Philomena

A film with moments of comedy, co-written by and starring Steve Coogan, 'Alpha Papa' was released in 2013. But lo, I jest. 'Philomena' is perhaps a turning point in Coogan's career, having spent much of his time on the silver screen in self-admittedly poor films popping up alongside snorty-snorty friends in bit-part roles in Hollywood crap. While comedy is indeed an element in the film, 'Philomena' is potentially the start of a maturing for Coogan, as he moves towards making the films he'd probably like to make, rather than end up in.

'Based on true events', lead, Judi Dench, plays Philomena, an elderly Irish woman living in London who, on the day that would be his fiftieth birthday, wants to locate her son, taken from her and adopted while she was in a convent in her teenage years. Having no luck herself, a chance encounter with journalist Martin Sixsmith (Coogan) leads him to help her in her search; his career having taken a backward step.

As with any one-on-one film, the pair are opposites: Philomena a devout Catholic, believing in the good in people; Martin a cynical atheist, with little belief in anything. Seeing the story as a possible career boost, he uses his contacts to fund the search and publish the story, inevitably learning more about life than a simple 'human interest' story.

For Dench, it was probably always inevitable that the reviews would be strong and the award nominations would follow. Though for Coogan, the reception was a little less obvious, writing and acting in a much more serious role. In terms of acting, despite the odd slightly cringe-worthy moment, he does a good job playing a job role he so loathes, while the writing - alongside Jeff Pope - is strong, finding a good balance between sentimentality and comedy in adapting Sixsmith's book.

'Philomena' will add another strong performance to Dench's long list of roles, while 2013 has been a big year in terms of Coogan's career, possibly putting Partridge to bed with a film and moving into more serious acting roles in 'The Look of Love' and now 'Philomena' and it will be interesting to see which direction it moves next, though it seems clear he would like more critical acclaim than laughs from now. That said, intentional or not, one comes away feeling more entertained than heartbroken by the film's conclusion. 

London Korean Film Festival 2013

The annual London Korean Film Festival always brings with it the anticipation of which colour bag will be given out free when attending the films in London's ever-annoying West End. For this year's offerings, I decided to choose a theme of silly comedy, based partly on mood and partly on being too hungover to make a more serious screening. This year, I was content to merely squeeze two films in the week's packed schedule, making do with the chance to walk down the red carpet at a Leicester Square during the Closing Gala. And yes, my girlfriend won the sweepstake: the bag this year was blue.

Third Window are a London-based distribution company, largely specialising in a certain genre of Asian cinema: light-hearted, Japanese and Korean comedies. It's no coincidence that the two films I ended up seeing equate to the two that Third Window Films will in future be releasing on DVD in these British Isles, being that their logo features often along my pathetically numerous DVD shelves.

The first film - a last-minute choice - 'How to Use Guys with Secret Tips' fits almost perfectly into my favourite ever film genre: the Korean saucy comedy. Out-of-luck Assistant Director at an advertising company, Choi Bona, assesses her current situation, finding both her career and her love life stationary. Ever trying to be assertive, she is easily led into buying a good, ol' VHS video series of titular self-help guides. Hilariously working her way through them, she gradually puts the secret tips into practise, seeing improvements in her fortunes, welcome or not. With her luck improving, she finds that life proves even harder, as she struggles to deal with her new success.

Like many comedy films, this starts off well enough, with the tone of joke set early on. As the films progress and plot needs to come into it, sometimes, more often than not, they become a bit tedious and end with a horrific romp towards the inevitable happy ending. 'How to Use Guys with Secret Tips' is probably a film that goes the way of the majority, but doesn't become a complete bore towards the middle. The self-aware self-help guide is the real comedy here, with standard comedy Korean man-in-suit and the highly selective white couple featuring in them. The 'real world' is a bit more of a standard rom-com, that has its moments, but is fairly run-of-the-mill. But entertainment is the key here, and with a title such as this, the film delivers what it promises: an almost Korean saucy comedy.

The Closing Gala closed the Festival with the most likely hit shown during the week: 'Boomerang Family'. Another comedy, this features a more well-known cast and mainstream appeal , focusing on a dysfunctional family that have to put their differences to one side in order to overcome adversity.

With two, ever-bickering brothers - a failed film director and a low-level gangster - and a sister that can't keep her knickers up for long, the mother of the family goes about her business with dignity, trying to keep the family structure together, despite the constant problems surrounding her. Again, this isn't anything that hasn't been done before, with the characters quite stereotypical within family-orientated films: the black sheep; the favoured, yet flawed son; the easy sister.

Where 'Boomerang Family' is a little different is in its slightly more intense violence, though still not going as far as others; and some at times interesting slow motion shots while chaos is all around. With cast and crew on offer to take questions, it was clear that a lot of alcohol was consumed during the making of this film. This is clearly a film that was fun for them to make, and in the end, it's fun to watch.

Comedy is never a guarantee of a good film; generally it's a sign of poor quality. With two comedies viewed, neither were films that will break and grounds, smash any records, or destroy and pre-conceptions, but being that these were both watched when the mood at the start was never the best, the mood by the end was somewhat improved. 

Like Father, Like Son

There are many comparisons made between Hirokazu Kore-eda and one of the Twentieth Century masters of Japanese cinema, the much lauded Ozu. With each film that the modern-day equivalent makes, the comparisons will continue to grow and grow, as his films maintain the theme of contemporary family life in Japan.

Similar to the recent 'Kiseki (I Wish)', 'Like Father, Like Son' focuses on the lives of two young boys and their unconventional relationships with their parents. While, 'Kiseki' looked at the lives of two brothers, separated by the parents' divorce, 'Like Father, Like Son' looks at the lives of two unrelated boys who, after a hospital mix-up, were raised by a random couple. The mix-up coming out years later, once the boys have started to develop, leaves both sets of parents unsure as to how to proceed.

'Kiseki' looked very much at the lives of the young brothers and how they work behind their parents' backs to be reunited, only to learn the hard way that things have now changed. In his latest effort, Kore-eda focuses very much on the parents, particularly the straight-edged, hard-working salary man, Ryota, who is forever baffled by his son's meagre talent and work ethic in comparison to his own. His equivalent, Yudai, raising his biological son, has a more relaxed approach to life, raising his son in a loving, family environment.

Naturally, the polarised approaches of the two males to life and parenting is a clear plot device to make the inevitable life-lesson learnt more poignant by the film's conclusion, and perhaps a slightly more idealistic scenarios for the story. However, much like his previous works, Kore-eda offers no easy solutions. Torn between the boy he has raised and loves and his blood, Ryota looks to all possible permutations for a solution to situation, but each presents its own problems.

The family situation presented is one of blood versus upbringing, with Ryota convinced that blood signifies everything - an important aspect of Japanese culture, where blood-type can be thought to determine various aspects of one's life - and as such looks at an interesting aspect of Japanese culture, and while a strong effort, it never quite matches the nostalgia of 'After Life', the detachment of 'Nobody Knows' or the coming of age of 'Keseki'. But here, Kore-eda again affirms that there is a case for himself as the heir to Ozu's title. Fifty years on since the latter's death, the former tackles the changes of a different time, with more and more unconventional relationships and post-modern family structures. Where Ozu looked at emerging female independence ('Late Autumn'), Kore-eda looks at a love doll developing a soul ('Air Doll'). The times have changed, but like father, like son.