Next Sohee (2022) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): She won’t be the last one…  

Posted on February 12, 2023 by kaist455

I got chilled and then saddened as watching South Korean film “Next Sohee”. If you are horrified and infuriated by what is so painfully presented during its first half, I guarantee you that you will be more exasperated and disgusted as watching the second half, which presents a bigger picture surrounding the sad personal tale of systemic ignorance and exploitation during its first half. I must tell you that what is depicted in the film is a mere reflection of what is happening to those numerous disadvantaged young people out there in the South Korean society even at this point, and you will reflect more on this serious social issue once the movie is over.

The first half of the movie mainly revolves around Sohee (Kim Si-eun), an adolescent girl who is about to graduate from her vocational high school in my hometown Jeonju. Because she cannot afford to go to college, Sohee is expected to do some field job for more experience before graduating, and she is certainly ready when her supervisor teacher notifies her that she is going to work in a local call center as an apprentice. Once she signs those several contract papers, she instantly starts her first day at the call center, and it looks like everything will go pretty well for her during next several months before her graduation.

However, it does not take much time for Sohee to see how demanding and exploitative the work environment surrounding her and many other employees can be. Because I have heard a lot about those creepy callers who verbally abuse call center employees in one nasty way or another, I braced myself whenever I watched Sohee handling her latest call, and, as I already feared, many of those callers in the film are not so nice to say the least.

At least, Sohee and her colleagues have a decent manager who really cares about their work environment, but their manager is also in a very difficult position just like them. Because their department has shown less result than several other departments, the head of their department is quite displeased, and this prick frequently pressures not only the manager but also Sohee and her colleagues in humiliating ways. Sohee and her colleagues have no choice but to work overtime again and again, and their manager naturally becomes more morose about that as days go by.

In the end, there comes a sudden bad incident which shakes the whole department, but the head of the department demands Sohee and colleagues that they should keep working as usual without paying any attention to that incident in question. As a matter of fact, the company has already sent the new manager for them, in addition to forcing all of them to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

Despite being quite conflicted about what she has seen during last several weeks, Sohee tries to move on as much as possible, but she is reminded again and again of how she and her colleagues are unfairly treated by their company. The company surely promised to pay them some incentive at the beginning, but they always have excuses for not paying the incentive, and Sohee and her colleagues are still demanded to work more and more without any appreciation or reward.

After Sohee inevitably and tragically reaches to the breaking point around its first half, the movie shifts onto another main character during its second half. She is a female detective named Yoo-jin (Bae Doona), and she is not that particularly interested when the case involved with Sohee is handed to her, but then she comes to sense that there is something hidden behind the case. Although her direct supervisor prefers to close the case as soon as possible, Yoo-jin persistently delves into the case, and she comes to discover a number of very unpleasant things in addition to a little connection between her and Sohee.

Via Yoo-jin’s steady investigation along the plot, the movie gradually shows us how Sohee and many other young people are bound to be exploited from the very start. Their vocational schools are supposed to help them getting good jobs, but their teachers and supervisors only care about raising employment rates more for getting more fund from the Ministry of Education. They naturally throw their students into any menial job just for making their employment records good, and those companies closely connected with them have no problem with exploiting these young people who have many disadvantages besides their inexperience and poor economic status. To make matters worse, those officials in the Ministry of Education have willingly overlooked this unfair situation just because of their own benefits, and, not so surprisingly, Yoo-jin becomes all the more exasperated as coming to realize how rotten the system has been from the bottom to the top.

The screenplay by July Jung, who previously made a stunning feature debut with “A Girl at My Door”, sometimes falters a bit, but it mostly remains calm and sober on the whole, while also held well together by the strong performances from its two lead actresses. Kim Si-eun is simply devastating during many key scenes of hers, and her haunting performance effectively hovers around the film even after her character steps back from the center later in the story. On the opposite, Bae Doona, who already collaborated with Jung in “A Girl at My Door”, humbly carries the second half of the film without overshadowing Kim’s presence at all, and she deftly conveys to us her character’s muted but palpable anger and disgust toward those figures responsible for Sohee’s tragedy. In case of a number of substantial supporting performers in the movie, Jung Hoe-rin, Kang Hyeon-oh, Bahk Woo-young and Lee In-yeong are solid as Sohee’s close friends, and Park Hee-eun, Kim Yong-joon, Hwang Jung-min, Shim Hee-sub, and Choi Hee-Jin are also well-cast as several adult figures surrounding Sohee.

Overall, “Next Sohee” is another compelling work from Jung. While it is less complex and more straightforward than “A Girl at My Door” in terms of story and characters, the movie powerfully delivers its urgent social messages to audiences, and its sadly poignant last scene will linger on your mind for a long time along with the very title of the movie. Yes, there will be more young people to be exploited like Sohee, but we should not look away from them at all, regardless of whether we can actually change that deeply problematic system or not.

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Empire of Light (2022) ☆☆(2/4): Sincere but muddled

Posted on February 9, 2023 by kaist455

Sam Mendes’s new film “Empire of Light” is rather indecisive and muddled in its sincere love letter to movie theaters. On one hand, it attempts to emphasize the wonder of cinema, but nothing much sticks on the wall even though a bunch of movies pop around here and there throughout the film. On the other hand, it also tries to present a sensitive character drama coupled with one unlikely romance, but it often does not work due to occasional glaring plot contrivance, and we only come to observe it from the distance without much emotional involvement.

The story, which is set in 1980, mainly revolves around Hilary Small (Olivia Colman), a plain middle-aged single woman who works in a big old movie theater located on the north coast of Kent, England. As shown from the opening part of the film, her daily life is monotonously melancholic without much joy or excitement, and she does not even care that much about watching movies unlike her fellow employees.

On one day, there comes a new employee, a handsome black lad named Stephen (Micheal Ward). Although their first day is not exactly pleasant, Hilary comes to befriend Stephen as she shows him some abandoned spaces at the upstairs of the theaters, and she cannot help but drawn more to him while getting to know him more. When they happen to be together on the rooftop of the theater right before another year begins, she eventually comes closer to Stephen, and she naturally feels embarrassed, but it turns out that Stephen also feels attracted to her.

After that, Hilary and Stephen come to meet each other more without revealing their relationship to anyone in the theater. Feeling a lot happier than usual, Hilary decides to end her joyless sexual relationship with her married boss, who is not so pleased about that to say the least. In case of Stephen, he comes to show more of himself during their private meetings, and Hilary is touched by how much he has tried for a better future for himself.

In addition, Hilary becomes more aware of what Stephen has to struggle with day by day due to his race. At one point, she happens to witness him harassed by several skinhead thugs, and then she comes to learn more about his disadvantaged social status as a black man. She wants to bring more comfort and consolation to him, and he does not mind that at all because, well, he really loves and cares about her.

However, the story suddenly changes its direction when Hilary turns out to have a very serious mental problem behind her back, and that is where the movie stumbles more than once. It is rather distracting to see its heroine going up and down as demanded by the plot, and that reminds me of what critic Pauline Kael once wrote: “Explaining madness is the most limiting and generally least convincing thing a movie can do.”

Olivia Colman, who has been one of the most interesting actresses of our time especially since her stellar Oscar-winning turn in “The Favourite” (2018), is reliable as usual, but even the steady handling of her character is often hindered by Mendes’ flawed screenplay. While she does a good job of filling her character with enough sense of life and personality, her good efforts are frequently stretched to the extremes during the second half of the film. In case of one key scene involved with the screening of “Chariots of Fire” (1981), it is supposed to be a dramatic highpoint, but it is merely embarrassing to watch instead, and her character comes to feel more like a case study instead of someone we can care about.

On the opposite, Micheal Ward, a promising actor who was electrifying in his breakout turn in “Blue Story” (2018), is limited a lot by his rather superficial character, and that is a nearly fatal weakness in the story. Although Ward clicks well with Colman during several intimate scenes between their characters, his character feels more like a plot element even when the movie comes to focus more on him later in the story. We observe a bit of Stephen’s private life via his nurse mother and his ex-girlfriend, but he is mostly defined by the racial prejudices against him, and this aspect becomes more blatant via another contrived moment in the film.

In case of the theater in the movie, it surely looks fabulous thanks to cinematographer Roger Deakins, who recently received an Oscar nomination for this film. With all those numerous posters and photographs on the walls of the projection booth, the movie surely evokes some nostalgia from us, but that is all we can get, and the following scene involved with the little private screening of “Being There” (1979) feels clumsy and manipulative in my trivial opinion.

Overall, “Empire of Light” is a big disappointment from Mendes, who has seldom bored me since his Oscar-winning debut film “American Beauty” (2000). It is nice to see him trying something more modest compared to his recent previous works such as “Skyfall” (2012) and “1917” (2019), but the result is underwhelming to say the least, and I was left with lots of hollow impression in the end. Sure, it is always fun and entertaining for me to go to movie theater, but, folks, the movie somehow fails to remind me of that.

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

See How They Run (2022) ☆☆☆(3/4): See how they spoof Agatha Christie mystery

Posted on February 7, 2023 by kaist455

“See How They Run”, which is currently available on Disney+ in South Korea, is an amusing spoof on Agatha Christie mystery novels. Although it does not surpass its main source of inspiration, the movie is fairly entertaining mainly thanks to the game efforts from its good cast members, and I enjoyed a number of various goodies to be appreciated by the fans of Christie’s mystery novels (Full disclosure: I have been one of them).

The movie, set in London during early 1953, opens with the sardonic narration of a person who is about to be murdered. He is an American movie director named Leo Köpernick (Adrien Brody), and he is recently hired for directing the film adaptation of “The Mousetrap”, a very successful London theater play based on one of short stories written by Christie. However, besides having a conflict with several people involved in the adaptation of “The Mousetrap”, he is also rather impolite and insufferable to others around him, and that surely makes him an ideal victim to be killed sooner or later.

Shortly after he is eventually murdered by someone, Köpernick’s dead body is found right on the set of “The Mousetrap” in the Ambassador Theater where the play was recently celebrated for its 100th performance. Naturally, everyone involved with Köpernick is a prime suspect to watch, and Inspector Stoppard (Sam Rockwell), who is accompanied with Constable Stalker (Saoirse Ronan), wants to shut down the production at least for a while, though that turns out to be impossible due to the increasing popularity of the play as well as Christie herself, who has been very fierce about protecting anything involved with her works for good reasons.

Like any other good Christie mystery, the movie has a fair share of broad but colorful suspects. There are 1) the movie producer who hired Köpernick and his private secretary who has been dreaming of becoming his second wife, 2) a prominent writer who has often clashed with Köpernick for their artistic difference, 3) the producer of the original play and her rather senile old mother, and 4) the lead actor of “The Mousetrap” and his wife who happened to be insulted by Köpernick not long before he got murdered.

The lead actor of “The Mousetrap” is incidentally Richard Attenborough (Harris Dickinson), and that is just one of numerous references sprinkled throughout the film. For example, a certain real-life serial killing case is mentioned more than once in movie, and you may remember than Attenborough actually played that infamous serial killer in “10 Rillington Place” (1971). Furthermore, the movie producer in the film is a real-life figure who produced a number of notable Hollywood films such as “The African Queen” (1951), so several famous Hollywood figures are naturally mentioned in the story.

Above all, the story, written by Mark Chappell, cheerfully follows many genre conventions of Christie mysteries. Although he may not be as eccentric as Hercules Poirot or Jane Marple, Inspector Stoppard, who has no connection with Tom Stoppard as far as I can see, has his own little eccentricity, and his glum appearance is complemented well by the cheerful enthusiasm of Constable Stalker, who is not as threatening as her surname suggests. As advised by her superior, she tries not to make conclusions too hastily, but she cannot help it as more hidden facts pop out here and there around them along the story, and even her superior does not seem to tell everything to her.

I certainly do not dare to reveal the identity of the killer in the story here in my review, though I can tell you instead that some of major clues lie in “The Mousetrap”, which is still being performed in London’s West End even at this point (Believe or not, it had run continuously there till the production had to be shut down to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 March). Although I have not seen it on stage yet, I read Christie’s short story at least, and I was certainly amused as observing how the movie itself becomes a sly send-up version of “The Mousetrap” via a series of “life-imitates-art” moments later in the story.

The cast members of the movie, some of whom are clearly color-blinding casting, are solid in their droll comic acting. While Sam Rockwell, who can be quite showy as shown from his recent Oscar-winning supporting turn in “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (2017), dials down his presence for some deadpan comedy, Saoirse Ronan brings considerable pluck and wit to her character, and they are supported well by a bunch of notable performers including Adrien Brody, Ruth Wilson, Reece Shearsmith, Harris Dickinson, Charlie Cooper, Shirley Henderson, Lucian Msamati, and David Oyelowo, who is overtly flamboyant for demonstrating the more humorous sides of his talent.

By the way, my late mentor/friend Roger Ebert once complained that Christie mysteries mostly felt too dry and bloodless for him, and I agree to his opinion even though I love revisiting some of the best works from Christie. Sure, they are usually more or less than intellectual puzzles to be solved without much emotional resonance, but they are still fun and delicious in my humble opinion, and “See How They Run” reminds me again of how much Christie’s mystery novels mean to me. I wish it could have more fun with its source material, but I had enough entertainment on the whole, so I will not grumble for now.

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Holy Spider (2022) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): Based on one real-life Iranian serial killing case

Posted on February 6, 2023 by kaist455

Ali Abbasi’s third feature film “Holy Spider”, which was selected as the Danish submission to Best International Film Oscar in last year and then included in the finalist in this category, is a calm but angry crime thriller film loosely based on one shocking real-life Iranian serial killing case between 2000 and 2001. While it is compelling to watch how its fictional journalist heroine doggedly continues her investigation, it is also quite chilling to observe how the killer could kill no less than 16 women under social ignorance and prejudice, and the movie eventually makes a sharply urgent point on how he is just a mere tip of the deeply misogynistic aspects of the Iranian society.

After the gut-wrenching opening sequence showing the last night of the killer’s latest victim, the movie introduces us to a young female journalist named Arezoo Rahimi (Zar Amir Ebrahimi), who comes to Mashhad, Iran for reporting on the ongoing serial case which has already been terrorizing the whole city. The killer has already killed 9 women, but the local police still have no clue for tracking down any possible suspect, and they certainly do not welcome Rahimi much when she begins to look into the case with some help from Sharifi (Arash Ashtiani), a generous local male newspaper reporter who always receives a call from the killer whenever the killer did his latest killing.

It is clear from the recording of one phone call from the killer that he is driven by his religiously fanatic motive. All of those murdered women are prostitutes working on night streets, and the killer believes that he is simply cleaning the streets for the god as getting rid of those “faithless” women one by one. After all, Mashhad has been regarded as a major holy place for years, and those prostitutes are a big affront to the city in his twisted viewpoint.

On the surface, everyone in the city seems to want to see the end of this serial killing case, but Rahimi cannot help but notice how the local police and other influential officials do not have much interest in solving the case. They do not have much pity and sympathy toward those murdered prostitutes due to their prejudice and misogyny, and they certainly show lots of condescension to Rahimi when she tactfully approaches to them for getting more information about the case. As a matter of fact, one of them blatantly attempts to get closer to her at when they happen to be in the same room without anyone else, and that is certainly one of the most disturbing moments in the film.

Nevertheless, Rahimi is not deterred at all as feeling more concern and sympathy toward those many prostitutes out there, most of whom have no choice to go outside as usual due to their poor economic condition. With some help from Sharifi, she finds a usual area where the killer looks for his latest victim, and there eventually comes a point where she may get closer to the killer at last.

In the meantime, the screenplay by Abbasi and his co-writer Kamran Bahrami also pays considerable attention to the killer’s daily life. He is merely a struggling construction worker named Saeed Hanaei (Mehdi Bajestani), and we are chilled more as he casually alternates between his banal family life and his unspeakable nocturnal activity. He usually tries to remain fine and all right, but the people around him including his wife sense something wrong from him at times, while still having no idea on what he has been doing behind his back. It is implied that he has some post-traumatic stress disorder issue as a war veteran, and we come to gather that has fueled his murderous impulse along with the deep discontent with his current status of life.

The movie does not flinch that much in case of the depiction of his several killings. These horrific scenes in the film are quite unpleasant and grueling to watch to say the least, but the movie thankfully avoids being sensational or exploitative as presenting them with enough restraint and skill, and it also handles those victim characters in the film with a bit of care and compassion, even though they just briefly appear in the movie.

In addition, Abbasi and his crew members including cinematographer Nadmi Carlsen did a splendid job of immersing us into the unnerving atmosphere surrounding the heroine of the film. Although the movie was mainly shot in Jordan, the locations used in the film look fairly authentic on the screen as far as I heard from other reviewers, and that surely brings considerable realism and verisimilitude to the film.

The movie also depends a lot on the effectiveness of its two lead performers. Zar Amir Ebrahimi, who deservedly won the Best Actress award when the movie was shown at the Cannes Film Festival in last year, gives an unadorned but strong performance which comes to function as the human anchor of the story, and she is particularly terrific when her character silently observes more hypocrisy and misogyny from the local legal system later in the story. On the opposite, Mehdi Bajestani ably embodies the banality of evil observed from his deplorable character, and he also handles well a few darkly absurd scenes showing how his character is as banal and insignificant as many other real-life serial killers out there.

On the whole, “Holy Spider” is definitely not something you can casually watch on Sunday afternoon, but it is still worthwhile to watch thanks to Abbasi’s skillful direction and the admirable efforts from his two lead performers. Considering the current political situation in the Iranian society at present, the main subject of the film feels quite timely to say the least, and its deeply disturbing final scene will linger on your mind for a while.

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Mother Land (2023) ☆☆☆(3/4): A modest South Korean stop-motion animation film

Posted on February 5, 2023 by kaist455

South Korean animation film “Mother Land” is a precious work to be cherished. As a stop-motion animation film, it is rather modest compared to, say, “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” (2022) or many of the recent acclaimed works from Laika Studios, but it is equipped with its own style and personality at least, and its simple but sincere fairy tale will engage you more than expected once you give it a chance.

The story is set in a remote tundra area of Siberia around the late 20th century, and the opening part introduces us to one local nomad tribe family who has been going through one particularly harsh winter season. As their parents are mostly occupied with their daily work on a bunch of reindeers, Krisha (voiced by Lee Yun-ji) and her younger brother Ggolrya (voiced by Kim Seo-yeong) also try to help their parents in one way or another, but then Krisha’s mother unfortunately gets injured due to Krisha’s little regretful mistake, and Krisha certainly feels guilty about that while hoping that her mother will soon get recovered.

However, Krisha’s mother does not show any sign of recovery during next several days, so Krisha’s father eventually decides to go to a nearby city for getting the medicine for his wife, but Krisha has some other idea. Having often seen a certain mythical creature in her dream, she comes to believe that this mythical creature can cure her mother, but her father does not believe that much, while emphasizing to her that she should stay along with her mother and younger brother during his temporary absence.

Of course, our plucky heroine eventually decides to take care of the situation for herself not long after her father goes to the city. Without telling anyone, she goes out along with her trustworthy reindeer which will pull her sled, but then she discovers that Ggolrya is hiding inside her sled. She is not so pleased about this, but, mainly because they have already gone too far from their home, she eventually lets her brother accompany her despite the considerable risk they are going to face along their long journey.

While heading to a certain isolated spot where that mythical creature is supposedly living, they surely come across a number of serious troubles besides the increasingly cold and harsh weather. At one point, they will have to cross a perilous swampy area as depending only on their reindeer’s instinct, and then there come several nasty wolves which steadily go after them and their reindeer till a certain point.

However, the biggest menace in the story comes from an obnoxious Russian military officer named Vladimir (voiced by Lee Gwan-mok). As assisted and guided by a local hunter who knows a lot about the tundra area and its animals, Vladimir is quite eager to hunt that mythical creature by any means necessary, and it is not much of a spoiler to tell you that Vladimir and his guide eventually encounter Krisha and Ggolrya later in the story.

Without hurrying itself, the screenplay by director/writer Park Jae-beom, who previously made several short animation films before making a feature film debut here, steadily rolls its story and characters toward its expected finale, and then it brings out some surprising moments of poignancy. While its main characters are pretty simple to the core, the story brings enough gravitas to their situation for engaging us, and we come to care more about what is being at stake for them. For Krisha, saving her mother seems the most important thing to her for a while, but then there comes a task more important than that, and she becomes quite willing to make a defiant stand against her opponents even though there is not much chance for her from the beginning.

Furthermore, the film is commendable in its technical aspects. Although it is clear that they were often limited by their small production budget, Park and his crew members put lots of painstaking efforts onto the screen, and their overall result is charming in its simple but effective aesthetical qualities. The main characters in the film mostly look broad and coarse in their appearance, but they look and feel more alive as the film gradually builds its own fantasy world around them, and we are also served with a little dose of realism as shown from a brief bloody scene involved with one reindeer butchered for meat and blood.

The voice cast members are also crucial in bringing more life and personality to the main characters in the film. As the center of the story, Lee Yun-ji gives a likable voice performance, and she is complemented well by Kim Seo-young. In case of several other voice cast members, Lee Yong-nyeo, Kim Ye-eun, and Kang Gil-woo are also well-cast in their respective supporting parts, and Lee Gwan-mok is suitably mean and haughty for his villainous role.

On the whole, “Mother Land” is another notable South Korean animation film to watch, and it is all the more valuable considering that there have been a very few stop-motion animation films in South Korean during last 70 years. This is surely something to be appreciated by not only young audiences but also adult ones, and I can only hope that it will help its apparently talented director moving onto more artistic accomplishment during next several years.

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Irma Vep (1996) ☆☆☆(3/4): One troubled movie production

Posted on February 4, 2023 by kaist455

Olivier Assayas’ 1996 film “Irma Vep”, which happens to be released in South Korean theaters in this week, baffles me in enjoyable ways. Mainly revolving around one very troubled movie production, its story freely and unpredictably flows from one interesting moment to another, and you may come to accept the avant-garde aspects of its finale once you go along with its free-wheeling storytelling approach.

At the beginning, the movie throws us right into the busy process of one movie production. As the first shooting day of their movie is approaching, everyone in its production team is hurriedly preparing for that, but their director is not available at present, and that makes them more nervous about their upcoming shooting period. After all, lots of things may go wrong at any point, and they are not even so sure about whether they can actually finish their shooting in the end.

When Maggie Cheung, who incidentally plays herself in the film, arrives, she is ready to do as much as possible as the lead actress, but she is as confused as many others around her. Their movie, which is the remake of Louis Feuillade’s classic silent film serial “Les Vampires” (1915–16), does not seem to fit to her that well, but the director, played by Jean-Pierre Léaud, believes that she will bring some fresh modern touches to his movie. Although she still does not understand well what exactly her director wants her to do, Cheung starts to prepare for her role anyway, and we subsequently get a little amusing scene where she tries on a black latex suit for her character.

What follows next is a series of absurd moments as the production team struggles to shoot their film in one way or another. In case of shooting one particular key scene, they have to shoot it again and again without much success, and everyone on the set becomes more frustrated as time goes by. To make matters worse, the director seems to be lost in his own confusion, and, not so surprisingly, he eventually comes to lash out at his crew and cast members after they watch the rough cut of what they shot.

His cast and crew members are understandably not so amused to say the least. They naturally begin to worry whether their production will be soon shut down, but the mood becomes a bit brighter when many of them later have a little evening drinking party of their own. Cheung is also invited to this party, and she has some good time along with others although there is the considerable language barrier between her and others. Both they and she can speak English, but the conversations are mostly French, so she often seems isolated despite the vivacious atmosphere surrounding her.

The production takes another downturn as the director comes to have a big nervous breakdown. Without their director, the cast and crew members try to do as much as they can do for themselves, but there eventually comes a point where the production should be halted for a while, and then there comes some other director as a replacement. He is not much of a fan of Cheung, and, despite his reluctance, he already has his own artistic vision for this deeply problematic movie production.

Meanwhile, the movie has some little naughty fun with Cheung. At one point in the movie, she seems to lose herself into her character in private for no apparent reason, and that leads to a weird but amusing scene where she wears that black latex suit and then attempts a little heist of her own in a hotel she is staying. In addition, the movie also has her interviewed by a rather rude French journalist, and we get some laughs as she tries to respond to the journalist’s insensitive questions as politely as possible.

The movie eventually arrives at the finale which caught me off guard when I watched the film for the first time in last year. I am still scratching my head on how I should process and interpret what is presented during this daring moment, but it still leaves a striking impression on me at least, and I admire more whatever Assayas attempts to achieve here.

Furthermore, I also appreciate the game efforts from the main cast members of the film. Although she does not wear that black latex suit as much as I hoped, Cheung is interesting to watch thanks to her natural presence, and so are several main cast members around her. While Léaud, who has been always remembered for his frequent collaboration with François Truffaut, embodies well his character’s neurotic sides, Nathalie Richard has several moments to shine as the costume designer who happens to be quite interested in getting closer to Cheung, and I was also delighted by the brief appearances of Alex Descas and Arsinée Khanjian in the film (This is actually not so surprising, considering that Assayas worked on the initial story idea of his film with Claire Denis and Atom Egoyan).

In conclusion, “Irma Vep”, which was incidentally remade into the HBO miniseries by Assayas himself in last year, is an admirable piece of work, but I am not very enthusiastic about it unlike many others because I observed its creative moments from the distance instead of being ecstatic about them. Personally, I prefer Assayas’ subsequent films such as “Clouds of Sils Maria” (2014) and “Personal Shopper” (2016), but “Irma Vep” is still recommendable for its distinctive qualities, and I think you should check it out someday – especially if you are ready for something challenging and interesting.

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Babylon (2022) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): Excessive to the extreme

Posted on February 2, 2023 by kaist455

Damien Chazelle’s latest film “Babylon” is a relentlessly excessive piece of work which quickly made me feel distant and exhausted even before its first hour passed. While I appreciated some admirable efforts from its crew and cast members shown from the film, I got disinterested more and more as enduring one excessive moment to another during its 189-minute running time, and I came to observe its story and characters without much care or attention.

The main subject of the movie surely draws the attention of any serious moviegoer. Mainly revolving around several different figures working in Hollywood during the late 1920s, the movie attempts an irreverent show business drama about how things were quickly changed for everyone in the town as sound films replaced silent movies during that time, and its story surely feels like a darker and seedier version of what is so joyfully and optimistically presented in “Singin’ in the Rain” (1952). As a matter of fact, the titular musical number of that great musical film appears twice in the film, and that certainly reflects what Chazelle tries to attempt here.

However, Chazelle does not succeed much right from the beginning. Like his previous film “La La Land” (2016), “Babylon” gives us a striking opening sequence to set its overall tone, but, boy, this sequence, which is mainly unfolded inside the mansion of a rich and influential Hollywood mogul, goes on and on with lots of excessive moments to numb you to the end. As the camera of cinematographer Linus Sandgren frantically moves around here and there as everyone inside the mansion is heedlessly enjoying their big evening party, the boisterously jazzy music by Justin Hurwitz attacks our eardrum with no mercy, and you may already get quite dizzy and tired even before the title of the movie finally appears on the screen.

In case of Manny Torres (Diego Calva), he does not have much fun unlike many others around him because, well, he is just an employee to take care of any trouble during the party. He has actually aspired to enter the movie business someday, but that dream of his still seems to be out of his reach, and then he comes across Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie), a wild and free-spirited lass who has been eager to have lots of fun in Hollywood in addition to becoming a big movie star someday. As they have some private time later in a little isolated place in the mansion, they share their respective hopes and dreams, and Nellie is certainly thrilled when she later happens to get a chance to act in front of the camera at last.

While Nellie subsequently rises to her stardom within a short time, Manny comes to assist Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt), who is incidentally one of the biggest star actors in Hollywood. When Conrad and the crew members of his latest film have a serious technical problem at one point, Manny willingly goes all the way for solving that big problem, and he soon finds himself more involved with movie business as days go by.

Things look optimistic for both Manny and Nellie for a while, but there soon comes a big industrial change via the introduction of sound film, which is boosted further by the considerable success of “The Jazz Singer” (1927). While everyone in the town seems to be ready for this huge change, it gradually turns out that not all of them can move onto the era of sound film, and that fact becomes quite painful to Conrad, who has to accept that his old star quality is quickly dissipated once he talks on the screen.

In case of Nellie, she falls much harder as miserably failing to adapt herself to the ongoing new trend, and she also makes herself quite miserable to Manny’s dismay. No matter how much he tries to recover her ruined career, she frequently lets down herself as well as Manny, and there eventually comes a point where Manny gets himself involved in a very serious trouble thanks to her.

However, the movie fails to engage us as constantly indulging in its excessive style instead of focusing more on story and characters. While Conrad’s narrative has some pathos, the depiction of the rocky relationship between Manny and Nellie often feels contrived, and their story eventually fizzles without much dramatic impact in the end. In case of the two main colored characters respectively played by Jovan Adepo and Li Jun Li, the movie delves a bit into their racism problems, but both of them only end up being no more than mere parts of the background, and Adepo and Li are considerably wasted as a result.

Diego Calva, Margot Robbie, and Brad Pitt do try with their broad characters as much as possible, but the result is mostly mixed to our disappointment. While Pitt effortlessly slips into his role, Robbie is unfortunately demanded to do shrill overacting throughout the movie, and Calva acquits himself fairy well although his character is rather bland in my trivial opinion. In case of several other notable cast members including Max Minghella, Katherine Waterston, Tobey Maguire, Flea, Eric Roberts, Ethan Suplee, Samara Weaving, Olivia Wilde, Patrick Fugit, and Spike Jonze, most of them simply come and go without much impression, and the special mention goes to Jean Smart, who often steals the show as a cynical Hollywood gossip columnist.

In conclusion, “Babylon” is not entirely without fun and entertainment, but it is a major letdown compared to Chazelle’s more entertaining works. I know that some critics and audiences are quite enthusiastic about the film, but it is too excessive and shallow for me, and I also do not like its sentimental epilogue much, which is incidentally another self-indulgent moment in the movie. Yes, it is nice to be reminded of how wonderful it is to watch a movie along with many others in big theater, but, folks, that will probably not wash away what you will have to endure before that.

Posted in Movies | Tagged , | 1 Comment

To Leslie (2022) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): Can she really start over?

Posted on February 1, 2023 by kaist455

“To Leslie” is about the hard and difficult struggles of one messy human being to observe. She once felt like being on the top of the world, but she has hit one bottom after another due to her serious personal problems since then, and the movie dryly but sensitively depicts her desperate reach for any possibility of a new beginning with understanding and empathy.

When she won a local lottery and then received no less than $ 190,000, Leslie “Lee” Rowlands (Andrea Riseborough) was certainly excited as believing that everything would go well for her and her young son, but then things soon went downhill during next several years. She thoughtlessly squandered most of her money to alcohol and drug, and now she is living a barren and destitute life of your average addict at present.

Shortly after being kicked out of a residential motel where she has resided for a while, Leslie goes to a city where her son currently lives. Although he still feels hurt about being abandoned by his mother at that time, James (Owen Teague) lets his mother stay at his place because he still cares about his mother. Leslie certainly appreciates that, though that does not stop her from tumbling back to her usual alcoholic mode. When he belatedly comes to learn that his mother breaks her promise again, James naturally becomes quite angry, and he eventually sends her back to their hometown in West Texas, where she will stay at the house of Leslie’s old hometown friends Dutch (Stephen Root) and Nancy (Allison Janney).

Because there are many people who still remember well how she fell into bankruptcy and addiction, Leslie does not like to go back to her hometown, but she does not have any other option, and she is not welcomed much by Dutch and Nancy either. Although they do not speak that much about what occurred between them and Leslie, we can clearly sense the old anger and resentment between them and Leslie, and that makes Leslie quite uncomfortable at times.

Naturally, she inevitably finds herself holding a bottle at a nearby bar, and that consequently leads to her being kicked out of Nancy and Dutch’s house. Quite devastated again, Leslie desperately looks for any place she may sleep a bit, and that is how she ends up sleeping outside a nearby motel run by Sweeney (Marc Maron) and Royal (Andre Royo). Although he tells her to leave when he finds her in the next morning, Sweeny gives a little offer to her when she comes to the motel later. In exchange of a rather small wage and boarding, she will work as a cleaner for him and Royal, and she cannot refuse his offer because, well, she needs a place to stay right now.

Needless to say, Leslie often frustrates both Sweeney and Royal due to her current addiction problem. While frequently late for her work, she keeps drinking as before, and there is a painful moment when she goes inside her former residence without permission at one night. She cannot help but miss that good time when everything seemed all right to her, and we come to feel a bit sorry for her while also recognizing how pathetic she really is.

Nevertheless, Sweeney does not give her up easily as a guy who has some personal experience with addition. Even though Leslie lets him down more than once, he still responds to her with kindness and patience, and Leslie soon comes to realize that she really has to pull up herself this time. First, she becomes a little more diligent than before during her worktime, and she also tries to get sober, though that turns out to be quite difficult to say the least.

Of course, there subsequently comes a point where its heroine becomes drawn to her old bad habit again, but the screenplay by Ryan Bianco keeps focusing on character development even at that point. As appreciating more of Sweeney’s humane generosity, Leslie comes to open herself more to him, but she is also reminded of how she has let down many people in her problematic life including her son – especially when she comes across Nancy later in the story. Yes, she really should stop drinking, but it is evident that she also must take care of many other problems including herself first.

I think the movie steps back a bit around the ending for a bit of optimism, but Andrea Riseborough, who deservedly received a surprise Best Actress Oscar nomination in last week, is utterly uncompromising in her raw performance. While not overlooking her character’s many human flaws at all, Riseborough did a fabulous job of conveying to us her character’s emotional struggles along the story, and she is especially fantastic during a certain brief moment when Leslie makes a small but important decision on herself. Although she does not say anything, Riseborough lets us sense some change in her character’s conflicted mind, and that is the main reason why the following ending is effective enough to touch us.

Around Riseborough, several few main cast members ably support her as having each own moment to shine. While imbuing his character with a gentle sense of human compassion, Marc Maron has a nice low-key chemistry with Riseborough during their several key scenes in the film, and Allison Janney is dependable as usual in her acerbic supporting role. In case of Stephen Root, Owen Teague, and Andre Royo, they are also solid in their respective parts, and Royo demonstrates again that he is one of most reliable character actors at present.

In conclusion, “To Leslie”, which is incidentally the first feature film of director Michael Morris, is a quiet but powerful character drama driven by one of the best performances in Riseborough’s advancing acting career. Since she drew my attention for the first film via her strong lead turn in “Shadow Dancer” (2012), she has seldom disappointed us during last 10 years as a talented actress to watch, and I sincerely hope her recent Oscar nomination will boost her career further during next several years.

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Jackass Forever (2022) ☆☆☆(3/4): They surely rise below vulgarity

Posted on January 31, 2023 by kaist455

“Jackass Forever” made me wince and cringe more than once for good reasons. The film is basically a series of vulgar and outrageous stunts to make your eyes roll, but they are presented with a considerable amount of wit, cheer, spirit, and boldness, and you may become a bit curious about how they prepared and executed many of those numerous silly stunts in the film.

I must confess that I have never seen any of the previous Jackass flicks except “Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa” (2013), but, like many of you, I am familiar with their basic concept. Johnny Knoxville, whom I came to notice via his colorful supporting turn in Kim Jee-woon’s “The Last Stand” (2013), and his merry bunch of goofballs boldly attempt one silly but risky thing after another just for making us laugh and chuckle hard, and their loony dedication may be appreciated by Donald O’Connor’s character in “Singin’ in the Rain” (1952). As far as I can see from the film, they look like really caring about not only having a fun with themselves but also giving us enough entertainment, and even their naughtiest comic attempt in the film comes to us as a sweet guilty pleasure.

What will follow next in this review is more or less than the flat description of some of more hilarious moments in the film, so I advise you not to read further if you are already determined to watch the film, though you probably know well how far Knoxville and his colleagues will go for laugh. For example, the prologue presents a wild and crazy fantasy moment featuring a big puppet monster which looks like a certain male body part, and this deliberately vulgar moment will not disappoint you when this vulgar monster eventually comes to have a massive moment of ejaculation.

As shown from this scene, Knoxville and his colleagues are inclined to do many raunchy stunts involved with that male body part, and I must admit that some of them made me chuckle a lot with disbelief and amusement. As far as I remember, the film shows that male body part as much as your average gay porn, and my personal favorite moment comes from when one of Knoxville’s does a rather risky stunt on that body part of his. All he has to do is having a queen bee on that body part of his, and what happens next looks more grueling than whatever Tony Todd had to go through for his iconic role in “Candyman” (1992).

And that is just a tip of what many of Knoxville’s colleagues have to endure for our laughs. In case of one scene, they invite a heavyweight mixed martial artist, and this big dude is surely ready to throw a hard punch at the groin of one of Knoxville’s colleagues. That colleague of Knoxville wears a protective cup on the groin just in case, but, boy, what he has to endure is not so recommendable to say the least.

After that, the movie continues to show more of male groins getting hit in one way or another. We see a softball player throwing a ball very hard at a male groin, and then we behold a hockey puck flown right into the middle of some other male groin. This is surely mean and naughty to say the least, but Knoxville and his colleagues are always ready for going further despite no matter how painful those stunts really are to them. Paraphrasing what Mel Brooks once said, their stunts rise below vulgarity.

My another favorite moment in the film involves with the brief appearance of the titular character of “Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa”. Like in that film, Knoxville disguises himself as an old grandpa in a fairly convincing makeup (Can you believe that “Jackass Present: Bad Grandpa” was actually nominated for Best Makeup Oscar at that time?), and then he executes a very shocking prank just for surprising several innocent bystanders who happen to be around him. These bystanders are certainly stunned as expected, but then they cannot help but amazed by how much they were surprised.

Not so surprisingly, all those stunts executed by Knoxville and his colleagues are not always as safe and successful as they planned. At one point, they dress up as marching band members and then attempt to walk right across an operating treadmill. This surely hurts, but one of them turns out to be seriously injured, so we soon see him sent to a hospital for his treatment. When Knoxville later tries to do one of his old stunts again, he gets himself injured much more than expected, but he remains cheerful as usual despite the concerns from others around him.

In case of the big finale for the film featuring one big merry-go-around, this part happens to remind me of an old terrible childhood memory of mine. I became quite sick after spending too much time on a merry-go-around, and I was subsequently on bed for more than one day (That is why I am still averse to any merry-go-around, by the way). Nevertheless, I laughed again despite lots of vomits decorating the screen, and, to some degree, I came to admire more of how Knoxville and his colleagues really try anything funny for us – and them.

Directed by Jeff Tremaine, “Jackass Forever” is not exactly a piece of art, but it takes me back to what critic Pauline Kael once said: “The movies are so rarely great art, that if we can’t appreciate great trash, there is little reason for us to go.” The movie is indeed a trashy stuff with lots of vulgarities, but it is presented well with enough sense of naughty fun and entertainment at least, so I recommend it with some giggling.

Posted in Movies | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Triangle of Sadness (2022) ☆☆☆(3/4): Three acts of absurd satire by Ruben Östlund

Posted on January 30, 2023 by kaist455

Ruben Östlund’s new film “Triangle of Sadness”, which won the Palme d’Or award when it was premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in last year, attempts three acts of absurd satire which are often amusing even though they do gel together well on the whole. Although I felt a bit impatient around its last act where it spins its wheels at times, the movie still diligently provides barbed laughs as before, and it mostly works as a blatant but effective black comedy about class and gender roles.

After the casual opening scene featuring lots of shirtless males models waiting for their audition, the first act of movie focuses on the relationship problem between one of them and his current girlfriend. At a fancy restaurant, Carl (Harry Dickinson) and Yaya (Charlbi Dean, who unfortunately died suddenly not long after the movie was shown at the Cannes Film Festival), happen to argue over who should pay the bill for their dinner, and their increasingly silly argument is continued even while they are going back to staying place. It is clear that Carl is grumpy just because he feels rather emasculated by Yaya’s more successful status with more money in her hand, but Yaya turns out to be no better than him as your typical social media influencer, and their argument is eventually ended as they come to make a sort of reconciliation for their mutual benefit.

In the next act, we see Carl and Yaya enjoying a luxurious cruise along with a number of other guests on a big yacht. Every crew member of the yacht is ready to serve the guests as much as possible just because that is what they are paid for, but their captain, hilariously played by Woody Harrelson, does not care much about the cruise while locking himself up in his private cabin for some drinking, and that certainly frustrates the crew members working under him.

Meanwhile, we get to know a bit about several other guests besides Carl and Yaya. In case of one jolly middle-aged Russian dude accompanied with his wife, he turns out to be a very wealthy guy, and he makes a little crude but amusing joke about his business at one point. Compared to him, an elderly British couple looks more benign in comparison, but, what do you know, their source of wealth is relatively less respectable than that Russian dude’s business. Later in the story, we meet a rather pathetic guy who is eager to get along with a couple of young women at the bar, and he turns out to be quite rich just like many of the guests of the yacht.

After making some sharp points on how many guests on the ship are quite oblivious and insensitive to their privilege over many crew members of the yacht, the movie soon moves onto its most uproarious part. While the captain is reluctantly attending the dinner along with his guests during the following evening, the yacht constantly fluctuates among stormy waves, and some guests naturally begin to suffer seasick. In addition, it seems that there is also some food poisoning problem, and the situation soon gets all the worse along with lots of vomit and diarrhea.

In the next morning, the situation looks like being under control as everyone on the ship tries to start another day of their cruise, but, alas, there comes another unexpected incident which eventually causes the sinking of the yacht. I will not go into details here, but I must tell you that I was quite amused by a little but sweet ironic poetic justice served to a certain couple on the yacht.

During the third act, the movie revolves around several guests who manage to survive and then find themselves stranded ashore in a remote spot. Because none of them does not know any useful skill for survival while not having any food or water, they consequently find themselves depending a lot on a plain cleaner named Abigail (Dolly de Leon), who does not hesitate to take the full control over them as the one who has the power and privilege now.

What follows next is a naughty satire driven by the reversal of class and gender roles. Once they see that they have no choice in their circumstance, the survivors willingly obey to whatever Abigail orders them to do, and we get some laugh as she “domesticates” many of male survivors in the group including Carl. When it becomes quite clear to him that Abigail wants something from Carl in exchange for more food and water, he goes along with that despite his understandable reluctance, and, of course, he soon comes to learn how easy it is to put aside his petty male pride for survival.

During its last 20 minutes, the movie begins to lose some of its comic momentum, and the ending feels anti-climactic compared to what has been so enjoyably developed before that point. At least, the movie is still supported well by its solid main cast members, and Dolly de Leon is an undeniable standout in the bunch, though she was sadly not Oscar-nominated despite her commendable efforts here in this film.

Overall, “Triangle of Sadness”, which recently garnered three Oscar nominations including the one for Best Picture, is engaging enough for recommendation, but I must confess that I am not as enthusiastic about it as others. In my trivial opinion, its level of achievement is somewhere between Östlund’s two previous films “Force Majeure” (2014) and “The Square” (2017), and that will probably help you decide on whether you should check it out or not. It could be more focused and daring, but I had enough good laughs at least, so I will not grumble for now.

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment