Checkpoint

Plot synopsis:
Checkpoint is shot in cinéma vérité style with no narration and very little context. Shamir himself is absent from the film except for one scene in which a border guard asks him to try to make him "look good," and Shamir asks how he should do that.
The camera films people trying to cross at various checkpoints. At some, such as the high-tech fortress like that at the Gaza Strip crossing there are hundreds of people crowded, waiting to get through. At others such as at South Jenin there is just a truck blocking the road while Palestinians trickle by. Interactions vary, ranging from mundane to mildly frustrating to maddening in their unfairness. Sometimes people show their identification cards without incident but much of what Shamir has chosen to include are the messier incidences. A school bus full of kids (averaging around eight years old) the viewer sees several times and passes at South Jenin quite regularly (the bus driver says everyday) is emptied and told that it cannot proceed. A family is separated because a border guard does not see the need for the father to accompany his family to the doctor because he is not sick. A woman sends her crying children back home on their own because their papers are not in order. Hundreds ignore soldiers at one place and walk through to town, many carrying nothing but groceries. On the way to Nablus an ambulance is stopped and each passenger is forced to explain what their need for treatment is. A soldier calls Palestinians animals while they wait at Kalandia checkpoint in the snow. Sometimes the soldiers are obviously playing around with the people they are monitoring but often it seems that they are following arbitrary orders outside their control. The situation is only worsened by the fact that rarely does either party speak the same language: The entire film is spoken in patches of Arabic, Hebrew and English.

Tags: murder

Review:
Nice scenery, not so thrilling car race..
This film was produced in colour in 1956 at a time when Britain was just emerging from post-war austerity and pleasant motoring trips to the continent were becoming a possibility for the British middle class.
The film was made on location and Ralph Thomas the director is clearly anxious to show off the delights of Florence and the Italian lakes.
In fact the whole thing is like a Peter Stuyvesant cigarette commercial.
It includes a great deal of motor racing from an era when 160 mph racing cars were raced on public roads with huge crowds lining the routes and minimal safety considerations (fits in with the ciggies I guess).
The plot is pretty mechanical, the acting, except for Stanley Baker, who was incapable of a bad performance, is pretty routine and the script merely servicable.
I have to confess to liking James Robertson Justice, the overbearing boss from central casting,  but actually the cars (Aston-Martins) had the meatiest roles.
The participation of Aston Martin no doubt accounts for O'Donovan trying to burn some DB3 bodyshells in the opening sequences.
Well, it was all a great excuse for some jaded Rank and Aston-Martin employees to catch some Italian sun and one can only hope they enjoyed themselves..
A good film for motor racing enthusiasts.
The film uses much footage from the Mille Miglia and although the plot is fairly thin it's worth watching for the amount of original footage of period racing cars.
From the cars involved and the date of release it would appear to be the 1955 race, which was won by Stirling Moss and Denis Jenkinson in a Mercedes-Benz 300SLR.
The cars used in the 'team' are actually Lagonda versions of the Aston Martin DB3S.
Keen observers will note the scenes in the introduction, allegedly set in an Italian car factory, show Sunbeam Rapier bodies on a production line in what would have been Pressed Steel in Coventry.
As the Rapier was introduced in 1955 this sets the date.
Rootes Group were never slow in offering cars to the British Film Industry for scenes by way of publicity.
The sports car bodies shown in part of the scene are obviously made-up replicas with a hint of Porsche.
Worth watching if you are a car nut, but the scenery both automotive and geographical outweighs the story..
Above average car 'thriller'..
With simply stunning scenery which has now been all but destroyed or tamed by modernity, this film is more than a good British film, it is a wonderful tourist film and social documentary.
A typically stout performance by JRJ helps the film retain some semblance of realism against a backdrop of lakes and mountains that post war Britain must have forgotten about.The cars are the undoubted stars of the film, with many classic marques in evidence.
They alone can make the hairs stand up on your neck as they go through small villages at (slightly) unbelievable speeds whilst driver and co-driver mange to hold a conversation!!
Other performances are up to usual standards for the type of film, and as usual in this type of film, young men are played by ever-so-slightly older ones.Overall a good film that can help while away a wet afternoon whilst taking you back to the post-war era that didn't really exist..
Enjoyable and fast paced thriller.
I taped Checkpoint when Channel 4 screened it one afternoon earlier this year (2006) and quite enjoyed it.A man, O'Donovan breaks into a car factory to steal some plans for new models of racing cars to ensure his company wins the forthcoming race.
But things go wrong and gets spotted resulting in him killing a security guard and several coppers who were sent to see what was going on at the factory after an alarm was triggered.
The factory then catches fire.
Later, O'Donovan enters the race himself and threatens his driver with a gun and both end up in a cliff hanging position, literally...This movie contains some great Italian scenery and nice to see some classic cars too.A great cast: Stanley Baker (Zulu) as O'Donovan, James Robertson Justice (Mobey Dick, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), Anthony Steel, Maurice Denham, Odile Versois, Michael Medwin and Anne Heywood.Watch out for Checkpoint in TV listings, doesn't seem to have been released on video or DVD anywhere.
A treat.Rating: 3 stars out of 5..
Running With the Devil.
The stars of this movie are the beautiful cinematography of the Italian towns and vistas and the great stock footage of the vintage Euro racing cars.
The story itself is pretty far-fetched.
James Robertson Justice owns a British racing team that he wants badly to displace the Italians as champions.
So he dispatches Stanley Baker to Italy to hire the key designer away from the competitive team.
Instead, Baker blows up the Italian plant and kills several inept policemen during his theft of the race car blueprints.
Making this all the more unbelievable is that Justice knew Baker was a crook when he hired him!
There's a lot of silly womanizing and drinking on the part of the drivers that must be sifted through not to mention the love story between Steel and Versois.
While the ending is somewhat exciting, this one is really mainly for racing enthusiasts..
Underrated.
The robbery of an Italian automobile factory goes horribly wrong, resulting in the deaths of several policeman.
After he escapes, the robber, O'Donovan (Stanley Baker), is able to blackmail his sponsor into helping him get out of the country.
Their plan is to use an international automobile race as a cover to smuggle O'Donovan out of Italy and into Switzerland.
O'Donovan will have to impersonate one of the co-drivers.
Will the other drivers go along with the plan and can O'Donovan keep his cool all the way to the Swiss border?
This is one of those cases where I find a film underrated on IMDb. IMDb - 5.6/10.
So it's obvious that I enjoyed Checkpoint much more than most.
There's a lot I liked about director Ralph Thomas' film.
There's plenty of drama, action, and intrigue throughout Checkpoint.
The opening robbery, even though at this point we have no idea what's happening, is a great introduction to what is to come.
The race scenes really worked with me and I found them incredibly exciting.
I've seen other films with similar race scenes that either do not look "real" or are just plain old dull.
The fight scene at the film's end is thrilling.
It could have gone either way in my mind.
The acting is top notch.
Stanley Baker plays about as good a thugish brute as anyone.
And Odile Versois is just delightful - a word I don't think I use very often, but it describes her perfectly.
Finally, the Italian locations are as gorgeous as anything I've seen recently.
It's all so beautifully filmed.
I can't say enough about Ernest Steward's cinematography.
My only complaint is with the second act of the film where Checkpoint seems to lose a bit of focus and almost turns into a schmaltzy romance.
Still, the overall movie is highly enjoyable.
I don't know much about old racing cars, but the cars featured in Checkpoint are amazing looking machines.
If you're into racing, it's probably worth checking out the movie for all the cool cars and real racing footage..
Terrific looks, great performance, feeble plot.
There is a lot to like about this film, particularly if you're a fan of motor racing and cinematography.
Beautiful costume, wonderful settings and terrific cars all shot in sumptuous colour.
Stanley Baker and James Robertson Justice adding more than a little gravitas to roles thinner than a ten-bob note, but even though they're backed up by the talents of Odile Versois and Maurice Denham amongst others, they are unable to drag your attention from a plot so ludicrous that even 'Boys Own' would have rejected it.
Anthony Steel has top billing, but the troubles that had begun to dog him off-screen translate into a performance that barely registers and one wonders if there were major changes in the story and script to accommodate his fall from grace.
The film is quite an enjoyable romp and definitely worth watching, even if it's just for a glimpse of such obscure cars as the Fairthorpe Atom and Isocarro Furgone!