Monday, December 3, 2012 - 7A The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com FILMLRR fV_ . Grit and Pitt kill it in mobster movie 'Softly' In Soviet Russia, furs wear you- Eamoring Anna Knightley powers Director Joe Wright ("Atone- Instead, the film stays true to 'meoc"), who has collaborated the essence of its source by mak- adaptation of with Knightley in multiple films, ing the visuals exquisite, in line ambitiously decided to place with the expensive and flagrant Tolstoy classic most of the film within a resplen- elite scene of 1874 Russia. It's as if dent old theater, heavy-handed- the film takes place in a different By NATALIE GADBOIS ly hinting that in this society, world, where the colors are rich- ,Daily Arts Writer these characters are always er, the people are more gorgeous actors on stage, always with an and pristine - everything ampli- Even when going insane, Keira audience. This meta-theatrical fied, dramatized and beautified. Knightley ("A Dangerous Meth- move is risky, as it further dra- Though it's visually a fairy od") always looks perfect. But in matizes an already melodra- tale, the film doesn't shy from the "Anna Kareni- matic and tragic romance, but conflicted social conditions that na," a decadent 3 Wright almost makes it work Tolstoy analyzed so vividly in the and sweeping by fully committing the story to novel. This high-falutin Russian adaptation of Anna his choice. He doesn't half-ass society, constantly twirling in Leo Tolstoy's anything. At times, the flurried place in Wright's (often oppres- masterpiece, confusion of setting everything sive) theater, contrasts directly the weight of At the in one location detracts from the with crystalline scenes of peas- Knightley's Michigan storyline, but all the actors give ants cutting hay under an unend- performance themselves whole-heartedly to ing sky. extends beyond Focus reflect the grandeur of the sym- Anna is happiest when she is her lovely face. bolic theater. away from St. Petersburg and Knightley is transcendent as With design work from has the freedom to be with the Anna, a high-society woman liv- acclaimed production designer man she loves, far from the judg- ing in St. Petersburg in the late Sarah Greenwood ("Sherlock ment of society. Her persecu- 19th century and unhappily mar- Holmes"), every costume and tion as a woman who broke the ried to a righteous and morally prop is luxurious and adds to the rules, and her brother's relative rigid politician (Jude Law, "Sher- sensory delight present in every (and humorous) ease in admit- lock Holmes"). Anna does not shot. The costuming is beautiful, ting that he cheated on his own recognize her unhappiness until each piece chosen to precisely wife shows the inherent sexism she meets Count Vronsky (Aaron complement the mental state of founded in their society. These Taylor-Johnson, "Savages"), a the characters: Anna begins her are heavy issues at hand, and it's young cavalry officer with a pen- journey to societal condemna- the actors, in particular Knight- chant for looking handsome and tion wearing demure black, and ley and the inflexible Law, who breaking hearts. As they fall in becomes flashier and more col- give them depth. love, Anna is ostracized and pun- orful as she defies the unwrit- "Karenina" keeps up with the ished by a cruelly callous soci- ten laws. Similarly, the score is present theme of making majes- ety and her squarely honorable impressive and impassioned, tic and visually extravagant husband, and she must sacrifice exemplifying the sheer strength films, which is often a hit-or- everything to stay with Vronsky. of the story. miss strategy. Though its ten- Knightley, often accused ' of The storyline is a classic trag- dency to veer toward melodrama overacting, is particularly suc- it romance, and Wright does and theatrics at times is over- cessful in utilizing her infamous not attempt to complicate the powering, the film ultimately pout to sympathetically show plot itself - removing some of works because it fully commits Anna's selfish and unavoidable Tolstoy's drier segments, like to the splendor without losing deterioration. the Russian agrarian system. the story along the way. Solange is 'True'to herself, spreads wings with new EP By AKSHAY SETH Daily Arts Writer "Whacking these assholes is a fuckin' shitty business, pal. They cry, they plead, they beg, they piss them- selves, they A- cry for their mothers. It gets Killing Them embarrassing. IS like to kill 'em softly. From a At Quality16 distance."' and Rave That's Jackie Cogan's (Brad The Weinstein Pitt, "Inglouri- Company ous Basterds") tactful take on what he does to pay the mortgage. It's a thought- ful attitude - measured and weirdlyrsympathetic in intention. For a moment, it may even seem as if our mob-hired-hitman anti- hero is a nice guy. But make no mistake - this is the closest thing to the grim reaper good moviemaking can offer. Hair greased back, black leather jacket wrapped around a coiled frame and eyes staring. vacantly into the distance, Cogan makes it clear from his first Johnny Cash-serenaded scene that he's the resident badass of this movie, and for that matter, the most apparent reason this film is as good as it is. The other reason (yes, there's only one other reason) is a set of scenes sprinkled throughout the film in which two moronic would-be criminals talk about the most random shit imagin- able. Think Tarantino, except 10 times as many curse words and 20 times as much vulgarity. The deep, often philosophical topics of discussion include(but are not limited to) drugs, defecation, jail, sex, pe favorit Yes, versati ents bh some of dialogu So cyn mistak The cynicis nature card ga bastard It's bee and Domin Jesse J ert Fot of dwe storylir it to at: movie t on An actualr t-napping and my personal ads that play throughout. e - bestiality. Political speeches by Presi- these are the types of con- dents Barack Obama and George ons that make grandpar- W. Bush serve as a makeshift ush, but they also feature soundtrack for most of the film, f the most brutally cynical with Dominik taking special ue put on screen this year. attention to hone in on Cogan's ical, in fact, it at times is mocking eyes as lofty ideals of en for honesty. unity and community are thrown groundwork for all this around like red and blue confetti. m is laid in the routine The steely restraint Pitt brings ofthe plot:A mafia-backed to his portrayal reflects a deeply me gets hit; some unlucky ingrained sense of apathy. Most ds have to pay the price. people would think the indiffer- n done a thousand times, ence is a consequence of years of writer-director Andrew shooting people in the face. ik .("The Assassination of But we can't expect good ol' ames by the Coward Rob- Dominik to miss an opportunity rd") knows it. So instead to throw bricks at us, can we? Mling on his commonplace No, according to our borderline- se, Dominik wisely uses nihilist director, the Irish hit- ring some structure into a manspoutiness is more likelyche that's more a commentary result of a resigned acceptance nerican politics than an that everything in the world is mob flick. going to shit - a sentiment per- sonified by has-been button man Mickey (James Gandolfini, TV's Drugs "The Sopranos"). rg ,Gandolfini delivers a visceral fecation and performance and colorizes the slow, painful deterioration of a )estiality man being ripped to shreds by an alcohol addiction. This is an oh my age of the mob in decline, filled by men unwilling and perhaps unable to let go of the old ways - Mickey represents a byproductof aps the word "cqmmen- that hesitation. He, like most of is an understatement. the other characters in the film, ik's idea of subtly dissect- is on a collision course with life. e U.S. political landscape When the impact finally arrives, h powerful imagery and it comes in the form of Cogan's ter interaction falls more wrath. the lines of throwing a It's a jarring experience, styl- t the audience in the hopes ized by a few gorgeously edited someone hard enough to scenes of the Irish hitman doing ow change an opinion. It's what he does best: ending lives. fragmented and makes the But he gives his message softly, the film look like a setup from a distance. If only Dominik of the terrible campaign had used a similar approach. de Perh tary" Domin ing the throug charac along brick a it'll hit somehb blunt, f rest of for one By RAY MALO and lame rap guest verses. And DailyArts Writer her sound on her 2008 followup, which like most records at the I wouldn't be accomplishing time, was guided by Mark Ron- much if I made this piece a com- son, channeled '60s-girl-group parison between Solange and her wall of sound and, ahem, "disco?" big sis. I'll say just this to get it out It was so not disco. of the way: Solange's music career Some key life events provide has undoubtedly benefited from necessary context: Solange wrote being the younger Knowles sister. and recorded Solo Star when But with the release of True, her she was 14. She then married fantastic new EP, she's making a at 17, had a child, got divorced case for her independence. and gradually became the cool- I mean this in two ways. Sure, est mama/most desirable bach- by writing and recording a col- elorette in Brooklyn, according to lection of songs this strong, Sol- ComplexCityGuide. ange has made a big step toward And in 2009, hipsters flipped forging her own identity outside their shit when Solange brought of Beyonce. But True, released on her sister and brother-in-law Brooklyn-based Terrible Records Jay-Z to see Grizzly Bear on the and produced by Dev Hynes of Williamsburg Waterfront. Like Blood Orange, also represents many, I took particular note of the Solange's first foray into the sec- fact that it was kid sis who was cor of the indiesphere where she introducing the king and queen seems to belong. to indie rock's finest, and not the After almost a decade of shuf- other way around (It's worth fling genres, Solange has finally mentioning that Terrible Records found a sound that works for is run by Chris Taylor, Grizzly her. First under the supervision Bear bassist/producer). Collabo- of Columbia Records, then indie rations with Of Montreal and label Polydor, her past cata- Dirty Projectors, along with Sol- log consistently showcased her ange's reputation as a tastemak- charming, sweet vocal stylings ing DJ, suggested she was capable but badly missed sonically, rely- of better quality than what her ing on the well-intentioned but discography was telling us. misguided whims of the super- This October, she delivered producer du jour. big, releasing the stellar video for In 2003, on her debut album her single "Losing You," a song so Solo Star (so unpopular it's no pristinely joyful that I lost sleep longer in genuinely worrying that the rest print), it First seen on of the EP would fall flat in com- was Nep- -the parison. tunes beats It does not. "Losing You" remains the EP's most shim- mering, danceable moment, but True's midsection is its meat and potatoes. You'll want to skip sec- ond track "Some Things Never Seem To Fucking Work." An aberration, even before the pain- fully awkward, British-accented spoken word outro. "Locked In Closets" pairs glorious '90s Janet Jackson vocal riffs with synth pop (think Bat for Lashes or Twin Shadow), while "Don't Let Me Down" features direct, engaged lyrics bookended by harmonized nonsense "ohs" over pure funk bass and Brian Eno synth freak- outs. And the two closing tracks are a voyage through new wave heaven, sure to please fans of the "Drive" soundtrack. But it's "Lovers In The Parking Lot," the record's absolute center, that best showcases Solange's newly effortless cool. Clearly the lesser vocalist in the Knowles clan, she no longer seems to care. Relying on,'falsetto when she needs to, Solange moves around this song like she's known its melody for years. It's a refreshing moment: After years of feeling forced to try to be different, she finally sounds like herself. This must seem like too many words to dedicate to a seven- track EP. I assure you, True is an event, the lovely sound of great potential finally beingtapped. It's my favorite record of 2012. -A version of this article was first published on The Filter on Dec. 2,2012.