'Columbus (2017)' is a part of the low-key genre that, essentially, celebrates the mundane - though, in the process, it comes frightfully close to being mundane itself (unlike something such as, say, 'Paterson (2016)'). The first act is honesty quite a slog, not in its construction but in its almost stubborn unwillingness to inject any sort of excitement - or, even, traditional (nay, traditionally presented, perhaps) drama - into the fray. Still, this seems intentional, like the piece is daring you to turn it off before it gets to the good stuff. Ill-conceived? Perhaps. Counter-intuitive? Definitely. It's only once the core relationship really starts to develop, and the previously under-the-surface drama starts to become apparent, that the thing really starts to both become compelling and seem move at a decent pace (despite remaining as slow as ever). It's strange because it never speeds up or becomes more overt, yet it gets ever more involving and - thus - entertaining as it goes on. This is probably because its characters get more rounded as the little details of their personalities slowly get revealed, usually through naturalistic and fairly minimalistic exposition. The dialogue often sounds like Kogonada talking through his creations, with musings on technology and society's waning attention span. It does resonate on more than one occasion, though, particularly when the characters act and sound like themselves. This, in and of itself, is an interesting achievement; the characters feel like people, to the extent that film characters can, and this lends further weight to the flick's limited drama. Of course, it's never massively compelling. It sort of makes a point of not being, by going against the conventions that work so hard to hook audiences in. Intriguingly, it does conform to the conventions of its genre, specifically towards its end; this isn't a problem - in fact, it feels natural and leads to a more satisfying conclusion. However, for all its focus on the mundane and its unwillingness to overtly enter the 'hyper-real', it still is, and was always going to be, a manufactured narrative experience, separated by its peers only by - essentially - superficial factors. However, it does have a fairly keen eye for the day-to-day human condition and it's relatively enjoyable when it gets going. It's not bad but it's flawed. Honestly, I'd have a hard time recommending it to people who aren't already familiar with this kind of stuff. You may get more out of it then I did, but you may also get a lot less. 6/10
Review of Columbus
