FILM I Cartoon with a conscience - WordPress.com

I FILM I

Cartoon with a conscienceJenny McCarmey

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disappeared to (themercurial former head of

his record company,Clarence Avant, becomes

noticeably irritable on thispoint) but the broad thrustof the film lies in the

charmed territory wherehope meets happyaccidents.

Gereon Wetzel, thedirector of El Bulli:

Cooking in Progress,takes almost asunconventional an

approach to the businessofdocumentary-rnakingas his subjects in thefamed Catalan restaurant

do to the art of cooking.He films El Bulli while it isclosed, as its creative headchef, Ferran Adria - inpartnership with his teamOriol Castro and EduardXatruch - invents a newmenu with which to

bamboozle and delightprospective customers.

There is drama, but it isdeterminedly low-key, andcircles doggedly aroundthe nitty-gritty of theproposed menu, such aswhat Adlia will make of

the austere hazelnut oil,water and salt cocktail,first tested by Xatruch.

One has the sense of

being allowed a privateviewing ofWillyWonka'sfactory, as Adria drives hischefs to create "magic"with their unexpectedreductions,pastes,anduse of nitrogen (foam,once El Bulli's signaturemode of delivery, isbanned lest it grow stale).At first, I grew a littlebored: Wetzel makes no

attempt to show us Adria'slife outside the restaurant,save for a trip to a seafoodvendor, and one is left inthe dark as to whether he

ever tucks into simple,hearty peasant dishes athome. But gradually thenuance grew on me, notleast the dynamic ofAdria's relationship with

his .chef Castro, whoteases his exacting palatewith fresh combinations

and weighs success orfailure by the subtlemotions of Adria's

eloquent brown eyes.

TElEGRAPH.CO.UK ISEVEN

preliminary Google search- and allow yourself to becarried along by thefindings of the amateur"musicologist detectives",two engaging characterscalled Craig Bartholomewand Stephen "Sugar"Segerman, a Cape Townrecord-shop owner.

With hindsight, the artfulstructuring of MalikBendjelloul's film feelsfaintly manipulative, but itnone the less works well,and the story itself ­which combines powerfulthemes of obsession,disappointment,endurance and reward - is

tremendously touching. 'Certain questions hang inthe air, such as where the

royalties from Rodriguez'sSouth African sales

KristinScottThomas getsStockholmsyndrome 4 TheAmazing Spide •...Man(12A) Andrew Garfield witha performance to Marvel at5 Magic Mike (15) StevenSoderbergh gets under skinof male stripping industry

LA CEREMONIE 1151 Al'tificial Eye, £15.99

Claude Chabrol's 1995 adaptation of RuthRendell'sA Judgement in Stone stars SandrineBonnQireand Isabelle Huppert in a spine­chillingdomestic drama of revenge. Chabrolis on peak form and both actresses are tip-top.

MARGARET 1151 20th Cent!ll'Y Fox,£19.99

Kenneth Lonergan's film, sixyears in themaking, is released thanks to Martin Scorseseand his editor ThelmaSchoonmaker, who

powered itwhen its 15().minuterunning timeput itat risk.Gripping throughout,Anna Paquin,Matthew Broderickand Matt Damon dismantlethe self-satisfactionof BushJr's America.

Toorder any of the DVDson this poge callTelegraph Music Directon 08M 871 1519

ECO

WARRIOR

Danny DeVitovoicesthe

part ofmoustachioed

guardian ofthe trees, theLorax

EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE

121 WamerBl'Os,£19.99

The titlerelates to 9/11 as described inJonathan Safran Foer's 2005 bestseller, but

Stephen Daldry's film has no new perspective.It's packed with stars - TomHanks, SandraBullockand Max von Sydow - and is anattempt to mirrorAmerica's reaction. The resultis quality Film-makingwithout new thought.

*****

*****

1 The Dark Knight Rises(12Aj FinalfilminChristopherNolan's Batman trilogywillleave you cold 2 Salute (PG)Fine Olympic doc about theforce forchange effected by1968's 200 metres medallists

3 In Your Hands (15)

I... -

!DVDs!Alan Stanbrook

I framed by sunglasses ­was unaware of his

runaway success in SouthAfrica, where he sold anestimated half a millionalbums. He remained

virtually unknown in theUS, where his career

dwindled and finallyground to a halt,reportedly ending with hissuicide on stage.

This film is much better

if you come at it knowingnothing - please resist a

a single seed.This version, by the

makers of Despicable Me,

has been padded out witha 12-year-old boy, Ted(Zac Efron) who goes insearch of a tree to impressa nature-loving girl(Taylor Swift) and acts as

. the trigger for the Once­ler's tale. His opponent isa tiny, gangsterish mayorofThneedviUe,AJoysiousO'Hare (Rob Riggle), whois bent on selling purifiedair in plastic bottles. It'sself-consciously cuter,busier and more obvious

than the Seuss story, filledwith zesty, forgettablesongs, although a pleasinghint of the curly energy ofthe original drawingsremains in the animation.

An unnecessary layer ofknowing irony has beencast over Seuss's

confidently crazy poetry,but I suspect children willenjoy this film nonetheless- even if it does sacrifice a

large measure of itsstrange literary magic tothe god of sturdycinematic entertainment

Much more unexpectedis a little gem of adocumentary film calledSearching For Sugar Man,about the dogged hunt bya couple of South Africanfans to find out what

happened to an Americansinger of Mexican descentcalled Sixto Rodriguez,whose album Cold Fact

was inspirational to whiteliberal youths protestingin apartheid-era SouthAfrica. Rodriguez - a shyand mysterious figurearound Detroit, his highcheekbones habitually

DR. SEUSS'THE LORAX IU 186 miTIs I*****SEARCHING FOR SUGAR

MAN IJ2A 186 mil1s I*****EL BULLI: COOKING IN

PROGRESS II2A IIIJ mitis I*****

The Lorax, likealmost-everychildren's film

nowadays, luxuriates ineco-guilt, which cansometimes be painful forthe watching adults,although children seemactively to enjoy it:perhaps they are naturallyimmune to the sting ofself-flagellation. For mypart, when I hear theseperky laments about howwe are wrecking ourworld, I feel like closingthe curtains and never

going out again.Still, at least Dr Seuss

got in there early: TheLora:1; is adapted from hisquirky, dark 1972 story,about a grim, concretetown in which lurks aruined creature known asThe Once-Ier, who - as a

greedy young aspiringbusinessman - choppeddown a glorious area filledwith soft-tufted TruffalaTrees in order to make an

adaptable garment calleda "thneed". In so doing hearoused the guardian ofthe trees, or Lorax, a shortmoustachioed creaturewho - in the film - looks abit like a sweeter version

ofYosemite Sam, thescourge of Bugs Bunny.But the Lorax (DannyDeVito) could not stop theOnce-Ier (Ed Helms) fromlaying waste to the forest,

although hope remains in