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cohnmartin
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After Life (2019)
Maybe This Isn't Fair
Maybe it's not fair for me to review this. Why not? Because my situation is as bad as or, arguably, worse than that of the main character.
I read an article a couple days ago about 'cumulative loss'.
The writer used an image to describe the situation that more than a few find themselves in when losses accumulate, or, as I say, "pile up". That image is one of concentric circles, with the main loss being placed in the middle of the circle, with its spin-off losses orbiting around it, like planets around the sun.
The author of the article suggested that those grieving create a circle for each major loss they are experiencing, or have experienced that is still effecting them.
Losses can be big (the death of a loved one) or, in the eyes of some, small (the loss of a promotion), predictable (the loss of youth or beauty) or less predictable (the loss of trust in one's siblings because they ignored your suicidal brother's pain). What others think doesn't matter; what matters is whether you experience the event as a loss.
When I envision the losses I've gone through over the last four years what I see is a field filled with spinning pinwheels of color and light. Each pinwheel represents a major loss, with the pinwheel's arms, or trailers, that spin about it representing the resultant smaller losses that have arisen from the large, deep one.
There are currently four (possibly five) spinning pinwheels in my image. And numerous little colorful arms spinning around each of the large spinning pinwheels. It's a busy image, colorful too, oddly so for something representing so much pain.
And that's why I can't watch this show right now. It might have been very interesting to me five or more years ago. I might have felt then a bit like a voyeur or an anthropologist watching it. Not that I hadn't experienced grief before that time; I had, but it was in the past, and considerably distant.
But, now, I am too actively grieving to find this interesting. While watching the first episode, I found myself saying, "Nope, that's not how it is for me." In other words, my own experiences are intruding and preventing me from buying into, or believing in, the reality of the imagined world being created.
Not a good place to be in when watching a darkly comic show addressing grief. Not at all.
Bap Jal Sajuneun Yeppeun Nuna (2018)
Sensitive, Insightful, Too Long, Ultimately Satisfying
As many have noted, this series is too long, longer than is needed.
That's not a minor issue in screenwriting, or any writing. My sense is that the writers and director had trouble finding their story. Once they do--about mid-way through--this takes off. True to the advice given to all writers, that is when always sought after CONFLICT develops, when our heroine finds herself in trouble.
Some viewers focus on the age difference between the lovers, but it is alluded to only once or twice in this lovely, sensitive, insightful (albeit too long) piece of filmmaking, and when it is, it is dismissed as insignificant. What is significant in this troubled romance is Jin-a's mother's fierce disapproval of the union.
So on one level, this seems to be a rather typical story of thwarted love. On another level, it's a story of an adult daughter overly invested in parental approval.
But its real meaning lies deeper. This is a story about an aging (Jin-a states that she is 'soon to be forty') woman who still hasn't found her inner will and resilience to buck what she fears that others think of her.
She hasn't, in other words, grown up.
Viewed from this perspective, this tale becomes fascinating and much more moving. Jin-a's difficulties at work, fleshed out in greater detail as the story develops, and the resolve and toughness with which she tackles them is key to understanding what this story is really about.
It's definitely worth viewing. Just be ready for a long ride that picks up steam about mid-way through.
And yes, I agree with others; what in the world were the producers of this series doing with the sound track? The songs are all on point, musically sophisticated and fitting. But, come on, over and over and over??
Colette (2018)
Beautiful, moving treatment of a great writer's early years
I seem to be something of an outlier here as I greatly enjoyed this movie!
I found it moving, realistic, well acted, well told, and beautifully photographed and set. I had no issue with the film's pacing, as some apparently have had.
The film focuses solely on Colette's early years as a writer, with the exclusion of its final still frames that fill in Colette's impressive later writing credits, accolades, and awards. Other films made about her have done the same. This is too bad as Colette's most admired and moving work--work that is indeed still read today, contrary to a comment made below--lies ahead in her long life.
I suppose it helps that I have read Colette, admired her for years, know a fair amount of the history and the culture of this time, and that I am what's sometimes called a generous film goer (and reader). By that I mean that I am patient, and do not ask to be 'wowed' continuously. I wish that this were more common today in the arts.
I hope that this film will encourage some who have not read Colette to pick up her work (her later work in particular).
Why the nine, and not ten, stars? I'm not sure. I don't believe I've ever viewed a film that I would give a perfect ten to, and I'm not sure what that would look like!
Hampstead (2017)
Light, different, and surprisingly okay
A lot of viewers are nonplussed by this film, but I enjoyed it. With the way my life is going as of late, I'm an easy mark when it comes to being entertained. So, to make sure that there was something real going on in this--it goes down so fast and smooth that I kept thinking that I was missing something--I scrolled it back to near beginning and viewed its middle part over again.
So here's why you might want to view this film.
Its setting, new to me, is filled with beauty and English charm. Its story is a true, based on real life, 'victory of the underdog' tale, and who doesn't need that occasionally? Its two leading actors are both mature. That alone puts this effort into a limited and unique category. And the lead actors are Diane Keaton and Brendan Gleeson.
I am a long-time fan of Keaton (who is not?), and enjoy her style and presence now more than ever. There is something nearly rebellious about her in-your-face refusal to mask her age, her wrinkles and lines, the inevitable growing stiffness in her still graceful movement. And she is all over this film, in every scene, and I do not tire of looking at her, or hearing her infectious and vibrant voice.
Gleeson, well, what can one say? Watching Gleeson in this production is akin to viewing a possibly cuddly, red-headed, flushing polar bear spout off a surprising mix of indulgences tempered with nuanced thought and expression. I could watch him all day.
And there's a surprise at the end. Not a big, flashy one. I won't spoil it, but it's enough of a surprise to make me smile, and even wonder, is that really how this story actually ended?
Against the Ice (2022)
What's Not To Like!
What's not to like if you're in the mood for a Danish arctic exploration film?
I thoroughly enjoyed this, and was on the edge of my seat multiple times.
Stunning photography, endless ice and snow, loyal but vulnerable sled dogs, a close to manic captain (weren't they all?), a naive but loyal and unfailingly sturdy sidekick, scene after scene displaying a level of physical grit and strength that most today can only dream of, plenty of close calls, and a dogged need to find evidence of an earlier expedition hidden in a pile of stones.
Some here are saying that the film is slow. But what do people expect from wilderness adventure films? If you know the genre, other than fighting the elements--no small thing--not a lot happens. People who love pushing themselves in the great outdoors (or love hearing about others doing it) eat this stuff up. Others, it seems, insist on more flash, dash, surprise, and shock.
There might well be a real divide in how viewers respond to a film like this based on age but, I think, more likely on what viewers have come to expect from film, what they tune into, what they go to see.
Those who gobble up many current adventure movies come to expect that film experiences will be rollercoasters of jarring, exciting, often lurid scenes, one after another.
Those who dream of other landscapes, times, and places, well, they will be quite satisfied with this. I certainly was!
Last, as others have asked, why was this in English?
I enjoyed several Scandinavian and French series in the last year--in particular the Danish "Rita", Swedish "Bonus Family", and French "Call The Agent"--and like listening to actors in foreign productions speaking in their native languages, with subtitles. I expected this production to be in Danish, and found the English to take getting used to, and to detract from a sense of full authenticity.
Smart People (2008)
unripe and reminiscent of the excellent 'The Accidental Tourist'
I've just seen this film and read a number of reviews about it. Many reviewers are referencing 'Little Miss Sunshine', 'The Family Stone', etc. But I left the theatre thinking of the wonderful, beautifully balanced and developed, fun film, 'The Accidental Tourist'--another film about an emotionally deadened, difficult man who is suffering from the loss of a loved one and is 'redeemed' through love. Talk about quirky families; the one in 'Tourist' puts most of the rest to shame. The difference perhaps in the quality of these films (Tourist very high, Smart People quite low, many others in the 'genre' somewhere inbetween) lies in that The Accidental Tourist was based on the highly crafted, moving novel of the same title by the gifted writer Anne Tyler. What stands out for me again and again as I work up my courage to attend recent releases is that the quality of screenplay writing in Hollywood and elsewhere is low, low, low. Rushed, pressured, unbaked--too many films being made too fast, with scripts that bore and confuse us with unconvincing plots and thin characters. This film, Smart People, could have been--with revision and review--a much better, more engaging, moving picture. The script simply wasn't ready for production; the story isn't there.