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Scene from »Cop Secret«: The action comedy turns Reykjavík into a sinful babel
Photo: 2021 Pegasus Pictures
In cinemas from June 23:
»Elvis«
"Wise men say only fools rush in" is how one of Elvis Presley's most famous songs begins: Only fools, say the wise, burst in through the door.
Australian director Baz Luhrmann may not pretend to be a wise man, instead he tries again to be one of the bravest and most virtuoso filmmakers of his generation.
His film »Elvis« throws a whirlwind of daringly assembled images and music into the biography of the singer from Memphis, Tennessee, who began as a sex symbol and rock 'n' roll icon in the 1950s and ended in 1977 as a pill-addicted ruin.
The beginning of the film is as sensory overloaded and engaging as early, hip-twitching Elvis performances must have been to teenage audiences.
Luhrmann harnesses the power of his medium by depicting the musical revival story of young Elvis through black culture as an electrifying frenzy between a wicked blues scene and an ecstatic gospel church service.
Luhrmann became known with his modernization of the classics »Romeo + Juliet« and the showbiz musical »Moulin Rouge«.
He tells his no less courageous »Elvis« story from the point of view of the villain, the manager »Colonel« Tom Parker (Tom Hanks).
But the longer the young, naïve title hero (Austin Butler) is manipulated by his mentor, the more often the film runs out of breath dramaturgically.
It rarely penetrates from its breathless, visually brilliant surface reflection into the depths of the characters.
But Luhrmann's love for Elvis Presley can be felt in each of the carefully composed songs, cuts and images.
At the end you are enchanted by the King: »Can't Help Falling in Love«.
Andrew Borcholte
»Elvis«, USA 2022. Director: Baz Luhrmann.
Book: Luhrmann, Craig Pearce, Sam Bromell, Jeremy Doner.
Starring Austin Butler, Tom Hanks, Olivia DeJonge.
159 minutes.
»Chiara«
Giulia has a surprise in store for her younger sister Chiara: she passed her driver's license test, and now she's about to go on her first jaunt together.
Chiara comes out with her own surprise.
She discovered the entrance to a bunker in the living room.
Her father, who is wanted by the police for connections to the mafia, seems to be hiding there.
But Giulia is not surprised.
She turns the radio up loud and just says: "Not in the car." But even outside of the car, Giulia doesn't reveal what her father's job and his escape are all about.
Completely on her own, 15-year-old Chiara has to find out what it means when her own family is part of the 'Ndrangheta.
»Chiara« is the final film in Jonas Carpignano's multi-award-winning trilogy about the Calabrian town of Gioa Tauro.
In his 2015 debut »Mediterranea«, Carpignano approached the undocumented African refugees living in the area.
In »A Ciambra« from 2017, a Roma community took center stage.
Characters from both films also appear in »Chiara«, but the film stands on its own, is a sensitive coming-of-age story and a stirring study of the mafia at the same time.
Both elements are connected by the intense performance of amateur actress Swamy Rotolo as Chiara, whose actual family also appears in the film: Her penetrating gaze mercilessly puts the authorities in her life, her father as well as the state, to the test.
How she finally comes to her judgment of both,
Hannah Pilarczyk
»Chiara«, Italy 2021. Written and directed by Jonas Carpignano.
Starring Swamy Rotolo, Claudio Rotolo, Carmela Fumo, Enzo Rotolo.
121 minutes.
»Cop Secret«
They're crazy, the Icelanders: The director and former soccer star Hannes Thór Halldórsson has made an action comedy about two crazy supercops who are in love with each other.
Sometimes the heroes behave too dumbly in their gangster hunts and in their turtlenecks to be really funny.
But most of the time, this Icelandic homage to the tradition of Die Hard riots and Police Academy gossip is pretty fun.
The cool, slovenly, drunken policeman with the beautiful name Bùssi (Auðunn Blöndal) is Reykjavík's toughest criminal scare.
His biggest competitor is fellow police officer Hörður (Egill Einarsson), who works outside the capital - and is adored by the media for portraying himself as a super vain, expensively dressed gentleman cop.
The two heroes are confronted with a mysterious series of robberies, shooting and beating their way through old warehouses and dingy bars and racing across the streets on absurd chases.
What is admirable about this action nonsense is, among other things, the transformational feat that the director manages with his setting: Reykjavík, loved by tourists for its artist village charm and all sorts of tax haven advantages, is presented here as a gloomy babel of sins.
Wolfgang
Hoebel
»Cop Secret«, Iceland 2021. Director and script: Hannes Thór Halldórsson.
With Auðunn Blöndal, Egill Einarsson, Sverrir Þór Sverrisson.
100 minutes.
In streaming:
»Cha Cha Real Smooth«
It's a bit mean that Apple TV+ was the first streaming service to win the Oscar for best film this year.
The program of the mobile phone manufacturer's film and series division is still very manageable, especially compared to the output of Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.
And the winning film »Coda« was a touching but not particularly interesting deaf touch.
Now Apple seems to want to repeat the coup: »Cha Cha Real Smooth« is also an independent drama that, like »Coda«, celebrated its acclaimed premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and was then bought by Apple.
Once again, it's about young people who have yet to figure out who they want to be.
This time the focus is on a young man who lives with his mom again after college and doesn't quite know what to do with himself.
At a bar mitzvah, he falls in love with the much older mother (Dakota Johnson) of his little brother's classmate, which dramatically increases his emotional confusion.
Unlike »Coda«, »Cha Cha Real Smooth« finds its own language to tell its bittersweet story.
That's largely thanks to Cooper Raiff, who wrote the screenplay, directed and stars.
As an actor, he seems at least as cute as Dustin Hoffman once did in "The Graduate" (1967), as a director he finds the right mix of irony and emotional exuberance.
It seems unlikely that it will be enough for an Oscar again - but »Cha Cha Real Smooth« is an experience even without a trophy.
Oliver Kaever
»Cha Cha Real Smooth«, USA 2022. Written and directed by Cooper Raiff.
Starring: Raiff, Dakota Johnson, Leslie Mann.
107 minutes.
