53. Eureka; movie review

 

EUREKA

Cert 15

147 mins

BBFC advice: Contains strong language, violence

How can watching someone drink a couple of coffee in contemplative silence for more than five minutes be considered entertainment?

That is a genuine question and needs context.

 I am not a guy who goes to galleries and studies paintings, attempting to work out the meaning artists are trying to convey. But I admire folk who have the eye and attention span to do so.

I suspect they would bathe the nuances and meditative effect of Lisandro Alonso's movie, Eureka. Indeed, I am aware of very positive reviews.

However, as a plain old film-goer who enjoys structure in movies, I found it frustratingly meandering.

It begins promisingly as a particular gritty monochrome Western as a monosyllabic stranger (Viggo Mortensen) arrives in a town where the law appears to have broken down.

He sidesteps corpses and half-naked prostitutes before a meeting with the woman (Chiara Mastroianni) who appears to run the place.

However, no sooner than I was warming to Eureka, it moved to the present day and colour representation of a police officer's day on a Native American reservation.

Alaina Clifford plays the young woman who is given responsibilities way above her station and could be dangerous.

Meanwhile, the quality of life among the residents is depressingly low.

As mentioned earlier, Sadie Lapointe plays her sister, who fears for the community's future and is the lass with the coffee.

The film then jolts to scenes of life and death and the rituals of a tribe in the Amazon Rain Forest.

I saw what Alonso was trying to do in highlighting the plight of indigenous people across time and geography but the thread was so thin, I lost concentration.

Unlike others, I think that films have to do more than look good, and if I wish to meditate, I probably won't do it watching a movie.

Reasons to watch: Its beautiful backdrops

Reasons to avoid: Wanders off for long periods

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Reasons Nudity

Overall rating: 5/10

Did you know? Smallpox, measles and flu brought to their country by Europeans killed 90 per cent of Native Americans.

The final word. Lisandro Alonso: "The film is a little abstract: it doesn’t have a very conventional narrative. It passes from one place to another, from a time to a space… so I couldn’t really sum it up." Festival de Cannes

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