Writer/Journalist Jep Gambardella has entranced and seduced his way through the lavish nightlife of Rome's elite socialites for the past few decades. His one and only novel has made him a fixture in the community but on his 65th birthday he is forced to confront something from his past which brings him to reevaluate his life. Paolo Sorrentino's The Great Beauty is a visually stunning work that is equal parts intimate portrait of self-reflection and grand exploration of Italian culture, particularly Rome. The film's stunning cinematography is the first thing that jumps out at the viewer, with breathtaking visuals that capture the essence of Rome while simultaneously expressing the emotions of its characters. The comparisons to Fellini's La Dolce Vita are certainly apt, with Sorrentino delivering a somewhat surreal ode to Rome's splendor, absurdity, and exquisite beauty. This is a film with many topics of discussion throughout its 140 minute running time including old vs. new, intellectual vs. superficial, etc. What is most impressive is how Sorrentino does not look at any of these as conflicting, never picking sides but instead exposing the absurdities of all types of groups and individuals. Probably the closest thing to visual poetry this side of a Malick film, The Great Beauty is a grandiose examination of humanity which captures how small all of us individuals truly are in the grand scheme of humanity. Paolo Sorrentino's The Great Beauty is a exquisite study of our own mortality, capturing all the absurdities, viewpoints, and emotions that make life so beautiful 8.5/10
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Living in rural Russia, Sascha "owns" and manages an old collective farm, where his ownership was never formally registered with the district administrators. Sasha is from the city yet well-respected by his farm workers, who even tolerate his love-affair with Anya, a secretary at the local government. When the district offers him a lucrative deal for the farm Sasha accepts it at first, but eventually decides to stand up to the bureaucrats when his employees, mostly poor villiagers, convince him to stand firm. Boris Khlebnikov's A Long and Happy Life is a existential human drama which encapsulates the greed and corruption in contemporary Russia. Set against the backdrop of a town at the mercy of nature, A Long and Happy Life is a tragedy of a good man who wages a war he will never win. As the film progresses we begin to understand how truly hopeless Sasha's fight tis, with many of his own workers beginning to regret asking Sasha to stand up for them. I could see how some could lose sympathy or apathy for Sasha due to the nature in how he lashes out near the end of the film but I would argue that Sasha was always more a symbol to begin with. Sasha represents a force that stands up for the common man against the greed which bureaucracy so routinely inhabits, with Khlebnikov expressing how cynical and downright hopeless he is when it comes to something like this ever changing. 8/10 Set in the not-so-distant future, Kevin Macdonald's How I Live Now is the story of Daisy, an American teenager who is sent to stay with her relatives in the English countryside. Alienated and withdrawn, due in large part to her father's neglect, Daisy goes out of her way to be miserable at first, eventually warming up to her surroundings, mostly due to her budding romance with Edmund. When tense news reports begin about escalating conflict in the UK, the group finds themselves in the middle of a military state, fighting for survival. How I Live Now begins as a moody, intriguing fish out of water story that slowly morphs into a horrific nightmare as civilization around these young people begins to crumble. Turning into a story of survival, the film deals with this World War III-type scenario is refreshing, free of digital explosions and firepower, instead opting for a far more unnerving approach where violence and death feel constantly on the horizon. The narrative is compelling, and quite hard to stomach at times due to the dark circumstances, but at its heart How I Live Now is thematically solid, with a powerful anti-war message at its heart. There is no point in trying to Kevin Macdonald's direction is stylish, and is especially good when using the less is more approach but I did find the film a little too self-indulgent at times. My biggest problem with How I Live Now is centered around the love story between Daisey and Edmund. The relationship is believable but it feels rather unnecessary given how the film builds from the initial romance. There is also an over-abundance of internal dialogue from Daisy's character that feels very unneccessary and quite frankly cheap, as if Macdonald didn't have enough faith in the quieter moments to capture this complicated young girl's inner turmoil. 7.25/10 A beautiful surreal film about a bunch of female convicts who escape from prison. Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 is a very unique experience that is very oddly paced. The pacing does feel off but in all honesty it hardly mattered because the films visual style are just so damn good and creative. There are some fantastic decisions throughout the film where the director uses visual and sound design to immerse us in this surreal adventure of Scorpion and the other female convicts. Meiko Kaji is pretty much perfect as Female Scorpion; her eyes and body language tell you everything you need to know about the beautiful deadly Female Scorpion. Less is more, and for the most part this character is frightening even though we rarely see why early in the film. Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 is an exploitation film of sorts, also touching on some deeper social issues, notably the view of females vs. males in Japanese society. This film really transcends the typical Women-In-Prison film, and becomes something much more in this dissection of society. 8/10 Cornelia, an older woman, lives in a state of constant agitation due to her son marrying a woman to which she doesn’t approve. Cornelia is incredibly controlling, with much of her angst towards her daughter-in-law being a bi-product of her need to feel in control. When Cornelia’s son, Barbu, is involved in a car accident that leaves a young child dead, Cornelia will stop at nothing to make sure her son is not convicted of any crimes, regardless of whether he is responsible or not. Calin Peter Netzer’s Child’s Pose is a film dealing with the power of maternal instinct, capturing the power of forgiveness, love and loss. At the heart of this film is Cornelia, a somewhat tragic character, someone who has nothing else to hold onto outside of her love for her son. She spends much of the film doing everything in her power to save her son from significant prison time, never accepting the fact that her son could be in the wrong. Cornelia is a character that want’s to force her love and protection onto her son, not realizing that this is something that must come naturally. The dynamic between mother and son is genuine and complex, with Barbu sick of his mother’s constant meddling. Through her meddling Barbu has become a man who feels irresponsible, tired of his mother constantly using her financial status and stature in the community to influence anything and everything. The final sequence of Child’s Pose perfectly envelopes the film, with Cornelia finally grasping that she isn’t the only one who cares deeply for her offspring. She comes face-to-face with the parents of the deceased child and for the first time puts herself in someone else’s shoes, fully understanding the pain and misery they are going through. Aesthetically Child’s Pose is solid albeit unspectacular, using a lot of handheld photography which attempts to capture the raw nature of this story. I wouldn’t say it’s a complete waste but the handheld feels largely unmotivated even becoming distracting at times. Throughout most of the film’s running time I was largely unaffected from an emotional standpoint but the finale of Child’s Pose perfectly wraps up the film, with our main protagonist finally realizing the one-sided nature of her viewpoint. 7/10 Nico, an incredibly intelligent and difficult teenager, lives a privileged life thanks to his very successful father, Carlos. Keeping to himself almost entirely, Nico is obsessed with Chess, dreaming of one day becoming a world champion. Extremely gifted, Nico struggles with social adaptation while showing an extremely defiant attitude, especially towards Carlos. The constant father-son confrontation affects the family severely which leads Carlos and his wife to hire Julio, a renowned psychologist whose expertise lies in children. Being a master of chess in his own right, Julio uses the game as a type of therapy as he attempts to discover the truth behind Nico's hostility towards his father. Jesus Monllao's Son of Cain is a engrossing thriller that keeps the viewer constantly involved from start to finish. The narrative of Son of Cain is straight-forward enough but what makes this film so compelling is the dynamics between the various characters. The father-son dynamic is at the forefront, with Nico and Julio's friendly relationship being an extreme contrast to the relationship Nico has with Carlos. There is a great sequence during Nico's birthday in which we see how Carlos is metaphorically stripped of his ability to be respected and appreciated by his own son. It's a very quick moment but poignant capturing how Carlos feels like he has been replaced. While this dynamic is great, I could have down without the love angle centered around Julio and Carlos' wife which just feels completely unnecessary to the story. Son of Cain is a film that one should go into blind, consisting of a few twists and turns that lead up to a incendiary and downright chilling finale that is incredibly effective at shading the viewer from what is coming. 8/10 Ahmad, an Iranian man, who deserted his wife and two daughters years ago to venture to his homeland, returns to Paris to finalize a divorce. When he arrives at his wife Marie's residence Ahmad is confronted with the realization that his wife has met someone new, which becomes further complicated when Marie's older daughter expresses her disdain for her mother's new partner. Asghar Farhadi's films are so rich from a character perspective and The Past is certainly no different. Nearly every character in The Past is incredibly well defined, each with their own faults, ambitions and insecurities. On the surface The Past sounds like a small and contained story but Asghar Farhadi has created a narrative that is dense, intriguing and dare I say epic. While there is no denying the strong filmmaking in The Past, it is a film thats thematic intentions are not nearly as impressive as its narrative precision. What separates his earlier work is the lack of melodrama, with the Past having a few scenes that suffer from overindulgence in the theatrics department. Compared to most filmmakers Farhadi's direction could be classified as reserved, but don't mistake that for banality. Farhadi's direction is very assured and subtly brilliant, picking his moments which only makes these stylistic moments all the more powerful. The Past is not a near masterwork like some of his other films, but it's another very strong entry further establishing Farhadi as a one of the best contemporary narrative filmmakers. 8/10 Matej Chlupacek & Michal Samir's Touchless is a dark psychological drama that examines sexual abuse, and the long term ill-effect it can have on the abused psyche. The story centers aroun Jolana, a teenager girl, who at the complete mercy of her stepdad. This is a film that blurs reality and protagonist's inner psyche to such a degree, that it becomes nearly impossible to understand what is real and what is merely a young woman's impression of herself after years of abuse. As the film progresses, we see Jolana working at a brothel, a willing recipient and participant in various sexual games. What the film never makes clear, probably intentionally, is whether this strong sexual creatures which Jolana has become is a reality or merely a mental viewpoint of a woman who views herself as worthless outside of her ability to perform carnal pleasures. As one could imagine from the synopsis alone, Touchless is an uncomfortable experience that is full of tension and unease throughout its 70 minute running time. Thematically the film is very much about the connection between sexual pleasure and compassion/companionship with Jolana never fully realizing their is a difference thanks to her step-father's complete control. While this is an interesting psychological study of a damaged character I found the film to not be nearly as emotionally resonant as it should be, needing far more exposition centered around Jolana, showing how she got into such a dark place. Some people would argue that exposition isn't necessary but with the way this film is structured it becomes confusing and unfocused because of this lack of detail early in the film. Touchless is a solid film exploring a very taboo topic that I wish had a longer running time to help flesh out its various thematic and character dynamics. 6.5/10 Zeynep and Tufan have been an item for quite a while now but their relationship hasn’t exactly been euphoric as of late. In an act of rage after their latest fight, Zeynep finds herself in an old abandoned house where she is attacked by a mysterious entity. With the entity now inside of her, Zeynep, Tufan, and the rest of their friends must discover the reasoning behind this possession before it’s too late. I had never heard of this film going into it, but was very intrigued by the idea of a contemporary Turkish horror film. On the surface Hasan Karacadag’s El Cin is a rather generic entry in the paranormal entity genre but its creativity in execution is what sets it apart. It may seem like an odd comparison but this film reminded me quite a bit of early Sam Raimi. The creativeness and kinetic scares are very similar even though it’s not nearly as comedic as some of Raimi’s horror output. There is lot of horrific imagery, especially for those afraid of insects, but the film definitely has a low-budget vibe. Some of the special effects are not exactly up to Hollywood’s quality but the artistry behind these computer enhanced moments tends to be quite effective. El Cin uses an array of unique camera movements and creepy imagery that gives the film a rich and unsettling atmosphere. It’s a little bit of a slow build-up with the film taking a little time to get going but after about the first 30 minutes El Cin is a nonstop creep fest. Hasan Karacadag’s El Cin is a tension filled horror film that assaults the viewer’s sense, making for an effective journey into horror. 7.75/10 |
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June 2023
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