowed , go on eating it till they killed themselves

The White Witch is also properly white, again following the description in the book; "Her face was white – not merely pale, but white like snow or paper or icing sugar, except for her very red mouth" (p33). The BBC series attempted to follow suit, Barbara Kellerman sporting the necessary make-up, but the new film chooses to simply make her pale (though I think this probably works better than a bright white Tilda Swinton would have done, so a wise decision). I found the vocal performance of Sheila Hancock to be slightly less pantomime than Barbara Kellerman, but as its a cartoon, there is a higher threshold on the ridiculous – therefore, not a fair comparison.

The escape from the Beaver's house is again distinct from the BBC and Disney. Suspense is the most important element, with the view switching rapidly between the White Witch on her sledge, the ravening wolves led by Fenris Ulf (interestingly not named Maugrim in this version) and the party of children and beavers. The White Witch is only ever a short distance behind, able to see the children as they join the doomed fox and squirrels at their meal, still in sight as Mr Beaver spots her at the meal shortly after he, his wife and the children have left. Mrs Beaver strangely retains her apron throughout, but presumably this is to distinguish her gender from Mr Beaver, in the same fashion as Daisy Duck's hair bow.

In another difference from the BBC and the new film, and indeed the book, there is no Father Christmas (though the jingling of his sleigh-bells are heard earlier in the beaver's hiding place). Another missing character – or at least scene – is Mrs Macready, who does not chase the children into the wardrobe. Instead, the film cuts from the discussion with Professor Kirke straight to the third entrance into Narnia.

The weapons gifted by Father Christmas are now instead given by Aslan himself, whose echoing voice is strongly reminiscent of a character who would hit the screens five years later – He-Man. The sexist lines are also passed on to Aslan, who tells Susan and Lucy that "I do not mean you to fight in the battle", following the book's dialogue exactly in all but the speaker. Peter defeats Fenris Ulf, and receives the title 'Fenris-Bane' rather than 'Wolf's Bane', presumably due to the name change from Maugrim (then again, I haven't read the US version of the book this name change is taken from, so perhaps 'Fenris-Bane' occurs there too?).

In rescuing Edmund, Aslan does not merely send a few troops as in the series or new film, but an army. They almost manage to capture the White Witch, actually grasping hold of her arm, but as in the series, she and her dwarf are able to magically disguise themselves. The Witch's later sacrifice of Aslan on the Stone Table and his ensuing return was, in my opinion, more affecting than in the BBC series. There is greater celebration, and the rush to the Witches castle is well-interpreted. The BBC had Aslan literally fly, which now looks very dated indeed, whereas the animation simply has him run. However, this running is so fluid and fast, interspersed with great leaps, that it is almost flying, and works far better on screen.

My favourite part of the animation comes next, when Aslan transmutes the stone statues back to flesh. His breath flows across them, leaving a glimmering turquoise layer, almost cubist in its form, which is a beautiful visual effect. Back at the battle, Edmund's breaking of the wand makes real strategic impact, in a way in which I feel it did not in either the BBC series or the Disney film. This is because in both the BBC and Disney, shortly after Edmund's action, Aslan arrives and tramples the Witch (knocking her off a cliff in the BBC version). In the animation, while Aslan also arrives not long after, as soon as Edmund breaks the wand, all the combatants who had been turned to stone are instantly restored to flesh, in another pleasant visual effect (a sort of bright flash followed by a pause). Aslan then pounces on the Witch as in other adaptations, causing her to dissipate with a suitably 'evil' sound effect in a cloud of black smoke.

The animation then gears up for the ending, with the coronation scene, featuring Mr Beaver dressed in a costume that looks as though it was lifted from Disney's 1951 Alice in Wonderland cartoon. This is followed by a plump, middle-aged Mr Tumnus telling the now fully grown monarch's of the White Stag. This section struck me as a little off, because while the children are now shown as adult, they retain their childish voices – Edmund's high-pitched squeal, "Let's go!", sounds especially incongruous.

Unlike my recent revisiting of the BBC series, the animation did not disappoint. In particular, the music throughout was excellent and varied. It was also put to good use in numerous sequences, such as the chase from the beaver's house and Aslan's rush to the witch's castle. It was largely accurate, with a couple of interesting omissions, and Aslan felt truly imposing, thanks to his heroic voice. The DVD is available to buy here.

DVD Review: The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

I grew up with the animated film and the BBC version, though when the latter was originally shown on terrestial television, I was only 7 years old. I loved Narnia as a child, and hadn't revisited it for a long time until my sister gave me a new complete set of the books for christmas a few years ago. Being an analytical person by nature, I made certain to watch the BBC series again (digging out my old tape) before seeing the film, in order to compare the two.

I have to admit, the film is far superior to the BBC version. While I continue to have a soft spot for the BBC series, all nostalgia aside, the acting was pretty painful. Barbara Kellerman, who played the White Witch, could also be accused of massively over-acting her part – she seemed to think she was in a pantomime. The puppet for Aslan was laughable, robotically jerking along, the mouth flapping open and shut in a bizarre attempt to approximate speech. The beavers were equally hilarious, in overlarge costumes restricting their movement meaning they had to shuffle along, arms held aloft like furry dinosaurs.

Having said all that, the effects weren't bad for 1988. As a child, I thought it was magnificent. But unsurprisingly, it doesn't hold up to the CGI wizardry of the new film at all (compare the beavers, or the cartoon griffin of the BBC to the fully realised depiction in the film). In addition, the acting in the new film is infinitely superior (although the 'Scottish' housekeeper was less than impressive), in particular Tilda Swinton, who at no point descends into ham acting, and the children are much improved. Lucy of the BBC series was all agape, treating the whole thing like a school play. Today's Lucy is actually capable of acting, along with the rest of the cast.

Before I looked again at the BBC series, I would have laboured under the misapprehension that it was a work of genius, untouched by time. Believe me, its not – anyone who grew up with it and hasn't had a look since then, do so before imagining it an equal to the new film. It irks me to think a Disney film which has been touted as a Christian parable (though I would argue it is considerably less religious than the book, much to my relief – the overweening religiosity which plagued Lewis' writing doesn't poison the film) is a superior adaptation than the cherished BBC effort, but unfortunately I find it to be undeniable.

I still enjoy the series, because it was a part of my childhood and I'm extremely sentimental about these things – I'll be getting myself a DVD copy, if only to watch the cast reunion.

To go into greater depth on the film, there were numerous and significant changes to the plot of the book, many of which were positive. Firstly, the opening sequence; unsurprisingly for a children's book, Lewis didn't go into any detail about the horrors of civilians in warfare. This also marks the first instance of a new backstory provided by the script – Peter's treatment of Edmund. In the book and the series, Peter is generally cast as a mature, slightly over-protective older brother while Edmund is (for most of the book) an entirely objectionable little brat. In the film, Edmund is softened considerably, and in turn, Peter is made far less 'noble', if thats the word.

This is followed by numerous minor changes, such as the first entry into Narnia is caused by a hide-and-seek game – in the series and the book, Lucy's initial entry is due to exploration, not her search for a hiding place. The cricket is invented (perhaps to emphasise the 'Englishness' of the book?), as is the cricket ball through the window and knocked-over armour. Instead of Susan, Peter suggests taking the fur coats, and both Lucy and Edmund (in the opening two visits) are bereft of fur coats in the film whereas they were not in the book or series. One other little mistake is the White Witch's pigmentation – she should, as her name suggests, be a very pale white, not merely pale-skinned.

In addition, there were some pleasant little nods to those looking out for book references, with the Professor's apple (pointing to The Magician's Nephew, which focuses on the apple that the White Witch eats and that Digory brings back to his dying mother, later to plant it, becoming the tree from which the wardrobe is made), and the drawing of glasses and moustache on the lion statue (though I'm not totally certain of that, but seem to remember it from the book).

The main change, aside from the softening of Edmund and staining of Peter, comes with the rush from the beaver's home. First, Edmund leaves with his coat – the suffering of his cold journey to the witch, without a coat, was dealt with at length in the book. The party follows Edmund all the way to the castle, rather than briefly searching then returning to the house. Mrs Beaver does not spend hours preparing for the journey, the wolves are right outside rather than coming to an empty house, and there is an escape tunnel. The pub is another new detail (though an entertaining one), as is the character of the fox (presumably based on the old fox at the christmas meal). Needless to say, the fox's role in tricking the wolves is a further fabrication. Finally, the flight down the river, a major sequence, is entirely made up, along with the wolf encounter.

A few religious details are missed out, such as Jadis' parentage (that she is the daughter of Lillith, 'first wife of Adam', doesn't crop up in the series either). More importantly, there is no mention of the 'Emperor-over-the-sea' of whom Aslan is meant to be the son, and who was the creator of the 'Deep Magic'. The stone table section is not hyped up into Christian iconography, but left relatively pagan.

Another important change is the children's reluctance to take up their quest – there is no such hesitation in the book or series. The little scene where the animals have a christmas meal, much to the witch's dismay, is missing, replaced by the cunning fox. Much to my pleasure, the sexist commentary by Father Christmas was modified – previously, he told the women that 'the battle is not for you', but this changes to a general lament about the horror of war. Susan and Lucy are shown to have skill with their weapons, and Susan even gets to kill a dwarf (the one notable sexist comment is Susan's epithet remains 'Gentle', compared to the rather more impressive titles of the men. However, I can see why the script writers chose to keep it, albeit I'd rather they'd been braver and changed it to something less patronising). The battle is much extended, but as there was little focus on this in the book, there is plenty of scope to add detail.

Probably a few I've forgotten there, but you get the idea. The film was far from faithful to the book, but as has been mentioned, it was a reasonable adaptation. Less religious, less sexist, and arguably more realistic in parts (dialogue of the children, for example). Available to buy here.

Out of interest, has anyone seen the 1967 Narnia series? I didn't even realise there was an earlier live action version until checking through some old newspapers recently. Apparently, it was first shown on ABC television Sunday, July 9th 1967 at 18:15 starring Elizabeth Crowther, Zuleika Robson, Edward McMurray and Paul Waller as the children, Jack Woolgar as the Professor, Elizabeth Wallace as the White Witch, Bernard Kay as Aslan, George Claydon as the Dwarf, Angus Lennie as Mr Tumnus and Robert Booth as Maugrim. Ring any bells?