Orlando (1992) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): As a man and then a woman…

Posted on April 12, 2026 by kaist455

Sally Porter’s 1992 film “Orlando”, whose 4k remastered version recently came to South Korean theaters, is a distinctively poetic work on gender identity and individuality. Based on the 1928 novel of the same name by Virginia Woolf, the movie freely and boldly flows across a long passage of time along with its timeless titular figure, and the result is quite intriguing and mesmerizing to say the least.

The movie has no problem with wholeheartedly embracing its utterly preposterous story setting right from the very beginning. In England at the beginning of the 17th century, Orlando (Tilda Swinton) is a strikingly beautiful young man who is incidentally the sole heir of his nobleman family, and the movie quickly and succinctly establishes how odd and distinctive he is in his androgynous appearance. While he is expected to inherit the title and estate of his old father someday, this idiosyncratic lad is more interested in following his happiness and artistic passion as shown from the opening scene, and we get a bit of amusement when he hurriedly prepares for the arrival of Queen Elizabeth I along with his parents.

The queen, who is memorably played by Quentin Crisp with gusto, becomes quite fascinated with Orlando right from when she sets her eyes on him, and Orlando soon finds himself becoming one of her favourite subjects. The queen later commands that he shall not grow old forever, and, what do you do, this odd command of hers turns out to be quite effective on him during the next several centuries.

The following middle act focuses on how Orlando tries on one male role after another while remaining quite youthful during next several decades. When his father dies not long after the queen’s death, he is expected to be the lord of his family title and estate, and he is also expected to marry some young noblewoman even though there is not much love between them.

And then he comes upon a chance for passionate romance. During one particularly freezing winter day, he attends a meeting with the Russian ambassador and his beautiful young daughter on a frozen lake. While their first encounter was rather awkward, it does not take much time for both Orlando and that Russian lady to sense something mutual between them, and Orlando is quite willing to go all the way for her, but then he eventually comes to have the first real heartbreak in his life.

Along the following passage of time, Orlando continues the quest for becoming truer to himself, and the movie has a lot of stylish fun as he bounces from one chapter of his ongoing life to another. Thanks to the costume design by Sally Potter and the production design by Ben Van Os and Jan Roelfs (They were all deservedly Oscar-nominated for this movie, by the way), the film is sumptuously decorated with a number of different period atmospheres, and the timeless quality of its titular figure is often accentuated by the deliberately anachronistic score by Potter and her co-composer David Motion.

When he subsequently reaches the top of his political career outside England, Orland feels like going nowhere at all as a man, and this somehow leads to a sudden sexual transformation. After several days of continuous sleep, he finds himself becoming a woman, and this does not trouble Orlando at all. I am sure that this line will come close to many transgender folks out there: “Same person. No difference at all… just a different sex.”

Now Orlando feels more comfortable with her changed sexual identity, but, of course, there come several catches. She has to deal with a lot of sexism and misogyny from those men around her, and, above all, she finds herself having far less freedom and privilege as being legally regarded as a woman now. She consequently loses her title and estate, but she still does not give up her continuing pursuit of happiness and individuality at all – even when she later gets a nice opportunity for romance via someone willing to not only accept her as who she has always been for many years but also recognize her independent individuality.     

The movie is surely the showcase of the undeniably versatile talent of Tilda Swinton, whose own uncanny presence is one of the main reasons why the movie works so well from the start. Besides fluidly flowing along with her fantastically flexible character without any misstep, Swinton effortlessly brings both humor and sensitivity to her character’s complicated personal journey across several centuries, and she is especially moving when her character finally becomes happier than ever around the end of the film. Although this is not actually in Woolf’s novel, she would probably approve of it in my humble opinion.

On the whole, “Orlando” is one of the high points in Porter’s interesting filmmaking career, and I am really glad to watch it at last. When I came across its promotional poster in 1994, I was just a little cinephile kid who still needed to learn more about movies, but I was quite mesmerized by the striking presence of Swinton in one of those beautiful costumes in the movie. Sadly, it somehow remained elusive for me for more than 30 years, and now I am much older compared to that time, but the movie feels quite fresh and ageless nonetheless. As long as movies are alive and well for us, the movie shall always remain in that way, and it will surely leave you something to reflect on those ever-persistent matters of gender identity and individuality.

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Crime 101 (2026) ☆☆☆(3/4): Heist 101

Posted on April 12, 2026 by kaist455

“Crime 101” attempts to bring some personality and substance to its familiar crime thriller plot. Although the overall result does not surpass its countless seniors such as, yes, Michael Mann’s “Heat” (1995), the movie has a number of solid individual moments to justify its rather long running time (140 minutes), and I came to care about its story and characters a bit more than expected.

The story, which is mainly set in LA, begins with the latest jewel robbery of a professional criminal played by Chris Hemsworth. As the movie gradually reveals his plan, we observe how methodical and discreet this criminal is, and we are not so surprised to learn later that he has evaded the attention of the LA Police Department for some time despite having already committed several other jewel robberies.

However, there is actually someone in LAPD who has paid attention to those criminal activities of Hemsworth’s criminal character. He is Detective Lou Lubesnick (Mark Ruffalo), and this veteran cop is smart and perceptive enough to see the patten of his mysterious suspect. He notices that 1) the suspect has always committed the robberies around US Highway 101 and 2) the suspect also does not want any unnecessary harm or violence at all. Sure, the suspect often used some intimidation for getting the jobs done as quickly as possible, but, so far, nobody has ever got seriously hurt.

Unfortunately, Lubesnick’s theory on this elusive criminal in question has not been received well by his colleagues. While he tries to stand by Lubesnick as much as possible, Lubesnick’s partner seriously begins to consider distancing himself more from Lubesnick. In case of Lubesnick’s direct superior, he does not want any annoyance from Lubesnick at all, mainly because he cares more about the number of arrests per year and Lubesnick has been showing the lowest arrest rate among the detectives under his command.

Meanwhile, the story also focuses on Sharon Combs (Halle Berry), an insurance broker who has worked in some prominent insurance company for many years but has not received much reward or appreciation. Despite her diligent efforts, it seems that Combs will never become a senior partner of the company, and we come to gather how much she struggles everyday. No matter how much she tries to calm and soothe herself, she is always reminded that she is not that well under her growing stress and anxiety, and she gets all the more frustrated when it becomes more apparent that she will be pushed aside for some younger woman who recently began to work in the company.

Steadily rolling its three main characters toward the expected finale, the screenplay by director/writer/co-producer Bart Layton, which is based on the novella of the same name by Don Winslow, adds more mood and details to the story. We see more of how messy Lubesnick’s life is just like Combs’, and there is a bitter conversation scene between him and his estranged wife. We also come to learn that Hemsworth’s criminal character, whose real name is incidentally revealed later in the story, hopes that he can quit once he reaches the goal set by himself in advance, but that seems not that possible considering a sinister old man for whom he has worked. 

Things get a little more tense when some other criminal enters the picture. In contrast to Hemsworth’s criminal character, this dude, played by Barry Keoghan, is quite impulsive and reckless to say the least, and we can instantly sense troubles right from his very first appearance in the film. As being subsequently cornered by not only this competitor of his but also Lubesnick’s ongoing pursuit, Hemsworth’s criminal character becomes all the more desperate, and he naturally goes all the way for, yes, his one last job.

 Again, the movie takes time as before for more development in terms of story and character. While we are not so surprised as its three main characters come to converge upon a certain narrative point, we are touched by some genuine emotional moments from each of them. There is some real poignancy from the accidental romance between Hemsworth’s criminal character and a woman he comes across by sheer coincidence, and then we get a quiet but sincere moment when Lubesnick comes to show more common sense and compassion during his meeting with Combs, who becomes more conflicted as she gets herself involved with both Lubesnick and his suspect.

The finale feels a bit contrived in my humble opinion, but the four main performers of the movie carry the story to the end. Hemsworth, who seems to be moving onto the next phase of his acting career after spending a lot of time in Marvel Cinematic Universe flicks, holds the center as well as required, and his stoic appearance makes an effective contrast with the volatile attitude of Keoghan, whose distinctive offbeat quality brings some extra fun to the film. Mark Ruffalo and Halle Berry dutifully fill their respective spots with each own presence, and several other cast members including Monica Barbaro, Corey Hawkins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Nick Nolte, Tate Donovan, and Payman Maadi are well-cast in their respective supporting parts.

In conclusion, “Crime 101” does not bring anything new to its familiar genre territory, but it still works well as an engaging mix between genre exercise and character study, and Layton, who previously drew our attention for his compelling documentary film “The Imposter” (2012), did a competent job on the whole. The movie did not surprise me, but I observed it with enough interest nonetheless, so I will not grumble for now.

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Paris, Texas (1984) ☆☆☆☆(4/4): A haunting road movie by Wenders

Posted on April 8, 2026 by kaist455

Wim Wenders’ 1984 film “Paris, Texas”, which was shown along with his several other works at selected South Korean theaters during last two weeks, initially drew my attention with all those haunting shots distinctively American in my humble opinion. We often see cars, roads, and motels in the wide landscape shots throughout the film, and these elements come to accentuate its plain solitary hero’s personal journey along the story as we come to care more about him.

Harry Dean Stanton, who was one of most dependable American character actors before passing away in 2017, plays the hero of the story, and the early part of the film gradually establishes this rather taciturn character. His name is Travis Henderson, and the calm opening scene of the movie shows him aimlessly wandering in the middle of some remote desert area of Texas before eventually arriving and then collapsing at some shabby convenient store.

Fortunately, Travis happens to have a calling card from his brother Walt (Dean Stockwell), who immediately comes from California right after getting the call from a doctor who examined Travis. However, Travis remains quite unresponsive even when he meets his brother, who understandably becomes frustrated but still tries to help Travis as much as possible.

As time goes by, Travis becomes a bit more responsive, and we get to know a bit more about what happened to him around four years ago. He was married, and he and his wife Jane (Nastassja Kinski) had a son between them, but she left him under a rather unspecified circumstance. As a result, he became quite remorseful as wandering here and there for simply looking for her during last four years, and his young son Hunter (Hunter Carson) grew up under Walt and his French wife Anne (Aurore Clément) in the meantime.

Just because Travis does not feel so right about getting on an airplane, he and Walt end up going together to Walt’s home in California by a car (I wonder whether this inspired the story setting of Barry Levinson’s Oscar-winning film “Rain Man” (1988), by the way). As Walt or Travis drives the car, Wenders’ frequent cinematographer Robby Müller gives us a series of lovely landscape shots to admire, and we become all the more immersed in the slow but steady mood of the film.

When Travis eventually arrives at Walt’s house along with Walt, the mood is certainly awkward between Travis and Hunter, who has regarded Walt and Anne as his parents and does not remember that much about his early years with Travis and Jane. Nevertheless, it does not take much time for Hunter to befriend Travis, and this helps Travis come out of his shell a bit more than before.

While there naturally comes a little conflict as Anne and Walt becomes concerned about how to handle the complicated situation among them, Travis, and Hutner, but the screenplay by Sam Shepard and L.M. Kit Carton thankfully does not resort to contrived melodrama. When Anne eventually makes a certain choice at one point later in the film, that may look a bit selfish, but we also sense that she does that because she sincerely wants to help Travis to some degree.

I will not go into detail on what follows next, except telling you that there comes another journey for Travis and he comes to open himself much more than before. While the story reaches to a poignant emotional climax as Travis finally arrives at the end of his journey, what happens to Travis before that point is also important in terms of story and character development, and we come to have more empathy toward him when the movie is over.

Stanton’s humble but unforgettable low-key performance steadily anchors the film from the beginning to the end. Even when his character does not seem to signify much on the surface, Stanton subtly conveys to us the immense sadness behind his phlegmatically weary appearance, and he is absolutely terrific when his character gradually lets out his feelings and thoughts during that climactic moment. Although he simply talks and talks without raising his voice at all, the sense of guilt and regret becomes more palpable to us, and we are all the more touched by that.

Around Stanton, several main cast members in the movie hold each own place well. Dean Stockwell, who was almost retired at that time, brings some human warmth to the story along with Aurore Clément, and he subsequently became more active in addition to being Oscar-nominated for his funny supporting turn in Jonathan Demme’s “Married to the Mob” (1988). While Hunter Carson, who is the incidentally Carson’s son, is solid in his unadorned natural acting, Nastassja Kinski, who is virtually the Colonel Kurtz of the story, brings enough presence and sensitivity to her supporting role, and her expressive face is one of the crucial elements in that climactic moment.

On the whole, “Paris, Texas”, whose title comes from a real Texan city with which its hero has some personal connections, is one of the best films from Wenders. After I encountered it for the first time around 2005, I did not watch it again for more than 20 years, but I soon got engaged during the first 30 minutes, and its many timeless moments awaken my remaining old memories of the movie. That is what a great movie can do, isn’t it?

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Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair (2004) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): The wholesale fun from Tarantino

Posted on April 7, 2026 by kaist455

Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair” gives us the complete version of what he envisioned from the very beginning. While both “Kill Bill: Volume 1” (2003) and “Kill Bill: Volume 2” (2004) are quite fun to watch individually, they are seamlessly connected and then resonate together here in this version as he wanted, and it shows us more of how fun and ambitious this magnum opus of Tarantino really is. 

The story is more or less than a simple and superficial clothesline for a series of sequences just like many of Tarantino’s works such as “Inglourious Basterds” (2009). The heroine of the film, “the Bride” (Uma Thurman), was a former member of some infamous assassination squad, but, for a personal reason to be revealed later in the story, she subsequently decided to have a simple normal life as marrying some plain dude in El Paso, Texas. However, her boss/lover, who is incidentally named Bill (David Carradine), does not approve of that, and he and several other assassins brutally shoot not only the Bride but also several other innocent people who unfortunately happens to be on the spot.  

Fortunately, the Bride manages to survive unlike the others around her. Although she remains unconscious during next 4 years, she immediately becomes quite vengeful once she eventually wakes up at a local hospital, and the movie follows her bloody and violent journey toward the total violence upon Bill and those several assassins under his command. 

And that is nearly the whole story of the film, but Tarantino’s screenplay plays us like piano in one way or another. While its non-linear narrative often takes its time for delving a bit into the personality of the Bride and several other main characters in the story, each of the sequences in the film are peppered with dialogues as fun and engaging as you can expect from Tarantino. Most of them are quite talky to say the least, but they bring more spirit and personality to the story and characters, and that is one of the main reasons why we remain constantly interested for more than 4 hours.  

In addition, it is often fun to observe the references to all those countless old B movies cherished by Tarantino with all his heart For example, he immortalizes the whistling theme for “Twisted Nerves” (1968) by Bernard Herrmann during the dexterous sequence where one of Bill’s assassins is approaching to the unconscious body of the Bride with a lethal purpose, and that is just the beginning of many things for us to notice one by one.  

Above all, the movie entertains us with several striking action sequences packed with brutal violence. The climactic part of the first half of the film is particularly gory and bloody as our heroine, whose bright yellow attire will surely remind you of that final film of Bruce Lee, relentlessly slashes and stabs a bunch of goons with her very, very, very, sharp Japanese sword provided by the master swordsmith played by Sony Chiba, but, thanks to Tarantino’s skillful direction, we get a lot of fun and excitement even though we wince more than once for good reasons. Sure, lots of people get killed or maimed in the film, but, just like those John Wick flicks, the movie handles its many brutal moments of violence with enough wit, style, and detail. As a matter of fact, we do not mind when it tries a bit of Japanese animation film for a more striking depiction of blood and violence early in the story.         

Instead of trying to surpass the sheer violence and excitement of the first half of his film, Tarantino deliberately dials down himself a bit during the second half of the movie, which brings some substance to the bold style of the first half. While it is pulpy and violent as before, but the movie comes to show a bit of gravitas as our heroine approaches closer to her final target, and there is some surprise in what is eventually exchanged between them (No, it is not her real name or what she tragically lost at that time).  

Everything in the film depends a lot on the presence and talent of Uma Thurman, who gives one of the best performances in her acting career. While looking totally serious as required, she is absolutely fearless as throwing herself into many moments of action in the film, and she also does a commendable job of balancing her broad but striking character well between humor and drama. Yes, the Bride is basically as ridiculous and outrageous as John Wick, but she has more life and personality compared to him thanks to Thurman and her director, and we come to care more about her eventual confrontation with Bill in the end.

The movie is also filled with vivid supporting characters to enjoy, and all of them are embodied well by its wonderful supporting performers. Lucy Liu, Vivica A. Fox, Michael Madson, and Darryl Hannah are all memorable as those several assassins associated with Bill, and David Carradine does not disappoint us when his character finally reveals himself more during the second half of the film. Julie Dreyfus, Gordon Liu, and Michael Parks are also effective in their substantial roles, and Samuel L. Jackson briefly appears at one point in the middle of the story.    

On the whole, “Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair” is a bit too long besides being excessive at times, but its bold style and abundant spirit compensate for that a lot, I was constantly entertained from the beginning to the end. In my inconsequential opinion, Tarantino has often been pretty disagreeable as a person or a cinephile especially during last several years, but he gave us “Pulp Fiction” (1994) and several other unforgettable masterworks including this one, and I respect that at least despite my growing reservation on him.

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Nuremberg (2025) ☆☆☆(3/4): The relevant dramatization of a historical trial

Posted on April 5, 2026 by kaist455

“Nuremberg” reminds me that the Nurenberg trials after the World War II were not merely perfunctory at all. This was absolutely necessary for illuminating one of the greatest atrocities ever committed against the humanity of all time, and the dramatization of these monumental trials in the film shows us how the trails could have disastrously failed in delivering the justice to all those victims of the Nazi German government. 

After the opening scene showing the total surrender of Hermann Göring (Russell Crowe) in May 1945, the movie depicts the rather tricky position of Justice Robert H. Jackson (Michael Shannon), a prominent American judge willing to bring all those high-ranking Nazi German officials including Göring to a joint international military court. Although his totally unprecedented legal plan does not get much approval even from many American politicians at first, he manages to “persuade” the Pope to put some political pressures on not only the US government but also its allies, and that eventually leads to the international military trials to be held in Nurenberg, Germany, which was incidentally one of several main centers of the Nazi German government besides Berlin.

Meanwhile, the story also follows Dr. Douglas Kelley (Rami Malek), a military psychiatrist assigned to evaluate the mental conditions of those captured high-ranking Nazi Germany officials including Göring. As a young and ambitious professional, Dr. Kelly is certainly quite excited about encountering not only Göring but also many other Nazi German figures responsible for all those atrocities during the World War II, and Göring does not disappoint him at all as Dr. Kelly comes to see what a crafty narcissist Göring is. Right from their first meeting, Göring tries to charm and then manipulate him, and that certainly makes Dr. Kelly more fascinated with the man who was incidentally Adolf Hitler’s No.2 guy. 

Not so surprisingly, Dr. Kelly finds himself gradually becoming closer to Göring as Göring keeps trying to use him in one way or another. At one point, he willingly functions as an unofficial messenger between Göring and his wife and daughter, even though he knows too well that Göring’s wife and daughter are more or less than accomplices to Göring’s numerous atrocities during the war.

Needless to say, Dr. Kelly becomes all the more conflicted when the trial for Göring and the other high-ranking Nazi criminals is eventually begun. As Justice Jackson, who serves as the prosecutor representing US, worried from the beginning, Göring is already quite prepared to use the trial for his political benefit as well as his survival, and Dr. Kelly is eventually asked to help a bit on cornering Göring into admitting his guilt on the record. As his psychiatrist, Dr. Kelly surely knows some buttons to be pushed on Göring’s side, but he is also reluctant about breaking one of the most important ethical rules in his profession.    

Needless to say, Dr. Kelly’s conflict is soon put aside as he confronts more of all those atrocities committed under Göring and many other high-ranking Nazi German officials during the war. While naturally being quite horrified to say the least, he also observes how banal Göring and all of the other high-ranking Nazi German official at the trial really are, and he could actually think first of that famous phrase from Hannah Arendt.

However, the screenplay by director/writer/co-producer James Vanderbilt, which is based on Jack El-Hai’s nonfiction book “The Nazi and the Psychiatrist”, eventually focuses more on the righteous efforts of Justice Jackson and his British colleague Sir David Maxwell Fyfe (Richard E. Grant). As Sir Fyfe acerbically points out early in the film, they will have to get the total legal victory over those Nazi scumbags for not only those millions of victims but also the whole humanity, and we come to have more understanding on how important the Nurenberg trials really were as the final chapter of the World War II. 

Vanderbilt assembles a bunch of notable performers for his film. While his character feels rather colorless, Rami Malek is believable as a young professional dude who gets involved in a much trickier circumstance than expected, and his low-key performance is well-matched by the showier supporting performance by Russell Crowe. While he seems to be following the footsteps of Marlon Brando during his late career years, Crowe is still a charismatic actor who can easily dominate over the screen with his presence and talent, and he does not disappoint us at all during several juicy scenes assigned to him.

On the opposite, Michael Shannon, whose distinctively intense presence cannot be possibly suppressed even in front of Crowe, comes to function as the moral center of the film, and he is also matched well with Richard E. Grant, who does a bit more than being as sardonic as we can expect from this invaluable British character actor. John Slattery, Mark O’Brien, Colin Hanks, Lydia Peckham and Wrenn Schmidt are also solid in their respective substantial supporting roles, and the special mention goes to Leo Woodall, who has his own moment to shine when his character confides to Dr. Kelly on his hidden personal connection with the World War II.

In conclusion, “Nuremberg” is a competent historical drama which will feel closer to many of us considering the rise of fascism around the world during last several years. Someday, we may have the Nuremberg trials for our era, but, folks, will we learn actually learn anything from that? Considering how we did not learn that much from the Nuremberg trials, I am rather pessimistic, but I still believe that we will absolutely need our own Nuremberg trials no matter what will happen in our near future.  

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Two Prosecutors (2025) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): A historical drama of chilling inevitability

Posted on April 5, 2026 by kaist455

I found myself overwhelmed by the gradual sense of grim inevitability in “Two Prosecutors”, a moody but undeniably captivating historical drama film from Ukrainian filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa. Once its idealistic hero crosses the line at one point, we can instantly sense that his cruel and ruthless system will not ignore this at all, and we come to brace ourselves more as observing how thoroughly the system works against him to the end.

The story is set in the middle of Joseph Stalin’s Great Purge in the Soviet Union, 1937, and the opening part of the film phlegmatically observes another usual day in a prison of one rural region. We see a small group of prisoners forced to do some labor inside the prison, and then the movie focuses on one prisoner assigned to destroy all those desperate letters of petition written by numerous prisoners. At first, he just reads them a bit and then throws them into a little stove, but then one particular letter comes to draw his attention. In the end, he decides to send it to the office of the local prosecution as intended by its writer, though he can be severely punished for this serious act of violation.

Some days later, a young prosecutor named Kornyev (Aleksandr Kuznetsov) comes to the prison. He simply wants to have an interview with the prisoner who wrote that letter, but, not so surprisingly, he soon finds himself against the wall in one way or another. When he meets a prison warden, it is clear that the prison warden does not welcome Kornyev a lot, but Kornyev doggedly insists that he must be allowed to meet that prisoner in question. After patiently waiting for next several hours, he eventually gets the permission from the prison director, who is also not so pleased about Kornyev disrupting the usual order in his prison.

As Kornyev goes to meet that prisoner in question, the movie brings an increasingly palpable sense of oppression to the screen. As he follows the prison warden from one drab area of heavy security to another, we somehow feel like descending along several levels of hell (Why am I now reminded of that similar scene in “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991)?), and then we are more frightened as observing the truly ghastly condition of a cell where that prisoner in question has been incarcerated for a while.

Nevertheless, Kornyev is still willing to listen to this prisoner, mainly because of a little old connection between them. Before getting incarcerated in the prison, Stepniak (Aleksandr Filippenko) was a prominent elder member of the Soviet communist party, but then he was purged by the Soviet secret police, NKVD, just because he chose to do the right things against NKVD and its corrupt local associates.

Their conversation in the cell takes much longer than expected, but Loznitsa and his crew members including cinematographer Oleg Mutu, a Romania cinematographer who has been known for his considerable contribution to Cristian Mungiu’s several acclaimed films such as “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days” (2007) and has also steadily collaborated with Loznitsa since Loznitsa’ first feature film “My Joy” (2010), and editor Danielius Kokanauskis constantly keep us on the edge. Although the movie simply shows Stepniak telling a lot about how he got arrested, tortured, and then incarcerated, we come to sense the sheer evil and horror of the Great Purge, and we naturally gasp when Stepniak fully shows how his body has been brutalized by those NKVD agents.

Needless to say, Kornyev is quite horrified by what Stepniak shows and tells him, but we know too well that he was already marked by not only NKVD but also the system he has faithfully served without any doubt. At least, he knows that there is no one to help around him right now, so he instantly goes to Moscow for meeting the Procurator General of the Soviet Union in person, but then, not so surprisingly, he gets frustrated again as facing the firm and uncaring bureaucratic attitude of his system.

Again, the movie takes time for letting us get its big dark picture much more than its idealistic hero. There is a humorous scene where an old, disabled World War I veteran tells his old story involved with Vladimir Lenin in front of Kornyev and several other train passengers, and we cannot help but sense whatever is left unsaid among them for good reasons. We are initially amused when Kornyev has to wait a lot before the Procurator General finishes the meetings with many other people waiting for him in advance, but then we get slowly unnerved when Kornyev finally meets the Procurator General and then tells everything.

What eventually happens at the end of the story may not surprise you that much, but the movie, which is based on the novella of the same name by Russian novelist Georgy Demidov, continues to hold our attention before arriving its coldly logical finale, and its main cast members are convincing in their respective parts. While Aleksandr Kuznetsov’s earnest performance dutifully holds the center as required, Aleksandr Filippenko is splendid in both of his two crucial roles (You will be surprised when you check the end credits later), and Anatoliy Beliy is suitably unflappable as the Procurator General.

Overall, “Two Prosecutors”, which won the François Chalais Prize when it was premiered at the Cannes Film Festival early in last year, is another interesting work from Loznitsa, who drew my attention with his previous film “Donbass” (2018) several years ago. While I just admired “Donbass” to some degree, “Two Prosecutors” engaged me from the very beginning and then chilled me a lot in the end, and I may look back on this grim but unforgettable experience when I make my inconsequential annual movie list at the end of this year.

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Ryuichi Sakamoto: Diaries (2025) ☆☆☆(3/4): His last few years

Posted on April 4, 2026 by kaist455

Documentary film “Ryuichi Sakamoto: Dairies” presents the last few years of Ryuichi Sakamoto, a prominent Japanese composer/musician who died on March 28th, 2023. Considering the two other recent documentaries “Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda” (2017) and “Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus” (2023), the documentary feels rather redundant at times, but it is at least poignant to observe how Sakamoto tried to go on for his life and art before his inevitable death.

The early part of the documentary shows Sakamoto beginning his little personal project in his residence in New York City early in 2020. He simply had a big piano placed on the porch outside his residence, and he was going to observe and record how it would “return” to nature as being deliberately left unkept during next several years.

However, not long after the beginning of this personal project of his, there came a bad news. Sakamoto had throat cancer in 2014, and he supposedly recovered from that, but the cancer returned in a more aggressive form. He was notified that he did not have many years to live even under the best situation, and he naturally became conflicted about whether he really should try his best for living a bit longer. In the end, he decided to go through a series of difficult medical treatments because he still wanted to live and do more before his time eventually came.

Sakamoto’s personal feelings and thoughts are succinctly conveyed to us via the excerpts from his personal dairies, which are read by Tanaka Min in the documentary. While he tried to be optimistic about his following medical treatments, he also could not help but have doubt and anxiety as his physical condition got gradually deteriorated, and a number of his personal video clips show us how he looked more ill as time went by.

Nevertheless, his artistic spirit was not deterred at all. We see him closely working with the members of the Tohoku Youth Orchestra, and we also observe him working on what was supposed to be his last work before his death. Although this was unfortunately left unfinished after his death, the documentary presents a bit of this unfinished work of his, and we can only imagine how he could have done more from that.

The most poignant moment in the documentary actually overlaps a bit with “Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda”. In 2022, Sakamoto decided to record his piano solo performance of a number of his notable works such as the main theme for Nagisa Ōshima’s 1983 film “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence”, and “Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda” elegantly and poignantly presents his piano solo performance with a lot of care and respect.

The documentary shows us a bit of how Sakamoto and those technicians around him prepared for this recording project, and then we see his performance of the main theme for Bernardo Bertolucci’s “The Sheltering Sky” (1990). I must say that I have not seen that film yet, but Sakamoto’s main theme sounds fairly gorgeous as before, and I guess I will soon have to check out that film for checking on how much his score actually works on the screen.

While he had a bit more joy and pleasure from his last artistic activities, Sakamoto’s medical condition got worse and worse, and there finally came a point when he had to prepare more for his impending death. At one point later in the documentary, he went back to his residence in New York City, and he observed that there were still a lot of stuffs left in his residence – including that unkempt piano which remained to be decayed at the porch.

Around early 2023, Sakamoto was taken to a hospital as his medical condition got far worse than usual, but he still tried to keep going nonetheless. A few days before his eventual death, he watched another performance of the Tohoku Youth Orchestra from his hospital bed, and we see how much he was moved by that. He also spent what would be his last family time with his four children (One of them is Neo Sora, who is incidentally the director of “Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus”, by the way), and each of them reminisces a bit about their respective last times with their dear father.

While being quite sincere and respectful on the whole, the documentary is not wholly without weak aspects. Its narrative structure is a bit scattershot without delving that much into several notable things in Sakamoto’s life and artistic career including his anti-nuclear activities in Japan after the Fukushima accident in 2011, but I guess director Kensho Omori did not feel much need to do that because “Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda” and “Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus” already did most of that job.

In conclusion, “Ryuichi Sakamoto: Dairies” is relatively less impressive than those two recent documentaries about Sakamoto, but it is still worthwhile to watch for those intimate personal moments from his last few years. He is not with us anymore, but his works continue to be admired and cherished as usual, and maybe you want to check out some of his works after watching this modest but solid documentary.

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Christy (2025) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): One messy real-life female boxer

Posted on April 3, 2026 by kaist455

What a messy life Christy Salters had before being true to herself. As trying to distinguish herself as a female professional boxer, she also tried to distance herself from her homosexuality, and then she only ended up being stuck with a toxic relationship for many years, though she was really fortunate considering how that could have costed her life.  

David Michôd’s latest film “Christy” attempts to present many ups and downs during several decades of Salter’s life and professional boxing career, but the overall result is rather disappointing for me. While there are some strong moments mainly thanks to its lead actress’ considerable commitment, these good moments are often undermined by a number of weak aspects including its uneven storytelling and weak characterization, and I was distracted more than once during my viewing.

Salters is played here by Sydney Sweeney, who has been more prominent since her Emmy-nominated supporting turn in HBO TV series “Euphoria”. I must confess that I became more aware of her only after watching “Immaculate” (2024) and “The Housemaid” (2025), but I can tell you at least that she has enough talent and presence on the whole, and her solid performance diligently carries the movie to the end.

The early part of the film is about how Salters began her professional boxing career in 1989. While she played for her high school basketball team in her hometown in West Virginia, she came to show more potential as a female boxer instead as shown from the opening scene, and this came to draw the attention from a promoter in Tennessee. While she hesitates at first, she eventually accepts this promoter’s proposal because she needs the money to gain more independence from her conservative parents, who are not so pleased about what has been going on between her and a certain close friend of hers.

This promoter in question subsequently introduces Salters to a coach named James V. Martin (Ben Foster). Although her first meeting with Martin is not that agreeable to say the least, Salters decides to prove herself more after being persuaded by her mother. Once she demonstrates her skill and pluck, Martin agrees to be her coach, and then he gets more involved with Salters mainly due to her ongoing sexual confusion.

In the end, Salters marries Martin, and he seems to give her everything he promised to her. Besides providing her a supposedly stable domestic life, he also gets her a number of good opportunities to advance her professional boxing career, and she does not disappoint him at all as becoming an almost undefeated athlete in her field during next several years. 

However, Martin also becomes quite abusive to Salters in one way or another, and this virulent tendency of his becomes all the worse when things do not go that well for both of them after she gets defeated by Laila Ali in 2003. He is willing to do anything for keeping Salters around him as long as possible, and we accordingly get several uncomfortable moments as Salters lets herself abused more by Martin.

Needless to say, Salters struggles to reach for any kind of help, but she only gets more frustrated and despaired instead. At one point, she confides to her mother on what she has to endure everyday due to Martin, but her mother, who has always disapproved of her daughter’s homosexuality, simply refuses to listen to her at all.

Fortunately, there comes unexpected support from Lisa Holewyne (Katy O’Brian), who was incidentally one of many adversaries in Salters’ professional boxing careers. Thanks to Holewyne’s positive influence, Salters eventually finds the determination for walking away from Martin once for all, though that turns out to be much more difficult than expected.

The screenplay by Michôd and his co-writer Mirrah Foulkes, which is based on the story by Katherine Fugate, comes to lose its narrative momentum around that point, and we become more aware of its rote plot and superficial characters, but Sweeney’s committed acting continues to hold our attention. Besides looking convincing during those mandatory boxing scenes, she also embodies well her character’s many messy emotional issues, and it is a shame that her good efforts are not served well by the movie itself.

In case of several notable main cast members around Sweeney, most of them are under-utilized due to their thankless supporting roles. Ben Foster, who has been one of the most dependable character actors working in Hollywood for many years, is merely required to look sleazy or menacing during most of his scenes, and Ethan Embry and Merritt Wever are limited by their thin characters from the very beginning. Katy O’Brian, who recently drew our attention thanks to her breakout turn in “Love Lies Bleeding” (2024), manages to bring some warmth to her few key scenes with Sweeney, and Chad L. Coleman, whom some of you remember for his memorable supporting turn in HBO TV series “The Wire”, briefly steals the show as that well-known real-life boxing promoter.   

In conclusion, “Christy” throws some strong jabs, but it is not good enough for recommendation. Needless to say, it can automatically be compared to Oscar-winning film “Million Dollar Baby” (2004), but it does not have the considerable emotional depth shown from that sublime sports drama film, and it is also considerably deficient compared to “Catch the Fair One” (2021) or “The Fire Inside” (2024). Although it is not a total waste of time, I still think you will have a better time with any of these three other movies.

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Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice (2026) ☆☆☆(3/4): A bumpy night for all of them…

Posted on March 31, 2026 by kaist455

“Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice”, which was released on Disney+ in South Korea on last Friday, is a fairly entertaining mix of comedy, action, and a bit of time travel. While its science fiction element turns out to be a mere story premise to my little disappointment, the movie compensates for that weak aspect with a number of good moments to amuse or excite you, and I will not deny that I chuckled more than once during my viewing.

At the beginning, we are introduced to several main characters in the story one by one. Nick (Vince Vaughan) is a member of some powerful criminal organization, and we see him and his wife Alice (Eiza González) attending a party celebrating the recent release of Jimmy Boy (Jimmy Tatro), who is the only son of Nick’s boss and was incarcerated in prison during last several years. It is apparent to us right from the beginning that there is not much affection between Nick and his wife, and we also sense that something is going on between Alice and Quick Draw Mike (James Marsden), who is incidentally a close colleague of Nick.

Not so surprisingly, it eventually turns out that Alice and Mike have been deeply involved with each other for a while, but then there comes a very unexpected surprise. Nick suddenly appears when Mike is waiting for his rendezvous with Alice, and, what do you know, it is eventually revealed that this Nick is not actually that Nick whom Mike and Alice saw at that party. This Nick is actually from 6 months later, and he comes for preventing something bad for not only himself but also Alice and Mike.

As already shown from the prologue part of the film, Future Nick uses a time machine which was incidentally made by an inventor friend of Alice, who borrowed a lot of money from Present Nick for financing this private science project of his. Unfortunately, Future Nick accidentally destroyed that time machine shortly after his arrival in the past, so there is only one chance for preventing what is going to happen sooner or later.

What Future Nick wants to prevent right now is this: the death of Mike. Their boss is very angry at whoever is responsible for his son’s six-year incarceration, and he becomes quite certain that Mike is the one who informed the police on his son. As a matter of fact, he already hired a certain notorious killer, and it is Present Nick’s job to deliver Mike to that killer in question.

While it does take some time for Mike and Alice to believe Future Nick, they and Future Nick eventually work together on persuading Present Nick to assist Future Nick’s plan, and that turns out to be a bit more difficult than expected due to the complicated situation among these four characters. For example, Present Nick and Future Nick do not trust each other that much, and the former still feels rather sour about Mike and Alice’s relationship, though he and Alice have stopped caring about each other for a while.

As the screenplay by director/writer BenDavid Grabinski, who previously made a feature film debut with “Happily” (2021), expectedly goes through several ups and downs along with its main characters, we are served with a series of humorous moments which inject more comic momentum into the story. Thanks to the game efforts from its three main cast members, many of the key scenes among their characters are presented with smooth and precise coming timing, and this is especially exemplified well by the increasingly ridiculous conversation scene in the middle of the story. Believe me, even if you have not watched a certain classic American TV comedy series (Full Disclosure: Neither have I), you will still get enough laughs from this wry comic moment.

During the last act, the movie shifts its gear onto action mode, and that is where it becomes less fun than before. At least, we get a well-executed action sequence which often shows some sense of humor amid lots of brutal physical actions. A certain frequent stylistic touch reminiscent of the works of Wong Kar-wai feels rather redundant, but this surely shows that Grabinski and his crew are willing to try anything for more fun and amusement.

The three main cast members of the film are solid as ably balancing their characters between humor and sincerity. Vince Vaughn deftly goes back and forth between his two roles with some subtle nuances to notice, and that is the main reason why the respective character arcs of his two characters work with some unexpected poignancy later in the story. Around Vaughn, James Marden and Eiza González have each own comic moment to shine, and we actually come to care about their characters more than expected.

In case of several other notable cast members, they bring some extra humor to the movie. While Keith David delightfully chews every moment of his as the jolly but ruthless criminal boss, Jimmy Tatro, Emily Hampshire, Arturo Castro, Lewis Tan, Ben Schwartz, and Stephen Root are well-cast in their respective supporting parts, and you will also be amused a little by a brief surprise appearance by a recognizable performer during one particular key scene. In addition, there is also a very cute little cat, and, if you like cats as much as I do, I sincerely recommend you to wait till the end credits are over.

On the whole, “Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice” is a typical genre mix which may not surprise you that much, but it is still an enjoyable genre exercise to be savored for several good reasons including the game efforts from the main cast members. It does not exceed my expectation, but it succeeds as much as intended, so I will not complain for now.

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The Rise of the Red Hot Chili Peppers: Our Brother, Hillel (2026) ☆☆☆(3/4): The early years of the Red Hot Chili Peppers

Posted on March 31, 2026 by kaist455

Netflix documentary “The Rise of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers: Our Brother, Hillel”, which was released a few weeks ago, focuses on the early years of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Because I only know a bit about the Red Hot Chili Peppers, I wish the documentary could delve more into the long and bumpy career of the band, but its works as a sincere tribute to one of its key members at least. 

That key member of the band in question is Hillel Slovak (1962 –1988), and the early part of the documentary shows and tells us how he and his two bandmates Anthony Kiedis and Flea became close friends during the late 1970s in LA. As they frankly admit during their respective interviews, both Kiedis and Flea were your typical young and wild adolescent troublemakers during that time, and then they were drawn to music more when they saw a performance by Slovak and his modest rock band at their high school. Not long after that, they came across Slovak by sheer coincidence, and they and Slovak came to spend more time together after that accidental encounter.

Around the time when they all managed to graduate from their high school, these three young dudes aspired to earn their living as rock musicians, and Slovak came to help Kiedis and Flea to considerable degree. Slovak suggested that Flea should join his band as a new bassist, and, though he did not know much about how to play a bass from the beginning, Flea managed to rise to the occasion in the end, and that was one of the early career highlights for him, though he later left the band for a while to Slovak’s disappointment.

In case of Kiedis, he subsequently joined as the lyricist/singer for Flea and Slovak when Flea and Slovak came to work together again some time later, and, what do you know, he turned out to be a lot better than they expected. Once these three dudes clicked together on the stage, they all felt something special created among them, and this eventually led to the formation of the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1982.

The band were luckily at the right time and the right place. Besides being influenced a lot by the flux of many different music genres including rock and hip hop during that time, the band was also boosted to a considerable degree by those music popular music videos on MTV, and they also received considerable influences from the bold and striking works of their performance artist friend Gary Allen, who encouraged them not to be afraid of expressing themselves more on the stage.

However, Slovak remained loyal to his old band, and both Flea and Kiedis understood that, but they all came to realize that their collaboration is the key to the success of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. While Flea and Kiedis were dissatisfied as trying to go on with their band without Slovak, Slovak also came to miss working with them, and he eventually returned to the band to his two close friends’ delight.

After that point, their band went up and up during next several years, but there was a big problem they had overlooked for years. They often abused drugs just for extra fun and excitement, and Kiedis and Slovak came to experience many bottoms of addiction. At one point, Kiedis became so drugged that he did not prepare at all when he came to a recording studio where others were waiting for him, and that was the first time when he realized that he did have a problem to deal with right now.

 While Kiedis subsequently began his difficult journey toward sobriety, Slovak thought he could get things under control, but, of course, that did not work well at all for others around him as well as himself. While His girlfriend started to notice more and more of his worsening addiction problem, his other band members also became more alarmed about what was happening to him, and there eventually came a very embarrassing moment when his addiction problem seriously jeopardized their band career.

Via a number of drawings and writings from Slovak during that time, the documentary lets us sense a bit of how much he was troubled by his addiction problem. He knew well what was eating him, but he kept struggling without any improvement, and he unfortunately died in 1988. His friends and family members were certainly devastated by his early death, and Flea and Kiedis cannot help but become emotional as remembering that sad moment of theirs. 

Both Kiedis and Flea tried to fill the empty spot left by their friend as much as possible, and, fortunately, they got a man talented enough to do the job. Although he soon came to see that he would never replace Slovak, John Frusciante did his best while also doing his own stuffs, and he remains active with Kiedis and Flea in the band even at his point.  

On the whole, “The Rise of the Red Hot Chili Peppers: Our Brother, Hillel”, directed by Ben Feldman, is no more than a standard musician documentary, but it handles its main subject with enough care and respect at least. Although it falters a bit during the last 10 minutes (Frusciante’s interview clips feel like an afterthought at the last minute, for example), the documentary entertained me in addition to informing me enough on its main subject, and I guess that is enough for recommendation.

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