The Maze Runner

Seen on our own in a cinema in Kunming, China

Bea says: While I was in the cinema watching this, I remembered either reading or hearing a review of current films, which talked about one release as being so ridiculously derivative that if you’ve seen any films at all over the past 20 years, you’ll spend the entire screening distracted by what it reminds you of.  And although I didn’t know it when we decided to see it, this is that film.

It’s Lord of the Flies!  It’s Labyrinth!  It’s The Beach!  It’s The Matrix!  It’s Memento!  It’s The Hunger Games!  Need I go on?  I am not sure, though, if this film’s target audience would have these reference points.

So – that probably explains the genre, which is fantasy based, young adult, coming of age.  The film is adapted from a novel, and the story centres on a group of boys/young men, who for reasons unknown to them have been sent to an “island” of sorts – a piece of land surrounded by a complex, ever-changing maze, filled with dangers.  They need to survive, and also to try and find their way out of the maze.  Every month a new boy arrives, and none (or few) of the boys have any recollection of who they were before arriving.  This month it is Thomas, our story’s hero, who quickly upsets the established patterns of the boy on the “island”, setting in chain a series of events which lead to both danger and death for some, and liberation for others

 As fantasy stories of this genre go, it’s actually not bad – as a story, if not particularly original.  It’s interesting to think about how similar this is to traditional coming of age rites that young people would have done – finding your way home from an unfamiliar place was, I think, a common coming of age ritual in tribal cultures for example.  Survival skills and the importance of remembering patterns and symbols in the landscape is also important in this story.  I found the section of the film that deals with remembering the maze one of the most interesting bits.  It deals with social structures and how these can be created and then changed, and the need for maturity in managing these.

However, the fact that these themes made it into the film seemed almost accidental, as if the screenwriter and director had never actually read the book, or cared about it.  What they appear to have done instead is to rewrite every scene from a film they could think of that related to these themes, and cobble them together into a new film.  When they ran out of ideas or got worried it was too boring (about ¾ of the way through) they put in a silly CGI sequence that adds nothing to the plot and nearly made me leave.  I’m glad I didn’t – there is some good story-related stuff afterwards!  I am also not sure what the point of the arrival of the girl was – she had barely any scenes and was quickly relegated to the role of “nurse”!

I’m not sorry I saw it, as I would now like to read the book, and I am interested in what will happen in the inevitable part 2 (although I might read the book for that too!), but, really, have some original ideas please!!

**

Cecil says: The most gripping moment in this film for me was when a guy on a silent scooter rode into the auditorium about half way through and freaked us out for a moment as we were watching this film completely alone and we wondered why he chose to sit at the end of our row in an empty 500 seater cinema…

Trouble was I didn’t really care about any of the characters; I found the ethnic mix tiresome and contrived by some committee deciding on the politically correct casting, not to mention the key role played by the overweight kid (which felt like another have-to-show-fat-kids-can-contribute moment, though Bea tells me a character like this was key to the story in Lord of the Flies); and as for the puny, pale English actor who turns out to be one of the strongest characters in the tribe, it just felt like poor casting, or designed to appeal to those who like a pretty face.

Bea is right, the only other pretty face in the film is the ‘girl’ sent in half way through for no apparent reason and without any real importance to the plot.

Ironically, given how little I cared, it was the ending which intrigued me most and made me curious as to how they continue the story in Part 2, so if I’m stuck somewhere like China again with no other English language film showing, I may even watch the sequel…

**

Kurmanjan Datka

Seen at Philharmonia Hall Cinema in Osh, Kyrgyzstan

Cecil says: We chose this film because we liked the poster and it was the only film showing in Osh that afternoon that didn’t look like an action film, a kids’ comedy or a melodrama. We definitely got lucky because this was a classic costume drama which actually helped us enjoy - and understand – Kyrgyzstan over the following days.

It’s the first time I have been moved to tears by a film where I understood nothing of the dialogue (which was all in Russian or Kygyz without subtitles). That’s how powerful this film was.

Basically this is the story of Kyrgyzstan’s national heroine Kurmanjan Datka, who lived for almost 100 years from 1816 until early in the 20^th century. We’d never heard of her, of course, though once we’d seen the film, we noticed that Osh’s main street is named after her, and in the middle of town there is a wonderful three storey high yurt commemorating hers and her husband’s lives, modelled presumably on the kind of place they used to live in.

This is a wonderfully visual film, both for the scenery shown (although we learnt later that most of it was filmed in the lusher, greener north of the country, though the action is set in the dusty, barren south and in the more desert areas of Uzbekistan) and for the costumes.

It’s an epic film along the lines of Ben Hur or Lawrence of Arabia and you don’t need any knowledge of Kyrgyz history to appreciate the tale of feisty young girl who catches the eye of local landlord, defies custom by refusing to marry the ugly older man her father finds for her, and then has to battle to survive after her husband is killed in some sort of conspiracy story.

As she grows older she becomes something of a stateswoman, negotiating with the Russians who have moved into the region, and dealing with her own issues of grief and loss as her various sons are convicted of crimes and killed by the Russian authorities.

This is an extraordinary film. We felt privileged to be seeing it with an audience of locals, some of whom were also in tears and others of whom applauded at the end. Apparently, it has been nominated as the Kyrgyz entry for the Oscars foreign language film category this year, and it would certainly get my vote.

A fantastic film I’d gladly see again, with or without subtitles. Best film I’ve seen in 2014. Oh, and I can’t wait for the director to follow-up with parts 2 and 3, as apparently he plans once he has the funding…

*****

Bea says:  Cecil and I are of one mind on this one – I love historical epics anyway, and this one was just magnificent.  Even if I hadn’t been able to follow the plot, I wouldn’t have minded as the beautiful scenery and rich, colourful costumes alone would have kept me spell bound.  Probably most similar – in recent years – to Braveheart, this is a story that it seems is vitally important for the now independent Kyrgyz people to be able to tell, and it was wonderful to see it in a lovely old theatre in Osh, where much of the action takes place.  Cecil and I, although we couldn’t understand much else, were also thrilled when the action moved to Kokand and Bukhara, both of which we had recently visited.  It really did help us understand the countries we were visiting.

The film was made on a relative shoestring (1.5 million dollars), and it is impressive to see how much could be done with that – although I read an interview with the director that said he did struggle badly with the low budget.

I also enjoyed watching a historical epic that had at its centre the story of a woman and that did touch on some of the difficulties experienced by women generally, both now and historically (the near-stoning that takes place at the start of the film, arranged/forced marriage, and the position of women in society).

A definite must-see;  I want to see it again with English subtitles, so will be on the lookout and hoping for a win at the Oscars so it gets a wider audience!

****1/2