Movie Review: Frankie

Frankie ** ½ / *****

Directed by: Ira Sachs.

Written by: Ira Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias.

Starring: Isabelle Huppert (Françoise Crémont, AKA Frankie), Sennia Nanua (Maya Andoh), Ariyon Bakare (Ian Andoh), Vinette Robinson (Sylvia Andoh), Jérémie Renier (Paul Gagne), Brendan Gleeson (Jimmy), Pascal Greggory (Michel Gagne), Carloto Cotta (Tiago Mirante), Ana Brandão (Luciana), Marisa Tomei (Ilene), Greg Kinnear (Gary), Manuel Sá Nogueira (Pedro), Máximo Francisco (Bento), Joana Cunha Ferreira (Joana), Júlia Guerra (Ermelinda). 

 

The family has gathered is the picturesque Portugal town of Sintra – beautiful mountains, old churches, cobblestone streets, etc. – all because Frankie (Isabelle Huppert) is dying. She had cancer a few years ago, and now it has come back, and spread – she likely won’t last out the year, but while she still can, she wants everyone is one place for a nice vacation. That is the premise of Ira Sachs’ Frankie – a perfectly pleasant, if dramatically inert, film in which characters talk a lot, but nothing ever really gets said, nothing gets resolved, it all just gets pushed a little further down the road. In that way, I suppose, the film is much like life – except in life the dialogue isn’t as stilted, and your small problems really do feel like big ones because they’re yours. Here, even the big problems don’t seem to matter very much.

 

Sachs has assembled a terrific cast, so even if the film goes nowhere, it’s a pleasurable nowhere. Huppert is one of the greatest actresses alive, and here she is playing, well, one of the greatest actresses alive. She’s there with her husband Jimmy (Brendan Gleeson – a fine actor, who is given little to do but look glum), her son Paul (Jérémie Renier), who is an asshole, but not an interesting one. There’s also Jimmy’s daughter Sylvia (Vinette Robinson), her husband Ian (Ariyon Bakare), who she is, once again, thinking of divorcing, and their daughter Maya (Sennia Nanua), who smartly, gets away from the family for an afternoon romance at the beach. There’s also Frankie’s friend Ilene (Marisa Tomei) – a film hairdresser, who was working in Spain on the new Star Wars movie, who Frankie thinks would make a good match for Paul, unaware that Ilene would be showing up with Gary (Greg Kinnear). Oh, and Frankie’s first husband Michel (Pascal Greggory), who only realized after the divorce that he was gay. And a tour guide shows up for a while to talk about his own strained marriage.

 

Frankie unfolds at a very leisurely pace, and essentially what happens is that the different characters pair up at various times, and have very meaningful conversations – unless of course, the conversations are anything but. Some of the characters don’t even know each other, but that won’t stop them. They go around and around – talking around Frankie’s illness, more than they talk of it, hinting at plans, but not committing to any of them, etc. It’s all very pleasant for the most part – although many of the monologues, and there are quite a few, end up sounding stilted – either because the actor (or character) isn’t a native English speaker, or because they’re poorly written, or perhaps both.

 

The film ends up feeling small and inconsequential. I’m not saying that every movie has to feel like some massive statement on some important topic, but you kind of want to feel as if the director has something to say, something to impart. In this case though, it doesn’t really feel like it. It feels more like Sachs and co-writer Mauricio Zacharias, came up with this scenario, enjoyed the location, enjoyed the characters and the actors, and just decided to shoot it all. It does have a great final shot – but as it was playing, I kept wondering when Frankie would do something, anything – and it never quite does.

Movie Review: Minding the Gap

Minding the Gap (2018) **** ½ / *****

Directed by: Bing Liu.

 

It’s rare for any movie – maybe particularly a documentary – to sneak up on you and end up having a devastating impact on you. When Minding the Gap came out in 2018, I missed it – it played for a week in a theater near me, but I missed it then, and because it is a Hulu doc, it didn’t come to iTunes or other streaming platforms in Canada for a very long time (and it aired the same night as the Oscars on PBS Buffalo – and I missed it there as well). I certainly heard that this was the best documentary of the year – and yet, because I try to read as little as possible before seeing a film, I didn’t really know why. To me, it looked to be yet another skateboarding movie. Those can be good, surely, but how many GoPro shots of people skateboarding can you really watch before they become tiresome, boring and monotonous. When the film finally came to iTunes Canada last week, I jumped at the chance to see it because of that praise, but still, I don’t think I was prepared for what came next.

 

The documentary takes place in Rockford, Illinois – one of those stereotypical, sad American towns where the manufacturing jobs left – and then everything else did to. The people who stayed don’t have much money, don’t have good jobs, and don’t have very many prospects. The film concentrates on three different kids – Zack Mulligan, a white kid in his early 20s, Keire Johnson, an African American teenager a few years younger, and Bing Liu, who directed the film as well, an Asian American probably closer to Zack’s age. The film follows all three over the span of a year or two – and the changes they go through, and really dives into who each of the three of them were.

 

On the surface, these three – and the rest of the kids in the movie – don’t have all that much in common – with the exception of skateboarding. Al three of them don’t just like skateboarding – they love it. They love spending hours either in the skate park, or on the streets, working on their tricks – and when they aren’t doing that, they are hanging out at someone’s house, drinking beer, smoking pot, and acting like the young idiots they are. Is only gradually that you start to sense that all three of them are harboring some dark emotions – buried under all that young male bravado, are three young men who are hurting. The movie never comes out and states it, but it becomes clear that perhaps the reason all of them love skateboarding so much is because it allows them an escape – they need to get out of the house, and concentrate on something that isn’t their home life.

 

What emerges is a portrait of American life for the lower middle class, and the struggle of these young men to become adults, to define who they are in the world – a task made more difficult by strained relationships with parents, and a society who teaches young men to be tough – to bottle up their feelings, which only ever results in them exploding into anger and violence.

 

These changes come gradually. The maturation process is thrust upon Zack when he gets his girlfriend, Nina, pregnant – and they decide to have and raise the baby. Zack is all smiles, all charm and hope for the future with the camera in his face, but once the baby comes, he isn’t really able to complete that process. For her part, Nina is pretty much not given a choice – women never are – and must grow up and be a parent, even with a tough relationship with her own parents, although a supportive Aunt and Uncle show what a family can be. Zack likes to play the victim – which becomes harder to do when we start to find out from Nina some of the disturbing things going on when the cameras aren’t present. By the end of the film, Zack at least seems to grasp his mistakes, but you’re unsure if he can really correct them. Keire also had a hard relationship with his father – a carpenter who wanted to teach his son his trade, but Keire rebelled against that. What may seem like a typical story of teenage rebellion is harder because Keire’s father died before they could really patch things up – something that haunts him. For Bing, he only gradually reveals his own pain – an abusive stepfather, and a mother who feels a lot of regret for what happened. She is clearly uncomfortable being interviewed – but perhaps feels she owes it to her son to do it anyway. Keire’s mother isn’t much more comfortable at that either.

 

One of the producers of the film is Steve James – the director of many great documentaries, including Hoop Dreams, his masterpiece, and one of the best docs of all time. Minding the Gap is that rare documentary that really earns comparisons to Hoop Dreams. That film was about basketball, but not really. This film is about skateboarding – but not really. It’s about so much more than that – and is easily, one of the very best documentaries in recent years.

Classic Movie Review: The King of Marvin Gardens (1972)

The King of Marvin Gardens (1972) 

Directed by: Bob Rafelson.

Written by: Jacob Brackman and Bob Rafelson.

Starring: Jack Nicholson (David Staebler), Bruce Dern (Jason Staebler), Ellen Burstyn (Sally), Julia Anne Robinson (Jessica), Scatman Crothers (Lewis), Charles LaVine (Grandfather), Arnold Williams (Rosko), John P. Ryan (Surtees), Sully Boyar (Lebowitz), Josh Mostel (Frank). 

 

For his follow-up to Five Easy Pieces, director Bob Rafelson once again teamed up with Jack Nicholson to make the very odd The King of Marvin Gardens. This time, he moved to the other end of the country – from California and Washington state, to Atlantic City – but once again he finds emptiness, dreamers daring to dream, but with no hope of it coming true. This is the dark side of the American Dream – to the America where you can be whatever you want to be in theory, although it never works out in practice.

 

Nicholson plays David in the film – and uncharacteristically for Nicholson, he is an introvert – someone who never flashes that famous smile, or show off that famous charm. Rafelson initially didn’t want Nicholson for the role – thinking he was wrong for the part – but Nicholson convinced him, and was right. The film opens with what may be the film’s best scene – a long take of Nicholson telling a story from his childhood, about he, his brother and his grandfather – a story we will only know in time is not entirely true. David is a late night radio host – a storyteller, telling these long, depressing stories in a subdued voice. The brother he mentions in the story – and who he hasn’t seen in two years, Jason (Bruce Dern) calls him up and tells him to leave Philadelphia for Atlantic City – he’s got an idea for them that cannot fail. Despite the fact that David knows this isn’t true, he doesn’t hesitate – he goes to Atlantic City.

 

There really isn’t much going on there though. This is the winter, the off-season for Atlantic City, and this is a few years before they legalized gambling. It was the inspiration for Monopoly though – and Rafelson references the game throughout, moving through locations like squares on a board. He plays with the geography as well – sometimes within the same scene (the camera looks one way and the background is miles away from what the camera sees when it looks the other way). Jason’s get rich quick scheme involves hotels in Hawaii – and he is sure he can make it all work, when he gets some Japanese businessmen to buy in. Until then though, Jason and David spend their days hanging out with two women – Sally (Ellen Burstyn) and her stepdaughter Jessica (Julia Ann Robinson) – both of whom are kind of Jason’s girlfriend, although he seems to be trying to bribe David into sticking around with Jessica.

 

Dern’s Jason is the opposite of Nicholson’s David – he is a bundle of energy; he never stops scheming or talking. He is the driving force behind everything in the movie – and we get the sense that he’s got scams going that we don’t even know about – he certainly has some going on with Lewis (Scatman Crothers), who gives David a far different portrait of their relationship than Jason does. This is a classic kind of Dern performance – the kind he does better than just about anyone.

 

The film has more surreal touches that Five Easy Pieces – which had none. Odd scenes like Nicholson and Dern on the beach with horses, or the famous faked Miss America pageant, with Nicholson playing host, Robinson playing beauty queen, Burstyn on the organ, and Dern the crowd. It’s odd to see what is usually large, bustling pageantry, divorced from all of that – it’s empty and echoing, the characters play acting. It’s the only time in the film Nicholson smiles – and it echoes the final scene in the movie, which is a reminder of happier times for the brothers.

 

The two women in the movie are fascinating in their way as well. This was Burstyn coming off her first Oscar nominated role – and really her breakthrough in her late 30s in The Last Picture Show (1971), and the young Robinson’s only real film role (she would die, tragically, a couple years later). Burstyn is the older character, but in many ways she is much more immature. She is certainly more insecure – which is what leads to the scene late in the movie which is probably much more accurate a representation of how people end up shot than we normally see. For her youth, Jessica also has more perspective – and in her way, tries to push away David- she knows he isn’t right for whatever Jason is up to.

 

The King of Marvin Gardens was not the success Five Easy Pieces was when it was released in 1972 – many critics hated it, and it didn’t set the box office on fire either. But it has gradually become a cult film – for its weirdness, for its depiction of America, for the great performances at its core – by three people who would go onto to become some of the best actors of their generation, and a fourth who never got that chance. It’s a trickier film than Five Easy Pieces – and no, it is not as good. But it’s a great film in its own right as well.

Ranking the Decade's Palme D'Or Winners

The Cannes film festival can have its own problems – but when you compare it to the Oscars, at the very least, they usually pick better winners. Yes, this decade all 10 Palme D’or winners were directed by men (although, in one case, the director shared it with his two female co-stars) – but they can come from all over the world – and at the very least, they’re interesting films that win. Not always great, but interesting. So here’s the ranking of the decade’s Palme D’or winners.

 

 

10. I, Daniel Blake (Ken Loach, 2016) – There are few things more predictable than the new Ken Loach film being in the Cannes competition lineup – he had four just this decade – unless it’s that for the most part, the film will be forgotten relatively soon after its release. I, Daniel Blake is perhaps the best film of this decade (Sorry We Missed You, which played last year, has opened here yet) – but it’s still a rather predictable Loach effort, about the effects on the poor in England of uncaring government bureaucracy. The one thing about the movie that is great is newcomer Hayley Squires performance. The rest is fine – quite good even – but hardly great. And in a year that was so strong, it’s disappointing the George Miller led jury felt the need to give Loach a second Palme (after 2008’s The Wind That Shakes the Barley).

Great Films in Competition: American Honey (Andrea Arnold) was for me, a major step forward for the great filmmaker, coming to what was about to be Trump’s America and seeing it clearly from an outsider’s perspective. Elle (Paul Verhoeven) was the Dutch maverick’s attempt to piss everyone off – he succeeded brilliantly, with a controversial, incendiary film, and a great performance by Isabelle Huppert. Graduation (Cristian Mungiu) was the Romanian version of the college admission scandal before there was one – and a darkly comic masterclass of one. The Handmaiden (Park Chan-wook) is the most beautiful and ambitious film of Korean master Park Chan-wook’s career – and perhaps his best film. Paterson (Jim Jarmusch) is my favorite Jim Jarmusch film, a beautiful, subtle, perceptive film about poetry and normal life. Personal Shopper (Olivier Assayas) was Assayas building an entire film around text messages, and Kristen Stewart, and pulling it off brilliantly. Toni Erdman (Maren Ade) was the biggest, boldest, tragicomedy of the decade – a three-hour comedy about fathers and daughters, and globalization and so much more.

And the Winner Should Have Been: I don’t want to choose – it is a shame that Cannes mainstay Jarmusch has never won the Palme D’or (at least for features – he won one for one of the shorts in Coffee & Cigarettes in the shorts section) – and Paterson is my favorite of his films, and probably, my favorite of this festival. And yet, I think Toni Erdmann would have been the better choice – a massively ambitious film, one that goes for broke, features two amazing central performances, and is every bit as much of a masterpiece than anything that could have won. The fact that they both walked away with nothing for the jury should be embarrassing for all involved.

 

9. Dheepan (Jacques Audiard, 2015) – This seems like an example of the jury – headed by the Coen brothers – giving the Palme to a director who was considered “due” at the time, so they gave it to Audiard’s revenge film, with so real world importance layered onto it considering immigration in France. It isn’t Audiard’s best film – but I feel it has somehow gotten underrated over the years – probably because it didn’t really need to win the Palme, but it is an excellent, exciting film – expertly crafted by Audiard – with some great performances as well. He hasn’t done much since – just one American film, The Sisters Brothers, which was fine, but didn’t really hit either. This is a very good film – not Palme worthy – but very good.

Other Great Films in Competition: This really was a strong competition lineup this year. The Assassin (Hsiao-Hsein Hou) is a martial arts film as only he can make it – and one of the most stunningly beautiful films you will ever see. Carol (Todd Haynes) is one of Haynes best, most beautiful films – and one of the great romantic films of the decade. The Lobster (Yorgos Lanthimos) is a masterclass is deadpan comedy and storytelling (honestly, I’m amazed the Coens didn’t go crazy for this one) – and one of the best acted films you will ever see, so completely in control of the film. Mountains May Depart (Jia Zhangke) is not quite the best of Jia Zhangke’s films this decade – but it is a stunning, beautiful multigenerational film about life in modern China – and into the future. Sicario (Denis Villeneuve) is just about as great of a mainstream, Hollywood genre film can be – exciting, amazingly well acted, and scripted, and amazing direction by Villeneuve. Son of Saul (Laszalo Nemes) is an emotional powerhouse – and perhaps the only recent film with a truly unique take on the Holocaust – focused solely on one character, blurring the reality behind him – brilliantly directed by Nemes, in his first film.

And the Winner Should Have Been: For me personally, I would take either Carol or The Lobster as the winner here – as both are among the very best films of the decade. We know they like to reward loyalty though – and it was only Haynes’ second film in competition, and Lanthimos’ first (probably why Son of Saul didn’t break through either). So on that level, why not give the top prize to The Assassin as Hsiao-Hsien as been a fixture of Cannes for decades.

 

8. Blue is the Warmest Color (Abdellatif Kechiche and Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux, 2013) – Blue is the Warmest Color has suffered a major downgrade in its critical reputation since it’s win – when director Kechiche’s abusive, exploitative behavior has come to light, and his subsequent films have not been well received. What I will say is that I understand the criticisms – and it’s certainly a male gaze film – and yet it is raw and emotional and beautiful in its own way – and the Steven Spielberg led jury was correct in awarding both Exarchopoulos and Seydoux in the win as well. Perhaps I don’t like it as much as I did then – but it’s a very good film.

Other Great Films in Competition: This really wasn’t the best year for Cannes – but the great films in competition really was great. Inside Llewyn Davis (Joel & Ethan Coen) was my choice for best film of the decade, and it may just be the Coens best film ever, and deserved all the love it could get. Like Father, Like Son (Hirokazu Koreeda) isn’t the best film by Japanese master Hirokazu Koreeda, but it’s close, and a very emotional film to boot. Nebraska (Alexander Payne) is probably Payne’s best film next to Election – a wonderful father/son story, shot in beautiful black and white. Only Loves Left Alive (Jim Jarmusch) is one of Jarmusch’s best films – an old man’s film, about the passing of time – but one that doesn’t do well at festivals, because it needs time to grow. A Touch of Sin (Jia Zhangke) is my favorite Jia Zhangeke film – a number of stories about random violence in China – done in different styles by China’s best director.

And the Winner Should Have Been: Obviously, I think Inside Llewyn Davis should have won this one – it was the best of the decade – and the Coens have been around long enough that having two Palmes would not seem like too much (since their only other Palme was way back in 1991 with Barton Fink). I also wish that Jia Zhangke and Jim Jarmusch should have a Palme as well – and would have been fine with either of them winning.

 

7. The Square (Ruben Ostlund, 2017) – Ostlund’s epic art world satire is the kind of film that lashes out in all different directions for nearly three hours, with a brilliant performance by Claes Bang to hold it all together. Does it all work – probably not – but I love it anyway, as its so weird, so one-of-a-kind – and so much fun – which isn’t always something you associate with a Palme D’or winner. Still waiting for him to follow it up with something though. The Pedro Almodovar led jury had many choices, so I’m not sure why they went here, but it’s a decent choice.

Other Great Films in Competition: Really a strong year this year. The Beguiled (Sofia Coppola) was an entirely different take on the same story Don Siegel/Clint Eastwood told decades before. Good Time (Benny & Joshua Safdie) is the most energetic, propulsive thriller of the decade, with a great Robert Pattinson performance at its core. The Killing of a Sacred Deer (Yorgos Lanthimos) isn’t quite as good as The Lobster – but is a disturbing allegory that only Lanthimos could make. Loveless (Andrey Zvyagintsev) is perhaps not quite as good as Leviathan – but is an emotional powerhouse about the inhumanity of modern Russia. The Meyerowtiz Stories (Noah Baumbach) is one of Baumbach’s best – a funny, emotional, family story with some great performances. Okja (Bong Joon-ho) is Bong lashing out in many different directions, most of them brilliantly. You Were Never Really Here (Lynne Ramsay) is a revenge thriller in the Taxi Driver mold, but completely stripped of all the excess plot stuff that isn’t needed – to produce something completely unique.

And the Winner Should Have Been: While this was a strong year this year, I am struck that I’m not sure any of the talented directors listed above made their best film this year. The best, for me, was Good Time – but that doesn’t strike me as a Palme winner for directors that young. My choice would have been one that the jury clearly loved – as they gave it two prize – You Were Never Really Here – which would have been a statement to be sure.

 

6. Uncle Boonme Who Can Reclass His Past Lives (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2010) – Clearly the weakest year for the Official Competition of the decade – that was probably needed for the Tim Burton led jury to go with something this weird to win the top prize. Burton probably had a soft spot for the weirdness, for the low-budget special effects as the type of think he did great years ago, but has abandoned for years now. All that said, I think it’s wonderful that a filmmaker as idiosyncratic as Apichatpong Weerasetheakul winning the most prestigious prize in film.

Other Great Films in Competition: As I said, a pretty weak year, although there is a trio of great films in play. Another Year (Mike Leigh) is one of my absolute favorite Mike Leigh films – a film about a couple, and then friend group, over the span of a few years – with a heartbreaking performance by Lesley Manville. Certified Copy (Abbas Kiarostami) may just be my favorite Abbas Kiarostami film – a one-of-a-kind throwback to art house cinema of yesteryear, with two great performances at its core. Poetry (Lee Chang-dong) isn’t the film that Secret Sunshine or Burning is – but is still a masterwork by Korean master Lee Chang-dong, a sensitive study of an elderly woman, slowly sinking into Alzheimer’s, and taking a poetry class to hold on – and ignore the horrible thing her grandson did.

And the Winner Should Have Been: Personally, I think Certified Copy was the best film here, and I think Lee Chang-dong should be a Palme winner – but considering Kiarostami is a Palme winner (as is Leigh) – I think they probably made the right choice going with Uncle Boonme Who Can Recall His Past Lives – if for no other reason, then because people will continue to marvel at its weirdness.

 

5. Shoplifters (Hirokazu Koreeda, 2018) – This is probably Hirokazu Koreeda’s best film to date – and it’s a great career – a beautiful portrait of an adopted family of thieves, who have their lives upturned when their ways are discovered. Hirokazu has always been great at delivering portraits of family, and the underclass in Japan, and he does so brilliantly here – in an understated way, that clearly the Cate Blanchett led jury responded to. It’s hard to argue that Koreeda deserves a Palme – he’s been a fixture at Cannes for 20 years, and hadn’t won yet, so it was his time.

Other Great Films in Competition: It was a very strong year at Cannes though. BlackKklansman (Spike Lee) was the incendiary directors best film in years – a look back at America’s racist past, and a fuck you to its racist present, all wrapped in an entertaining package. Burning (Lee Chang-dong) was the film that made North American people finally realize what a master filmmaker Korean auteur Lee Chang-dong is, a masterclass thriller, with an ambiguous ending. Cold War (Pawel Pawlikowski) is a great looking, black and white love story, that builds its devastating portrait in under 90 minutes. Under the Silver Lake (David Robert Mitchell) is a difficult, neo noir set in L.A., which goes in many different directions, brilliantly, in its portrait of an asshole privileged “detective”. The Wild Pear Tree (Nuri Bilge Ceylon) is not Ceylon’s best film – but it’s still a wonderful one, a portrait of a young writer who thinks he’s a genius, and is brought low when it becomes clear he isn’t one (yet, anyway).

And the Winner Should Have Been: It’s hard to argue against Koreeda, a very deserving filmmaker, but for my money the clear winner should have been Burning – which was ignored by the jury, but was the best, most profound film in the running this year – and one of the very best of the decade.

 

4. Winter Sleep (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2014) – Turkish master Nuri Bilge Ceylon had been a fixture at Cannes for years before he finally won the Palme for his epic, three-hour-fourteen minute film about a man who believes he is beloved, and slowly realizes that he is asshole. For me, it’s not quite the masterpiece that Once Upon a Time in Anatolia was, but it’s close – an intimate epic where the main character sees himself as a magnanimous rich man, who over the course of the movie discovers what everyone else thinks of him. Ceylan was bound to win one of these eventually – and the Jane Campion led jury finally gave him one. It is a great film – and a fine choice for the win.

Other Great Films in Competition: It was a fairly good year for Cannes in 2014. Among the other fine films were: Clouds of Sils Maria (Olivier Assayas) my personal favorite of his films, a portrait of an actress and her assistant in the remote house going over their lines, whose identities begin to merge. Foxcatcher (Bennett Miller) is a slow motion horror film, where you see tragedy coming, and are powerless to stop it – with three great performances by Steve Carrel Mark Ruffalo and especially Channing Tatum at its core. Leviathan (Andrey Zvyagintsev) is a terrific film about the inhumane bureaucracy in Putin’s Russia – a brave film, and the best one by Zvyagintsev to date. Mr. Turner (Mike Leigh) is perhaps Leigh’s most beautiful film – a film that looks like its subject’s art work, with a wonderful performance by Timothy Spall. Two Days, One Night (Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne) is one of the Dardenne brothers best films – a portrait of a woman who has to convince her co-workers to let her keep her job, and doesn’t have much time to do so, with a brilliant performance by Marion Cottilard.

And the Winner Should Have Been: I could probably be convinced that Clouds of Sils Maria, Leviathan or Two Days, One Night were all better than Winter Sleep – but it’s so close, and I’m such a fan of Ceylan, that I think Winter Sleep is probably the right choice.

 

3. Parasite (Bong Joon-ho, 2019) – Bong Joon-ho’s masterpiece became the first film since 1955’s Marty to win both the Best Picture Oscar, and the Palme D’or, and its very worthy winner of both. Bong had been to Cannes several times over the year, and didn’t ever get the big win – but his masterpiece of class warfare was undeniable for the Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu led jury to ignore. It became the film of the year, and they were ahead of the curve.

Other Great Films in Competition: It was a pretty good year – and there are still a few left to hit theaters over here. Atlantics (Mati Diop) was a haunting film about colonialism and sexism, with a strange ghost story. A Hidden Life (Terrence Malick) was Malik’s best film since his Palme winning A Hidden Life – a beautiful film about standing up for you believe, consequences be damned. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino) is Tarantino’s masterwork – a tribute to old school Hollywood, and a film that gives justice to victims of horrific violence in what was Tarantino’s most moving film. Pain & Glory (Pedro Almodovar) was Almodovar’s thinly veiled self-portrait, and his best film in years. Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Celine Sciamma) is an incredibly romantic, sexy, love story about love, lust, desire and art.

And the Winner Should Have Been: While I can think it’s a shame that Pedro Almodovar has never won the Palme, or would have loved to see Celine Sciamma win for her incredible film, or even think that Tarantino’s film was my favorite in competition – I find it impossible to really think something other than Parasite should have won.

 

2. Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012) – For a long time, Michael Haneke was one of those filmmakers who was always in the conversation for the Palme – but could never win. And then, in the span of four years, he won twice – first for The White Ribbon, and then for Amour – both are masterworks, but Amour is one of his very best films (second next only to Cache for me). Haneke’s film about growing old, and the ravages it inflicts on the body, is merciless and cruel – and hugely emotionally, acted to perfection and directed with Haneke’s typical cold brilliance. This was really the end of Haneke as a great filmmaker (so far anyway) as he’s only made one film since, and its not one of his best (although it’s not as bad as its reputation suggests it is). You know they don’t like to give two Palmes so close together to the same director, but the Tim Roth led jury could not resist.

Other Great Films in Competition: This was a fairly solid year for Cannes as well. Beyond the Hills (Cristian Mungiu) is a haunting film, which like is Palme winning 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, is about two women in a difficult situation., Cosmopolis (David Cronenberg) is Cronenberg’s last great film – and I love it no matter what some people say. Holy Motors (Leos Carax) is Carax’s best film, a film that lashes out in many different directions, all brilliantly. Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson) is very close to top tier Anderson – a wonderful adolescent fantasy that quietly moves you. Mud (Jeff Nichols) was the real start of the McConaughsance, and is one of Jeff Nichols best films – a kind of Southern Gothic fairy tale. Post Tenebras Lux (Carlos Reygadas) is the very strange film from Carlos Reygadas, who for better or for worse, makes films only he can make.

And the Winner Should Have Been: I loved many of those other films, and yet Amour still stands heads and shoulders above the rest of the them, and was the right choice.

 

1. The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick, 2011) – It has been rumored that the head of the Cannes Festival told Robert DeNiro, the head of the jury, that it would be embarrassing for them if Malik’s The Tree of Life didn’t win (he meant the jury, not Cannes itself). Whether or true or not, it is correct – it would have been embarrassing to see something as ambitious, from a filmmaker as celebrated as Malick, had something else won. It may never be a popular audience film, but who cares – it is a masterful film by Malick, a combination of the epic and the intimate as only he could do it – the pinnacle of his masterful career – and one of the great winners of the Palme ever.

Other Great Films in Competition: This really was a very strong year for Cannes. Drive (Nicolas Winding Refn) is the film he was born to make – a violent fairy tale, done to perfection. Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai (Takashi Miike) may be the last time I truly loved a Miike film – a great remake of a masterpiece. Le Havre (Aki Kaurismaki) is an emotional film, and one that seems to have seen the immigration crisis coming earlier than most, and treated it with humanity. The Kid with a Bike (Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne) is one of those oh-hum, another masterpiece by the Dardennes, that at the time we all took for granted. Melancholia (Lars von Trier) is half a masterpiece – as the first half is as good as anything I saw this decade, but whose second half doesn’t quite live up to it. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Nuri Bilge Ceylon) is Ceylon’s best film – a brilliant procedural about no matter how close you look, you can never quite see the truth. We Need to Talk About Kevin (Lynne Ramsay) is a film that only gradually has become seen as the great film it is – a masterclass of visual storytelling by Ramsay, showing everything, why remaining mysterious.

And the Winner Should Have Been: Hey, I loved several of these films, but it really is no contest – The Tree of Life – was the winner and should have been.

Movie Review: Bacurau

Bacurau **** / *****

Directed by: Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles.

Written by: Juliano Dornelles and Kleber Mendonça Filho.

Starring: Udo Kier (Michael), Sônia Braga (Domingas), Karine Teles (Forasteira), Barbara Colen (Teresa), Chris Doubek (Willy), Alli Willow (Kate), Jonny Mars (Terry), Julia Marie Peterson (Julia), Brian Townes (Joshua), Thomas Aquino (Pacote), Antonio Saboia (Forasteiro), Silvero Pereira (Lunga), Edilson Silva (Robson), Wilson Rabelo (Plinio), James Turpin (Jake), Thardelly Lima (Tony Jr), Luciana Souza (Isa), Lia de Itamaracá (Carmelita), Suzy Lopes (Luciene), Clebia Sousa (Angela), Uirá dos Reis (Raolino), Rubens Santos (Erivaldo), Black Jr. (DJ Urso), Danny Barbosa (Darlene), Charles Hodges (Bob), Buda Lira (Claudio), Zoraide Coleto (Madame), Márcio Fecher (Flavio), Ingrid Trigueiro (Deisy), Valmir do Côco (Bidé), Fabiola Liper (Nelinha), Rodger Rogério (Carranca), Eduarda Samara (Madalena), Val Junior (Maciel), Jamila Facury (Sandra), Carlos Francisco (Damiano).

 

There is something off about Bacurau right from the start of the movie – but you only gradually come to realize what it is. The film is set in a small, isolated rural community in Brazil, and is set, as it says, sometime in the near future. The film opens with a doctor, Teresa (Barbara Colen), returning to her hometown of Bacurau, presumably to attend the funeral of her grandmother – but also to deliver medical supplies. For a while, the film feels like it is going to be a sprawling portrait of this community – and the eccentrics who reside in it – like Domingas (Sonia Braga), the local doctor, who gets drunk before the funeral, and says some inappropriate things. And for a while, that is just what Bacurau is. Then the film slowly starts adding in new layers – the corrupt mayor who comes to town, and is clearly hated (rightfully so) – as Bacurau has become a dry wasteland because of a dam the mayor approved – and even his outreach efforts of food aren’t really that appreciated, because the food is expired. He’s there to exploit the people and the land – made explicit when he leaves town with one of the towns young prostitutes. And then Udo Kier as a German-American businessman shows up – and if there’s one thing you never want to happen in a movie you’re in, it’s to have Udo Kier show up. Things are not going to go well after that.

 

div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"> Bacurau, which was directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho (Neighboring Sounds, Aquarius) and his normal production designer Juliano Dornelles, contains wild shifts of tone and genre throughout. I’m sure you could complain about the inconsistency, but that would also mean you would be complaining about the fun. The film owes a huge debt to John Carpenter in terms of it style as it moves along, and becomes a genre film – and those other types of films of the 1970s and 1980s. It’s also perhaps the film Eli Roth he was making (twice) with the Hostel films, and failing miserably both times. And yet, strangely, it’s still a film that you can see the filmmaker behind Neighboring Sounds and Aquarius in – he’s just turned up the genre heat this time around.

 

And the filmmakers are smart about how they do transition things. It isn’t as simple as to say the film starts as an ethnographic film about this community, then turns into a brutally violent revisionist Western. Things are off from the start – the coffins that Teresa and the driver have to dodge on their way to town, the drug she is given as soon as she gets there. It’s just that the genre elements gather more and more as the film moves along – first with the introduction of a UFO shaped drone, accompanying a couple of brightly dressed bikers, who say they are tourists from Sao Paolo. And then, shortly, as the American characters are introduced. These Americans may be the films weak point – they are one note to be sure, the ugliest of Ugly Americans, and yet in Trump’s America, they don’t seem all that much like caricatures. They are as privileged as they can get, and don’t bother to see anyone else as human – one even going so far as to earnestly ask for help for someone she just tried to kill.

 

Like Neighboring Sounds and Aquarius, the film is about the fight between the past and the future – between those who want to hold on, and those who want to bulldoze over top of them. This time though, the fight is very literal. And that fight gets brutal and bloody – and of course, hugely entertaining. Yet Bacurau never loses site of the cost of this fight either. The film works as well as it does because even if the American invaders are one note, the villagers of Bacurau are not – and the film has a real sense of community, and rallying together. It needed those early scenes. It makes everything that happens later hit all that much harder in this warped, bloody, entertaining, disturbing genre fusion.

Ranking the Decade's Best Supporting Actress Oscar Winners

A fairly solid list – not a great one, but up and down, it’s pretty good – even the two winners I was not a fan of went to deserving actresses, with wonderful resumes, even if they weren’t for my favorite roles of theirs.

 

10. Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl (2015) – I really do love Alicia Vikander, and in 2015 had she won an Oscar for her amazing performance in Ex Machina, then she would be MUCH higher on this list. But her role in The Danish Girl doesn’t give her much to do other than cry – which she does well, and she is the best thing in the movie. But it shouldn’t be her story – and the whole movie feels off kilter because of it. She is as good as she could be – it’s just not a role that should have won.

Who Should Have Won (of the Nominees): Even though she should have been nominated for Lead Actress, easily the best performance nominated this year was Rooney Mara in Carol – who is absolutely brilliant in that role, and should have walked away with this easy.

 

9. Octavia Spencer, The Help (2011) – I love Octavia Spencer as an actress, and I love the fact that she went from working actress to Oscar winner in one swoop, and she hasn’t let go of it since – delivering one great performance after another, and picking up a few other nominations (even if her best performance, in Luce, didn’t get nominated). This is a broad performance to be sure – but also has moments of emotional power. I don’t really like the film – but it’s hard to bash her performance in it – it’s just not an Oscar caliber role.

Who Should Have Won (of the Nominees): This wasn’t my favorite year for nominees – so out of what they picked, I’d go with Melissa McCarthy for Bridesmaids – which is the kind of performance that is legendary, but never wins.

 

8. Melissa Leo, The Fighter (2010) – Leo is one of those great character actresses – so good on TV shows like Homicide: Life on the Streets – who didn’t get a movie break until late. Here, playing the profane mother of the central pair of brothers in a boxing movie, Leo goes fully over the top – for the most part brilliantly. Personally, I liked the also nominated Amy Adams in the same film, but Leo is great.

Who Should Have Won (of the Nominees): Although she was the lead, I absolutely loved Hailee Steinfeld in True Grit – who really makes that film. If they wanted to go with a mother, there was Jacki Weaver in Animal Kingdom – who is even better.

 

7. Laura Dern, Marriage Story (2019) – Dern has been one of my favorite actresses for a long time, and while I would have loved to see her win an Oscar for one of performances in David Lynch films (her work in Inland Empire in particular is brilliant) – her performance in Marriage Story is excellent as a divorce lawyer, who can be both compassionate and ruthless. Is it a little bit of a lifetime achievement award for an actress on a hot streak? Yes, but a deserving one.

Who Should Have Won (of the Nominees): My opinion on what should have been nominated this year was very far away from the Academy’s, so Dern was probably the right choice – but I did love Florence Pugh in Little Women as well.

 

6. Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables (2012) – I kind of think that Hathaway’s win, which was preordained at the time, has been come to seen as not as not earned – this really does seem to be where people turned on her. The film itself is a missed bag, strangely directed by Tom Hooper – but Hathaway nails her scenes that she needs to, and then gets out of there before things get weird. It is a great performance – and has somehow become underrated over the years.

Who Should Have Won (of the Nominees): I know a lot of people (who didn’t love the film) didn’t understand how Amy Adams got nominated for The Master – but it’s such a controlled, subtle performance where she absolutely commands and controls the entire action of her husband. It is a brilliant performance by Adams – and deserved to win.

 

5. Allison Janney, I, Tonya (2017) – Allison Janney is one of those actresses who is clearly beloved by her peers – just look at all those Emmys she’s won over the years. And that love is warranted – Janney is always terrific, and is often a scene stealer. The movies haven’t been as good to her as TV – but in I, Tonya she has a role that allows her to pull out all the stops, chew the scenery, and be brilliant – and she doesn’t let the opportunity pass her by. She is wonderful.

Who Should Have Won (of the Nominees): Many people wanted another TV veteran – Laurie Metcalf – win for Lady Bird, and that would have been a better choice. But my favorite was Lesley Manville in Phantom Thread – who is so brilliant, so quiet, so subtle, and devastatingly hilarious.

 

4. Viola Davis, Fences (2016) – Denzel Washington is smart enough as a performer – and director – that he knew full well he needed someone as good as he is to hold her own in Fences – because he was going to be all sorts of great. Davis, as his long suffering wife, is every bit as good as Washington – even better – and she goes toe-to-toe with Washington, and more than holds her own. This is a devastating, intense performance by one of the best.

Who Should Have Won (of the Nominees): There is basically one scene that Michelle Williams has in Manchester by the Sea which is among the best pieces of acting I have ever seen – and reminds you why she is one of the very best actresses in the world, and should have an Oscar by now – and for this.

 

3. Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)- Regina King is one of those actresses who is terrific in everything – from TV to movies, and everything in between, King is never less than a compelling screen presence, and often the best things about her projects. In Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk, she delivers a beautiful, emotional subtle, sensitive performance as a dedicated mother, who will do anything for her kids. She is a portrait of motherly love, second to none, and a wonderful performance.

Who Should Have Won (of the Nominees): King really was the best of the nominees – and by quite a bit – as much as I liked the duo from The Favourite and Marina de Tavira from Roma.

 

2. Patricia Arquette, Boyhood (2014) – This is the performance that really kicked off a renaissance for Arquette, and deservedly so, as she really is great in this film – the mother, who has to pull herself together for the kids, and then is left alone when they get their own lives. It is an honest, down-to-earth performance by Arquette – and she nails it. The fact that she finds this consistency over the course of the decade is even more remarkable.

Who Should Have Won (of the Nominees): Arquette was really the best one nominated this year – and by quite a margin.

 

1. Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave (2013) – Once in a while, an actress comes out of seemingly nowhere to deliver one of the best performances you can imagine – and Nyong’o in 12 Years a Slave is an example of that. As the “favorite” slave of an abusive – sexually, physically, emotionally – slave owner, Nyong’o performance is devastating and emotional, and a remarkable physical performance to boot. This made her a star – and deserved to – and she’s become one of the best actresses working.

Who Should Have Won (of the Nominees): Nyong’o really was the best of the nominees this year – even if I love Sally Hawkins in Blue Jasmine or June Squibb in Nebraska.

Movie Review: The Wild Goose Lake

The Wild Goose Lake *** / *****

Directed by: Yi'nan Diao.

Written by: Yi'nan Diao.

Starring: Ge Hu (Zenong Zhou), Lun-Mei Kwei (Aiai Liu), Fan Liao (Captain Liu), Regina Wan (Shujun Yang), Dao Qi (Hua Hua), Jue Huang (Yan Ge), Yicong Zhang (Xiao Dongbei), Chloe Maayan (Ping Ping).

 

After two films, it is clear that Chinese filmmaker Yi’nan Diao is a gifted stylist – with noir being his primary interest. Like his first film, Black Coal, Thin Ice, his long awaited for follow-up The Wild Goose Lake is visually striking through – especially in the early stages, where Diao leans heavily on those noirs influences. Also like his last film, The Wild Goose Lake shows that narrative is no Diao’s strong suit – not even something he’s all that interested in, which is odd because The Wild Goose Lake’s plot is overly complicated and hard to follow, even though it’s clear that Diao’s interest is in the staging, not the storytelling. After that promising opening, the film drags a little in its second act, coming around for a fine (if drawn out) climax. It convinced me that while I will continue to watch anything Diao makes because his films look so good, I do wish he would get a screenwriter.

 

The film stars Ge Hu as Zenong Zhou. When the film opens, ex-con Zhou is working for a large crew of gangster who divide up the area to steal motorbikes – and a rival crew wants the area Zhou has been given, the whole thing leading to a fight, a shooting, a competition, a beheading, and finally Zhou killing a cop. He is identified quickly as the suspect – and a large reward placed on his head. Zhou has no intention of getting away – he knows he will be caught. All he wants is to find a way to ensure that his estranged wife (and son) get the reward money. Thus follows a way too complicated plot where Zhou hides out in the crime ridden title town, and teams up with a prostitute, Aiai Liu (Lun-Mei Kwei) to try and get the money – all while being pursued by cops and criminals alike.

 

The film looks great in those opening scenes – the scenes of the quick gang war that leads to the cop shooting are a wonderful play between dark and neon, and the scenes where Zhou and Liu first meet are classic rain soaked noir stylistics. Diao clearly knows what he’s doing. And that continues throughout the film – where Diao is far more interested in visual storytelling than anything else. The film can be graphically, and over-the-top in its violence – the previously mentioned beheading has nothing on what happens late in the film featuring an umbrella – but just as often, Diao impresses with what he doesn’t put on screen, and the way he reveals violence that just happened off-screen. I’m not quite sure the film ever quite captures the visual magic of the opening act again – but there are brilliant moments throughout.

 

None of this really helps the story too much. The story isn’t all that complicated when you look back at the film – but while watching it, it is confusing as well. The characters don’t add much either – they are one note noir archetypes from the start, and don’t get much deeper. A joyless sex scene late in the film doesn’t add anything – perhaps if you know that while its not graphic at all (at least until the spitting) it’s pretty graphic for a mainstream Chinese film – which may just mean Diao put it in to see how far he could push things.

 

The extended climax of the film works though – this is a movie where there is a lot of chasing, where the characters are always being chased, or chasing others, something both at the same time – and eventually, of course, all those chases need to come to an end. And when that arrives, it is a series of extended, brutal sequences that work very well – in part because Diao doesn’t pitch them all at the same visual style, and allows a little time to breath (the final shot of the movie doesn’t work – at least not at the length it goes on, which feels like forever).

 

Diao is obviously a talented filmmaker – and one on the rise. Black Coal, Thin Ice won the Golden Lion at Berlin in 2014, and The Wild Goose Lake made the official Cannes competition lineup this year. As a visual stylist, Diao is clearly great. But at some point, he’s going to have to learn how to tell a better story – or give us something other than the visuals to care about.