Air Talk's "Film Week"



Los Angeles radio KPCC's Larry Mantle and critics Lael Loewenstein of Variety, Jean Oppenheimer of New Times, and Charles Solomon, animation critic for amazon.com, discuss this week's new releases, including King Kong, The Producers, Finding Home, Be Here to Love Me, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, Angels With Angles, Cape of Good Hope, and Hoodwinked.
Click to 20051216_airtalk2.ram listen to the full show. Or click "Read More" to read excerpts from the transcript.

LARRY MANTLE
Also, on our FilmWeek hour of Air Talk, the film, Cape Of Good Hope, which is in selected theaters.  The movie is rated PG-13.  It's written by, Mark Bamford and Suzanne Kay.  Directed by, Mark Bamford.  And, Lael starts us on it.
      LAEL LOWENSTEIN
This is the kind of film, Larry, that, when I was watching it I was thinking, I bet this film won a lot of audience awards.  And, I hadn't looked at the (laugh) production notes.  And, sure enough, it did win a slew of audience awards at various festivals.  It's a real crowd-pleasing kind of drama, with elements of comedy.  It brings together about four different stories.  It's set in South Africa, in, or around, Cape Down, Cape Town, sorry.  And, it's the story of about four different, kind of, couples.
      LAEL LOWENSTEIN (CONTINUED)
One is a Muslim couple, that are having troubles with infertility.  One is an astronomer from the Congo, who is, has relocated to Cape Town.  He's trying to find work.  One is a widow, a Black widow, and her son.  And, she's struggling to make a living as a maid, and, at the same time, trying to keep her son out of trouble.  And, the lead character is this woman, Kate, played by Debbie Brown.  And, she's kind of struggling with her life.  She runs an animal rescue center. And, she's got a married lover.
      LAEL LOWENSTEIN (CONTINUED)
And, she's trying to figure out what to do with her life.  What I like about this film is that, they, the Director, Mark Bamford, really, kind of, balances the drama and the comedy together.  And, so, you never feel that this is a very serious somber film.  It's one of the few films that I've seen set in South Africa that don't really take an outwardly political view of what's going on.  It's, sort of, the politics take a backdrop to the story.  And, I like that.  It kind of integrates the characters and their storylines very well, very effectively.
      LAEL LOWENSTEIN (CONTINUED)
And, there's a nice little twist at the end that, sort of, ends things on a, kind of, a happy note.  It's also a film I suspect Jeannie will love 'cause there's a lot of dogs (laughter) in the film.
      LARRY MANTLE
The dog's seal of approval.
      CHARLES SOLOMON
Your outline of the plot sounds like you need Thelma Ritter saying, everything but the Bloodhounds (laughter) (unintelligible) .
      LAEL LOWENSTEIN
Yeah, it sounds like that, doesn't it?  But, it's better balanced than I articulated.
      LARRY MANTLE
Cape Of Good Hope is the film.  Rated PG-13.  In selected theaters.  What'd you think, Jean?
      JEAN OPPENHEIMER
Well, Lael's right, I loved it.
      LARRY MANTLE
(laugh) The dogs win.
      JEAN OPPENHEIMER
I seem to have, either, loved, or really not liked, films this week.  I agree with everything Lael said.  There's a real simplicity to this story, even though it is going back and forth between different characters.  And, there's a particular point in the film where Jean Claude, the main character, basically, explains what, you know, you know is going to be what the heart of this movie is.  He's at the planetarium, and he's showing kids who are there from school around.  And, somebody says, what keeps the universe together?
      JEAN OPPENHEIMER (CONTINUED)
And, he says, love is what keeps the universe glued together.  And, it sounds like a ridiculous line (laughter) when I just say it there, but it's sort of what the film is about.  And, these different relationships work beautifully.  The actors are wonderful.  I found it quite delightful.
      LARRY MANTLE
Again, it's in selected theaters.  Cape Of Good Hope, set in South Africa.  Rated PG-13.  Directed by, Mark Bamford, who co-wrote the script with Suzanne Kay.
      JEAN OPPENHEIMER
And, I should add, Larry, they're Americans, which is interesting, that they moved to South Africa and made this film.
      LARRY MANTLE
All right.  Very good.

Posted: Sat - January 14, 2006 at 05:07 PM          

©