The Queen of Versailles
In light of the recent Republican and Democratic National Conventions in which the American economy was especially emphasized by both presidential candidates, and several years into the recovery from the worst economic troubles the United States have encountered since the Great Depression, The Queen of Versailles is a relevant, and not to mention impeccably done, film. Fitting and well crafted, it is an in-depth look at the messy state of American financial affairs centered around one family's singular story. Produced by the documentarian Lauren Greenfield (who won Best Director at Sundance for the film), The Queen of Versailles was originally intended to be a piece about a family building the largest house in the United States, a Florida mansion inspired by the French royal residence, Versailles. The beginning of the film introduces us to the couple behind the construction, David and Jackie Siegel – the founder and CEO of Westgate Resorts, a timeshare-based real estate empire, and his wife, a much younger former model and mother of eight.
Greenfield captures how, as the lavish plans for building go underway, the same pursuit of cheap money and fast real estate that Westgate made its policy in order to climb to the top of the industry are the company's undoing.
As a result, The Queen of Versailles becomes a very different film. What was to be an exploration of the opulence of the upper crust instead transforms into a study of the effects of the crash.
The film's conflict is multi-faceted and demonstrates the deep impact of the economic crisis of 2008 not just on the upper echelons of American society, but also on other acquaintances of the Siegels' who are not of the same social standing. Two particularly interesting storylines that deal with the Siegels' limousine driver catch the viewers attention. He, too, lives in a comfortable home, but finds himself having to borrow a Bentley from the Siegels in order to drive other clients and keep his business alive – if even just briefly.
Yet perhaps the most fascinating storyline is that of Jackie's childhood friend from small-town upstate New York. Inseparable in high school, the two women ended up pursuing different careers and their lives veered off in very different directions – Jackie graduated from college, her friend did not; Jackie left New York, her friend did not. And, of course, we can't forget the more blaring difference: Jackie married a billionaire, and her friend did not. By the time Jackie goes back home to visit with friends and family, shortly after the crash, she finds her friend in dire financial straits, unable to make payments on a more modest home and facing the threat of foreclosure. Ironically, Jackie faces the loss of her home – or, better said, her palatial estate – as well.
In spite of myself, while watching The Queen of Versailles I found myself sympathizing with Jackie. She has an easygoing, pleasant presence on screen, and serves as a matter-of-fact narrator for her family's experience. David Siegel is a bit pricklier, proving that his wife may really be his better half. Rounding out the interviews are their children, who display varying degrees of responsibility, accountability and indulgence, and their longtime housekeeper, whose stories of her struggle to maintain contact with her family abroad and weathering out the financial storm with the Siegels' are affecting.
As Americans continue to climb steadily out of a recession so deeply affected by the housing bubble, The Queen of Versailles is not only pertinent, but also expertly done.
To Rome with Love
Woody Allen set the bar quite high with his last film Midnight In Paris, winner of the 2011 Academy Award for Best Screenplay. That being said, To Rome with Love pales in comparison, and what should have been a fully-fledged love letter to the Eternal City seemed more like a trite Hallmark card.
To Allen's credit, To Rome with Love features some of the best talent in Italy – most notably, distinguished actor Roberto Begnini, whom Americans perhaps best know for his starring role in Life is Beautiful (La vita è bella). Begnini plays an ordinary Roman citizen, Leopoldo, who goes to sleep one night in complete anonymity, and wakes up the next day to become a superstar celebrity, followed by paparazzi and under the glare of the media spotlight – even when all he has to show off is a morning shave and the most pertinent questions that he answers from journalists involve his daily routine.
Not only does the film feature the best of Italy's actors, but also its singers, including the renowned tenor Fabio Armiliato, who plays Giancarlo, a funeral parlor owner who can sing incredible opera – but only in the comfort of his own shower. Woody Allen, playing Jerry, a self-proclaimed visionary and retired music representative with a penchant for odd operatic staging – quite honestly, a thinly veiled version of Allen himself (as tends to happen when he writes parts for himself into his own movies) – tries to make something of Giancarlo's talent.
But, in the end, Jerry's whining monologues and incessant ramblings do little to add to the film. Sure, he sets up a truly hilarious situation by bringing Giancarlo onto the Roman stage in a mobile shower to dazzle the audience with his voice – accompanied, of course, by the sound of running water in addition to the orchestra. Yet, on his own, Jerry's contributions don't go much further than setting up a subplot. In fact, his whining got to be a detractor before long.
And here seems to be one of the film's weaknesses: the American actors and their plotlines seem lacking in comparison to these well-constructed, farcical and side-splitting Italian roles and plots. Indie sweetheart Allison Pill plays a bland tourist named Hayley, Jerry's daughter who falls in love with Giancarlo's son Michelangelo. Their dialogue was so stilted that it is scoff-worthy. Jesse Eisenberg plays a pathetic dupe of an American college student, Jack, caught in a love triangle between his girlfriend Sally (Greta Gerwig) and the alluring, but pretentious, wholly self-absorbed and sex-obsessed Monica (Page). The quasi-spirit of an American architect, John, played well by Alec Baldwin, seems to play Jiminy Cricket to Jack's Pinocchio. Ultimately, Jack gets his comeuppance and realizes just how good spirit-John's advice was, but all too late. The only redeeming part of this storyline is Baldwin's steady stream of one-liners. The rest is referential, affected speeches delivered unconvincingly by Page and company.
What's too bad about these young, gifted American actors is that their characters is so paper thin, that I wished to return to the subplots involving the Romans. A heretofore unmentioned Penélope Cruz plays a popular prostitute Anna and showed off her Italian language skills in a delightful romantic subplot, a love square around a naïve newlywed couple Antonio (Alessandro Tiberi) and Milly (Alessandra Mastronardi) and a famous actor Luca Salta (Antonio Albanese) in what could have been its own feature film.
In fact, I feel as though Allen would have done well to stick with the zany, Italian faux-celebrity, shower-singing and partner-swapping plots, and done away with the inconsequential and uninteresting American navel-gazing.
While there are plenty of drawbacks, there are some scenes of pure comic gold. And, besides, an Allen is always an Allen: worthy of a watch for its own sake.
A poignant love story, a coming-of-age saga, a tale of adults grappling with maturity, and an ode to scouting: acclaimed filmmaker Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom is all of these things and more.
While set in 1965, predating the so-called "Summer of Love" by a few years, Moonrise Kingdom is indeed a summer love story. Co-written by Roman Coppola (older brother to director Sofia) and Anderson, the script details the adventures of two twelve-year-olds, Sam and Suzy (played with candor by Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward, respectively), who escape their sleepy New England town on the island of New Penzance, and run away with each other into the wilderness. Suzy, a troubled young girl, and Sam, a boy in and out of foster care who is spending his summer at camp with the Khaki Scouts, find the sort of love and hope in each other that the outside world denies them – and their relationship is subtle and sweet, but never saccharine. It's a candid and earnest portrayal that serves as a reminder to audience members of first experiences with love.
As a hurricane brews off the coast of New Penzance, Suzy's parents – the island's police chief and Sam's scoutmaster – grapple with their own personal problems and attempt to locate Suzy and Sam before the weather takes a turn for the worse. Their urgent search is interspersed with shots of Suzy and Sam on their grand adventure, who muse on life, love and the future.
The cast features some Anderson favorites – including Bill Murray as Walt, Suzy's hapless father – and other celebrated Hollywood actors. Among them are Frances McDormand as Suzy's well-intentioned mother, and Bruce Willis, who plays Captain Sharp, the local policeman spearheading the effort to find the missing children. Edward Norton is notable as well in his role as Scout Master Ward, who teams up with Captain Sharp to relocate his missing camper Sam, and, by extension, Suzy. His sincere and hopelessly goofy performance delivers big laughs. Other players include Jason Schwartzman as another sly scout leader and the commanding Tilda Swinton as a no-nonsense representative from Child Services. This is a knockout cast, and together, they build a beautiful story as tender as it is harsh, fantastical as it is surreal.
Moonrise Kingdom features Anderson's signature cinematographic style, as he makes use of imaginative ways of shooting, mixing pans and zooms that defy film school textbook rules, and in so doing boldly create the world of New Penzance. Anderson and Coppola's writing is endearing, fresh and sharply funny. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone raved about the film's humor and heart.
"[T]the hilarious and heartfelt Moonrise Kingdom is a consistent pleasure. By evoking the joys and terrors of childhood, it reminds us how to be alive," he wrote.
Indeed, the film is a poetic and personal delight that is an absolute must-see.
