Love the Beast (2010)

Such a frustrating disappointment

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

I was lent this on DVD a long time ago, and didn't get round to watching it, partly because I was worried that it would be a disappointment. I have taken part in Rallying for 7 years, and have been lucky enough to compete at a high level in an amateur capacity, and was worried the film would just be a "movie star spends a lot of money on a passing fad" affair, badly made and insincere, and the presence of Jeremy Clarkson on the credits added to this.I couldn't have been more wrong.From the beginning, this film appears to be a labour of love, and explanation of an obsession and a journey that has taken the majority of Eric Bana's life. It is beautiful to look at (aside from the quality of the in-car footage which sadly is a victim of the technology of a few years ago), and a real tribute to how Eric feels about his car and his relationship with his friends and family, with the car having been the centrepiece of this relationship - an excuse to get together which often men need to do so. It takes us through the history of the car, its transformations over the years including the current one to compete in the 2007 Targa Tasmania rally, 11 years after their first entry.The feeling of competing and more importantly how it makes us feel is well articulated, and the relationship between Eric and his navigator is one I know well, and felt myself laughing when they behaved as I have done on the stages with little jokes between the crew or being told off for going too quickly or told to "GO!" when it was time to hurry up.*SPOILER* - when the car is crashed, it is covered in a way which doesn't just show what happened, it shows the effect of it on the crew and their friends and family, and how they re-evaluate their relationship with the car and what it has meant to them over the years. Having been in the position that Eric Bana was, I really related to what he was saying about the car and what it meant to him, and also Dr Phil's description of the relationship between people and their cars. Seeing Eric's reaction to it was extremely interesting, particularly when he said he'd rather have a broken arm or leg than have 'killed' the car, and his apology to his navigator straight after the accident is something I completely identified with.I feel that I've really learned something by watching this film - not only about Eric Bana's relationship with his friends via his car, but also my own. It articulated the feelings that cars and specifically rallying evokes far better than I've ever managed or even realised - so much so that I'd say it was the kind of film that anyone who knows someone who competes or who is car obsessed should watch, as it'll probably explain it far better than anyone else could, and into the bargain you'll have an enjoyable 90 minutes watching a well-made and honest film.

I just saw this today 1/3/10 and loved each and every second of it.It seems that Mr. Bana and I have similar tastes in our love of cars. His a Falcon (what we in the U.S. looks to be a Ford Torino) and mine a Dodge Charger. We both love our cars in a way that is hard to understand by someone who is not a serious gear head.The documentary shows a love of cars by Mr. Bana and his friends growing up that had the same appreciation of the automobileSeeing this film makes me appreciate my love of muscle cars that much better.The documentary contains an insightful cameo by TV host, Jay Leno. An annoying one by BBC Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson and something in-between by Dr. Phil McGraw.

I just watched this movie last night (DVD) and really enjoyed it. I don't think I'd agree that this film is for car buff's only - granted, a lot of the movie is based around cars, but I reckon the movie is more about the connection between men and machines more than just car's themselves.The conversations with Jeremy Clarkson, Dr. Phill and Jay Leno were totally interesting too watch. Dr Phill provided a view point outside cars (loved his view points on hobbies and work), Jay Leno had some interesting points on why he crashed (ie. the latest iteration wasn't Eric's own hand work) and Jeremy Clarkson had some real insightful stuff on comparing machines to computers and how machines (ie. cars) exhibit more human traits than computers - hence why there is a bond there.An interesting part of it is how a material object (The Beast) acts as a conduit for men to come around, work on the car and friendships/bonds are formed. I reckon it's the memories created by this is what makes people treasure their cars (and not always limited to cars).I do have to admit that when about 30 minutes into it, I did look at the clock - not in a boring way and not in a way thinking when is this going to end. Probably because it is more of a documentary it didn't have my total interest in it.The sorta sub story about the other bloke and his Ford was awesome as well - the personality of the dude (sorry, forgot his name - one of Eric's mates) doing the interviewing was great - his personality really comes across. Same deal with Eric's navigator.The cinematography is awesome - very well done.The build up to the crash was just simply great - I liked how Eric did this and built up to the event (and the spacemen conversation was funny as!).How there is so much old footage is just unbelievable - it's like this movie was planned from a very long time ago! The insight into Eric Bana was also another interesting point in the movie - how he comes across is just a normal Aussie bloke. Top bloke! I've never had the privilege of staying in one country long enough to have friends for that long, but it's awesome how he's stayed real and kept his mates.There's a lot more to this movie than just the car, but you do have to look past that to see it. Recommend watching the special features on the DVD (interview especially) cause it gives you a little more insight into the actions behind the movie.At the end of the movie, I was inspired, still am - I've never bothered to write a review on IMDb before, but I liked this movie so much I thought I'd put one on here! It's not a movie like Braveheart or Contact (my favorites anyways) but it's also a lot more real than those movies.If I had to pin-point my favorite aspect of the movie, it's how Eric Bana has portrayed his car, his family and his mates in the movie. You can actually get a feel of what the individuals are like, based on what has been filmed and what background dialog has been said about them. You can get a rough idea of what each person is like, solely based on watching this movie - and I think that's a pretty good accomplishment.And I totally hope he rebuilds The Beast!

Love the Beast attempts to capture and represent the intense enthusiasm that Bana feels for the challenges and collective memory inculcated in his 1974 XB Ford Falcon coupe. One of the central metaphors is that of a campfire. The car functions as a 'campfire' around which Bana and his lifelong schoolyard mates congregate.The film explores the complexities of the relationship between Bana and his car through the various forms of action punctuating their dual biography. To provide an insight into these complexities Bana attempts to stitch together the multi-dimensional relationships that have formed over the years. I can picture it in my head a little like a schematic for a fun park ride, an influence from here, a tension over there, and the ways the social and socio-technical challenges posed by the car mobilise the enthusiasm of Bana and his mates in differentially repeated ways.Bana faces the challenges inculcated in the car differently as a young bloke growing up (modifying the car, attending car shows, hanging out with his mates, etc) compared to the challenges manifest when a movie star/adult (going racing, getting the car built, etc). I would've liked to have seen more of this, more of a focus on his younger days. He rebuilt the car three times, I think the second one was just before the car appeared in a magazine and Bana raced at Targa Tasmania for the first time. More about this era would've been fantastic.The film is not a cynical attempt to capture the enthusiasm of car enthusiasts by interpolating it into box office takings ala the Fast and the Furious franchise. The only other film I am aware that comes close to what Bana is attempting here is The World's Fastest Indian. TWFI also attempts to directly represent an intense enthusiasm, but does so in more of a narrative-based way. Indeed, TWFI is a fictional account of an actual set of events. Bana's film is 'real life'; although framed in certain ways.Bana lays out the multi-dimensional character of his enthusiasm by using traditional documentary techniques and almost unbelievably blessed with old video (and maybe even super-8) footage of when he was a kid, teenager and young man with his car. Although the film does follow a rough dramatic arc leading up to his race at the Targa Tasmania, this is used more as a kind of dramatic infrastructure around which to organise the micro-narratives provide by his somewhat charismatic ('knockabout') mates, his mother and father, other racers, and the celebrity interventions of the other above-title luminaries.I was not really convinced how much the 'celebrities' add to the film, but I guess I would have seen this film without them; therefore, they are not for me. I attended a media screening of the film in Sydney and from what I could deduce I was the only gearhead there (I am a writer for Street Fords magazine in Australia). The bourgeois cinephile beside me snorted a suppressed giggle at whatever came out of Jeremy Clarkson's mouth; Clarkson is entertaining in a boorish sort of way. Dr Phil surprised me a little bit. I always dismissed him out of hand for being a popularist TV equivalent of a parlour trick. However, here Bana brings out his best, and Dr Phil almost (but not quite) comes across as compelling.Similarly, Bana designed the film to be watched by an international audience and the opening scenes about "what most people around the world think of Australia" were interesting for locating Bana in the context of his background. The international audience will get such references as Mad Max, the celebrity talking heads, and so on.The editing is mostly superb with a fine use of montage to play on the rhythm of expectation (everyone knows what is going to happen to Bana's car at the end), building up the tension and then relieving it. The camera work here is a cross between race car event coverage with documentary footage, with a few long, gliding shots of cars moving during the race; a bit like surfing cinematography or skateboarding in the way the camera attempts to implicate itself in the action.Overall, the film is entertaining, intriguing and funny, and definitely a credit to Bana. Go see it.