Earth Mama (2023) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): Desperate Motherhood

Posted on December 4, 2023 by kaist455

I admire good movies which can function as the window of empathy and understanding to people a lot different from me or you, and “Earth Mama” is a prime example of that. As following the daily struggles of one young African American single mother in one urban neighborhood, the movie lets us understand and empathize more with her difficult and fragile status, and you may come to reflect more on the harsh social conditions surrounding many other women like her out there.

As the early part of the film establishes her current status, Gia (Tia Nomore) looks like a living example to remind us of the importance of birth control and planned parenthood. She already has two kids, but her children has been under foster care because her caseworker decided that Gia is unfit to raise her two kids alone, and now she has been pregnant with her third child during last several months.

Gia sincerely wants to show that she is really prepared to raise not only her two children but also her upcoming third kid, but, unfortunately, she has been disadvantaged in one way or another. Besides demonstrating that she has been surely working hard for supporting herself as well as her children, she must attend a number of public education classes along with a bunch of other black women not so different from her, but she often does not have enough time due to her menial current job. She works at a little photograph shop run by a middle-aged Asian American guy, but this job does not get her paid that much, and she cannot even pay her phone bill right now.

Above all, Gia feels hurt whenever she is allowed to spend some time with her two kids under supervision. While she is certainly happy to see them, she is also reminded of their ongoing unhappiness caused by her current condition, and that makes her more desperate to say the least. She is surely determined to get back her kids as soon as possible, but then she often feels blocked by the uncaring system in which she has been hopelessly stuck, so she comes to have more doubts on her motherhood.

At least, there is some comfort and support from her two friends: Mel (Keta Price) and Trina (Doechii). Because they have also had a fair share of hardships as fellow black women, they know well how things can be hard and difficult for Gia, though they have different opinions on motherhood. While Mel is relatively moderate, Trina is rather fanatical in her viewpoint, and there is a brief but fierce moment where she tells Gia about why Gia must fight against the system all the way for not getting her kids taken away from her forever.

However, after meeting a sympathetic counselor, Gia becomes conflicted about what she should do with her upcoming third kid. The counselor tells her that it may be better for her third kid to be adopted by any good couple who needs a baby to raise, and Gia seriously begins to consider this alternative as reminded of how it will be difficult for her to raise no less than three young kids alone by herself. She surely feels afraid of this possible personal challenge, but she is also quite reluctant to give up her upcoming third kid.

Anyway, she is eventually persuaded to meet the candidate adoptive parents for her upcoming third child. Besides being black, the couple looks like fairly decent persons as her counselor said, and Gia eventually agrees to give up her baby, but she remained as confused as before. Kindly understanding her emotional turmoil, her counselor reminds her that she can change her mind at any point before eventually handing her baby over to that couple, but that only exacerbates her emotional confusion.

Steadily sticking to the non-judgmental viewpoint on its heroine, the screenplay by director/writer Savanah Leaf, which is based on Leaf and Taylor Rusell’s 2020 short film “The Heart Still Hums”, leisurely rolls for more mood and characterization, and Leaf and her cinematographer Lee Lipes occasionally provide some lyrical moments, which feel visually striking in contrast to the grainy visual quality of the movie as immersing us more into its heroine’s state of mind. Despite constantly struggling with many difficulties in her daily life, Gia sometime gets a little moment of respite at times, and I particularly like a lovely peaceful moment where she and one of her close friends spend some free time at a remote spot outside their urban neighborhood.

Leaf also draws solid natural performances from her main cast members. While newcomer Tia Nomore, who incidentally had no previous movie acting experience before appearing here in this movie, anchors the film with her unadorned strong acting, Erika Alexander, Keta Price, and Doechii are effective in their respective substantial supporting parts, and Sharon Duncan-Brewster, a British actress whom you may remember for her notable supporting turn in Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” (2021), and Bokeem Woodbine bring a little extra warmth during their brief appearance.

In conclusion, “Earth Mama” is one of small gems of this year, and Leaf, who previously directed a number of short films and music videos, made a commendable feature film debut here. As far as I can see from the film, she is a talented filmmaker with lots of potential, and I will certainly have some expectation on whatever will come next from her in the future.

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Passages (2023) ☆☆☆(3/4): You will be sorry for them – but not him

Posted on December 4, 2023 by kaist455

Ira Sachs’ latest film “Passages” will definitely make you wince a lot for its utterly unlikable hero – and how much the two other main characters around him struggle with his toxic influence in one way or another. Although you will shake your head more than once for this despicably narcissistic bastard, you will observe his many selfish behaviors with some morbid interest and fascination as feeling sorrier for the two other main characters.

The opening scene quickly establishes how Thomas (Franz Rogowski) often demands and controls others around him a lot. He is a movie director working in Paris, and we see him becoming quite fastidious about how everything on the set looks and feels as right as whatever is envisioned by him for a scene to be shot. First, he points out how one of his performers should enter the scene as exactly as he wants, and then he is quite pissed off about a little mistake in the background. As a matter of fact, you may wonder how the hell the cast and crew members have tolerated this anal-retentive prick.

Anyway, the movie moves forward to the point where the production of Thomas’ new film is eventually finished, and we see him attending a party along with several crew and cast members of his at some nightclub. While he is ready to have some more fun and excitement, his husband Martin (Ben Whishaw) is not so eager about that, and Thomas’ attention soon goes to a young woman named Agathe (Adèle Exarchopoulos). Once Martin leaves, Thomas and Agathe dance together for a while, and we instantly sense some attraction between them, so we are not so surprised when they move forward to the next logical step for their growing attraction.

This merely looks like a one-night fun at first, but then Thomas tells everything to his husband in the next morning without any hesitation. According to Thomas, he felt excited and energized about this new experience, but Martin, who has probably been accustomed to his husband’s infidelity for years, simply does not want to know anything at all, though Thomas keeps talking about his supposedly exciting night with Agathe.

To Martin’s viewpoint, this happening will go away sooner or later, but, what do you know, he and Thomas soon find themselves separated once Thomas decides to end his relationship with Martin and then goes to Agathe. Unlike Thomas, who is already occupied with his relationship development with Agathe, Martin feels hurt quietly inside his heart, but, at least, he subsequently befriends a young French writer recently introduced to him by their mutual acquaintance.

However, of course, things get complicated for both Agathe and Martin. At one point later in the story, there comes a very important happening which is going to influence Agathe and Thomas’ relationship in one way or another, and, not so surprisingly, he cannot accept this that well. As a consequence, he swings back to Martin, and this certainly burdens Martin as well as Agathe.

The screenplay, which is written by Sachs and his frequent collaborator Mauricio Zacharias (French screenplay writer/editor Arlette Langmann also provided some additional dialogues, by the way), coldly observes this complex situation among its three main characters from the distance. We never get to know what exactly Thomas feels or thinks about the increasing emotional mess caused by him, and the movie does not give us much insight on whatever Martin and Agathe see or sense from Thomas, except that it is often difficult for them to say no to this prick whenever he begs or pleads in front of them. As frequently getting sexually involved with him (The movie initially received NC-17 rating and then got released while being unrated a few months ago in US), they somehow tolerate him with lots of patience, but then there inevitably comes a point where they must make each own hard decision for themselves, respectively.

To be frank with you, I encountered some truly crummy people since I came out of the closet in 2016 and then met more than 50 guys during last 7 years, and I doubt whether any of those lousy dudes can top the sheer selfishness of Thomas. He is surely not someone easy to play, but Franz Rogowski, a promising German actor who has been more prominent during last several years since I noticed his notable supporting turn in Michael Haneke’s “Happy End” (2017), plays his character as a deplorably fascinating character without any compromise or excuse on many of bad behaviors throughout the film, and he recently received the Best Actor award from the New York Film Critics Circle. Around Rogowski, Ben Whishaw and Adèle Exarchopoulos have each own moments to distinguish themselves, and they are particularly terrific during a somber conversation scene where their characters are reminded together again of what a sh*tty lover Thomas is to both of them.

On the whole, “Passages” is not easy to watch to say the least, but it is worthwhile to watch for its competent handling of story and character as well as a trio of solid performances to admire. Compared to Sachs’ warmer and more sensitive films such as “Love Is Strange” (2014) or “Little Men” (2016), this is surely a tougher and colder stuff in my humble opinion, but it may come to you a meaningful lesson on toxic romantic relationship, and now I am reflecting more on how I have been rather fortunate for not having met someone as virulent as Thomas yet despite my frequent naiveté about sex and relationship.

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Single in Seoul (2023) ☆☆☆(3/4): Publishing and Romancing

Posted on December 3, 2023 by kaist455

South Korean film “Single in Seoul” is a romantic comedy which turns out to be more distinctive and intelligent than expected. Right from when its Meet Cute moment, you can clearly see through where it is going along with its two main characters, but what is happening between them is fairly engaging because of not only the growing romantic vibe between them (Is this a spoiler?) but also a number of interesting realistic details on how they work together as a writer and an editor.

At first, we are introduced to Hyeon-jin (Lim Soo-jung), a young plucky woman who works as an editor of one modest publishing company in Seoul. She and her several colleagues have worked on a special publishing event, and they need two different writers willing to write an essay book about living as a single in Seoul and Barcelona, respectively. While they managed to recruit some popular female writer who is going to write the Barceolna book, they are still looking for any suitable writer for the Seoul book, and then Hyeong-in’s boss suggests that they should approach to an old college junior of his.

That person in question is Yeong-ho (Lee Dong-wook), a young single writer who has not published anything yet but has earned his living via teaching at some private academy. Although the movie does not tell much about how much he gets paid for his teaching job every year, it seems that he is affluent enough to live in a wide and decent one-room flat which has not only a bunch of fancy stuffs but also a crisp view of the Han River. To be frank with you, it is no wonder that he seems quite content with living there alone with a pet cat, whose undeniable cuteness incidentally steals the show whenever it appears on the screen.

At first, Yeong-ho is not particularly willing to join the event, but he eventually agrees to write the Seoul book after being persuaded by Hyeon-jin, who was incidentally his junior at the college where they studied. Fortunately, he is quite knowledgeable about how to live as a single in Seoul, so he does not have much trouble with writing the Seoul book day by day. In addition, he also gives some helpful tips to Hyeon-jin, who seriously needs some advice as another single living in Seoul.

It does not take much time for both of them to sense something mutual between them, but, of course, Yeong-ho still prefers to be a single just like Hyeon-jin, and he tells her about how he miserably failed in romantic relationship in one way or another before eventually deciding to become a lifelong bachelor. Via one extended flashback part, the movie shows us how his first romantic relationship was painfully ended many years ago, and it is apparent to us that he still feels hurt about that even at present.

As Hyeon-jin and Yeong-ho tentatively revolve around each other along the story, the movie also pays considerable attention to how they work together as two professionals. While Yeong-ho continues to write, Hyeon-jin and her colleagues diligently prepare for the upcoming publication, and we also get some laughs thanks to the colorful personalities of Hyeong-jin’s colleagues. In case of one bumbling young intern, he is frequently more awkward and clueless than I have been throughout my whole life, and I certainly felt some pity and sympathy toward him even when quite tickled by his social ineptitude.

During its third act, the movie throws a big conflict between its two main characters as expected, but there is some unexpected surprise for us. I will not go into details here for not spoiling your entertainment at all, but I can tell you instead that the story becomes more serious and interesting as Yeong-ho turns out to be not totally honest even to himself about a certain thing in his past. This surely causes a big trouble for Hyeon-jin and her colleagues, and her conflict with Yeong-ho will probably make you reflect a bit on that big responsibility in writing and publishing.

Like many other romantic comedy films, the movie depends a lot on the comic chemistry between its two lead performers, who ably complement each other throughout the story. Lee Dong-wook, who has been mostly known via several popular South Korean TV drama series, is convincing as revealing more vulnerability behind his character’s seemingly confident façade, and Lim Soo-jung, whom you may remember for Kim Ji-woon’s “A Tale of Two Sisters” (2003) and Park Chan-wook’s “I’m a Cyborg, But That`s OK” (2006), is effortless with her natural charm and presence. In case of several other main cast members in the film, Jang Hyun-sung, Kim Ji-young, Lee Mi-do, Lee Sang-yi, and Ji E-suu deliver each own juicy supporting performance to enjoy, and Esom, who was unforgettable in Jeon Go-woon’s exceptional first feature film “Microhabitat” (2017), plays a certain crucial character later in the story.

Overall, “Single in Seoul”, directed by Park Beom-soo, is an entertaining product which fills its story and characters with enough mood and substance for us, and it actually made me appreciate more the diligent professional efforts in the publishing business. Sure, it sometimes looks like people read less and less than before these days, but there are still many hard-working professionals who do care a lot about publishing books for any possible reader out there, and you may want to drop by a nearby bookstore after watching this surprisingly delightful movie.

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R.M.N. (2022) ☆☆☆(3/4): Their Town

Posted on December 3, 2023 by kaist455

Romanian filmmaker Christian Mungiu has impressed us with his dry but undeniably intense drama films such as “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days” (2007) and “Beyond the Hill” (2012). Although it is less focused in comparison as attempting to draw a big picture of prejudice and bigotry, his latest film “R.M.N.”, which was premiered at the Cannes Film Festival early in last year, has a number of compelling moments for us, and that is enough to compensate for a number of weak aspects including its occasionally uneven narrative.

After its rather ambiguous prologue scene, the movie begins the story with the problematic situation of a Romanian worker named Matthias (Marin Grigore). We see him working at a factory located somewhere in Germany, and then he causes a serious trouble due to his violent temper. He consequently runs away to his rural village in the Transylvania area of Romania, but there is nothing much he can do there except staying at where his estranged wife and their little son have lived. He surely wants to get a job to support his family as a husband and father, but, unfortunately, the economic status of the village has not been that good to say the least because many able-bodied people already left for better jobs out there, and the only option for him at present is a big bread factory outside the village.

Considering that his ex-lover Csilla (Judith State) works in the management department of that bread factory, Matthias could simply ask for some favor from her, but he is not so willing to work there from the beginning just because the wage proposed by Csilla and her female boss is not high enough for him. As a matter of fact, the amount of the wage does not look that high for anyone else in the village either, no matter how much Csilla advertises for more workers to be employed.

Because the bread factory really needs more employment for getting some necessary EU fund, Csilla eventually considers hiring several foreign workers instead, and two foreign workers from Sri Lanka are soon sent from Bucharest. Although these two foreign workers only can communicate with others in the factory via basic English, they are fairly good at their new job at least, and Csilla and her boss naturally come to consider bring more foreign workers into the factory.

Of course, this sudden change does not look that good to many of villagers. Although they actually have some gaps among themselves due to their multi-cultural background, most of them do not welcome these foreign workers at all while showing more prejudice and bias. In the end, there comes a public petition against hiring foreign workers, and that certainly causes a big headache for both Scilla and her boss.

Mungiu’s screenplay, which is incidentally inspired by the 2020 Ditrău xenophobic incident in Romania, gradually lets us immerse more into the accumulating tension inside the village. Many of villagers become more aggressive and hostile as another Sri Lankan worker is employed, and we are not so surprised when a sudden violent incident occurs later in the story.

Meanwhile, the movie also pays some attention to Matthias’ increasingly messy personal situation. His little son seems to be traumatized by whatever he happened to witness on one day, so he attempts to teach his son on how to be a, uh, man, but that only puts more distance between him and his son and wife. In addition, the physical condition of his ailing father becomes deteriorated day by day, and the recent medical NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) scanning result on his father’s brain implies that there is something wrong with his aging brain (The title of the movie is a Romanian acronym for NMR, by the way).

Matthias tries to get some consolation from Scilla, but Scilla only gives him pleasure instead of real affection or love. Although she still seems to have some feeling toward him, she can just leave behind everything for any better job out there, and her advantaged status certainly makes a big contrast with how her ex-lover is hopelessly stuck in the village without any possibility for a better life.

As juggling these and many other story elements together, the movie often loses its narrative focus and momentum, but Mungiu and his crew members including cinematographer Tudor Vladimir Panduru continue to hold our attention as doling out a series of impressive scenes to admire and appreciate. In one particularly extended scene, Panduru’s camera steadily observes one chaotic situation from its static position, and it is captivating to watch how things gradually get out of control despite the sensible efforts of Csilla and a few other characters. The following finale is a bit too opaque in my humble opinion, and I felt like missing many local details throughout the film, but the movie keeps us engaged to the end thanks to Mungiu’s deft direction and the effective performances from his cast members.

In conclusion, “R.M.N.” is a flawed but mostly solid work which may make you reflect more on its timely social issues after it is over. Although it is one or two steps down from “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days” or “Beyond the Hill”, Mungiu, who was not so active during 6 years after his previous film “Graduation” (2016), gives us another interesting film to watch, and I think you should give it a chance someday.

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American Symphony (2023) ☆☆☆(3/4): A slice of his art and life

Posted on December 2, 2023 by kaist455

Netflix documentary film “American Symphony”, which came out a few days ago, simply presents a slice of life and art from John Batiste, who has been one of the most prominent American musicians during last several years. Although the documentary does not tell or show a lot about his life and career, Batiste still comes to us as an interesting human being and artist to observe and appreciate, and it is also sometimes touching to watch how he sincerely tries to balance himself between his career and his private life.

The documentary closely follows one particularly eventful period in Batiste’s life. In September 2021, he received no less than 11 Grammy nominations including the one for the Best Album, and he was surely expected to win more than one award at least several months later, but he was also going through a difficult time in his private life. His writer girlfriend Suleika Jaouad happened to suffer another bout of leukemia, and, ironically, her chemotherapy was started on the very day when he received those Grammy nominations.

At least, both Jaouad and Batiste tried to be optimistic about what would happen next in their life. Because of her previous experience with leukemia, Jaouad was well aware of how risky her following therapy period could be, and Batiste was ready to stand by her as usual. While she became more fragile due to her chemotherapy, he was usually around her for cheering and supporting her more, and they eventually married some time later as reminded of how short her life could be at any point.

Meanwhile, Batiste had to deal with many things in his advancing career. After winning an Oscar for Pixar animation film “Soul” (2020), he became a lot more prominent than before, and he was about to reach to another highlight via his new ambitious project. He was composing a work titled “American Symphony”, and the documentary pays some attention to how he prepared for its upcoming premiere performance at Carnegie Hall in September 2022. We see him collaborating with a bunch of various musicians for imbuing his work with many different cultural elements, and the mood is pretty joyous as they try one thing after another during their creative process.

Not so surprisingly, Batiste cannot help but feel pressured and concerned as facing one of the most important points in his career. He does not seem to care that much about some criticism against him while going his way as before, but several quiet private moments of his suggest some anxiety and insecurity inside him, though he does not reveal a lot in front of the camera. When he talks with his therapist on the phone, he is mostly frank and articulate, but he still seems to keep a lot of things to himself, and we can only guess whatever is churning behind his carefree attitude.

At least, Batiste understandably looks more opened whenever he is with Jaouad, and their several intimate moments come to function as the main emotional center of the documentary. While it does not show that much of their difficult time with Jaouad’s illness, the documentary instead focuses on how they handled their situation in each own artistic way, and there is a little poignant moment as Jaouad tries to express her feelings and thoughts more via drawing several sketches. We also see Batiste giving a brief but striking performance dedicated to Jaouad at a concert hall, and that is certainly another moving moment to remember.

In April 2022, things got a bit better for Batiste and Jaouad. The treatment for Jaouad’s leukemia was finally over, and she was later taken back to their residence. Because she was still too weak to go along with Batiste to the 2022 Grammy Awards ceremony, she watched it on TV instead, and she was certainly excited when he eventually won the Top Album award around the end of the ceremony after already winning four other awards.

However, they were reminded again of how short her life can be. At one point later in the documentary, Jaouad’s doctor explains to her and Batiste about how they should be cautiously optimistic about her recovery, and that makes them more determined to live as fully as possible in addition to devoting themselves more to their respective artistic activities. Art has been always important for both of them, and you can clearly see how much they have been close to each other through not only love but also artistic passion.

As expected, the narrative of the documentary culminates to the premier performance of “American Symphony” at Carnegie Hall. Although I wish the documentary showed more of this excellent performance, it did a fairly good job of presenting this emotionally climactic part, and you will admire Batiste’s talent more after observing how he deftly handles one supposedly accident moment in the middle of the performance.

Overall, “American Symphony”, which is directed by Matthew Heineman, thankfully avoids becoming one of those run-of-the-mill celebrity documentaries as emphasizing the humanity and personality of its human subjects. To be frank with you, I am not that familiar with Batiste’s career, but, as far as I could see from the documentary, he seems to have all the right stuffs for advancing further in his life and career, and I can only wish well to him as well as his spouse.

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Stamped from the Beginning (2023) ☆☆☆(3/4): A searing essay on American racism

Posted on December 2, 2023 by kaist455

Netflix documentary film “Stamped from the Beginning”, which was released on Netflix a few weeks ago, is utterly direct and forthright about the long and troubling history of American racism. If you are familiar with its main subject, you may not be enlightened that much, but it still holds our attention as a searing essay on American racism, and it is certainly worthwhile to watch considering how the American society has been deep in this infuriating social trouble for a very long time.

At first, the documentary delves into how slavery played a big important part in the racism on African people. Even before the western European countries reached to the African continent during the 14th century, slavery was pretty common in Europe as it had been in numerous areas for many centuries, and African people looked like a suitable alternative just because, well, they looked different. As a matter of fact, there was even a very popular book which emphasized on how African people were inferior compared to Europeans, and its vile propaganda naturally justified the flourishing slave trade business in Africa.

This detestable racist belief was spread to America as more and more African slaves were taken to America during the 18~19th century, and the documentary does not pull any punch at all on how many of its founding fathers looked away from slavery from the very beginning. After all, President George Washington and several following US presidents were involved in slavery in one way or another, and President Thomas Jefferson was actually quite problematic for his glaring hypocrisy on slavery. While he was against slavery on the surface, he had a bunch of slaves in his big rural farm, and he also sexually exploited a young black slave woman, who gave birth to a number of illegitimate children of his as a consequence.

Of course, the change eventually came via the American Civil War in the 19th century, but the documentary sharply points out how many of Northern white abolitionists often showed their own racism, which was no better than the more blatant racism of those Southern slave owners and traders. While President Abraham Lincoln indeed led the country away from slavery, he also showed rather racist opinions on black slaves from time to time, and the documentary reminds us that his efforts against slavery were actually motivated more by political/economic reasons than his moral belief.

Despite being your average white savior, President Lincoln opened his ears and eyes at least to some of prominent black abolitionists such as Frederick Douglas, who convinced him to push more for the end of slavery as well as winning the war. Shortly after the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, many black people were allowed to join the US Army, and they certainly played an important part in the eventual end of the war as fighting hard for their freedom.

After the war was over, things surely got much better for millions of black people in the American society, but, sadly, there inevitably came a huge racist backlash upon this rapid social change. Lynching black people became quite common throughout the country during next several decades, and this deplorable atrocity was thoroughly chronicled by a young female black activist/journalist named Ida B. Wells. She passionately investigated and recorded numerous lynching cases which happened throughout the country during a short period of time, and her written words surely convey to us her strong feelings and thoughts on these horrendous incidents.

The documentary explains a bit on how many white people have let themselves driven by racism for many centuries. Believe or not, there was actually a time where white servants and black slaves joined together for their big rebellion against those rich and powerful white dudes, but they were subsequently divided by deliberately racist policies from the power that be, and the documentary regards this as the origin of the prevalent racism among many poor white people in the American society.

Around the early 20th century, racism slipped more into the consciousness of the American society and people in more insidious ways, and we get a number of examples on how American movies could be quite racist in one way or another during last several decades. While G.W. Griffith’s deeply troubling epic silent film “The Birth of a Nation” (1915) comes as a prime example for its blatantly racist elements, there are also many other works perpetuating the stereotype images of black people, and the documentary makes a strong arguement in case of the culturally stereotyped images of black women. While black men have often been depicted as criminal predators in media as well as TV and movies, black women have frequently been sexually objectified in contrast, and the documentary reminds us that we should have believed more the words of many black female survivors of sexual violence such as, yes, Anita Hill.

While it feels a bit hurried at times because it attempts to pack lots of stuffs into its rather short running time (91 minutes), “Stamped from the Beginning”, which is incidentally based on the book of the same name written by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, deliver its points well to its audiences, and director Roger Ross Williams, who recently made his first feature film “Cassandro” (2023), did a competent job of on the whole. Although it is not that new or revealing to me probably because I have watched a fair share of good movies and documentaries on racism (No, not you, “Green Book” (2018).), the documentary engaged me enough at least for its strong presentation of its main subject, and I am certainly willing to recommend it to others around me.

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The Holdovers (2023) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): Stuck together during one Christmas season

Posted on December 2, 2023 by kaist455

Alexnader Payne’s latest film “The Holdovers”, which will simply be released in South Korea as “Barton Academy”, is a dry but humorous character drama which will grow on you a lot for its excellent mood, performance, and storytelling. While it is often amusing as a sort of comic antithesis to Peter Weir’s “Dead Poets Society” (1989), the movie also shows some genuine care and affection toward its three different main characters who happen to be stuck together during one Christmas season, and it is funny and touching to observe how much they have changed around the end of the story.

As reflected by its deliberately old-fashioned movie studio logos, the story of the movie is set in 1970, and its main background is the Barton Academy, a prestigious private boarding school located in the New England region. The Christmas holiday season is coming with lots of snow, and many of its students and teachers are ready for enjoying the upcoming holiday week, but that is not much of a concern to Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti), a strict and sardonic curmudgeon who has taught history at the school for many years. He is not so generous to many of his students just because they simply fail to reach to his high standard, and he does not step back at all even when the principal, who was incidentally one of his pupils in the past, chides him for giving a very low grade to the son of some prominent politician.

When he is later forced to supervise a few students who will remain in the school during the holiday season, Hunham does not give a damn about that at all. After all, just like most of those students to be chaperoned by him, he has nowhere else to go, and, above all, the Barton Academy has virtually been his whole world since he began to teach there. We observe how lonely and isolated he is in his little residence, but he does not care much about that as long as he works or reads books.

One of those few students to be supervised by Hunham is Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa), who comes to dislike Hunham more as Hunham punishes him and his fellow classmates for his insolent attitude. Tully was actually supposed to spend the holiday outside US along with his newly married mother and her second husband, but, alas, his mother changes the plan at the last minute, and he surely feels quite miserable while being stuck with a few other students under Hunham’s supervision inside the infirmary building of the school.

And then things get all the worse for Tully. A few days later, there comes a good chance for him and other students to leave for some ski resort thanks to the father of one of the students, but, sadly, Tully cannot leave as he cannot contact his parents, who are too busy with enjoying themselves outside US. As a result, he comes to spend more time with Hunham, and he certainly feels more frustrated and exasperated to be with his least favorite teacher.

It goes without saying that these two contrasting main characters slowly gets closer to each other along the story, but the screenplay by David Hemingon takes time for more character development. As we get to know more about both Hunham and Tully, we come to sense how much they have been victimized by their unfair system of class and privilege in each own way, which is the main reason why they come to form an unlikely bond between them. While Tully is actually a very smart kid who is often angry, troubled, and frustrated just like the adolescent hero of J.D. Salinger’s classic novel “The Catcher in the Rye”, Hunham turns out to have a fair share of bitterness and disillusionment behind his rigid and stubborn attitude, and he comes to see a lot of himself from Tully despite many differences between them.

Meanwhile, they also become more aware of the social turmoil of the outside world via Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), a black woman who has worked as the head cook in the school. She lived and worked for her only son who eventually studied in the Barton Academy thanks to her efforts, but, alas, her son later got drafted to the US Army and then died in the ongoing Vietnam War. As they come to hang around with her later in the story, Tully and Hunham see more of her immense grief behind her seemingly unflappable attitude, and there is a brief but heartbreaking moment where she cannot help but become quite emotional about her son’s death.

The emotional journeys of these three main characters are handled with a somber but sharp sense of humor and thoughtful sensitivity under Payne’s steady direction, and he also draws wonderful performances from his three main cast members. Paul Giamatti, who collaborated with Payne in “Sideways” (2004) many years ago, reminds us again that he is always good at embodying the aching human flaws of his characters just like late Philip Seymour Hoffman, and he did a skillful job of conveying to us Hunham’s softer sides while never compromising his edgier aspects at all. On the opposite, newcomer Dominic Sessa is an effective acting match for Giamatti during their several key scenes, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph, whom I still fondly remember for her scene-stealing supporting turn in Craig Brewer’s overlooked Netflix movie “Dolemite Is My Name” (2019), is simply terrific as bringing a considerable amount of humor and pathos to what could be a pretty thankless role.

On the whole, “The Holdovers” is highly recommendable for many good reasons including the authentic period atmosphere evoking a number of notable American films of the 1970s such as Hal Ashby’s “The Last Detail” (1973), and it is surely much better than Payne’s utterly disappointing previous film “Downsizing” (2017). In short, this is one of major delights around the end of this year besides being one of better works from Payne, and I am certainly glad to report to you that he is back in element now.

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Anatomy of a Fall (2023) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): A rivetingly ambiguous courtroom drama

Posted on December 2, 2023 by kaist455

French film “Anatomy of a Fall”, which won the Palme d’Or award at the Cannes Film Festival early in this year, is a compelling courtroom drama film which keeps us guessing for good reasons. Mainly revolving around one seemingly simple case which turns out to be much more complicated, the movie constantly and dexterously sways our assessment on the case in one way or another, and its riveting ambiguity will linger on your mind for a long time after it is over.

During the opening part unfolded on one winter day, we are introduced to a female German novelist named Sandra Voyter (Sandra Hüller). She has lived with her French husband Samuel (Samuel Maleski) and their visually impaired son Daniel (Milo Machado-Graner) for a while at a remote spot located in some rural mountainous area of France, and the movie subtly suggests some tension between her and her husband when her private interview by a young (and attractive) graduate student in their house is interrupted by his deliberate interference from the attic.

Not long after that young graduate student eventually leaves, Daniel also leaves the house along with his helper dog, so only Sandra and her husband are inside their house, and that is when something quite shocking occurs. Samuel is subsequently found dead on the snowy ground right in front of the house by Daniel shortly after his return to the house, and the local police soon embark on investigating this very unfortunate incident while Sandra looks as devastated as her son.

However, is she really as shocked as she seems on the surface? Yes, she called for the ambulance right after hearing her son’s shout and then finding her husband’s dead body, but the police and the investigative judge begin to suspect her due to understandable causes. For example, it looks like her husband just fell over the windowsill of the attic window while he was working in the attic, but there are a number of glaring discrepancies to notice, and, not so surprisingly, Sandra later finds herself becoming the focus of the investigation. She claims that she did not know anything before her discovery of her husband’s body because she worked for a while and then slept around the time of the incident, but there is no definite proof to support her testimony from the beginning.

Daniel’s lawyer Vincent Renzi (Swann Arlaud) is ready to do his best as an old friend of her, but things get more complicated as more things about the incident as well as Sandra and her husband are revealed via the ongoing investigation. While her son’s testimony on whatever was exchanged between her and her husband right before the incident turns out to be not that reliable, there is also a certain undeniable piece of evidence which clearly shows how much her relationship with Samuel was deteriorated around the time of the incident, and that makes Sandra all the more suspicious than before.

Eventually, Sandra is charged for causing her husband’s death, and the screenplay by director Justin Triet and her co-writer/partner Arthur Harari, who previously worked together in “Sybil” (2019), doles out one intense moment after another as Sandra’s lawyer and his fellow lawyer frequently clash with the prosecutor over a series of evidences and testimonies. Yes, many of them show that the death of Sandra’s husband was probably not accidental at all, but there is also a reasonable doubt on whether Sandra was really responsible for this incident. Is she really a cold, selfish, and manipulative woman who did not love her husband much as suggested by the prosecutor? Or, is she simply a conflicted woman who did try her best for handling her increasingly difficult relationship with her husband?

The movie steadily maintains the accumulating ambiguity surrounding the incident, even when it shows us more of what happened between Sandra and her husband while everyone in the court listens to a certain recording presented as one of the prime evidences presented by the prosecution. Under Triet’s skillful direction, Sandra Hüller and Samuel Theis subtly handle this key scene while also vividly conveying to us the emotional intensity generated between their characters, and Hüller, who has been more prominent thanks to her breakout performance in Maren Ade’s “Toni Erdmann” (2016), is fabulous as deftly illustrating her character without never making us sure about her character’s possible culpability.

Around Hüller, several supporting performers have each moment to shine. Swann Arlaud and Antoine Reinartz, who plays the prosecutor, are superlative as their respective characters frequently argue against each other throughout the trial, and young performer Milo Machado-Graner is exceptional as holding his own place well as Sandra’s gradually conflicted son. Although he was initially sure about his mother’s innocence, Daniel cannot help but have doubts on his mother as getting to know more about the incident at the trial, and his consequent conflict is quite palpable to us even when he later makes a crucial decision which will ultimately affect the outcome of the trial.

On the whole, “Anatomy of a Fall”, whose title is apparently derived from Otto Preminger’s classic courtroom drama “Anatomy of a Murder” (1959), is a superb work which deserves to be praised and admired for its excellent storytelling and top-notch performance. Despite its rather long running time (152 minutes), the movie never feels tedious as firmly holding our attention from the beginning to the end, and it is certainly one of the most impressive films of this year.

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Monster (2023) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): “Who is the monster?”

Posted on November 30, 2023 by kaist455

Hirokazu Kore-eda’s latest film “Monster” seems rather disturbing and frustrating at first and then becomes something much more compelling and powerful than expected. As moving from one viewpoint to another along the plot, the movie gradually and sensitively delves into the aching matters of heart occupying the center of the story, and the result is another stellar work from a master filmmaker who has consistently impressed us during last three decades since “Maboroshi” (1995).

After the opening incident which throws a dark overtone over the story, the first act of the movie focuses on the daily life of a single mother named Saori Mugino (Sakura Andō) and her young son Minato (Sōya Kurokawa). While they initially seem happy and content together on the surface, Minato begins to ask odd and weird questions to his mother for no apparent reason, and Saori begins to suspect that something is quite wrong with her son as he continues to show inexplicable behaviors.

Minato later says that he was verbally and physically abused by his homeroom teacher Michitoshi Hori (Eita Nagayama), and Saori naturally becomes quite enraged about this. She subsequently goes to Minato’s school for telling everything to the principal of the school, but then she only gets frustrated more as the principal and several other teachers do not seem that active about handling this serious problem of her son. They all look like caring more about protecting their school’s reputation, and Mr. Hori is not even willing to apologize for whatever he did to her son. Eventually, Saori gets what she demands to the principal and other teachers including Mr. Hori, but that does not seem to make her son feel better nonetheless.

Around that narrative point, the screenplay by Yuji Sakamoto, which received the Best Screenplay award when the movie was shown at the Cannes Film Festival early in this year, shows more of what really happened as shifting itself to Mr. Hori’s viewpoint. Although he often looks strained and awkward in his attitude, Mr. Hori turns out to be a fairly good teacher on the whole, and we are not so surprised when it turns out that he did not lie to Saori at all when he tried to explain to her about what actually happened between him and her son on that day.

However, Mr. Hori is eventually forced to bend in front of the accusation against him because of the principal and other teachers. He soon finds himself literally on the edge as unfairly stigmatized in public to his frustration and exasperation, and then he comes to notice something important about Minato and Yori Hoshikawa (Hinata Hiiragi), a little boy who has been constantly ostracized by some of Minato’s mean classmates.

When the story enters its final act, we already got some cluse about whatever is going on between Minato and Yori. It seems that those strange questions of Minato are associated with Yori, and we are all the more disturbed by Yori’s supposedly happy-go-lucky attitude, which looks more like hiding something quite dark behind it. As the movie focuses on him more and more along the story, you may come to wonder more about whom its title exactly refers to, and I must confess that I braced myself for a while for the worst possibility about his relationship with Minato during my viewing.

All I can tell you for now is that the revelation during the final act does not turn out to be as dark as I dreaded before that point, though the movie is chilling and disturbing at times for several good reasons I will let you discover. Under Kore-eda’s sensitive and thoughtful direction, the story does not falter at all even when it understandably becomes quite melodramatic with everything eventually revealed to us with considerable dramatic impact, and the restrained score by Ryuichi Sakamoto, who sadly passed away a few months before the movie was shown at the Cannes Film Festival, is steadily calm and somber without overstepping at all.

Again, Kore-eda draws excellent performances from his performers. Sakura Andō, who previously collaborated with Kore-eda in “Shoplifters” (2018), and Eita Nagayama are solid as their characters desperately struggle with their respective complicated situations, and Yūko Tanaka has several wonderful moments of her own as her principal character comes to show more of her hidden inner thoughts and feelings behind her detachedly courteous façade. Although their acting may feel a bit artificial at first, Sōya Kurokawa and Hinata Hiiragi, who are inarguably the heart and soul of the movie, are commendable in their effortless interactions throughout the film, and they and several other young performers in the film remind me again of how Kore-eda has been always good at handling child performers.

In conclusion, “Monster” may initially demand some patience as holding back some secrets and facts behind its back, but the overall result is powerful enough to justify its storytelling approach. As reflected by small and big story elements ranging from watermelon to rainy storm, Kore-eda, who previously tried some artistic experiment outside Japan as shown from “The Truth” (2019) and “Broker” (2022), is back in his usual territory, but he demonstrates here that he is willing to advance more for new and different things, and he surely succeeds in engaging and touching us as before. In short, the movie is one of the best films of this year besides being another terrific work from one of the great filmmakers in our time, and you should certainly check it out especially if you have admired many of Kore-eda’s films as I have for years.

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Withstanding and Existing (2022) ☆☆☆(3/4): Some musicians at one old movie theater

Posted on November 27, 2023 by kaist455

My hometown Jeonju has a certain area in the middle of its old downtown area, which has been the center of Jeonju International Film Festival for more than 20 years. It surely has several big movie theaters even at present, but many of them were changed into multiplex movie theaters around the beginning of the 21st century, and now the area accordingly looks quite different compared to my personal memories associated with it.

That is why I became a bit nostalgic as watching South Korean independent film “Withstanding and Existing”, which is mainly set in one very old movie theater in Gwangju. Although I have never been there, the interior spaces in this historic theater, which was incidentally built in 1935, evoked my old memories of those old movie theaters of Jeonju in the past, and my mind sometimes got lost in these memories as I enjoyed a series of lovely musical performance scenes in the documentary.

However, the documentary is more about present and future than past. After presenting a very simple historical background of the movie theater in the documentary, the movie has a group of various independent musicians perform their music inside the movie theater one by one, and it also listens to them talking about how they have managed to not only withstand but also exist for years despite their frequent struggles and hardships.

To be frank with you, I do not know anything about these musicians in the documentary, but I can tell you that 1) they are fairly good ones whom you may check out later and 2) they surely know one or two things about how to live while passionately pursuing their artistic passion. In case of one particular band consisting of five dudes, they may look as silly as the Spinal Tap during their little performance in the screening room of the movie theater, but we can sense that they are really bonded together via their common artistic dedication, and you may smile a bit when they frankly reveal how they have managed to endure and prevail together for years despite their considerable personality difference.

In case of one male independent musician, he presents a wonderful opening performance which effectively sets the tone for the other musicians in the documentary. During his musical performance, he simply stands on a corridor inside the movie theater as singing and playing his guitar, but his rather old-fashioned style actually fits well with the shabby ambiance of the movie theater, and he is also engaging as he eagerly talks about his life and career after his musical performance.

I also enjoy the part featuring a female independent musician who presents her modest song about probability. During her interview, she talks mostly about how uncertain life can be for us, and her following musical performance, which is unfolded at the staircase inside the movie theater, somehow made me reflect me on a certain part of my inconsequential private life. So far, I have stumbled again and again as clumsily pursuing any possibility of romance, but I may actually find someone I can really love, right?

To each musician in the documentary, director Gwon Churl throws one interesting question: what is the first movie they saw at movie theater? To my little amusement, their answers are different one by one, while reminding me that most of them belong to the younger generation after mine. Their first movie theater experiences are usually associated with the movies from the 2000s, and this certainly told me that I am really old compared to them. After all, my nostalgic movie theater memories come from many notable movies during the 1990s ranging from “JFK” (1991) to “American Beauty” (1999), and my first active movie theater experience was “Hook” (1991), which is rather flawed but occupies a little special place somewhere in my mind.

Vividly conveying to us the lingering sense of past here and there in the movie theater, the documentary adds some nice visual touches to be appreciated. Besides being shot in the screen ratio of 1.33:1, the deliberately old-fashioned font of its subtitle will definitely delight and amuse anyone who has ever had a movie theater experience during the 1980-90s in South Korea, and the movie theater in the documentary comes to us as a special place where past is casually mingled with present and future.

This interesting aspect is emphasized further by the epilogue part featuring a middle-aged painter who has drawn many promotional stuffs for the movie theater. Although his prime business period is approaching to its closing time, he does not consider quitting at all because he has really been proud of his many different works, and his own commercial art will feel all the more precious to you if you think more about how blandly homogeneous many of movie promotional stuffs have been these days.

On the whole, “Withstanding and Existing” is more about mood and music than information and enlightenment, but it is a delightful experience for anyone who cares a lot about movie theater experience like I and many other moviegoers out there. Although I did not get to know that much about that movie theater, the documentary made me consider going there someday, and that says a lot about how it serves its purpose as much as intended.

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