Reviews

We Are What We Are is an English language remake of the Spanish film Somos Lo Que Hay. The word remake is sometimes looked upon as a dirty word amongst film geeks. Trepidation regarding the quality of remakes will always exist, it's only natural.

Both films are entirely different from one another despite sharing the same premise. Somos Lo Que Hay was (in my opinion) a pessimistic film rife with social commentary in regards to Capitalism and Poverty. We Are What We Are deliberately ignores that commentary and instead focuses in on the religious fundamentalism of the ritualistic family as its central theme. We Are What We Are is not just a mere shot for shot remake; it's a different beast all together.

Director and Co-Screenwriter Jim Mickle lift's the premise of the original film and relocates it from the Inner City of Mexico to the back end of Sleepy Rural Southern America. The film follows the reclusive Parker family and the bizarre rituals they practice.

It all begins when the Matriarch of the family unexpectedly passes away. Devastated and unable to cope with the sudden loss, the Patriarch (Bill Sage) of the family regresses into an emotional collapse. Leaving his two teenage daughters, Iris (Ambyr Childers) and Rose (Julia Garner), to ponder over who will step up to the plate and continue the cannibalistic rituals that the family practice every other Sunday.

The Parker's do what they do under the guise of believing that it is a penance that must be performed in order to be saved in the eyes of the lord. They follow the writings of a diary kept by an ancient patriot relative who suffered through a harsh winter with very little in the way of food supplies, thus resorting to cannibalism out of desperation.

They treat this diary as if it were their equivalent of the holy words of scripture. Thus the diary has been passed down from generation to generation and is seen as a rite of passage into adulthood – in this case the eldest daughter Rose is next in line to inherit its 'teachings'.

The family is kept under the strict ruling hand of the Patriarch -- played with unnerving intimidation by Bill Sage. He is a domineering force as he preaches his beliefs and traditions to the family in order to keep them together and to push forward with the annual ritual. Much like the film as a whole, he has a simmering rage boiling underneath his controlled exterior demeanor that threatens to erupt at any given moment; making him all the more frightening and intimidating.

His dominance makes life all the more difficult for his two teenage daughters who, with the recent death of their mother, are starting to question the ritualistic ways of their existence. They yearn for something else in life and struggle to come to grips with what it is they are. Much like the original film, denial plays an important factor for the siblings as it does for almost everyone else in the film – be it the savages or even the town sheriff denying suspicious foul play in his town. The siblings hide in denial of facing who they truly are until they are forced by cruel fate to face the beast that resides within.

Ambyr Childers and Julia Garner are excellent finds for these roles as they both deliver subdued and nuanced performances. They fit the mold perfectly as the somewhat reclusive children who can't quite fit in with the outside world. They have the frail and pale physical complexity that compliments the dreary and rain soaked atmospheric mood that the film radiates.

While the family prepare for their next ritual, a flood hits the sleepy town washing up evidence of human remains to the surface. This attracts the curiosity of the local town Doctor, played by the always wonderful Michael Parks, who is still haunted by the mysterious disappearance of his daughter. Parks serves as a replacement to the bumbling and fame hungry detectives from the original film. This is actually a wise decision as Parks bring a measure of soul and humanity to the grisly proceedings and is a more then suitable change.

Much like its spiritual predecessor, it isn't a film that relies on an overabundance of plot turns or 'gotcha' moments. It's a very slow and deliberately paced film spanning over the course of four days. This is reflected with its use of stilted yet beautifully composed cinematography made up of a dreary, rain-soaked and moody palette of rustic greys. It shows a surprising amount of restraint and has patience in taking its time building its tension whilst shining the spotlight on its characters and themes.

It's a very unassuming film where the tension is always simmering underneath just waiting to erupt. When it erupts, it grabs you by the throat unexpectedly and bites in hard. Unlike most Cannibal films that focus on gore for gore hound sake, it keeps the gruesome stuff to a minimum. But it is all the more effective for doing so. It is most surprising as the norm for most American remakes is to usually dial the volume way up to eleven. Yet this one is surprisingly restrained, maybe even more so than the original.

As far as remakes go, We Are What We Are is a fascinating case study of a remake done rather well.There is no familiarity between both the movies, despite a few casual sly nods of referencing here and there to the original film, it stands apart as a drastically different film that has something else on its mind and as is, it does stand very well next to its original counterpart. 7/10

In The Place Beyond the Pines - a roaring drama that combines the gritty intimacy of a B-movie noir and the outsized ambition of a multi generational Hollywood saga - Ryan Gosling's motorcycle stunt rider is covered in tattoos: an owl, a Bible, a boxer, a spiderweb, a hand grenade, a dagger dripping blood.

That last one is on Luke's face. With his shock of peroxide blond hair and his souped-up motocross machine, the guy doesn't exactly blend into the scenery. But when the carnival Luke travels with pitches its tents - and its "Globe of Death" motorbike show - for its annual stint in Schenectady, N.Y., blending into the scenery becomes his new mission. He discovers he's the father of a baby boy, sired a year earlier when he was in town and struck up a relationship with a waitress, Romina (a riveting Eva Mendes).

"Who's that guy?" he asks, gesturing to the infant in her arms "He's yours." And so, the whole axis of Luke's world starts spinning in unfamiliar ways. But in director Derek Cianfrance's daringly constructed and compelling film, taking on the responsibilities of fatherhood is something Luke's not sure how to do. To be a provider, he reckons, means having money. And having money means robbing banks.

n no time at all, he's partnered with a mechanic (the ace Aussie Ben Mendelsohn) experienced in the art of armed robbery. Next thing you know, there's a guy in a ski mask waving weaponry at scared-silly tellers, screaming at them to fill up his backpack. His getaway bike is right by the door.

Gosling, paired opposite Michelle Williams in Cianfrance's moody Blue Valentine, is electric here, and the bank heist scenes are crazy-nervous and thrilling. Especially the one when a Schenectady cop, Avery Cross (Bradley Cooper), takes after him, a high-speed chase that zooms along streets, down alleyways, across a cemetery The bank robber and the cop end up in a house together, at which point The Place Beyond the Pines turns into Avery's story, with Cooper demonstrating (if Silver Linings Playbook left any doubt) that he's a serious actor - a seriously talented, instinctive, risk-taking actor.

Smart, ambitious, with much to prove to himself and his family, Avery wrestles with the consequences of his fateful encounter with Luke. The character's evolution is fascinating. (Harris Yulin, as Avery's father, a judge, is terrific, and Ray Liotta, as one of Avery's brethren on the force, is, well . . . when you've got Liotta in your picture, you know there's going to be some really nasty business.) The Place Beyond the Pines is a triptych - the Luke chapter, the Avery chapter, and a final section that transpires 15 years later. Two young actors, Emory Cohen and Dane DeHaan, are the leads here. I confess that at first I wished Cianfrance had just let things end with Avery. But as this last act unfolds, and the dynamic between the two kids - they're in high school together - develops, everything falls into place. Into the place beyond the pines, in fact.