Displaying items by tag: Baltasur Kormakur

APEX

US/Iceland/Australia, 2026, 95 minutes, Colour.

Charlize Theron, Taron Egerton, Eric Bana, Matt Whelan, Aaron Pedersen, Rob Carlton.

Directed by Baltasar Kormakur.

Extreme sports, survival movies…

The prologue to this film, highly exciting to watch, is also misleading. The setting is Norway, mountains with sheer faces, climbers and their daring, achievements as well as disasters. With a title like apex, and the mountain climbing opening, we might settle in for high peaks and dangers.

But, no. There is a tragedy for the central character, Sasha, tough and played by Charlize Theron, travels to Australia, where her partner in Norway mountaineering came from.

And, as noted that the beginning of this review, extreme sports and survival. Sasha goes out into the Australian bush, actually filmed near enough to Sydney in the Megalong Valley, ready for any challenging activity. But, anyone who has seen films like Wolf Creek, knows that there are always threats, madness and dangerous characters out there in the bush.

And the screenplay cleverly misleads us (now something of a spoiler alert). Sasha encounters an ugly macho lot in the local pub and we expect them to be menacing to the lone female when she travels out alone. Fortunately, perhaps, she is helped out by a nice young man, Ben, played by Taryn Egerton (who, after all, had played Elton John but was also in The King’s Men). He suggests a more interesting location where Sasha can camp and experience Australia.

Bad move. Actually, the men are there, but what follows is a cat and mouse pursuit and escape. Probably best to say immediately that Ben, despite the naivete and sometimes charm, is bonkers. Mad religious ideas, pathological, weird sense of some kind of destiny. And he is persistent in pursuit, knows the bush, can anticipate Sasha’s moves, continually threatening, umpteen crises.

But, with memories of Deliverance and films like The River Wild, Sasha has the opportunity to use her ingenuity as well as her survival skills, hiding in the bush, climbing, in the water, canoeing, rapids and waterfall…

Of course, it is no spoiler, to know that Sasha will win out at the end. The point of the entertainment is to watch the pursuit, the tactics, Ben and his eerie presence and menace, Sasha and her survival abilities. (And, for international good measure, the director is Balthasar Kormakur from Iceland.)

1. The title, a survival thriller?
2. The opening, the Norwegian mountains, dangers, darkness, the climbers, the accident, death, survival? Setting the tone?
3. Sasha, in herself, age, physical abilities, climbing, daring, the dangers, relationship with Tommy, the discussions, the accident, his death, the repercussions? His being Australian?
4. Her travel to Australia, memories of Tommy? Adventure? The travel, the encounters with Australians along the way, the pub, the group of men, drinking, taunts, her response?
5. Her meeting Ben, his quiet manner, his suggestions, where to travel?
6. The Australian scenery, the Megalong Valley, the bush, rivers, mountains? The musical score?
7. Sasha, confident, driving, going to the rendezvous, the encounter with the men, apprehensive, their behaviour, her manner?
8. The encounter with Ben, his recommendations? Her exploring, the invasion of the tent, the thing is disappearing, her blaming the men?
9. The change in the theme, Ben, emerging as sinister, former charm, his ideas, mania, religious, pathologies?
10. The film as the pursuit, Sasha and her energy, fleeing, hiding, injuries, the river, can do, the waterfall, climbing?
11. Then, his persistence, mania, ingenuity, resources, deceiving Sasha, the pursuit, entrapment?
12. The buildup to the final confrontation, Sasha and her resources and wits, men, presumption, injury, death?
13. Audiences and their response to the characters, the action – and, maybe, wariness of the Australian bush!

TOUCH

Iceland/UK, 2024, 120 minutes, Colour.

Egill Olafsson, Koki, Palmi Kormakur, Masahiro Motoki, Yoko Narahashi, Ruth Sheen.

Directed by Baltasar Kormakur

This is a very moving drama from Iceland. The central character is ageing, health deteriorating, a doctor advising him to come to terms with any problem that has been gripping him over the years. He is Kristofer, widower with a daughter, but long memories.

As might be expected, there are two time eras in this film, the present with the ageing Kristofer, and many flashbacks which build up a strong and vivid picture of himself when young, his early life, and encounters which changed his life but which came to an abrupt and mysterious and.

In fact, the principal flashbacks are to London in the 1970s, Kristofer student of economics there, joining in protests of the time, but giving up on the studies and taking up a job in a Japanese restaurant in central London. He feels at home there. He learns some of the language. He learnd some of the ways of cooking. The owner, a refugee in the 1950s from Japan to London, a native of Hiroshima and the atomic bomb, the aftermath, with his young daughter, highly competent, initially wary of Kristofer.

But, we see the buildup of the relationship, Kristofer finding a zest in life, and in love with the daughter, Miko (played by Koki). And one day he goes to the restaurant and finds it closed, the family gone.

Again in the present, Kristofer goes back to London, finds the site of the restaurant, tracks down one of the workers there at the time, gets some information and, despite protests from his daughter, decides to go to Japan to discover the truth, to bring some calm to the anguish that he has experienced for half a century.

And audiences will find the sequences in Japan, a visit to Hiroshima (and quite a telling impact in being reminded of what happened with the bomb and its effect on

 those who lived in the city), and his search for Miko and whether he will find her or not, engaging..

Director,Baltasar Kormakur was a pioneer in the 2000a of strong Icelandic drama. By 2010, he was making action films, especially in the United States with an American cast. Now his return to serious drama – and audiences will be thankful for this.

1. The tone of the title? Communication? Tenderness? The long absence of touch?
2. The work of the director, stories from Iceland, his dramas, the period of his action dramas, this film as a culmination of his work?
3. The contemporary Icelanders settings, the terrain, the seasons, homes, towns, airport, leaving Iceland? The London settings, the 2020s, the site of the restaurant, the changes, the meetings? The London settings of the 1970s, students, protests, accommodation, jobs, the restaurant, the Japanese atmosphere, the streets and atmosphere London at the time?
4. The Japanese locations, Tokyo, Hiroshima, the countryside? Modern, the buildings, parks, streets, high-rise? The flashbacks to Hiroshima in the past?
5. Kristofer and his story, his age, the doctor, the diagnoses, physical condition, deteriorating mental condition, the advice to resolve any worries or concerns? His daughter and the phone calls, her concern? His disregard of them? The audience gradually building up the picture of the 50 years of the past, returning to Iceland, his work, marriage, the daughter?
6. His decision to go to London, the airport, arrival, London changed, accommodation, seeking out the restaurant, its change, the proprietor? Tracking down the worker from the past, aged care, her giving him the information?
7. The portrait of Kristofer in London, age, weary, anxious, searching? The decision to go to Japan?
8. The insertion of the various flashbacks, Kristofer young, the background in Iceland, work, fishing, student in England, economics, fellow students, their bonding, camaraderie, the protests, the putting down of the protests? His ideology, giving up the studies, looking for a job?
9. The Japanese restaurant, the proprietor, his asking for the job, his glimpse of Miko, his reaction, her reaction – the later revelation that she advised her father not to employ him? His discussion with his friends, their disbelief? His return, the owner hiring him, the conversations, the other workers, the woman and her background, the Opera singer, the atmosphere, the customers?
10. Kristofer, taking to cooking, learning Japanese, the communication, Mico and the discussions with her, the bonding? Falling in love, the meetings, secrecy, in the flat, Mrs Ellis and her reactions and advice?
11. The family background, quiet, Hiroshima, the decision to leave, no communication with Kristofer, the disappearance? The impact on him? 50 years?
12. In Japan, getting the address for Miko, meeting the lady from the apartment, her arranging the contact, Miko and Kristofer reuniting, the years that had passed, Miko and her age, health, her life, her regrets of losing Kristofer?
13. The bonding, the past years, sadness, joy in finding each other?