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Samsara (2023)
Into the Unknown
There is a harmonious coexistence of beauty, spirituality, and all forms of lives in the film. Samsara conceptualizes the cycle of life and how all living beings are part of the same energy through a meditative and transformative existential experience about life after death that blurs the limits delineating the expected of reality but also of the cinematic experience itself and its multisensory nature, focusing on the enhancement of the possible, not by adding but by subtracting.
Samsara is a word that comes from Sanskrit meaning "passing through", or "cyclic change." The cyclicity of all life, matter, and existence is a fundamental belief of most Indian religions. Despite spirituality being at its core, and consequently religion, Lois Patiño, who directed and co-wrote the movie with Garbiñe Ortega, does not believe in reincarnation. He admitted being interested in exploring how religions approach the concept from different perspectives, conveying cultural and religious diversity, and how they sometimes converge in a harmonious spirituality. Conceptually, rebirth is something that can help to mitigate fear of death every finite conscious being has at one time or another. His choice of not filming in Tibet or Thailand was to differentiate with usual depictions of the theme, but also to distance himself with Apichatpong Weerasethakul who made Loong Boonmee raleuk chat (2010), a movie that bears a closeness to Patiño's. This is the reason why the movie takes place in Laos and Zanzibar. Two different places with two different religions, Buddhism and Islam. Therefore, it could be argued that Samsara is not a religious movie, nor it tries to impose a single point of view since it thematically covers rebirth in different ways. In Buddhism, bardo stands for an intermediate, transitional, or liminal state between death and rebirth. This reincarnation journey is thematically explored in the film, starting in the first act, where in a temple in Laos teenage monks help people in their soul travel through bardo.
Visually, the movie is beautiful. The landscapes of waterfalls, rivers, beaches, and jungle, pose not only an invitation to be part of that ecosystem, but also an enhancement of the meditative solace the movie evokes. Echoes of a suspended cinematic experience that allows to inhabit images and spaces as if filmmaking were the art of carving the horizontal. There is an enchanting quality that is felt every minute in the realization of being surrounded by nature. The sight and sound of birds, water, and leaves serve as a reminder of it. A reminder also expressed visually in the juxtapositions of images of mosaics of elephants, the animal of Laos identity. Aesthetic decisions producing an experienced etherealization and also postulating the naturalization and further importance of animals for what is to come. It also poses a distributed anti-speciesism, furthering its aim at portraying the cycle of life. This preparation is not limited to animals. The importance of sound in bardo is reinforced by the fact that the book used by the monks to help people in their journey has to be read aloud by another person. This also offers a preparation for what will follow.
In the medley, Lois Patiño gives to the art of cinematography a perspective that gives a whole new dimension to the idea of inviting the audience to be part of the experience. Being invited to close your eyes in the movie theater is a challenge to cinematic sensibilities, a radical act in itself. What he does to convey the journey of rebirth is something that bears a resemblance to what Stanley Kubrick did in the sequence 'Jupiter and Beyond' of 2001: A Space Odyssey, if only when it comes to experiencing something new that is almost impossible to find oneself not being interpellated by. If Kubrick used computer generated images to depict abstract, surreal, and striking scenarios, Patiño leans on a minimalistic use of images, lights striking the senses as thunder, and monochromatic screens to induce different reactions to the dynamism of color and the absence of it. If Kubrick expanded the cinematic form visually, Patiño does it sonorously by erasing the limits soundscape presents and formulating new possibilities. A sensory expedition into the unknown through sound and sight bearing resemblance to identifiable elements only surfacing in the enhanced auditory specter as if one were an unmaterialized being moving through (un)charted territories. A sonorous journey through distant places in which rebirth is a possibility. This multi-spatiality through sound could be interpreted as the soul indecisively searching for a place to reborn, but also as energy beckoning the soul to reincarnate in a given place. Said given place, whose potentiality in the process is never certain, might offer elements rendering it legible. Whether known or unknown, they all converge in one commonality; features of an experience difficult to articulate given its abstract nature, a lingua ignota resisting any attempt of materializing into words.
What follows is a third act whose hypnagogic beginning is the direct result of the immersive multisensory experience that came before. Lois Patiño displaces the theme of cyclic change and offers broader explorations whose expansiveness serves to delve further in Samsara as a concept. He also postulates ideas related to animals that beg questions about speciesism. Blaise Pascal posited the philosophical argument, commonly known as Pascal's wager, that it is rationally advisable to lead a life consistently in accordance with the existence of God and strive to believe, for, if God doesn't exist, people only sacrificed certain pleasures and luxuries, but, if God does exist, then the gains of an eternity in heaven greatly surpass the losses, let alone the avoidance of a significant loss of an eternity spent in hell. In this sense, wouldn't it follow that it would be equally rational and advisable to lead a life free of speciesism if reincarnation were to exist? It could be argued that the potentiality of a 'punishment' in the form of rebirth in a deemed 'lower status life' is of no importance considering the individual has no memory of their past life/lives. This is a good argument and successfully exemplifies why the answer to the question of reincarnation does not pose a tangible difference. Can we speak of a continuity if it presupposes the loss of memory, of an identity whose construction is reflexive of its experiences?
Like an illusionist, Lois Patiño casts a spell on us and for two hours we are under an illusion allowing us to perceive the world around us in different ways. It is like the opening of a door that wasn't necessarily closed, but lost or unknown. Samsara is not just a movie, it is a unique, profound, and immersive experience that offers the cinematic language a new form. An ode to artistic creativity.
Do lok tin si (1995)
Style over substance
Written and directed by Kar-Wai Wong, the movie offers a captivating style often bathed in green aesthetics that envelope the nightscape as the defined scenario the story takes place. The camera movements are something interesting, for they are placed in traditional unconventional places and often too close to the subjects. Always in motion, the camera manages to enhance the hecticness of it all through sweeping and fluid movements, stylistic decision action scenes are especially benefited from. The sometimes utilized effect that slightly slows movement renders a beautiful phantasmagoric specter behind. The use of wide-angle lenses, something not too common in 1995, gave the movie a blend between reality and surrealism. Its distinct visual narrative painted an almost paradoxical world where claustrophobic and vastness meet and converge in the scenes where we see the apartments of the characters, often small where everything seems impossibly close to the screen, intimate, and the sprawling, never-ending urbanity, especially the highways where the characters travel by bike. A dichotomy that mirrors the lives of the protagonists and the situations they find themselves in. Small, lost, alienated against a vast world that surrounds them with uncertainty at its core.
If the movie finds its greatest asset in style, then it finds its weakest aspects in its narrative. The story is simply not cohesive. We are before disjointed pieces of their lives, rendering any logic and sense an exercise in futility. The protagonists are often reminiscing about the past, a repetitive introspective look through voice-over that presents the movie as the opposite of "show, not tell." Connection with any of the characters is a difficult endeavor if they elicit no sympathy and we barely know or find them uninteresting. It might be for a specific audience mainly interested in cinematography, the only merits it has, because other than that, there's not much to see here. A movie that not only feels stretched out and overlong but also devoid of any reason to keep on watching it once you've seen its style. Unfortunately, it is another case of style over substance.
Caveat (2020)
Promising concept undermined by subpar execution
An acquaintance of yours asks you to make his psychologically troubled niece company for some days at an isolated house where her father died. Of course, he would pay you for your trouble. Would you accept?
The hook is a good one to make you interested, and if to that you add creepy puppets, then the deal is set. Written and directed by Damian Mc Carthy, Caveat is his first length feature. A horror movie that leans heavily on genre's tropes to build its story. From disturbing puppets, an eerie house in the middle of nowhere, bizarre characters, and the paranormal, it checks all the spots of 'How to make a horror movie 101'. This is not a problem per se, for, even if predictable, to some extent a good movie can be made that way. However, what started as an interesting concept soon becomes fertile ground for anything but quality. Isaac, played by Jonathan French, is the protagonist, the one who, against all logic and sense, agreed to spend some days in that house. From his arrival, he is soon aware of very bizarre things going on, conditions that put his staying into question. Mc Carthy opts for a linear narrative where flashbacks intersected with the present time present themselves as revelatory. A decision that definitely enhances the story dynamics and adds suspense to the plot. A decision, ultimately, undermined by a repetitive and uninteresting second and third act where a cat-and-mouse routine not only makes the film's runtime of 90 minutes seem overlong, but actively challenges your endurance to keep watching the movie.
Caveat has few redeemable aspects. Besides a promising concept, sepia aesthetics enhancing the unsettling aura, and the performances, there is little of value in Mc Carthy's ópera prima. There is little to be done in cases like this where the script is not good.
Something Solid (2024)
Its lack of direction permeates any attempt at cohesiveness
The movie follows William and Lucie, a married couple living in an isolated mountain valley, resisting change and progress by living in a way that echoes that of a time past. Sarah, their daughter, will later appear not only as an almost foreign element to that way of life, but also as a daily reminder, if not directly, to the unstoppable nature of time, a force always in motion going forwards with or without you.
According to Paul Carpenter, writer and director of the movie, the idea for Something Solid sprouted from his visits to that place where he met the family and their way of living. The married couple, Phil Dodson and Manuella Bonifaci, are non-professional actors, and Carpenter expressed his idea for a movie and they agreed. An idea that took form as the filming process went on leading to Carpenter's unplannedness to materialize as problems in the editing room. He didn't know what direction the film was headed and where to take it from there, going so far as to express his first plan for it as a horror movie. The film, despite its directionless start, has its own merits. Thematically, it could be said it is a story about the passing of time and how the crumbling pieces of bygone eras cannot resist its commanding voice. It depicts change as something resisted that has to be fought, actively opposed, or simply ignored. It could also be said it is about incompleteness, empty spaces that manifest both literally and metaphorically. The absence of your loved ones illustrates a filled place now rendered empty, and the crumbling edifices are the found materialization of something not planned well enough. Symbolic death sneaking from its hidden chambers.
Paul Carpenter's first feature is characterized by what often ails its kind: a lack of direction permeating any attempt at cohesiveness. Something Solid is a movie that is comfortable with long silences and shots. A comfortable position to be if risking producing boredom is not something considered dangerous. Even with its meager 60 minutes of runtime, it begs the question of where the line between artistic freedom and editing laziness starts to get blurry.
Trap (2024)
The only effective trap is making people go see it
The premise of a pop concert as a trap to catch a serial killer is more than enough to hook you and give this movie a chance. According to M. Night Shyamalan, the concept was inspired by the Washington D. C. "Operation Flagship" and by the question of what would happen if The Silence of the Lambs (1991) took place at a Taylor Swift concert. It is an interesting concept that combines the epitome of pop music rituals where thousands of fans go to see their favorite artist with a thrilling and intense manhunt where nobody is safe and a serial killer devising every conceivable plan to escape uncaught.
Cooper, played by Josh Hartnett, takes his daughter Riley, Ariel Donoghue, to a concert of the pop star Lady Raven, played by M. Night 's daughter, Saleka Shyamalan. The cast is good at making the movie watchable. To Saleka Shyamalan, being an artist herself, playing a pop star is something that comes effortlessly, and she gives a solid performance on and off the stage. The songs of the movie, written and performed by her, are also one of the positive aspects of the movie. Hartnett and Donoghue have the required chemistry onscreen to play father and daughter. There are good moments here and there that capture the loving relationship between them. Josh Hartnett, the protagonist, definitely fills the required spots to play Cooper: a good-looking and sympathetic man that exudes confidence and friendliness. It is unclear if some of his acting decisions were on purpose or not, considering they come off as humorous, something the movie aims for many times, although it succeeds in none.
The new M. Night Shyamalan movie suffers from the usual ailment of his movies, a good concept slowly going nowhere by a bad execution. Trap aims to portray the killer as smarter than everyone else, an understandable decision, most attractive characters are usually intelligent, and in a movie like this you need traits like this to keep the story going. Unfortunately, the way it is done is not by showing his acumen but by making the rest of the characters not necessarily sharp. Trap is filled with convenient elements to further the plot, rendering many of its aspects exercises in implausibility. It is full of nonsensical interactions between the characters, dialogues that couldn't be further away from the way people communicate with each other in situations like this. It is not clear if M. Night Shyamalan has ever been to a concert. Furthermore, the movie has many moments, especially the epilogue, that seem like possible endings, only to resume the cat-and-mouse chase again and again. It is engaging when it starts, but ceases to be when it departs from it in the third act where this never-ending replay of the same situation overstays its welcome. It is difficult not to consider if it would have worked better if the story hadn't left the concert setting, and by doing so, erasing the failed third act, by far the weakest aspect of it.
M. Night Shyamalan is great at concept creation, but definitely not good at development and execution. It makes you think what would happen if a better director took an idea of him and turned it into a cohesive script that later could be translated into a good movie. Despite its terrible writing and execution, Trap manages to be somewhat entertaining, but by no means that makes it good. It might be enjoyable if you can suspend logic and sense, and repetition doesn't get you bored. I mean logic and sense because the only reasonable explanation for his talents would be if he were the reincarnation of Houdini. It is slightly better than Shyamalan's last one, Knock at the Cabin (2023), but not necessarily good. The only effective trap is making people go see it.
Jour de chasse (2024)
Scores high on tension
Written and directed by Annick Blanc, Jour de chasse is engaging from the start, where Nina is stranded on a highway and, seemingly with no other choice, decides to join a group of hunters in an isolated cabin. Tension is a sensation not only felt from minute one, but also something on the rise as the story goes on. Nina, surrounded by a group of men she barely knows, illustrates the dichotomy of a new found otherness, someone who, at first sight, doesn't belong. A difference that shouldn't be mistaken by unwillingness, for it is clear that in order to accept and welcome her in the group, a rite of initiation has to be passed.
Jour de chasse evokes individuality, be that proper individuality, that of an individual, or a group's, their collective identity, and how it can serve as a mechanism of continuing with one's life no matter what is happening around. A device furthering hedonism while occluding exogenic realities. This is not the only, at least from a collectively-inclined point of view, pessimistic statement the movie is interested in communicating, social proof is also thematically present. Coined by Robert Cialdini in his 1984 book "Influence: Science and Practice," social proof is a psychological and social phenomenon in which individuals are influenced by others, resulting in their imitating others' behaviors in order to conform. In the context of the movie, as mentioned before, there is a clear escalation of tension, some of it by the unspoken assumed potentiality of something bad happening to Nina, and some by how the situation quickly escalates, leading to unforeseen consequences. Social proof might be the reason behind events as such. The perceived limitlessness of some situations, even when divorced from social normativity, presents a gap difficult to tread, but certainly a possibility in any given situation.
It is clear Jour de chasse is also interested in gender in its depiction of masculinity as something toxic. A toxicity articulated in the overt "manliness" of this group of men and the bachelor party they are having where Nina is also part of. It is unclear what Annick Blanc's intentions are since, by not including other portrayals of gender and resorting to an apparently meta unidimensionality, she fails in exploring the theme enough and instead relies on a caricaturized, cliched portrayal of gender as something, and in doing so mistakenly, not performative but intrinsic. There are, however, moments where the movie contests this idea and seems that it doesn't sustain itself. But ultimately, it feels to be the equivalent of having a debate where your opponent is not present. Something that is better explored in Femme (2023), by Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping, and Yorgos Lanthimos' Poor Things (2023).
The situation where the protagonist is, and then where the rest of the characters are, can be looked at as individuals thrown into uncharted territories. In this sense, the movie bears a close resemblance to Ruben Östlund's Triangle of Sadness from 2022. But this is not the only thing in common, there is also power dynamics and their displacement. This is effectively done since it is not only interesting to see but also something that comes completely unexpected.
Un lugar en el mundo (1992)
Marked by the past
Adolfo Aristarain's Un lugar en el mundo is influenced by westerns. An influence articulated in the use of horses, the settings, and the often wide shots that capture the landscapes. The movie illustrates the difficulties haunting people in exile, dreams of a better life elsewhere, and the feeling of belonging to a place that became part of an individual's identity in a coming-of-age that follows Ernesto, played by Gaston Batyi, who returns to the town he called home and awakens memories of a time past that still resonate with him. The impact those years had in his life, how they marked him, is the reason for his coming back and the telling of his story as a twelve-year-old teen. Life back then was with Mario and Ana, his parents, living in a remote valley after fleeing Buenos Aires due to the Argentinian dictatorship of those years.
The movie is engaging from the start. There is an approach in the dynamics and the rules of the world Aristrarain constructs that successfully connects with you. Dialogue is the strongest aspect of the movie, and it isn't a casualty considering Aristarain's idea of dialogue as something immanent to cinematic lyricism, something akin to action in itself. The characters and their idiosyncrasies are clearly defined to then build not only sympathetic interpersonal connections but also the reasons for friction. Un lugar en el mundo is thematically interested in depicting weakness versus strength, social classes articulating power as a political weapon. Mario, played by Federico Luppi, is an idealist union worker on a crusade to stop capitalists' abusive economic conditions against workers like him. This idealism is also found in other characters of the movie in their articulation of potential emancipatory escapes to a reality that finds them unsatisfied. They all have unhealed wounds and are marked by the past. This is the reason for the multidimensionality of Aristarain's feature. There are many layers to the story, some political about the years of the National Reorganization Process, the last Argentinian military dictatorship that ruled from 1976 to 1983, and some religious about the role of religion as an institution and in an individual's life.
Adolfo Aristarain's Un lugar en el mundo is an entertaining and well told story whose message, while not symbolic, might not be completely at surface for audiences to fully grasp without context. This is not accidental considering the situation Argentina went through in the seventies and eighties with a dictatorship banning artistic freedom.
Xiao Ban Jie (2024)
Ineffective storytelling
Written and directed by Yaonan Liu, this is his first length feature that follows fourteen-year-old teenager Li Xing discovering an underground shelter where he can escape his teenage life and where strange things start to happen.
A coming-of-age that sometimes captures teenage difficulties and that special way to see the world. There are nice scenes of the protagonist with his friends going through the streets of South China at night, naming cars by their resemblance to people they know, or having a haircut heavily charged with in-jokes. The film successfully conveys and transmits the feeling of being an adolescent in a world that most of the time doesn't understand you. Animation is used in many scenes intersected with live-action takes, and, though surprising at first, it is not clear if it's in the movie's best interest. It could be argued that the dream sequences enhance the character's dimensionality as the outer manifestation of desires, etc., but their use ends being aesthetically unnecessary because, while not terrible and somewhat interesting, they are far from being outstanding.
Xiao Ban Jie suffers from an uneven execution with an underdeveloped beginning, a decent middle act, and an unsatisfying epilogue. There's also the problem of an ineffective storytelling since it is not clear what the movie wants to say. This is not a case of overuse of symbolism or intertextuality, it is simply a story not successfully told. Another case of vibes over substance.
Il Boemo (2022)
An invitation to indulge in the beauty of music
Written and directed by Petr Václav, Il Boemo offers a unique look into the life and career of Czech composer Josef Myslivecek, one of the most acclaimed and prolific composers of opera in Italy. Il Boemo can also be considered a portrait of the XVIII century life by reason of how successfully it achieves the ambience of that period. It evokes the sensation of being in the eighteenth century in a beautiful and captivating way where costumes, furniture, makeup, and hairstyling can transport you to a bygone era of grace and luxury. The film's cinematography consists of colors that transmit a sense of calmness, romance, and drama, reinforcing the narrative's dynamics from its pianissimo to its forte. There is a sense of etherealness captured by the lighting, candles, chandeliers, and natural light, a resemblance to Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon (1975). A resemblance that is not accidental, for, according to Václav, Barry Lyndon and Milos Forman's Amadeus (1984) were artistic inspirations for the lighting, camerawork, narrative style, and the way to shoot opera scenes. This is not the first time Petr Václav delves into the life of Josef Myslivecek, in 2015 he made Zpoved' zapomenutého, a documentary about the forgotten maestro. One of the purposes of Il Boemo is to answer the questions of how it was possible that Myslivecek rose so fast to fame, captivating the world of music, and how he consequently vanished so quickly from the collective memory after being considered one of the most popular Czech composers of the XVIII century.
As a story about a composer, it has many scenes with music, Myslivecek rehearsing and conducting his operas, but also beautiful arias that enhance not only his importance as a composer of that time but also communicate the sublime aspects of music and how it can convey what sometimes is difficult or impossible to put into words. The score for the movie, consisting of Myslivecek's compositions that were rediscovered in recent years, was performed by the Czech group Collegium 1704 conducted by Václav Luks and featuring international soloists like Philippe Jaroussky, Emoke Baráth, Raffaella Milanesi, and Simona Saturová. The pieces of music in the movie add an aura of melancholy. Remainders of what no longer exist, echoes of the rise and fall he experienced. They can also add a sense of joy and fascination. For instance, where one of his operas was met with enormous success provoking admiration everywhere. Being considered a mentor to Mozart, there is a scene where we can see a very young Wolfgang Amadeus joining Myslivecek backstage and effortlessly displaying his talent as a child prodigy. This moment successfully captures in a short amount of time the outstanding mastery of the gifted child and what he would become.
However, Il Boemo is not only a movie about music, it is about the ascent and decline of Myslivecek on a professional as well as a personal level. Petr Václav's feature is not interested in mitigating the harsh reality of the late composer as a forgotten figure whose prime was well beyond him. His life as a Bon vivant with conquers here and there would lead to unforeseen consequences, furthering the impact the movie can produce. The depiction of hedonistic experiences also leads to a sense of freedom in being more open and less restrictive, something that the movie successfully transmits. Some of the situations could be interpreted as peculiar, to say the least, while others as liberating. The movie does not attempt to lessen the hypocrisy often found in snobbery and nobility, on the contrary, it might be said that it heightens it. Behaviors defying the assumed speak for themselves. They might or might not be part of the mores of the era, but they certainly elevate the film's search for the impactful by portraying them. What is also impactful are the performances. The cast is one of the strongest aspects of the movie, and they all play characters that suit them well. Besides the great lead by Vojtech Dyk, we have Elena Radonicich as the empowered rich libertine Marchesa, Barbara Ronchi as the world-famous and problematic soprano Caterina Gabrielli, etc.
Il Boemo, in the end, is an invitation to indulge in the beauty of music, a movie for all art lovers that is definitely worth seeing as it will widen your love for classical music as well as your appreciation for the great Czech composer.
Piargy (2022)
Slovakian Folk in B&W
Based on the story of the same name by Slovak writer Frantisek Svantner, Piargy follows a bishop investigating if there is truth in the antichrist being born in the village. The movie's best qualities are found in its mixture of family drama and folk horror draped in beautiful black & white aesthetics.
An invitation to explore the Slovak countryside where fantasy and reality are combined with an elegant and stylish cinematography that captures the light and shadows of the environment, from the reduced places in the farm to the open locations, as well as the lightness and the darkness of the characters in the story. Characters whose identities are unfolded as the movie goes on making their identities a puzzle that is being completed before our eyes. They pose different societal mores no longer normative, where the line between innocence and accomplice is many times unclear to see. This is an asset considering it helps the narrative to be more interesting, deeper, and the characters more profound and difficult to read. Piargy is a movie where it is difficult to be apathic because of the nature of the story and the unabashed freedom when it comes to the decision of leaving out or not some scenes that might be hard to watch for many people.
Its cinematography offers a slight resemblance to Sin City, not because of its black & white, unlike Sin City, the grays are more pronounced here, but due to the limited use of color. There is red, green, and orange as the only colors among the world of black and white. The minimalism of color use and their striking contrast with the absence of color in everything else is utilized to enhance certain elements of the story as well as to add layers of symbolism. Ivo Trajkov's Piargy is an entertaining and impactful movie, both by its visuals and also by the engaging narrative with drama and folk horror elements.
Retrato de um Certo Oriente (2024)
Forbidden love bathed in elegant cinematography
Shot in black & white, the movie has a beautiful and elegant cinematography where the actors seem not only to be part of the story onscreen, but also muses to an artist who chose cinema as his canvas. Symmetric shots that capture how alluring the views are, almost inviting us to be part of the ecosystem, and shots where doors and natural elements of the rooms offer stylistic frames and composition devices to what is being produced. There were moments where the visuals had a resemblance to Michelangelo Antonioni's L'Avventura where those beautiful vistas, often by the sea, presented more than a picturesque background to portray Monica Vitti or Lea Massari.
Passionate performances, especially a strong lead by Wafa'a Celine Halawi, that expose how sometimes a gaze can leave little to disclose. This is a drama story with Emilie in its center. She and her brother Emir, after the death of their parents, are fleeing from the war in Lebanon and planning to start a new life in Brazil. While journeying, she meets Omar and falls for him. A love that will find resistance in her brother on the basis of Omar's religion. A forbidden love story that illustrates how differences might be of no importance where love is present, but also how they can be the spark that ignites problems that hadn't existed before. To Emir, the fact Omar is Muslim poses a divide to their Christian's values that cannot be easily bridged. A divide that presupposes collective guilt where none is found. This not only speaks of the harm prejudices can pose, but also of how ideology functions in taking away the activity of thought by their ready-made worldview where the good ones and bad ones are differentiated by a clearly visible line.
Marcelo Gomes evokes the feelings of liberation when the story takes place in the boat. A liberation not without its lurking and ominous past in the always present grave machinery sounds of the ship. A reminder of the war that is being left behind in terms of spatiality but not in terms of memory. He also depicts the reality of migration and how it affects an individual's identity. The expansive, wide landscapes posit a dichotomy to the small, almost claustrophobic, chamber of the siblings aboard the ship. If Retrato de um Certo Oriente finds its greatest asset in its cinematography and the leading performance, then it finds its greatest liability in an uninteresting course of events by reason of underdeveloped characters and an absence of enough tension. The promising start shapes to an uneven middle act and a last act, whose promises for more were not realized. This doesn't make it a bad movie, but not necessarily a good one either. The same story was told numerous times before.
Mãos no fogo (2024)
The abysm of the occult cannot be bridged by the impenetrability of the visible
Inspired by Turn of the Screw by Henry James, Mãos no Fogo is a dark chamber piece by Margarida Gil that follows Maria do Mar, a young filmmaker, documenting an old manor house in Portugal for her thesis project on "The Real in Cinema." The film is beautifully shot with a cinematography that captures a picturesque quality in its search for the remainders of the beauty of a time past. It offers many frames resembling paintings, e.g., shots of Carolina Campanela laying naked on the bed bear a closeness to Edgar Degas' art.
Right from the beginning we enter into a place reminiscent of a fairy tale with beautiful views where nature is felt like the border delineating the magic sensation of this mansion. Something not too distant to the settings of Call Me by Your Name (2017) and how that villa gave the story a beautiful scenario for it to take place. Once there, Maria starts filming everything she can, the cook, the kids, the governess, the furniture, the neighbor singing girl, etc. The ennui of the summer is a strong presence bathing the atmosphere and slowing the passing of time, offering a mirror-like experience to that of the old manor taking place, diluted remnants of what already has been. It isn't long enough till Maria starts sensing there's more than meets the eye in the house. Secrets rendering interpersonal dynamics difficult to read but presenting an opportunity to disclose and being closer to her purpose of finding the truth, the essence behind what history changed.
There is a clear impossibility taking place if one considers that the camera only captures fleeting moments devoid of any essence, if by it we refer to the impermeability of something. Like Maria's diary notes, truth and reality, are not static but in constant movement. A flow erasing what time committed to memory. The secrets harboring in the manor are also committed to memory, if only by their unwillingness to find articulation in certainty, as if reproducing them in the form of words would enliven them. Whether the gap between the real and fantasy is blurred or identifiable, the hints offering an attempt at some clarity never materialize in terms of certainty and find comfort in gazes filled with erotic tension. If pleasure and sacrifice are not only interchangeable terms but also the key that opens the door to what lies unearthed, then this intellectual cinematic experience is one that will stay with you after seeing it.
La mujer hormiga (2023)
Haunted by reflections of the past
Like an intruder, something alien yet known, Virginia's sister, Renata, enters her life again, bringing forward past memories. Memories that pose the opening of unhealed wounds, because time can only do that much. Directed by Betania Cappato and Adrián Suárez, the movie blurs the limits delineating reality and fantasy in its portrayal of a calmness disrupted by an otherness. Whether in the form of ants invading Virginia's home or in the presence of her sister, there is a sense of solace coming to an end, if not abruptly. The way the film introduces us to Renata is worth considering, a shot of a hallway in which Virginia and her son are greeting their just arrived sister/aunt with Renata to a side, not clearly seen. This reinforces the aura of a foreign element and adds touches of mystery to the story. Aesthetically, the movie was shot in Santa Fe, Argentina, offering a look at a place not every day seen in cinema, but, even though its preference for long stagnant shots, e.g., palm trees, the swimming pool, and even the characters, etc., could be inferred as the visual expression of that tranquility coming to an end, they end up hindering the story to continue its course, rendering the pacing uneven because long, contemplative shots can last several minutes, but they risk their value by exhaustion.
The movie economy of revelation offers the possibility of discovering more about their backstory. Unearthed aspects of a traumatic event that marked them and changed their lives. An introspective exploration blooms for Virginia, who channels it in sustained silences, gazes, and habits that speak not only of her as a person but mainly about her relationship with Renata. Cappato and Suárez articulate different aspects of the inner psyche by way of symbolism. It is clear we don't have complete access to what truly happened, but it is also clear that we don't need to know in order to notice elements enacting what cannot be addressed directly. When the fumigator tells Virginia that, in order to get rid of the colony of ants in her house, the queen must be killed, it is difficult not to see the displacement of this idea as it articulates inner forces begging to be released. The swimming pool malfunction also resonates closely as dreams of drowning where death as an impossibility bear witness to traumas that hold someone captive. An impossibility of a symbolic death without previously exorcising oneself. Without previously uncovering the dead corpses of a traumatic past. La mujer hormiga conceptualizes distress as a tomb expedition where the skeletons are unhidden for us to see and face the consequences of that act. Battles that materialize in the physicality of one's body.
But the movie is not only about trauma, it is also about love. The love of a woman for her sister. And this is what the movie is also interested in portraying. Because maybe there is something special in the act of love when reason is not there to support it. Mojada by Vilma Palma, the song playing in the bar scene, reinforces this ambivalent aspect of love because, in the context of the story, aspects about the sister's upbringing can be deduced. And what can be deduced is beautifully expressed in a way that testifies to cinema as a medium for conveying images speaking volumes without extra words. Showing instead of telling.
Old Yeller (1957)
The bond between a boy and his dog
Based upon the novel of the same name by Fred Gipson, Old Yeller tells the story of a stray yellow dog who comes across the Coates Texas farm where he soon finds himself loved. Spike, the dog actor that played Old Yeller, performed in many movies. This shouldn't be a surprise after watching the movie because his performance is a class act. The yellow Mastador, crossbreed of Mastiff and Labrador Retriever, captures what his beloved character is feeling every time. From playfulness to barking, Spike is undoubtedly the star of the film.
The movie has a slow and irregular pacing that makes it feel longer than it actually is. There are many scenes with secondary and uninteresting characters that not only deprive the story of its natural flow, but also, to aggravate the situation, offer little of interest when what is important is the protagonist dog and Travis. Tommy Kirk, who plays Travis, channels the teenage angst, even from another era, and therefore lacking some freshness, in finding in an intrusion something that has to be confronted. His refusal towards the yellow dog is not ungrounded. He also conveys his conversion from hatred to love. Old Yeller would become the rescued stray dog of the Coates family, but also, and above all, his newfound four-legged best friend. It is beautiful how the film depicts friendship and the lengths one can go to help their friend in need.
Some aspects of the movie definitely seem outdated and didn't age well. For instance, the father's reinforcement of masculinity towards his son can be received with questionable eyes. Regarding the question if it is truly that sad, it is definitely sad since there are many heartbreaking moments throughout the film, but they don't come close to that of movies like Hachi: A Dog's Tale (2009) or The Art of Racing in the Rain (2019). Ultimately, Robert Stevenson's Old Yeller is a nice and, for the most part, entertaining movie, but not necessarily above average.
Los domingos mueren más personas (2024)
Lethargic laugh-free comedy
Written, directed, and starred by Iair Said, Los domingos mueren más personas offers a look at sickness, death, and the LGBTQ+ life that follows David coming back from Europe to attend his uncle's funeral in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He then discovers his mother's plan to let go of his comatose father.
According to Said, he wrote the script in 2015 in order to express in an artistic way what he otherwise couldn't, the situation his father was living through, and how that made Said feel. Inspired by the price his family had to pay and how usual funerals were on Sunday, he considered it important to talk about the numbers of death, the business, and the money behind it. An uncommon theme to see in movies that is treated here, e.g., one of David's family members tries to bargain the price for the cemetery service. He also wanted to depict the reality of the LGTBQ+ community through a non-hegemonic protagonist, unlike, according to him, the way it is usually done.
Conceptually, the movie is interesting as the death of a relative can be a platform for ruminations about our finitude and therefore a mirror to our own lives, begging existential questions. Even though this is the theme that bathes the movie, it isn't explored enough in its 75 minutes, which feel longer than that. David's life in Buenos Aires is full of banalities that add more to the protagonist's idiosyncrasies than what is of interest, eating at fast-food drive-throughs, driving lessons, buying and taking pills, partying, family dinners, etc. Said expressed his preference for spontaneity over planification, and it clearly shows. David is a very simple protagonist whose main preoccupation seems to be whether he'll ever be loved. This almost sounds like a coming-of-age if it weren't for him being 36 years old. Los domingos mueren más personas reminds of Woody Allen, only in how his protagonists, played by him or not, are full of Allen's traits. The difference is that David is neither likeable nor interesting. He's like a teen in the body of an adult, unidimensional and prisoner of his wants. In the movie, he's often seen trying advances with many men he comes across. Questionable attitudes like this help too little to make him a sympathetic character.
The movie finds its greatest asset in Rita Cortese who plays David's mother, Dora. She is a much more interesting and likeable character than our protagonist. Not only she's responsible for the little humor this laugh-free comedy has to offer, consisting mainly of frugality in buying this or that, but also adds profundity to what otherwise would be completely devoid of. Ultimately, Iair Said's sophomore film comes across as an auto-indulgent and stagnant portrayal without much to say.
The Ugly Dachshund (1966)
Slapstick Altar
Based on the novel of the same name by Gladys Bronwyn Stern, The Ugly Dachshund illustrates the predicaments The Garrisons, a married couple, face after the arrival of Brutus, a Great Dane who thinks himself a Dachshund, to their household.
This Walt Disney movie captures in a beautiful way the love for animals as companions, as part of the family, and how they can enrich our lives in different ways. From providing the opportunity to care for them, being the muse for our art, to participating in different activities, animals make our lives better and can offer an important source of happiness. They can also be a reason for headaches, especially when they are babies, and their indomitable personalities render any attempt at peace an exercise in futility. The name Brutus, Latin for 'heavy', suits him well. There are many scenes where the Great Dane, who, no matter his size, is still young, destroys to pieces The Garrisons' house, producing waves after waves of laughter. The shenanigans would often develop as this: Brutus, following what his four "little angels," as Fran uses to call them, Dachshund sisters started, would go from one place to another, crashing everything in his wake and turning the room into the masterpiece of an artist who uses a wrecking ball as their preferred brush. Those moments are an excellent platform for humor that delivers every time. The close-ups of Mark and Fran Garrison after encountering a scene like this contrasted with the cute animals are absolutely hilarious.
Thematically, the film also explores the concept of married life. It examines the positive aspects of being committed to someone you love, but also the difficulties that may arise. The coexistence of these opposite aspects is utilized to depict dynamics that change in the young couple. Norman Tokar's feature raises the question of 'How much one is willing to sacrifice for the other?'. This is not just about a dog but rather a vehicle to expose power structures and how love, ultimately, is not so much about gaining but about losing. In this sense, the chaos the dogs cause to their home could be seen as nothing but the reification of sentiments whose direct enunciation is difficult to enact. A symbol of the crumbling castle of a bygone era.
Like The Incredible Journey (1963) and other movies of those years, The Ugly Dachshund offers the possibility to see real animals act, and they are fantastic at it. There is a charming quality in seeing real dogs interact with each other and with their two-legged friends that CGI doesn't capture, even if it offers the possibility of a greater specter of facial expressions, it is not the same. Besides Dean Jones and Suzanne Pleshette, who play Mark and Fran Garrison, there are other actors that, even in supporting roles, give performances that score high at comedy. Kelly Thordsen as Officer Carmody, and Charles Ruggles as Dr. J. L. Pruitt are two of the funniest characters in the movie.
The Ugly Dachshund, ultimately, is an entertaining and hilarious movie for the whole family. A movie about a dog with an identity crisis that delivers every minute creating a slapstick altar that is a must watch for all animal lovers.
Oddity (2024)
A jump-scare renaissance
An immersive experience where the (un)known becomes oppressive because Damian Mc Carthy creates the conditions to allure you without letting you go. It is the kind of horror that slowly builds and, when least expected, bursts, leaving you absolutely terrified. The jump inducing scares are so effective that it opens up the possibility of a jump-scare renaissance.
Written and directed by Mc Carthy, the movie follows a blind psychic medium trying to unveil the truth of the murder of her sister. Carolyn Bracken, who plays the psychic and her twin sister, manages to convey charisma, intrigue, and uneasiness into Darcy making her a very interesting character whose vulnerability and strength present a divide difficult to close. A divide that is also present in the film decision of what aspects to show and conceal. Oddity's economy of revelation is found narratively where decisive plot aspects are intersected across its linear development, producing, as a result, an engaging, mysterious experience from the beginning. This concealment is also present in its horror elements, where the decision to leave violence off screen is not experienced as a lack because of its more than enough merits everywhere else.
Damian Mc Carthy articulates an atmospheric eeriness with a multidirectional nature translating into oppressiveness where identifiable elements disrupt tranquility. A castle in an isolated location, strangers at night, disturbing puppets, skepticism being challenged by belief, murderers, etc., emerge not only to provide an experience where elements from different horror genres converge, but also as crossroads for fear to take its preferred course, leaving us into the unknown. This unknown serves as a platform for foreboding expectations to exist and claim their place lurking in the shadows. Oddity does something especial in disclosing the object of horror whose potentiality challenges the expected, and therefore displacing the source of fear without risking its impact.
Thelma (2024)
An interesting concept that wasn't effectively translated in the final product
This is one of those occasions where you hear something and it sounds good and funny when you imagine it, but then it doesn't translate to the actual product, and the end result is neither good nor funny. The movie follows 93-year-old Thelma on a mission to get her money back after she got scammed. June Squibb is great as the endearing protagonist. This is her first leading role after decades in the business. She is mainly responsible for the movie being watchable, but there's only so much she can do. Thelma illustrates the difficulties faced by elderly people when their cognitive capacities are challenged by intrafamilial groundless assumptions. The concept is interesting and, sadly, relatable. We constantly hear in the news and from acquaintances of elder people being scammed in one way or another, and a movie like this could serve as a warning and have, no matter how big or small, a positive impact.
The film has problems when it comes to its pacing: a slow but promising beginning followed by an overlong middle act devoid of any laughter or entertaining aspect to finally get some payoff at the end. The cast gives good performances, but the unidimensional characters they play, save the protagonist and Ben (Richard Roundtree), are uninteresting. They don't help too much to redeem the movie a little since they are but a parody of stereotypes. Elder people doing what the filmmakers deem as elder people activities, being bad with technology, having problems with physical activity, bad communication due to hearing loss, etc. This unsatisfying writing choice might render scenes charming sometimes, and it can be an effective platform for humor, but if comedy only leans on that, it risks exhausting its effectiveness. Thelma is better when it leaves humor aside and tries for a more serious take in regards to being older, the passing of time and how it can take away people you loved, interpersonal relations, and the strong bonds that can be created as a result. There are heartwarming scenes between Thelma and her grandson and her friend Ben that sadly weren't explored further and were too short-lived.
Josh Margolin's Thelma might have appeal for a very specific audience, and it definitely has a good idea that can be a recipe for something good, but instead of comedy with drama elements, it would work better as drama with comedy elements. It has its moments, but they never add up to a complete film.
Incoming (2024)
Classic teen comedy
Written and directed by Dave Chernin and John Chernin, the movie follows four freshmen experiencing the ups and downs of their first high school party. This is the classic teen comedy where what you expect to happen is exactly what will happen. It takes from American Pie, Superbad, Project X, etc. Its early 2000's vibes try to capitalize on melancholy using a formula that didn't age well and definitely lacks freshness. Teens doing inappropriate things isn't something new, and if we look at this through the eyes of our generation, there would be a lot to say about this, and it isn't exactly good.
Benj Nielsen (Mason Thames) is the main character. He's in love with Bailey (Isabella Ferreira) and will try to make her notice him and realize what he only dreams of. He is a protagonist defined solely by his love interest. This unidimensionality is not exclusive to him, all the ensemble suffers from it since they are only known for one aspect and never developed beyond archetypes. Empathy is the price for this unsatisfying character development, because, even though they seem nice and charismatic, they're just not interesting enough to watch. The other character that stands out is Mr. Studebaker (Bobby Cannavale), the look-at-me-I'm-cool goofy teacher who crashes the party and provides much of the physical humor in the movie by doing every ridiculous thing you can imagine.
Besides physical, Incoming leans heavily on scatological humor, unsuccessfully producing disgust instead of laughter. There's a scene with Loren Gray that is completely gross and will test your repulsiveness. It is simply too distasteful, even for the standards of movies like this. In some scenes the actors seemed overacting, and it is unclear if this was deliberate for comedic purposes or because the actors simply aren't that good, and I don't know which one is worse. However, the movie succeeds when it doesn't try that hard; there were funny moments here and there, especially when it came to the social awkwardness of some situations. Ultimately, with a runtime of 90 minutes, it is a light time investment that manages to be entertaining for the most part, but that doesn't make it necessarily good.
Longlegs (2024)
Daddy, that gross guy is back again!
Osgood Perkins understands fear and uses it to construct an elevated horror experience that finds its effectiveness in the waiting for something to happen than it actually happening, implying instead of showing. His frames offer not only aesthetically beautiful visuals, often symmetric with a muted palette, but also compositions where the occluded is equally important to what isn't. There's an unsettling feel in static shots harboring foreboding expectance, motion legible through sound, breaking calmness.
This unsettling atmosphere finds reification in Maika Monroe whose demeanor, facial expressions, and even her heavy breathing communicate the existence of a lurking ominous presence that cannot be identified but is undeniably present. Agent Lee Harker is an interesting mirroring of the case the FBI is investigating, one involving many deaths with one thing in common, Longlegs, due to her enigmatic nature, making her and the movie a puzzle being solved before our eyes. Nicolas Cage is another reason for this disquieting aura. He's unrecognizable, neither his voice nor appearance is familiar. His performance is a mixture of Heath Ledger's Joker and Michael Jackson, threading humor and horror carefully, producing an unnerving experience difficult to forget.
Divided in three chapters, the quality differs. What Perkins does for fear, developing but not necessarily taking shape, rarely reaching the surface as to show its face, counterbalances narratively with an above average first and second chapters, but an unsatisfying written third. If mystery and fear ruled the first ones, due to their economy of disclosure, unnecessary overexplaining rules the last one, making it seem the product not of NEON with its similar A24 horror style, but of a major studio trying to mimic these arthouse film companies. A reminder that horror is found most of all in the unknown and some things are best left unsaid.
Regarding the question of whether it lives up to the expectations of it being a horror masterpiece, a traumatic experience, let's say it is better than the average but not necessarily better or offering something new when it comes to gruesomeness. The most memorable scene is not something that hasn't been seen before, e.g., Titane (2021), where Julia Ducournau did something similar and went beyond elevating gore to something nauseating. In this sense, Longlegs should be seen as an appetizer of the New French Extremity, but mostly as arthouse horror, where its merits are found.
The Incredible Journey (1963)
A movie for all animal lovers
Before A Dog's Way Home (2019) and the phenomenon of W. Bruce Cameron came The Incredible Journey, a simple yet beautiful story that conceptualizes friendship and reuniting with your loved ones that follows Luath, a Labrador Retriever, Bodger, a Bull Terrier, and Tao, a Siamese cat, as they travel 300 miles through the Canadian wilderness to return to their home in an adventure for all ages. This Walt Disney movie, based on the book of the same name by Sheila Burnford, offers the opportunity to see real animals act, unlike the usual CGI used nowadays. One can only imagine the difficulty in shooting many of the scenes that are part of the movie, but the end result speaks for itself since this four-legged trio is exceptionally good performance-wise. There's a charming quality in seeing real animals interact with each other and with humans. They truly capture what their characters are living through, their emotions and feelings, and, at the end of the day, they are the ones making a movie like this possible.
Unlike the novels by W. Bruce Cameron and Garth Stein, and the subsequent movies based on them, we don't have access to what Luath, Bodger, and Tao are thinking, at least not unmediated. Fletcher Markle's feature approach is closer to a book in third-person narration. The narrator, played by Rex Allen, goes relating the story as the events unfold seamlessly weaving everything. There are, however, many times where the camera had the animal's point of view, i.e., the cat looking at a river followed by a shot of said river, etc. These edition choices are beautiful and manage to articulate in a convincing way what these adorable animals are experiencing without the need of hearing their voices.
The movie is engaging from the start, where we begin to know each of the animals' idiosyncrasies; the labrador retriever likes to be alone in the kitchen after their night walk, the bull terrier has the habit of sleeping in the dormitory and getting comfortable on the bed once his two-legged friend is asleep, and the cat, being a cat, uses the night not for sleeping, but as adventure time to roam freely around. The Incredible Journey exposes the constitutive dichotomy of nature as something beautiful, awestruck by the vistas, but also as dangerous in its immanent quality, the unknown of what can happen to you. From a bear to a lynx, the trio will encounter unforeseen challenges through their journey. There is also a charming depiction of friendship among them, Bodger is older than his two companions, and his slower pace is understood by the other two, who help him by stopping to rest or bringing him food to energize him.
Walt Disney's The Incredible Journey is an entertaining and beautiful adventure for the whole family. A movie for animal lovers of all ages with a universal message and a delivery that still resonates and feels fresh 61 years later.
The Seeding (2023)
A reminder of how scary deserts can be
The seeding builds an allegoric maze where our fears, hopes, and desires, find reification in the desolating reality inside the walls delineating its nightmarish frontiers.
Set in the sprawling desert, a man finds himself lost and besieged by feral children. The Hills Have Eyes (1977) is not the only movie that comes to mind, it has more than one similarity with it, Children of the Corn (1984) and 127 Hours (2010) also resonate. But when they were a more direct approach to the delivery of a message, Barnaby Clay's feature speaks through the language of allegory, making it double layered and more profound. The uncanny beginning where Stone meets Alina and her nonchalant demeanor translating into his arrival being unsurprising sets the tone for what is to come. A nightmarish journey that uses the impact tension can produce in a crescent build instead of relying on shock by explicit content.
It is a reminder of how scary deserts can be. Its extensive vastness mirrors the void found at what we think of as real, it doesn't seem to have an end and reveals possibilities about fears we were not aware of. Stone (Scott Haze) is lost both physically and metaphorically. The desert canyon he's trapped in provides endless possibilities for what lies ahead for him. Scott Haze effectively channels the desperation Stone is suffering away from everything he knows, away from the security that comes with identification. Alina (Kate Lyn Sheil), on the other hand, is a more interesting character due to her unreadability. Kate Lyn Sheil gives her an effective otherness that translates Alina as one with the desert. Her being mercurial renders her demeanor both caring and unnerving. She attracts you but also repels you.
There are many analyses that can be made of The Seeding and, whether they coincide with the author's or not, it is known they do not end at what the artist intended. This is what elevated horror is, not only entertainment and scares, but also a platform for thought.
Civil War (2024)
Not up to Alex Garland standards
Civil War portrays a dystopian future in America that crosses the realm of fiction mirroring and amplifying what happened not too long ago. The events that led to that future are unknown but grounded on familiar aspects of reality that could, and do, explode from time to time, if not on that scale. The movie is equally about war as it is about journalism. The main characters are journalists trying to get to Washington D. C., to interview the president. When it comes to edition choices, this is utilized in an impactful way, intersecting B&W stills of the photos they are taking with the hectic environment that surrounds them.
In 2005 came out one of the most political movies of all time, V for Vendetta. Unlike Civil War, James McTeigue's feature presented a recounting of the events that led to what could be thought of as a revolution. Alex Garland's Civil War doesn't take a political stance and could be seen as the answer, if only temporary, to the question posited by Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek, "What happens the day after the revolution?". If this is indeed looked at as an answer, then it offers little of what couldn't be inferred and what is already known but in an enhanced manner; a divide greater than before, bartering, chaos, anarchy, etc. Garland is more interested in articulating a broader picture that can serve as a canvas to imagine what one wants to than speaking in terms of certainty. He is also more interested in action than drama, excluding any ideological inquiry. The movie is full of action sequences, shots, tanks, helicopters, and so on, and little of profound dialogue other than the predictable, sometimes bordering clichéd, reflections on the harsh reality and the impact on the characters' lives. For someone that gave us Ex Machina (2014) and Men (2022), he definitely plays it safe this time.
Civil War, although at times entertaining, certainly seems longer than its actual length due to its inconsistent execution. Scenes with songs disrupting the smooth pacing, adding absolutely nothing other than slowing down its pacing because, aggravating the situation, they were coupled with action images and aerials of helicopters. There were times when the point of view, more choral than soloist, rendered the movie a wasted opportunity to explore the subjectivized experience of its protagonist, one scene of the final act bears witness to this. Ultimately, it is a missed opportunity of a movie that could've been great given its theme. There's insecurity in its approach, disarticulating any conceivable interesting result, and it doesn't live up to what is expected of Alex Garland.
I nuovi mostri (1977)
Review of the cut edition of the film
The following review is of the cut edition of the film, with a runtime of 87 minutes and a number of 9 episodes. The original version, banned in some places, consists of 14 episodes and has a runtime of 115 minutes. Sadly, it is very hard to find nowadays. The episodes not included in the cut version are "Il sospetto", "Mammina e mammone", "Cittadino esemplare", "Pornodiva", and "Sequestro di persona cara".
Fourteen years after the release of the first one, I nuovi mostri offers a look into Italian life in a series of 9 episodes, directed by Dino Risi, Ettore Scola and Mario Monicelli, and starred by Vittorio Gassman, Ugo Tognazzi, Alberto Sordi, and Ornella Muti.
Like the previous one, this new anthology focuses on questionable aspects of human nature and adds touches of comedy and satire. The quality varies, and, while entertaining and fun, it doesn't live up to I mostri from 1963.
My favorite episodes were: "Autostop" a man picks up a young woman hitchhiking, "Pronto soccorso" a nobleman (Alberto Sordi) finds a man injured in the streets, "Senza parole" a young stewardess meets a foreign man and falls in love.
Les Jours heureux (2023)
It finds difficulty in evoking the intended emotions
A movie set in the world of classical music that has Emma at its center. She is a young conductor who is struggling with her father, who is also her manager, whom she has a strained relationship with, and Naïlle, her partner and cellist in the orchestra.
With a runtime of 120 minutes, the movie feels longer than that. Emma is a character that is developing until the last minutes. A character that is mainly known through interpersonal relationships that allow to delve, if only in the form of glimpses, in her past to understand her present as a career-driven person. There is a scene beautifully edited where flashbacks are intermingled with a performance of Mahler in which it is easy to see through her unlike what came before, and enhances the music dynamics, both its forte and piano intensities. Like Tár (2022), Chloé Robichaud's Les Jours heureux is not so much a movie about music but rather about a person and her predicaments, both personal and professional. There are other layers in which the movie could be analyzed and thought. For instance, the influence of heteronormative hegemony on our behavior and thoughts, the unclear boundary where the love from a parent can be rendered as negative pressure or trauma.
Ultimately, Les Jours heureux suffers from an inability to transmit the emotions it aims to. There are many scenes that could've been reason enough to sympathize with the protagonist that weren't effectively executed and presented. It's not a bad movie, but the same ideas were better depicted elsewhere.