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Ta'm e guilass (1997)
Thoughts on a Scene That Breaks the 4th-Wall- but not "That" One
I haven't seen any of Kiarostami's other films yet but going into this I knew that he often blended reality and fiction together in his works. There's a moment in this film where Kiarostami does that pretty explicitly, but there's also another scene where he does this in a much subtler way.
Badii had just failed to convince the Seminarist to assist him in his suicide, after failing to convince the Security Guard and Soldier a few conversations prior. Now driving with the Taxidermist, Badii doesn't push back in the same way he pushed back against the Seminarist; he doesn't try to persuade in the same way he tried to persuade the Soldier. After taking a left turn, Badii shuts up. Prolonged, distant shots of Badii's car driving on the hills while the Taxidermist monologues on life, suicide, and perspective somehow feel uncomfortable and meditative at the same time:
"You believe what you do is right, but then you realize that you're wrong."
"Have you lost all hope? Have you ever looked at the sky when you wake in the morning? At dawn, don't you want to see the sun rise?"
"Have you seen the moon? Don't you want to see the stars? Don't you want to see it again? You want to close your eyes?"
"You want to give up the taste of the cherries? Don't. I'm your friend, I'm begging you."
This roughly 5-minute stretch does not feel like a movie. This does not feel like a character talking to another character, it feels like a writer talking directly to the viewer. "You" is not Badii, it is us. Kiarostami avoids shot-reverse-shot to discourage us from viewing this as a scene from a movie but rather as a makeshift therapy session with a friend. For a few minutes, a faceless narrator, through Kiarostami's prose, begs us to acknowledge the permanence of our actions- the fact that our outlook on life is entirely dependent on the perspective we choose to view it from. He offers comfort, compassion, and empathy at a time when others would run off and invalidate our feelings, or fail to understand them at all.
This film is one of the most essential films ever made and one that I can see genuinely saving people's lives. Unbelievably captivating and depressing but also beautiful and hopeful. One of a kind movie and an instant favorite.
How to with John Wilson (2020)
One of the most human shows ever
"How to with John Wilson" is many things. Most clearly, it's a love letter to New York City-- its environment, its energy, its blemishes (I'm sorry but you couldn't pay me enough money to live right next to a Subway station like that one guy does). It's also awkward, hilarious, absurd, nasally, and visually stunning. But it doesn't too take much digging to realize it's a love letter to humanity as well. The range of characters featured on this show is just insane, and yes, despite being a docu-comedy series, some of these people truly feel like characters. But they're not, and that's the beauty of this show.
Ironically, even in the final season's most meta moments in which we begin to question just how much of the show has been real and whether or not HBO cares about our eponymous documentarian, "How to with John Wilson" is still dripping with sincerity. We see John's continual struggle with his insecurities: the desire to be seen as spectacular, or even to just be seen at all. It's moments like these-- moments with grieving Vacuum Collectors bound by a strange yet earnest love for cleaning equipment-- that pull viewers in and allow them to take solace in the fact that their own problems in life are universal. Fragile, scared, borderline cultists (though ones that are never unsympathetic) in Arizona grasping at straws in pursuit of living forever, humble competitive pumpkin growers in suburban New York-- the people on John Wilson's show are not just effortlessly entertaining given their quirks, they're also all just so relatable given their problems, grievances, and even mannerisms.
It's genuinely unbelievable how talented John Wilson is at crafting laugh-out-loud-funny yet simultaneously emotional and poetic stories from what is essentially just random footage of things he sees around New York City. This is a beautiful documentary series that captures the human condition in one of the most meditative (though often cathartic) ways imaginable.
People are so much more unique than we give them credit for and seeing people be honest versions of themselves has been such a pleasure these last few years. I love this show so much.
Listening to Kenny G (2021)
Great!
Similar to Feels Good Man (another terrific doc), Listening to Kenny G is a colorful and informative documentary that gifts its viewers a hilarious character study (the polarizing Kenny G turns out to be a pretty fascinating guy; i personally think he's a reptile, but you can make the argument that he's an alien) and a digestable yet thorough-enough history of its subject matter (the world of soft jazz- its critics and its supporters). Love the thought provoking dialogue in this on the subjectivity of art. Very well made documentary on HBO Max, looking forward to what Penny Lane directs in the future.
Extraordinary: The Stan Romanek Story (2013)
Inept
The worst thing about this documentary isn't the unbearably repetitive format, it isn't the painfully fake "evidence" compiled, it isn't the eerie, obvious stock music played underneath every scene or the offensively bad acting from Stan.
The worst thing about this is that it genuinely could've been a fascinating character study on this guy who is desperately trying to get the world to believe he's been abducted by aliens. A guy who's so detached from reality that he thinks his "evidence" of alien life is in any way convincing. This could have been a look into the world of fake alien sightings. But instead, the film SERIOUSLY wants us to take the evidence at face value. It's edited in such a manipulative way that it can only come off as hilariously pathetic. God this could've been so enjoyable if it just acknowledged the ABSURDITY OF WHAT'S BEING PRESENTED. IT'S INSANE, YOU DON'T HAVE TO PRETEND IT'S NOT IF YOU'RE MAKING A DOCUMENTARY ON THIS MAN.
And for the record, I believe in alien life.