Lost in Karastan (UK)
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LiK in UK
Reel dictators: why despots love directors (The Guardian, 15 janvier 2016)
From North Korea kidnapping Shin Sang-ok to Richard Burton being hired by Tito, fame-hungry demagogues have always understood the power of the movies. But, as new comedy Lost in Karastan shows, working with tyrants can be tiring.
From North Korea kidnapping Shin Sang-ok to Richard Burton being hired by Tito, fame-hungry demagogues have always understood the power of the movies. But, as new comedy Lost in Karastan shows, working with tyrants can be tiring.
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LiK in UK
Critique : Lost in Karastan 2/5 (ListFilm)
Matthew Macfadyen and Noah Taylor fail to flesh out this underdeveloped satire
Matthew Macfadyen and Noah Taylor fail to flesh out this underdeveloped satire
As Abashiliev, van Weyden is strangely benign, and while Macfadyen colours his solid performance as the charming but slightly hapless Brit abroad with shades of megalomania, this darker side never really gets explored.
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Lost in Karastan (UK)
http://www.screenrelish.com/2016/01/18/lost-karastan-review/
http://www.moviemail.com/blog/cinema-reviews/2789-Lost-in-Karastan-from-writer-s-block-to-Eastern-Bloc/
http://www.backseatmafia.com/2016/01/19/film-review-lost-in-karastan/
http://www.moviemail.com/blog/cinema-reviews/2789-Lost-in-Karastan-from-writer-s-block-to-Eastern-Bloc/
http://www.backseatmafia.com/2016/01/19/film-review-lost-in-karastan/
LiK in UK
Lost in Karastan (The Arts Desk)
The wilder reaches of bizarre explored in filmic excursion to post-Soviet climes
The wilder reaches of bizarre explored in filmic excursion to post-Soviet climes
- Spoiler:
- by Tom BirchenoughWednesday, 20 January 2016 ShareFacebookTwitterEmail
It's behind you: Matthew Macfadyen does not notice the 'Stop!' sign
Ah, the fascination of faraway countries of which we know nothing. And of dictators, always a species of interest to filmmakers, because you rarely have to make anything up – Chaplin, of course, wrote the primer on that one. How alluring when reality is already so much weirder than anything that can be invented.
Ben Hopkins’ Lost in Karastan plays on both tropes. It’s billed as a comedy, though the level of humour that communicates itself will perhaps depend on how well you already know the territory, which is that belonging to tin-pot leaders in obscure outposts of ex-empires who seek to put their nations on the map through cinematic projects. By making a film from the national epic, no less, drawing on a cast of second- or lower-tier talent from the wider world.
One thing lost in 'Karastan' seems to have been a certain element of humour
Hopkins and his co-writer Pawel Pawlikowski (of Ida fame) presumably know the ground from showing their work at remote and unlikely film festivals – one such event provides the opening gambit that gets Karastan going. Their producer here, Mike Downey, certainly does, because he’s been making films in these parts for years: from his recent work – it doesn't all make the big screen – you may have seen the commendable The President from Mohsen Makhmalbaf. That had the great Iranian director shooting on location in Georgia (Iran being presumably unavailable) a story about what happens after the titular leader gets dispatched.
Georgia provides the setting for Downey’s new one too, and a similar national hero-stroke-despot eventually gets a degree of come-uppance. It begins in London, though, with British film director Emil Forester (Matthew Macfadyen) being invited to screen his work (which is,we gather, rather of the avant-garde variety) in the aforementioned Autonomous Republic. Given that he’s rebounding from a failed marriage, and has only the dog and a cleaning lady for company (the mindfulness cassettes aside), why not?
You wonder if Hopkins and Pawlikowski read Malcolm Bradbury’s equally inventive Why Come to Slaka? while they were making up Karastan, because they share a similar enjoyment of the more dire attributes of fictional nationhood. Though Karastan is somewhat darker than the relatively benign initial airport joke – “there is problem,” from the immigration guy, as shorthand for bribe – suggests. There are tanks on the streets – “we like tanks” – and the buildings are in various stages of dereliction (Georgia can’t have needed much of a make-over, then?). A sinister figure in a comparably derelict leather jacket frequently follows Forester around. Strong drink is poured. More spirit comes in some Balkans-style music.
First there’s the film festival itself. Macfadyen’s character seems to have been attracted there by the voice of the impossibly glamorous and enigmatic Chulpan, who's the typical liaison for foreign guests at such events (I’m sure MyAnna Buring, pictured above, has played stranger roles, but just now I can’t think of them). The only other foreign presence is a z-list Hollywood actor who’s well into the alcoholic swing of things, and at least knew that attendance at such events is paid. Cue, among other surprises, Emil’s presenting something from his oeuvre – the one beginning with a heavy porn scene aboard a Liberian container ship – to an audience of school kids. “We are a young festival,” Chulpan insists, gamely. An experience they will never forget, Emil has to agree.
But that’s only half of it. Karastan’s president Abashilev (Richard van Weyden), in reality an unlikely customer who’s garnered a marketing degree from one of Britain’s liesser known educational establishments, is keen for Emil to direct a version of the national epic, the one about horsemen and the hero being raised by eagles. (You may recall that Kazakh epic Nomad, though only slightly given that the ranks of horsemen here are distinctly lonely). “The whole country is your film set,” the great leader offers, “I own it – no, the people own it – I own the people.”
It would spoil things to detail quite how wrong the filming experience goes, except to say that it must have sounded funnier in concept than in realisation. One thing lost in Karastan seems to have been a certain element of humour, though bits might return if viewed in the right audience – a Slavic studies conference, post-banquet, would be ideal. As with Bradbury’s Slaka, we’re left wondering just where the parody begins, and ends: perhaps that’s the thing about faraway countries of which we know, well, whatever... Then take a reality check: the film adaptation of the chosen national narrative of Azerbaijan – a country once memorably given the fictional moniker “Absurdistan” – opens at Sundance later this month. Its director? Asif Kapadia.
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Interview du réalisateur Ben Hopkins
Evidemment on aime :
Evidemment, rien sur les difficultés à produire le film. ( Mais on peut en suivre les vicissitudes sur le forum)
Evidemment on aime :
- The movie sees Matthew Macfadyen take on the central role of Emil Forester, so what were you looking for when you were casting this role? What did you see in Matthew that you thought would be perfect?
There are many films about artists, directors, poets, and writers and they tend to be quite tortured, twisted people who are self-obsessed, drink a lot, and have screaming fits. Normally, those people are annoying to watch and would be annoying in real life (laughs). We didn't want to focus on that kind of artist, we wanted to do someone who is a bit more down to earth, likeable, and slightly lost. Again, in the cinema, artists tend to have an incredible sense of purpose in knowing what they are doing but most of us are more human, lost, and are not quite sure what we are doing.
Matthew has an incredibly charming quality and he is as charismatic a person in real life as he is on screen. There is something instantly likeable about him, even when he is looking depressed; you just want to give him a cuddle when he looks sad (laughs). He is a very good comedian and he is trying to do more comedy in his career and a bit less serious costume drama. He immediately wanted to do it, which was great. It was just perfect for me.
Evidemment, rien sur les difficultés à produire le film. ( Mais on peut en suivre les vicissitudes sur le forum)
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Autre interview radiophonique de Ben Hopkins sur BBC Radio4 dans The Film Programme du 21 janvier 2016.
Où il dit en particulier la difficulté d'obtenir des financements - en Grande-Bretagne déjà ...
Où il dit en particulier la difficulté d'obtenir des financements - en Grande-Bretagne déjà ...
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Critique : 3/5 pour Lost in Karastan review dans le Guardian
"Lost in Karastan – crazy caper with social-realist plausibility.
Matthew Macfayden ( ) is a convincingly conceited director on the rocks who is seduced by a dictator’s offer of another shot at success"
"Lost in Karastan – crazy caper with social-realist plausibility.
Matthew Macfayden ( ) is a convincingly conceited director on the rocks who is seduced by a dictator’s offer of another shot at success"
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LiK in UK
Critique 3/5 Lost in Karastan movie review: lost indeed
Snarky humor and a wonderfully put-on Matthew Macfadyen are the best reasons to see a satire that ultimately seems to forget where it was heading.
Snarky humor and a wonderfully put-on Matthew Macfadyen are the best reasons to see a satire that ultimately seems to forget where it was heading.
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Sortie aujourd'hui aux cinémas Curzon et en VOD DVD/streaming Amazon UK et VOD iTunes UK.
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LiK in UK - review
British auteur Ben Hopkins gets a bit lost along with Matthew Macfadyen, in his surreal Caucasian Republic, (maturetimes.co.uk, 22 January 2016)
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Critique : 4/5 Lost in Karastan
Despite one or two scenes where one feels the budget might have been more accommodating (the presidential quarters for example appear unconvincingly threadbare), and some moments where another take may have been desirable, this is a movie that does not fail to entertain...
The film perhaps has the appearance of a production lacking in resources and expertise, like the tumble-down world in which it is set, which lends the film its overall charm. Combined with some alluring cinematography, Lost in Karastan uses its imperfections to great comedic effect. This is a picture that ought not be missed.
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Ben Hopkins and MyAnna Buring on Lost in Karastan 2015, (player.bfi.org.uk)
Marina- Fan extraordinaire
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Lost in Karastan (UK)
http://player.bfi.org.uk/film/watch-lost-in-karastan-2014/
http://lwlies.com/reviews/lost-in-karastan/
http://www.smartflightsuit.com/film/2016/jan/21/lost-in-karastan-review-matthew-macfayden-pawel-pawlikowski
http://everyfilmblog.blogspot.fr/2016/01/33-lost-in-karastan-movie-review.html
http://www.heyuguys.com/lost-in-karastan-review/
http://lwlies.com/reviews/lost-in-karastan/
http://www.smartflightsuit.com/film/2016/jan/21/lost-in-karastan-review-matthew-macfayden-pawel-pawlikowski
http://everyfilmblog.blogspot.fr/2016/01/33-lost-in-karastan-movie-review.html
http://www.heyuguys.com/lost-in-karastan-review/
Re: Lost in Karastan (UK)
http://imwithgeek.com/robbiejones/lost-in-karastan-review/
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Re: Lost in Karastan (UK)
http://www.wscountytimes.co.uk/what-s-on/cinema/film-review-lost-in-karastan-3-out-5-1-7187799
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Re: Lost in Karastan (UK)
La jaquette du DVD anglais Lost in Karastan sur Amazon.
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Re: Lost in Karastan (UK)
Une autre critique, positive, de Film-News
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Re: Lost in Karastan (UK)
Une critique, négative, du film par front row reviews
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Re: Lost in Karastan (UK)
http://www.themetropolist.com/film/reviews/review-lost-in-karastan/
You, like Emil, may often feel like you are wandering around a strange place only to suddenly be thrown into a car and taken somewhere else. And, as in life, this may be the point. Sometimes, we guess, things don’t really have to make sense. Sometimes it’s nice to be left feeling confused, and on close up shot of a horse’s face. ( )
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Re: Lost in Karastan (UK)
http://www.thespinningimage.co.uk/cultfilms/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=10255
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» Lost in Karastan at Linz Crossing Europe Festival, Austria,
» Les photographies de 'Lost in Karastan'
» Lost in Karastan sur Arte
» Affiches de 'Lost in Karastan' / 'Epic'
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