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The Menu (2022)
Midsommar Meets The Square
Although the story is bordering on the absurd at times, we don't question it's reality, being all to aware the lengths artists will go to to create art. It pokes fun at the persona of the artist, the loud claps, the language used and the gestures, whilst also somewhat sympathising with the artist and his complicatedly justified motivations for the menu. Just like Midsommar, the film justifies its own ethics in someway and almost makes you question your own sense of morality in this complicated world.
Cinematography, set design and costumes all fly subtley under the radar, allowing the performances and the writing to take centre stage. In summary, well crafted and interesting.
After Love (2020)
Beautiful Portrait of Modern Life
Aleem Khan & Alexander Dynan have done a wonderful job of photographing this intimate and tender story in the most fitting way. Slow, sweeping camera moves capture the gradual reveal of the second life and they are not shy to leave the camera locked off when it fits. The cinematography is subtle and tender, with soft daylight contrasting with some harsher shadow where the emotion fits. The framing is perfect as we are drawn to certain elements in frame that helps us build the picture of this second life gradually and sensitively.
The image is complemented fantastically by a wonderful score, delivering heart wrenching moments at the perfect points in the story.
This film will leave you questioning what it means to love and how we can learn to accept and forgive.
The final shot captures the essence of the story as we see the camera inch away from the cliffs leaving the affected three behind in the wake of the death, making us consider the husband/fathers journey and how this space could be a metaphor for the relationships left behind and how our tiny bodies and lives scale into insignificance against the beauty and wonder of nature.
En duva satt på en gren och funderade på tillvaron (2014)
1 Hour and 50 Minutes of Brilliantly Dark and Depressing Cinema
A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence is certainly not a film to watch when feeling down or hopeless, as it may just take the last remains of faith in human happiness away. This film is certainly not a fun watch, however it does have merit if you can handle 1 hour and 50 minutes of brilliantly dark and depressing cinema.
As the third installment of Roy Andersson's 'Living' trilogy, it acts as the crescendo in Andersson's studies on the human condition, which is the focal point of these deadpan, deeply dark and ironic studies of humans. The deep irony is that the loose narrative follows two novelty items salesmen that state the reasons for doing so is to bring fun and joy to people, despite being two of the most melancholic characters ever to have appeared on screen. Their slow shuffling walk, paired with their hunched over postures mirror the pain of the world they inhibit, with one of the pair suffering from depression and dark dreams, including a particularly hard to watch scene where a line of people are marched in and burned alive in an enormous brass barrel as a group of elderly people watch on whilst being served cocktails.
The expertly composed still frame which is present in each equally odd scene puts the viewer at an awkward distance from the action. We are far away enough to feel like voyeurs of the absurd nature of each scene, but close enough to see the details on the characters pale white face painted faces. As the viewer, you find yourself studying every element of the frame in great detail, noticing small things that add to such small nuances to each character, for example a soldering iron in one of the salesmen's bedrooms in their prison-like residence. The colour palette also adds another element as the pastel tones of the expertly dressed sets are pulled out and build another layer of melancholic feeling to this raw and unforgiving tale of human disgustingness.
Just when you feel like the scene is making sense in some strange otherworldly way, something will happen to throw you off completely, the best example of this being when a seemingly normal bar scene comprised of slow, awkward dialogue (which most of the film is) turns completely when an army enters a bar on horseback and removes all of the women from the establishment. This happens often and it cannot be avoided that Andersson likes to bring attention to humans historical ugliness as well as our contemporary condition too, with this film stitching them together somewhat seamlessly in the creation of this absurd, but also recognisable other 'world'.
Calm with Horses (2019)
Very Impressive Debut Feature
As one of my first introductions to Irish cinema, this was a pretty good place to start. Debut feature from Nick Rowland is bold, brave and full of emotion. The dynamism of the emotion is what makes this film so brilliant, with the anti hero 'Arm' not being the typical dumb brute as his emotional intelligence comes through in his innocently spoken monologues on his place in the world of violence he has learned to live in.
The violence is balanced with such tender moments that remind us that all people are capable of such a range of emotion. The film is another modern take on the 'Taxi Driver' style films and seems to take inspiration from Lynne Ramsay, in particular 'You Were Never Really Here', with the troubled protagonist trying to do right by their confused conscience. However I think what's special about this film is how well the story is illustrated visually. Stunning still wides give us a feel for the rural Irish landscape that feels like a calming influence on the characters, compared to the punchy colourful and contrasty night interiors which are where we see the darkest sides to the characters.
These scenes are contrasted with moments of such gentle intimacy as Arm tries to repair his relationship with his ex partner and mentally disabled son, with animals acting as metaphors and offering healing qualities between the characters. We often get the feeling the problems Arm is facing are simply too big for him to comprehend, leaving a saddening sense of empathy for him, despite all of the things he has subjected people to.
A very emotionally complex, beautiful and redemptive film that deserves a watch from anyone that is interested in honest, realist storytelling.
Rocks (2019)
Heartbreaking
This film is fantastic. It's reminiscent of early Andrea Arnold and I couldn't help thinking of Fishtank when watching this film. However I think this might be better.
The authenticity of the story is unmatched, with incredible performances from Rocks and her brother, accompanied with beautifully composed images and a fitting score to match.
The film will make you consider the difficulties that we experience as young people growing up in the 21st century and very subtly nods to the different experiences young people have while growing up, depending on their socio-economic background. The story is so heartbreakingly real and so human, that it hits so hard and will leave you with a tear in your eye.
Ema (2019)
Dysfunctional Family
This movie feels like a mixture of Loveless, Parasite, Climax & We Need To Talk About Kevin, which are all films I love, so safe to say I enjoyed this movie too.
Every frame is filled with gorgeous colours which didn't feel too out of place, even if they did feel like such obvious stylistic choices. Its almost like you could believe anything was real in this bizarre world these characters live in where sex, expression and dance are everything and can be shared with anyone.
Worth watching if you like dark films that make you question social constructs and makes us remember that at the end of the day we are just animals.
Uncut Gems (2019)
Stressful
In terms of entertainment value, this ticks all the boxes. A fantastic score accompanies a meticulously well crafted script as Sandman gives an incredible energy to Howard with a career best performance.
Much like the Safdie's earlier work, your heart is in your mouth for 90% of the film, with few opportunities to take in what you're going through. I say going through, as throughout, Howard's stress is forced upon the audience through the combination of heart pumping sound, dizzy camera movement and fantastically delivered dialogue.
It took me a good hour to return to normal after I came out of this movie. If you haven't already, go and see it.
The Irishman (2019)
A Film for Idiots
After looking forward to this film for a long time, after 30 minutes I managed to see through my rose tinted spectacles and Scorsese, that this film is self indulgent, boring and 2 hours too long. A pretty simple plot is dragged out over the course of 3 and a half hours, fleshed out with mind numbing dialogue, which is only broken up with occasional 'jokes', which are just as the stupid as the audience for laughing at them.
Scorsese repeats pretty much everything in this film, from the performances of the actors, to the one liners, aswell as the camera moves. The steadicam loop that is used over and over again, gets nearly as boring as De Niro's performance as he uses the same expression for the 1000th time.
This film has Netflix producers written all over it. "Lets get Marty and De Niro back together again". I should have known better than to sit through this dross (only hoping it would get better) from De Niro's movie choices over the last few years. I'd rather watch meet the fockers, knowing full what im getting, rather than feel like I'd been sold a dead horse by Netflix under the pretence of some big names.
Please don't waste your time on this, it really is for idiots, evidenced by all the positive reviews on here. The emperors new clothes springs to mind...
The King (2019)
A fascinating study on masculinity
An impressive performance from Chalamet accompanied by an equally impressive Joel Edgerton makes for a fantastic story based around notions masculinity in the 15th century.
A reserved king who does not want chaos, but reform and peace, is slowly coerced into a battle he does not want to take part in.
Use of interesting but human camera movement, eerie sound design and ever so natural looking light immerses as much in battle scenes, as it does interior conversation scenes, summing up the mood and feeling of the time perfectly.
An engaging watch and does not feel too long, even at 2 hours 15. 8/10
Climax (2018)
An Attack On Morality
Noe does it again, with this exquisitely executed tale of human morality, psychology and chemistry.
With the use of inventive camera techniques to film dazzling dance sequences, we are brought into this insane world of hedonism, insest, abuse and excess. Fantastically lit with Noe's neon style, we are brought into the heat of this story through the spinning frames.
It was perhaps slightly too long with sequences that could have been cut shorter and some dialogue cut out to hide some of the slightly questionable acting. However this doesn't really seem to affect the film, as they are all on drugs, so their lacking of technique at times fits well.
Me and my friends left the cinema and couldn't talk for atleast 10 minutes, which tells you how much of an effect this film has on you!
Go and watch it, you'll probably learn something about humanity, and if not atleast something about great filmmaking!
Ignore the bad reviews, I expect they couldn't handle the psychological trauma and the bad ratings are a defence mechanism as they couldn't really comprehend the vision.
The Strange Thing About the Johnsons (2011)
Groundbreaking
For a debut short, they don't get much better than this. Original idea, well written, well acted, directed well and looked gorgeous shot on silky 16mm. Aswell as that the clothes and locations really summed up suburban america so well which really aided the storyline and made us really consider the idea of what goes on behind seemingly perfect closed doors...
I watched this after watching Midsommar and Hereditary and I now see the links in his work that has allowed him to go on from this to make even bigger and better films! Looking forward to the next feature from Aster!
Redcon-1 (2018)
Very Disappointing
I was trying really hard to like this film as I knew it was a Lancastrian who made it on a shoestring budget, hence the reason for it not being a 1 star rating that it might have been without the rose tinted glasses!
As soon as the first sequence started, which I mistakenly thought was a dramatic trailer for the film, I knew it wasn't going to be great.
As time ticked on, things got progressively worse, mostly down to the boring script and overacted cheesy dialogue. The bad make up and special effects didn't help the films credibility and the completely different colour grade scene to scene didn't help either. Some serious continuity issues too, but more so just common sense issues, like killing zombies with samurai swords when you've got a gun??
One of the only positives was the fight scenes though, as I did enjoy that this must be only of the only Kung Fu zombie movies out there!
Gräns (2018)
Refreshing Take On The Outsider
Rightfully nominated for an academy award for its fantastic make up, this film is a unique take on outsiders.
As an audience we question our moral judgement of the events taking place, finding ourselves both disgusted and endeared by the action.
A beautiful film not following the traditional format. I can't wait to see what Abassi does next.
In Fabric (2018)
Enjoyable & Engaging Throughout
This is a 2 hour long film but it really does fly by. With fantastic costumes, set design and an immersive score, we are enveloped by this new world of fabric and can't wait to see what happens next to the characters.
Peter Strickland has done it again with his fantastic use of sound to make us feel uncomfortably close to the action.
Not a typical horror but one that is scary in a range of other ways.
Midsommar (2019)
A brilliant piece of cinema
After seeing the trailer and being disappointed by some of A24's recent releases such as High Life & Gloria Bell, I wasn't too excited for Asters second feature.
Initially I was expecting my predisposed thoughts about the film to be true, with a slow start and some questionable dialogue. However starting with some fantastic camera work on the journey out to the festival, we are completely thrown into this new world, and before we know it we start to see the americans as the insane ones in the story.
Despite some dodgy prosthetics, the film is 100% immersive and through the use of a fantastic script, great direction and even better acting, we are taken through 2 and a half hours of the story before we even realise.
With a a beautiful ending to a fantastic film, it leaves us questioning our own understanding of community.