Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2021) ☆☆☆(3/4): Meet Marcel the Shell

Posted on December 12, 2022 by kaist455

“Marcel the Shell with Shoes On” is a little whimsical work packed with irresistible charm and cuteness. Although it took some time for me to accept its rather outrageous story premise, I eventually accepted that anyway as having enough amusement and entertainment, and I also came to adore its titular hero who becomes more endearing for his unadorned innocence and curiosity.

The film takes a mockumentary approach to its story and characters, so we mostly observe its story and characters via the camera of a documentary filmmaker named Dean (Dean Fleisher-Camp). Not long after he got separated from his wife, Dean came to stay in one suburban house via the Airbnb service, and that was how he came to discover a one-inch-tall talking shell named Marcel (voiced by Jenny Slate). With the willing cooperation from Marcel and his grandmother Nana Connie (voiced by Isabella Rossellini), Dean and his camera have followed the daily routine of Marcel and Nana Connie, and we accordingly get a series of small humorous moments including the one showing how Marcel can move from the upstairs to the downstairs despite his physical limits.

Although he has only one eye and two legs besides his tiny mouth, Marcel is pretty active and resourceful in many of his daily activities. While his grandmother is usually occupied with growing vegetables outside, he does a number of different activities including getting some fruits from a tree outside the house, and you will be surely amused by how he can get the fruits via his own simple but clever method.

Marcel and his grandmother once had a big family some years ago, but, as shown from a flashback scene, they got separated from other family members because of some bad incident between the former resident of the house and her ex-boyfriend. As he becomes more aware of the world outside his house via his interactions with Dean, Marcel really wants to know where the hell his missing family members are at present, and Dean is willing to help him via posting his several video clips of Marcel on YouTube.

The responses to Dean’s video clips are not so impressive during the first several days, but, what do you know, they later come to draw lots attention on the Internet, and Marcel soon finds himself becoming a very popular online celebrity. Everyone is quite interested in getting to know more about him, and he is even approached by Lesley Stahl, who is quite interested in interviewing him for “60 minutes”.

Meanwhile, Marcel and Dean continue to try to get any information about where Marcel’s missing family members are now, but there is still not much clue on that, and then they get an unexpected trouble. Because of Marcel’s considerable popularity in public, many people come to their house just because of curiosity, and, not so surprisingly, a very unpleasant incident soon happens to Marcel and Dean’s dismay.

The mood accordingly becomes a little more serious than usual, but the movie still maintains its lightweight deadpan tone even at that point. When Stahl herself and her TV crew finally arrive, Marcel becomes quite nervous and conflicted for understandable personal reasons, but he is eventually motivated more by his grandmother, and we get some good laugh as observing how Stahl and her TV crew are really serious about interviewing Marcel.

I must point out that the screenplay by director Dean Fleisher-Camp and his co-writers/co-producers Jenny Slate, and Nick Paley, which is developed from the story they wrote along with Elisabeth Holm, is basically a one-joke comedy, but the movie fills its rather thin story and characters with lots of charm and personality. Although our titular hero looks quite simple on the surface, he comes to express more than his modest cuteness, and his interactions with his grandmother are accompanied with enough gravitas and poignancy to engage us. As the heart and soul of the story, Jenny Slate, who is incidentally Fleisher-Camp’s ex-wife, and Isabella Rossellini generate an effortless synergy between their lovely voice performances, which are the main reason why we can accept their characters’ fantastic existence without much problem.

Besides humbly holding the ground for the two little main characters of his film as required, Fleisher-Camp also did a skillful job of mixing animation and live-action on the screen. As he and other performers in the screen play their respective characters as straight as possible, the animation part of the screen is seamlessly incorporated into the screen, and you will be surprised how much the movie actually depends on animation. As a matter of fact, animation figures in more than 75% of the film, and that makes the movie eligible for Best Animated Feature Oscar in next year (It has already received the Best Animated Feature awards from the New York Film Critics Award and the National Board of Review, by the way).

Overall, “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On” is a cute and likable piece of work which has enough style and personality to support its rather thin narrative, and Fleisher-Camp, who previously made several short films including three ones featuring Marcell, did an admirable feature debut here on the whole. Although I am not so enthusiastic compared to many other critics and reviewers, I recognize and appreciate its undeniable charm and colorfulness nonetheless, and I think it will grow more on me before I revisit it someday.

Posted in Movies | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Fire of Love (2022) ☆☆☆1/2 (3.5/4): The story of one exceptional volcanologist couple

Posted on December 12, 2022 by kaist455

It is difficult not to be impressed by what is so beautifully and terrifyingly presented in documentary film “Fire of Love”, which is currently available on Disney+ in South Korea. For presenting the story of one exceptional volcanologist couple, its director and editors assembled and then edited lots of archival footage clips left by this couple, and their overall result is often extraordinary for many awesome moments of sheer wonder and danger.

That volcanologist couple in question are Katia and Maurice Krafft, who were always together for their endless interest and fascination toward volcanoes for many years before they ultimately died in the Mount Unzen eruption in Japan in 1991. When they accidentally met each other for the first time in the middle of the 1960s, they instantly clicked with each other thanks to their common academic subject, and that was the beginning of their long story of study, adventure, and love.

As shown from a series of archival footage clips showing how they worked and interacted with each other, Katia and Maurice were a wonderful couple who complemented each other in more than one aspect. Right from when they began their relationship, they decided not to have any kid for fully focusing on their scientific research which would surely demand a lot of time and effort from them, and their contrasting approach methods fit quite well with each other. While Maurice usually approached to his study subjects in wider views, Katia focused on smaller things to observe and record, and that made them perfect research partners for each other.

For their research, Katia and Maurice often went here and there around the world for any active volcano about to be erupted sooner or later, and that was where most of their remarkable film records came from. While they were in constant danger, they took some calculated risk for their academic interest and study, and you will surely be awed and terrified as observing how they were often very close to erupting volcanoes. Yes, it is indeed awesome to have a close view on those epic eruptions, but it is also quite scary to watch all those vividly volcanic moments full of hot smoke and lava, and you will be all the amazed by how Katia and Maurice were usually casual in front of their camera.

Of course, Katia and Maurice were certainly well aware of the possibility of getting themselves killed at any moment during their field research, but they were still driven by their academic passion as well as their love toward volcanoes. While it was always difficult to fund their researches, they were always happy and excited whenever they had a chance to observe an active volcano in their latest eruption, and we cannot help but amused a bit as watching a number of little playful moments between them.

Although they initially thought that it was not right to categorize volcanoes due to their various characteristics, Katia and Maurice eventually agreed that volcanoes could be divided into two categories. In case of “red volcanoes”, they are relatively less dangerous because their craters simply spew up red hot lava to be flowed down from them, and that was how Katia and Maurice could often closely capture those vivid moments of eruption from this kind of volcanoes. At one point, the documentary shows an archival footage clip showing hot lava quickly cooled by sea water, and that is certainly another marvelous moment to watch.

In case of “grey volcanoes”, they can be much more dangerous than their red cousins because their sudden explosive eruption can be quite more disastrous in addition to being very unpredictable. In case of the massive eruption of the Mount St. Helens in US in 1980, which is still the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in the US history, many volcanologists including Katia and Maurice knew in advance that the volcano would soon have a big eruption, but the eventual eruption was a lot more catastrophic than expected, and the gray barren aftermath of the eruption shot by Katia and Maurice is devastating to watch to say the least.

While they loved volcanoes a lot, Katia and Maurice also cared a lot about predicting and preparing for the disasters caused by volcanic eruptions just like many other fellow volcanologists of theirs. Although there are many unpredictable factors behind volcanic eruption, there are also scientific ways to detect the possibility of next eruption to happen, and Katia and Maurice focused much on recording how catastrophic volcano eruption can be. In case of the eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz stratovolcano in Colombia in 1985, this resulted in the death of more than 23,000 people, and Katia and Maurice did not look away at all as vividly capturing its horrific aftermath with their camera.

The story eventually arrives at that fatal moment of Katia and Maurice on June 3rd, 1991. When Mount Unzen finally began its eruption, this turned out to be deadlier and more unpredictable than expected, Katia and Maurice were unfortunately too close to the volcano at that time, and it is poignant to see how they diligently worked together as usual before that fateful day came – and how they probably stood by each other till their death.

In conclusion, “Fire of Love”, which won the Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award in the U.S. Documentary category when it was premiered at the Sundance Film Festival early in this year, handles its two fascinating human subjects with care and respect in addition to presenting a bunch of splendid moments of terrifying beauty. While director/co-writer/co-producer Sara Dosa and her editors Erin Casper and Jocelyne Chaput did a commendable job on the whole, the narration from Miranda July functions well as the reflective comment on the life and career of Katia and Maurice Krafft, and the effective score by Nicolas Godin further enhances many unforgettable parts in the story, In short, this is one of the best documentaries of this year, and I wholeheartedly recommend you to check it out as soon as possible.

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Sr. (2022) ☆☆☆(3/4): A free-flowing tribute to his filmmaker father

Posted on December 11, 2022 by kaist455

Netflix documentary film “Sr.”, which was released in last week, is a free-flowing tribute to one notable American filmmaker who had a very interesting life and career. Because I have not seen any of his work yet (Shame on me!), I wish the documentary presented more of his work and career for enlightening me a bit, but the documentary is still fairly engaging as gradually delving into the complex human relationship between him and his more famous son along its amorphous narrative, and it is often poignant to observe what is exchanged between them.

His name is Robert Downey Sr., who is incidentally the father of, yes, Robert Downey Jr. During the 1960s, Downey Sr. rose to considerable prominence thanks to his several successful underground films such as “Chafed Elbows” (1968) and “Putney Swope” (1969), and his son still remembers how busy and interesting his childhood environment was during that time. Young Downey Jr. frequently watched Downey Sr. and others busily working on their latest project in his family residence, and he even appeared in one of his father’s films. Although he was very young at that time, he showed considerable potentials as a performer, and that was the beginning of his long movie acting career.

As Downey Sr. frankly admits at one point, he did not know much about filmmaking from the very beginning, but he decided to try anyway, and, what do you know, he turned out to be talented enough to develop his own filmmaking style and approach. Although it was always difficult to get his films financed in one way or another, he always found ways to overcome his small production budget, and he tells an amusing episode on how his blatantly frank attitude managed to convince some rich guy to sign a big fat check for the production of “Greaser’s Palace” (1972).

Although his significant achievements were later eclipsed by his son’s much bigger career success associated with those Marvel Cinematic Universe flicks, many of Downey Sr.’s works have been regarded as the important artistic works from that era since they came out. As a matter of fact, “Putney Swope” was actually included in the US National Film Registry several years ago, and he is certainly proud of that as shown from one brief moment in the documentary.

As often interviewed by his son, Downey Sr. is ready to tell all in front of the camera, and he even becomes a main part of the shooting of the documentary, which is incidentally co-produced by his son. While observing the work progress from director/co-cinematographer Chris Smith, who is mainly known for “American Movie” (1999) and recently made Netflix documentary “Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened” (2019), and the crew members of the documentary, Downey Sr. decides to be an active part of the production, and the mood becomes playful when he has the camera focus on several ducks living in a pond of his neighborhood in New York City.

Around that point, the documentary comes to pay more attention on the relationship between Downey Sr. and his son, and their frank conversations are touching because they are well aware of Downey Sr.’s incurable illness. There are still some unresolved matters between them despite their mutual love and affection, and Downey Sr. is willing to discuss with his son on how he inadvertently exposed his young son to drugs during that wild filmmaking period of his – and how that led to lots of troubles in his son’s career and life during the 1990s.

Meanwhile, the medical condition of Downey Sr. gets worsen as time goes by, but he does not stop participating in the production of the documentary. Becoming less mobile than before, he knows that he does not have much time now, but he is still passionate about the production of the documentary nonetheless, and we see how he does some editing job while lying on his bed.

Eventually, there comes a point where Downey Sr. cannot go on anymore, and that certainly affects Downey Jr. a lot as shown from his little private conversation with his therapist. Just like his father, he is totally frank and sincere without any vain pretense, and he cannot help but a bit more emotional in the middle of the conversation.

As many of you know, Downey Sr. died on July 7th, 2021, and the documentary thankfully avoids any cheap sentimentality while frankly recognizing the sadness of his family members including his son. When he holds a little private memorial for his father, Downey Jr. delivers a sincere and succinct eulogy for his father in front of his several family members, and that is more than enough for us to sense the feeling of immense loss from him.

In conclusion, “Sr.”, which recently received the Best Documentary Award from the National Board of Review a few days ago, is rather uneven at times due to its free-flowing narrative, but it often amuses and touches you while showing lots of respect and affection toward Downey Sr., and its offbeat storytelling approach is surely something he may approve of. Although it is not exactly informative, it ignites some curiosity on his works in my mind at least, and I think I should check out some of his notable works as soon as possible.

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

When Winter Comes (2020) ☆☆☆(3/4): A bus driver still not through with his past

Posted on December 11, 2022 by kaist455

South Korean independent film “When Winter Comes” is about one plain guy still not through with his past. Leisurely moving from one episodic moment to another, the movie gradually develops his quiet emotional struggle along the story, and that is why it is touching to see some tentative hope for a real new beginning for him and his life.

At the beginning, the movie slowly establishes its hero’s past and his current daily life. While there was a time when he was a promising young independent filmmaker, Seok-woo (Kwak Min-gyu) subsequently gave up his filmmaking career for some unknown reason and then went back to his hometown, and the opening part of the film shows us how he works as a local bus driver day by day. When his two co-workers ask him a bit about his past filmmaking career at one point, he is not so eager to talk about that at all probably because of shame or something else. At least, he is not particularly unhappy or miserable about his current status, but his private room full of DVDs and video recordings often reminds him of those past years of his, and he is also not so pleased when he keeps receiving the invitation letter from a local filmmaker association.

On one day, Seok-woo happens to notice an old MP3 player left by someone at a local bus terminal, and he becomes curious about the owner of this MP3 player just because it looks very familiar to him. After he gives it to a young female employee named Yeong-ae (Han Sunhwa), this MP3 player is soon stored in a room for the lost and found, and he frequently asks her about whether there is any person coming to look for it.

Via a couple of flashback scenes, we come to gather why this MP3 player looks so important to Seok-woo. During his filmmaking period, he had a girlfriend who was also one of his fellow filmmakers, but then she left him around the time when he came to give up his filmmaking career. Incidentally, she did not send his MP3 player back to him at that time, and it looks quite possible to him that the MP3 player found at the bus station is actually the one he gave to her.

For confirming whether that MP3 player really belongs to his ex-girlfriend, Seok-woo tries to check out whatever is stored inside it, but, alas, it turns out to be in the need of repair, so he seeks some extra help from Yeong-ae. Because she actually likes him a lot, Yeong-ae gladly helps him finding any local repair shop where that MP3 player can be fixed, and the movie gives us a series of nice nocturnal moments as they search around here and there in the town during one evening. When they eventually find a suitable repair shop, they come to have a little unexpected warm moment between them, and it looks like Seok-woo is also interested in getting closer to Yeong-ae despite maintaining his passive attitude as before.

Fortunately for Yeong-ae, there is a little opportunity for more relationship development between her and Seok-woo. A local table tennis competition will soon be held, and Yeong-ae suggests that he should play along with her in the competition. Again, Seok-woo is not so eager to say the least, but he eventually agrees to start the preparation along with Yeong-ae, and, considering how good they actually are at playing table tennis, it seems that they will do pretty well in the upcoming competition.

Around that narrative point, the movie delves a bit into the area of sports movies, but it keeps focusing on Seok-woo’s growing inner conflict with his past. The story does not specify much on how he came to give up his filmmaker career as well as his ex-girlfriend, but we can instead sense more of how much he feels hurt by any reminder of that time – especially when he suddenly gets one unexpected phone call from his ex-girlfriend later in the story.

Wisely avoiding any unnecessary melodrama, the movie steadily maintains its low-key tone as usual, and director/writer Lee Sang-jin did a competent job of imbuing his film with the palpably realistic sense of daily life. The main characters in the film really look like living through one day after another in their small town, and the movie occasionally shows some sense of humor as Yeong-ae tries to draw more attention from Seok-woo.

The main cast members of the film are believable in their respective parts. While Kwak Min-gyu’s unadorned natural performance humbly carries the film, Han Sunhwa always lightens the mood with her charming presence whenever she appears on the screen, and I enjoy how she and Kwak effortlessly click well together throughout the film. Several substantial supporting performers in the film including Lee Jung-bi and Ahn Min-young bring some extra colorfulness to the story, and Mok Gyoo-ri is also solid in her brief but crucial appearance during the last act.

On the whole, “When Winter Comes” may require some patience from you due to its slow narrative pacing, but it is still worthwhile to watch as a nice character drama, and Lee, who previously made a couple of short films before making his feature film debut here, shows considerable potential as a good filmmaker who knows how to engage audiences via mood and storytelling. In my trivial opinion, this is surely another notable debut feature film of this year in South Korea, and I think you should give it a chance someday.

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

Hit the Road (2021) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): A family on the road

Posted on December 10, 2022 by kaist455

Iranian film “Hit the Road” simply follows and observes one private journey, but it will surprise you more than once. As closely and intimately focusing on the emotional undercurrents among its four principal characters going through a certain important moment in their family life, the movie doles out one small human moment after another, and I certainly appreciate how these moments culminate to its sublime finale in the end.

The movie opens with its four main characters in the middle of their long journey, and it draws our interest as showing how three of them are quite discreet about their journey for good reasons. One of them is a lad named Farid (Amin Simiar), and he must leave the country as soon as possible for some unspecified cause. His father and mother are certainly willing to help him, and that is why they and Farid are going to a certain remote spot where he will be smuggled across the border as arranged by his father in advance.

Of course, Farid and his parents have to be very careful about this illegal activity, and that is why they are pretending that they are simply enjoying a car travel along with Farid’s little younger brother and a family dog which incidentally does not have much time to live due to some illness. While both Farid and his parents cannot help but become nervous about the possibility of getting caught by the police at any point, Farid’s younger brother is constantly cheerful with his irrepressible spirit without noticing anything from them, and that certainly annoys them from time to time.

Anyway, everything seems to be going well according to their plan, though there come a few setbacks on the road. At one point, they have a little minor accident when they encounter a cyclist doing some competition with other cyclists, and the mood becomes rather awkward as they are taking this cyclist to a nearby spot where he can get some medical treatment. In addition, Farid’s younger brother continues to make one nuisance after another while still quite oblivious to what is going on around him, and that makes his father lose his temper a bit at times.

In contrast, Farid’s mother mostly remains calm and collected right next to Farid, who does not speak much as quietly driving the car as safely as possible for not getting any unnecessary attention. Once he crosses the border, he may be separated from his family forever, and his future beyond the border is quite uncertain to say the least. While understandably anxious and worried inside his mind, he tries to repress his feelings as much as he can, but his mother instinctively senses and understands that, and there is a little tender moment when they share their respective anxieties in private despite not telling that much to each other.

As the journey continues, Farid and his family pass by one wide rural landscape after another, and director/writer/co-producer Panah Panahi, who is the older son of Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, and his cinematographer Amin Jafari vividly present those various landscapes on the screen. Whenever Jafari’s camera looks at the wide background surrounding the main characters, we become more aware of the magnitude of their long journey, and we also come to reflect more on their thoughts and feelings churning beneath the surface.

Nevertheless, the movie seldom loses its sense of humor even during its most serious moments. While we continue to be amused by the perky personality of Farid’s younger brother, we are also touched a lot by how Farid’s gruff father gradually reveals his concerns on his older son as well as his family. When he and Farid come to have a father and son moment in private later in the story, he tells his son that it is okay to express sadness and anxiety in front of him, and that is one of the most touching moments in the film although they still feel the growing gap between them.

Around the narrative point where its main characters are around the end of the journey, the movie sticks to its phlegmatic attitude as distancing itself a bit from the expected melodramatic part of the story. During one crucial scene later in the story, the camera simply observes Farid’s parents and several other people from the distance, but the resulting emotional effect is palpable nonetheless because of what is so diligently developed up to that narrative point.

Furthermore, the movie is supported well by its solid quartet acting from its four main cast members. While Hassan Madjooni and Pantea Panahiha ably function as the emotional center of the story, Amin Simiar holds his own small place well between them, and young performer Rayan Sarla is utterly unforgettable with his unadorned acting full of charm and energy. His character is surely annoying at times, but we cannot help but love his character just like Farid and his parents, and he is absolutely terrific when he is required to take the center around the end of the film.

Overall, “Hit the Road” is seemingly plain but undeniably impressive in its effortless handling of story and characters, and I am willing to watch it again soon for savoring those precious little moments in the film. Although this is his first film, Panahi demonstrates here that he is a talented filmmaker who may have a fruitful filmmaking career in the future just like his father has, and it will be certainly interesting to see what will come from him next.

Posted in Movies | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Compartment No. 6 (2021) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): Her accidental travel companion

Posted on December 10, 2022 by kaist455

“Compartment No. 6”, which was selected as the Finnish submission for Best International Film Oscar in last year, is a modest but intimate character drama between two accidental travel companions. They are quite different from each other in many aspects, but, of course, they become a little closer to each other as spending time together in a train compartment, and the result is alternatively funny and poignant as they show more of themselves to each other along the story.

The opening part of the film introduces us to Laura (Seidi Haarla), a Finnish lass who came to Moscow for her academic study. Although the movie does not specify its period background to us directly, it seems to be around the 1990s considering Laura’s video camera, and the opening scene shows us how a bunch of Russian intellectuals casually enjoy themselves around Laura at a little party held at the residence of Laura’s Russian lover.

Laura and her lover, who is incidentally a college professor, are supposed to go to Murmansk by train for studying the Kanozero Petroglyphs, but, unfortunately, her lover cannot go due to some unspecified matter, so Laura has no choice but to get on the train alone on the next day. Because she speaks Russian fairly well, she does not have much of language barrier problem, but she often cannot help but feel isolated, and she feels all the lonelier as sensing the growing distance between her and her lover.

Meanwhile, she has to be with some young Russian dude in their train compartment during next several days, and their first encounter is not so pleasant to say the least. When she meets him for the first time, this young man is apparently quite drunk, and he talks too much in addition to being very rude to her. Annoyed a lot by this, Laura naturally looks for any other place to occupy in the train, but, alas, the train seems to be full, and a stern female train conductor is not willing to help her – even when she offers a bit of bribe.

Because of her unpleasant fellow passenger, Laura considers giving up her trip to Murmansk when the train stops by St. Petersburg, but she eventually changes her mind and then goes back to her train compartment, and that Russian lad, who is sober now, shows a little more consideration than expected despite being rather sullen and gruff. When the train is going to stop at one city for one night, he suggests that they should visit the residence of some old acquaintance of his, and, though she is not particularly interested at first, Laura joins him when they come across each other later.

What follows next is a little warm and humorous moment between them and one old lady who kindly lets them stay at her residence for one night. As she and they drink together, the old lady talks for a while about how she has had a good life as being true to herself, and she also indirectly encourages the certain feelings developed between Laura and the Russian lad.

The Russian lad’s growing feelings toward Laura become more evident when Laura comes across a fellow Finnish passenger not long after they are back on their train on the next day. While she is pleased to feel less isolated than before, he cannot help but become petty and grouchy – especially when he feels the language barrier between him and the two people in front of him.

While it eventually rolls its two main characters toward a certain point where they come to get closer to each other than before, the screenplay by director Juho Kuosmanen and his co-writers Andris Feldmanis and Livia Ulman, which is adapted from the novel of the same name by Rosa Liksom, takes its time in developing their mutual feeling along their journey. When they eventually arrive at Murmansk later in the story, the movie patiently builds up its narrative momentum as usual, and then there come several unexpected moments including the one where Laura becomes more active in approaching closer to her accidental traveling companion.

Like any similar films about two different figures getting close to each other via their journey, the movie depends a lot on the chemistry between its two lead performers, and it is engaging to observe how their characters’ relationship is dynamically changed along the story. Although the movie does not tell that much about its two lead characters’ respective backgrounds, Seidi Haarla and Yuri Borisov fills their roles with enough life and personality in addition to effectively complementing each other throughout the film, and their solid duo acting is one of the main reasons why the last scene of the film works with considerable emotional impression. While they are still total strangers to each other even at the end of the story, Laura and her accidental traveling companion get to know each other much more than expected, and you may wonder whether they will meet again just like that young couple of Richard Linklater’s “Before Sunrise” (1995).

On the whole, “Compartment No. 6”, which shared the Grand Prix award with Asghar Farhadi’s “A Hero” (2021) when it was shown at the Cannes Film Festival early in last year, is another good film from Kuosmanen, who previously drew my attention with “The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki” (2016). It is surely quite familiar, but the movie handles its story and characters with lots of wit, mood, and sensitivity, and that is more than enough for recommendation in my trivial opinion.

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

White Noise (2022) ☆☆(2/4): A whimsical misfire from Noah Baumbach

Posted on December 9, 2022 by kaist455

Noah Baumbach’s latest film “White Noise”, which is released in South Korean theaters in this week and then will be on Netflix around the end of this month, does not click that well with me. The movie, which is based on the novel of the same name by Don DeLillo, surely tries a lot throughout its 135-minute running time, but the overall result feels rather hollow and superficial on the whole, and this is a major letdown compared to many of Baumbach’s recent acclaimed works including “Marriage Story” (2019).

At the beginning, we are introduced to a college professor named Jack Gladney (Adam Driver) and his colorful suburban family. Although things are usually messy in their house, Jack and his wife Babette (Greta Gerwig) mostly get along well with their four children, and we see how they cheerfully start another usual day in their neighborhood which often looks like a low-key version of Wes Anderson movies (As many of you know, Baumbach worked with Anderson in “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou” (2004), and “Fantastic Mr. Fox” (2009)).

The main focus of Jack’s academic work is the history of Adolf Hitler, though he actually does not know how to speak or write German. I have no idea on how he managed to become a fairly good Hitler expert despite that, but he seems to be pretty respectable enough to be invited to an academic conference, so he tries to get some help from a German guy who is willing to teach the other thing besides German.

At his campus workplace, Jack is surrounded by a bunch of colorful professors who are mostly occupied with each own academic interest. Whenever they gather together for lunch, they surely talk a lot about what they are interested in, but they do not look like really interacting with each other at all, and we just observe the aimless verbal cacophony among them from the distance.

Meanwhile, Jack becomes more concerned about his wife’s mental health. While she is cheerfully vivacious on the surface, it seems that she has been on a certain unknown type of medication, and one of their children urges Jack to delve into this matter more, though both of them still cannot identify what kind of medicine Barbette has been supposedly taking.

Around the end of the first act, the movie becomes a bit more interesting due to a sudden disaster which occurs at a spot not so far from Jack’s neighborhood. As a considerable amount of certain toxic chemical is spread toward the neighborhood, everyone is thrown into panic and worry, and there eventually comes a moment when Jack and his family must evacuate from their neighborhood as soon as possible.

As Jack and his family try to go to a nearby shelter, the movie provides a series of bizarre moments to baffle and confuse you. At one point, Jack and his family see something frightening on the sky along with many others on the road, and the score by Danny Elfman surely swells as much as expected during this weird moment.

While Jack tries to process and understand what is going on just like many others around him and his family, the movie puts us into more confusion and bafflement. Lots of words about the ongoing disaster are hurled around here and there, but none of them gel together well to form something coherent and understandable, and it sometimes looks like all we get is nothing but sound and fury.

After the abrupt end of the second act, the story focuses on the marital problems between Jack and Babette again. While struggling with the fact that he may die sooner or later due to being exposed to that toxic chemical, Jack becomes all the more concerned about his wife, and then there comes a crucial moment as both of them tell all to each other.

We are supposed to be more emotionally involved in their problematic situation, but Baumbach’s screenplay fails to develop them into believable human figures, and we keep observing them and other characters around them from the distance without much care or attention. In the end, the movie arrives at the finale with some good cheer, but that does not mesh that well with the rest of the film, and we are consoled a bit by what is joyfully presented during its end credits, which is its best part in my inconsequential opinion.

The main cast members of the film try to sell their broad characters as much as possible. While Adam Driver, who previously worked with Baumbach in “Marriage Story”, dutifully carries the film to the end, Greta Gerwig is often limited by her uneven character, and Raffey Cassidy, André Benjamin, Jodie Turner-Smith, Bill Camp, and Don Cheadle manage to leave some impression despite their caricature supporting roles.

On the whole, “White Noise” is a disappointing misfire despite the efforts from Baumbach and his cast and crew members, and it only makes me more interested in reading DeLillo’s novel, which, as far as I heard from others, has been regarded as “unfilmable” since it came out in 1985. I could somehow sense how the story and characters may work on pages, but, sadly, they do not work at all on the screen, and maybe Baumbach deserves some pat on his back for trying something quite impossible from the beginning.

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

The Menu (2022) ☆☆☆(3/4): They surely won’t forget this dinner, you know

Posted on December 9, 2022 by kaist455

You may have some ideas on what “The Menu” is going to serve, and it will occasionally surprise you as serving as much as you can expect. After all, this is a pungent satire on class and culinary business, and you will surely savor some dark fun and amusement as the movie cheerfully and ruthlessly pushes its story and characters toward more outrageousness and viciousness.

The setup of the story is quite familiar to the core. 12 people are invited to a tiny island where a renowned celebrity chef named Julian Slowik (Ralph Fiennes) has run a small but prestigious restaurant, and almost everyone is curious about what Slowik is going to serve this time. After all, they pay no less than $1,250 per person just for their upcoming dinner, and Slowik will not disappoint them as a man who has been at the top of his field for years.

As they go to the island, we get to know a bit about each of Slowik’s latest customers. Besides two young people named Tyler (Nicholas Hoult) and Margot (Anya Taylor-Joy), there are a middle-aged rich couple who turn out to be his most frequent customers; a trio of tech company executives who incidentally work for the owner of Slowik’s restaurant; an arrogant actor who is accompanied with his assistant; a notorious food critic and her editor; and a quiet old woman who turns out to be quite crucial for Slowik’s dinner plan.

While Tyler cannot help but become enthusiastic as your average gourmet, Margot, who is incidentally brought here unexpectedly at the last minute, is not so impressed to say the least as observing how others including Tyler are quite ridiculous about what they are going to get from Slowik – and how Slowik rigidly and fastidiously runs his staff members in his kitchen. He really wants everything served as exactly as he planned from the beginning to the end, and his staff members, led by his right-hand lady Elsa (Hong Chau), always follow his orders and instructions without any doubt or hesitation.

For not spoiling any of fun and entertainment for you, I now should be more careful about describing what is going to be served to Slowik’s guests, but I guess I can tell you that the screenplay by Seth and Reiss and Will Tracy has lots of morbid fun with how Slowick and his loyal staff members present each course of the dinner with unflappable seriousness. Some of the dishes served by them feel more like insults instead of real ones, and that is why Margo becomes more baffled and exasperated. Quite oblivious to the sheer ridiculousness of the situation, others including Tyler are willing to go along with that just because they want to have prestigious experiences to remember, and they surely expect to be full and satisfied at the end of the dinner.

Of course, things become much more serious around the middle point of the dinner, where Slowik gradually reveals the real purpose of his very special dinner time. Yes, he is indeed a crazy person, and he is quite determined to have all of his special customers go all the way to what is going to be a liberating finale for him, and his customers belatedly comes to realize what they unwittingly get themselves into.

As the most sensible person in the bunch, Margo emerges as someone we may care about, while the rest of her fellow customers become the delicious targets for more satire. Most of them deserve to get what Slowik and his staff members serve to them, and there are several very humorous moments involved with that infamous food critic, who still manages to find something to criticize from Slowick’s almost perfect dinner courses. In case of Tyler, we get to know more about how pathetic and obnoxious he really is, and Slowik surely has something to serve only for Tyler later in the story.

The movie steps back a bit around the last part of the dinner, but it is still held together well under director Mark Mylod’s competent direction, and Ralph Fiennes’ intense comic performance holds everything to the end. As intimidating and charismatic as required by his role, Fiennes delightfully delves into his character’s obsession and lunacy with gusto, and he also did a good job of generating some bitter pathos to his character while never asking for any pity or sympathy, especially during a certain impromptu cooking scene which may be appreciated a lot by Nicholas Cage’s chef hero in “Pig” (2021).

On the opposite, Anya Taylor-Joy, who has been one of new talented actresses to watch during last several years, is also fun to watch as her character instantly sees through the hypocrisy of others around her, and she is also surrounded by several notable performers who have each own moment to shine. While Nicholas Hoult is utterly hilarious as we observe more of his character’s unpleasant sides along the story, Janet McTeer, John Leguizamo, Reed Birney, and Judith Light are also solid in their respective supporting parts, and Hong Chau brings some extra creepiness with her character’s seemingly courteous attitude.

In conclusion, “The Menu” is an entertaining satire which will keep you on the edge in addition to making you chuckle a lot at times. Although it will not make you feel that hungry, you may come to appreciate to some degree that simple pleasure of eating a certain common dish, and I must confess that I willingly sought for that not after the movie was over. After all, simplicity always rules, doesn’t it?

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

The Woman King (2022) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): Viola Davis rules – and so do other ladies

Posted on December 8, 2022 by kaist455

Gina Prince-Bythewood’s “The Woman King” is a tough and forceful action period drama to be admired and savored. While its main historical subject is interesting enough to engage us, the movie works a compelling piece of entertainment thanks to its distinctive mood and details in addition to a number of gritty action sequences, and it is also anchored by several strong performances from its female cast members at the its center.

The story is mainly set in the West African kingdom of Dahomey in 1823, which is now Benin at present. Dahomey has been in conflict with the Oyo Empire for years as the soldiers of the Oyo Empire have often kidnapped lots of people in Dahomey for the ongoing slave trade, and the opening sequence shows General Nanisca (Viola Davis), the leader of the all-female warrior group called “the Agojie”, and her soldiers swiftly attacking a village in the Oyo Empire at one night for retrieving those kidnapped women.

When Nanisca and her soldiers return to the palace, they are wholeheartedly welcomed for the success of their latest mission, and King Ghezo (John Boyega), a young man who recently became the next one to occupy the throne thanks to the considerable support from Nanisca, has a plan for Nanisca. As Nanisca advises, he is willing to stop slave trade in addition to standing up against the Oyo Empire, and he is also considering giving Nanisca a certain honorable promotion, which will put her right next to him in the rank of power.

Meanwhile, the story also focuses on a strong-willed young girl named Nawi (Thuso Mbedu). When she defiantly rejects a suitor who is evidently not so appropriate for her. her angry father promptly takes her to the palace because there is the only one option for her now. Once she enters the palace which is mostly female-dominant, she goes through a military training period along with many other young women for becoming a member of the Agojie, and her irrepressible spirit and personality soon come to draw attention from not only Nanisca but also several other veterans including Izogie (Lashana Lynch), who gives some helpful advice to Nawi during the first day of her training.

Although she struggles more than once during the first several days of training, Nawi gradually shows more of her potentials as a warrior as befriending some of her fellow trainees. When there eventually comes a time where she and other trainees are put into the final test which will determine the rest of their life, she surely tries her best, and she also impresses Nanisca and other spectators a lot as doing what she believes is the right thing to do without any hesitation.

As Nawi and other Agojie members are ready for the upcoming war under their general’s command, Nawi comes to gain more trust from Nanisca, but Nanisca still puts some distance between her and Nawi even though she sees a lot of herself from Nawi, and she also has to cope with the old pain from her past. As a survivor of atrocious sexual violence, she has something she has kept to herself besides her lasting trauma from that horrible time, and she is only consoled by her second-in-command Amenza (Shelia Atim), who has always stood by her with care and understanding for many years.

The situation becomes melodramatic with several other things including Nina’s unexpected relationship with a Brazilian lad whose mother was taken from Dahomey a long time ago, but the screenplay by Dana Stevens, which is developed from the story by Stevens and his co-writer Maria Bello, keeps things rolling as usual, and Prince-Bythewood and her crew members including cinematographer Polly Morgan let us delve more into vivid and colorful cultural mood and details. I will not be surprised if the production design by Akin McKenzie and the costume design by Gersha Phillip get Oscar-nominated in next year, and the same thing can be said about the terrific score by Terence Blanchard, which does much more than galvanizing the action scenes in the film as required.

As shown from her previous film “The Old Guard” (2020), Prince-Bythewood is no stranger to action at all, and she skillfully handles several key action sequences in the movie. Thanks to the competent editing by Terilyn A. Shropshire, these action sequences are presented with considerable clarity and impact, and we can sense that the performers in the film really hurl themselves into tough actions unfolded onto the screen.

While her strong presence has always impressed us during last two decades, Viola Davis, who incidentally participated in the production of the film along with Bello, demonstrates another side of her sheer talent here in this film, and her action-packed performance surely reminds us that she is really too good to play that thankless supporting role in recent DC Extended Universe flicks. On the opposite, Thuso Mbedu, who was unforgettable in Barry Jenkins’ acclaimed Amazon Prime TV miniseries “The Underground Railroad”, is equally stellar as another strong emotional center of the film, and Lashana Lynch, Sheila Atim, and John Boyega are also effective in their respective supporting roles.

In conclusion, “The Woman King” is another commendable work from Prince-Bythewood, who has steadily advanced since her first feature film “Love & Basketball” (2000). Although I must point out that the movie is not so historically accurate (Dahomey was actually quite more active in slave trade compared to how it is depicted in the film, by the way), I enjoyed it as a top-notch genre piece which works as well as, say, “Braveheart” (1995), and I also appreciated its good story as well as its abundance of strong female characters. Davis and her fellow actresses surely rule here, and that is certainly more than enough for recommendation.

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Aftersun (2022) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): That summer with her father

Posted on December 6, 2022 by kaist455

There is always some distance between parents and their children, and “Aftersun” sensitively illustrates the growing distance between the father and daughter at the center of its intimate character drama. Nothing much seems to happen on the surface, and they surely look like having a good time together, but we also come to sense how their close relationship is going to be changed in one way or another – especially as the main viewpoint of the movie gradually emerges along the story.

When we are introduced to Calum (Paul Mescal) and his 11-year-old daughter Sophie (Frankie Corio) at the beginning, they are going to some tourist spot in Turkey, and we slowly gather bits of personal facts about them. While Calum was separated from his wife some time ago, Sophie is still quite close to her father despite that, and she is certainly looking to forward to having a wonderful summer vacation along with her father.

Once they arrive in their hotel, they begin to spend their free time here and there, and the movie simply presents one leisurely episodic moment after another as their sunny vacation days go by. They are incidentally not the only guests in the hotel, and there is a little amusing scene where Sophie happens to befriend a boy around her age who is also spending his vacation along with his family.

Whenever they have nothing much to do except getting relaxed in their hotel room, Calum and his daughter playfully interact with each other, and we are reminded again of how much they are close to each other. Paul is always ready to pay attention to his dear daughter just like any good dad would, and Sophie is simply happy to talk with her father, who sometimes feels like a big brother as reflected by one humorous scene between them and two lads who happen to play a game with them.

However, we also come to discern what Sophie cannot see that well from her father. While he is usually kind and generous besides showing some eccentricity, it looks like there is something Calum is keeping to himself, and that sometimes puts a bit of strain on Calum and Sophie’s relationship. At one point, Sophie attempts to cheer them up via an impromptu karaoke singing, but Calum refuses to join her for no apparent reason while becoming unexpectedly sullen and harsh, and he only watches her clumsy singing from the distance.

The movie does not specify at all whatever is churning behind Calum’s gentle façade, because, as implied by the occasional brief shots of older Sophie (Celia Rowlson-Hall), the main viewpoint of the movie is from older Sophie looking back on her good time with her father. With many video clips shot by her or her father at that time, she reflects more on her father who is probably dead now, but there are always the areas beyond her reach, and it is apparent that she will never fully know who exactly her father was.

As frankly recognizing Calum’s elusive sides, the screenplay by director/writer Charlotte Wells, who made several short films before making feature film debut here, steadily rolls its two characters along its free-flowing narrative course, and we accordingly get a number of modest but sublime moments to observe and appreciate. I like a small scene where Calum and Sophie visit a local carpet shop full of patterns and histories, and I also enjoy when Sophie becomes more aware of her ongoing maturation in terms of body and mind as hanging around a bit with older boys and girls. She is still innocent, but she comes to open her eyes more to growing up, and we can clearly see that will bring some inevitable change to her relationship with her father.

In case of Calum, there later comes a point where he cannot help but driven by some kind of personal demons inside him, and we naturally come to wonder more about whatever is really eating him inside his mind. All we can know is that, despite that emotional low point of his, he continues to be a good father to Sophie during the rest of their vacation, though she has already come to sense his unspecified personal matters to vague degrees.

Everything in the movie depends a lot on its two different main performers. While Paul Mescal, who previously played a supporting role in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s first feature film “The Lost Daughter” (2021), ably holds the ground with his nuanced performance, newcomer Frankie Corio is often compelling in her unadorned debut performance, and she and Mescal are constantly convincing in their several key scenes in addition to vividly conveying to us their characters’ long relationship history. At the fringe of the story, Celia Rowlson-Hall holds her own little space besides being flawlessly connected with Corio, and she is effective when older Sophie is reminded again of her ever-existing distance from her father around the end of the film.

In conclusion, “Aftersun” may require some patience from you due to its slow development of story and characters, but it eventually becomes quite a rewarding experience thanks to not only the terrific work from its two lead performers but also the top-notch efforts from Wells and her crew members including cinematographer Gregory Oke, who did a commendable job of imbuing the screen with a warm and sunny sense of intimacy. In my humble opinion, this is one of the most impressive debut films of this year, and I sincerely recommend you to check it out as soon possible.

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , | 2 Comments