So I have decided to embark on my own movie log of films that I adore. I have always wanted to write reviews of films on my blog and now that fellowship is coming to a close, with a new portable laptop in tow, I have no excuse, at least during the summer. My god, I haven't had summer vacation in so long, though I'm not sure if it will be a real summer hiatus.
So the notable films of this year have been French for me: Kid on a Bike and Declaration of War. The latter is a very imperfect film, even with its moments bordering on being too precious, but its very visceral depiction of a love story in the midst of circumstantial crisis ( their kid with cancer) was memorable, moving, and beautiful. I felt the most memorable scene for me was when the parents escape the hospital where they child sleeps, go to a party where they smoke, dance, kiss strangers, and act like two lovers with no responsibilities in the world. In these scenes, you feel that rush of being young, or exploring possibilities, or having not to answer to anyone....until at the end, the couple finds themselves on a couch, separated by friends, looking at each other with tears in their eyes, while listening to a girl singing to a room of partygoers now lulled by exhaustion and a lingering sense of satisfaction of having fulfilled the night's promise. That scene was worth the price of admission alone.
The only film that came close to moving me in the same way was A Kid on a Bike, another strange love story of sorts. It's about a women inexplicably capable of a rare, patient love for an angry, abandoned child. There are multiple beautiful scenes between the child and the woman but what makes the film a masterpiece, aside from the gorgeously spare and elegant use of Beethoven, is the ending, when the child's transformation through this woman's love proves to be far more profound than anyone guessed. That even when facing the fickle nature of ordinary human beings, he is capable of sacrifice, love and forgiveness for all the cruelties in the world because he knows a steadfast source of love.
NOW for the shit list: 1) Damsels in Distress. 2) Snow White and the Huntsmen. I always loved White Stillman. He has a knack for dialogue and creating a unique social universe in a film, which is a rare talent as a filmmaker. And he does it with Damsels in Distress. And Greta Gerwig has screen prescence and can deliver Stillman's lines unlike any heroine ever has ( Chloe S. comes in at a close second for my favorite Stillman film Last Days of Disco.) That said, the script had no direction and felt like a student film that was done impromptu. It felt completely pointless and arbitrary, where character development felt zig-zag at best.
As for Snow White, well---it may be the most blatantly derivative film I have ever seen. I am pretty sure it was conceived on the premise of some Hollywood hotshot thinking to himself, How can we package Lord of the Rings for the Twilight demographic so we can target all the fanatics? And then he goes, Aha! Didn't Snow White have dwarves in it? We can have them walking hills to Celtic music sung by Enya and cast Kristen Stewart and we've got ourselves a winner. There's even a blatant "She's the one" shenanigans, and the generously antler-ed Spirit of the Forest, ripped off from Princess Mononoke, even makes a cameo. The only good thing about the film is Charlize Theron. In fact, had the film actually just focused on her, who clearly is more beautiful than Stewart, despite what a Mirror says, the film may have been more interesting.
I can't help thinking of that genius bit in Annie Hall where Woody Allen's character Alvy Singer points out that he was always more interested in the insecure Queen than the Little Miss Perfect Snow White. I agree with him. The Queen's neuroses made her a more full-bodied, alluring, and complex specimen of beauty, inside and out than the oblivious, silly Snow White who seemed more intent on cleaning up the Forest. Damn straight!
So the notable films of this year have been French for me: Kid on a Bike and Declaration of War. The latter is a very imperfect film, even with its moments bordering on being too precious, but its very visceral depiction of a love story in the midst of circumstantial crisis ( their kid with cancer) was memorable, moving, and beautiful. I felt the most memorable scene for me was when the parents escape the hospital where they child sleeps, go to a party where they smoke, dance, kiss strangers, and act like two lovers with no responsibilities in the world. In these scenes, you feel that rush of being young, or exploring possibilities, or having not to answer to anyone....until at the end, the couple finds themselves on a couch, separated by friends, looking at each other with tears in their eyes, while listening to a girl singing to a room of partygoers now lulled by exhaustion and a lingering sense of satisfaction of having fulfilled the night's promise. That scene was worth the price of admission alone.
The only film that came close to moving me in the same way was A Kid on a Bike, another strange love story of sorts. It's about a women inexplicably capable of a rare, patient love for an angry, abandoned child. There are multiple beautiful scenes between the child and the woman but what makes the film a masterpiece, aside from the gorgeously spare and elegant use of Beethoven, is the ending, when the child's transformation through this woman's love proves to be far more profound than anyone guessed. That even when facing the fickle nature of ordinary human beings, he is capable of sacrifice, love and forgiveness for all the cruelties in the world because he knows a steadfast source of love.
NOW for the shit list: 1) Damsels in Distress. 2) Snow White and the Huntsmen. I always loved White Stillman. He has a knack for dialogue and creating a unique social universe in a film, which is a rare talent as a filmmaker. And he does it with Damsels in Distress. And Greta Gerwig has screen prescence and can deliver Stillman's lines unlike any heroine ever has ( Chloe S. comes in at a close second for my favorite Stillman film Last Days of Disco.) That said, the script had no direction and felt like a student film that was done impromptu. It felt completely pointless and arbitrary, where character development felt zig-zag at best.
As for Snow White, well---it may be the most blatantly derivative film I have ever seen. I am pretty sure it was conceived on the premise of some Hollywood hotshot thinking to himself, How can we package Lord of the Rings for the Twilight demographic so we can target all the fanatics? And then he goes, Aha! Didn't Snow White have dwarves in it? We can have them walking hills to Celtic music sung by Enya and cast Kristen Stewart and we've got ourselves a winner. There's even a blatant "She's the one" shenanigans, and the generously antler-ed Spirit of the Forest, ripped off from Princess Mononoke, even makes a cameo. The only good thing about the film is Charlize Theron. In fact, had the film actually just focused on her, who clearly is more beautiful than Stewart, despite what a Mirror says, the film may have been more interesting.
I can't help thinking of that genius bit in Annie Hall where Woody Allen's character Alvy Singer points out that he was always more interested in the insecure Queen than the Little Miss Perfect Snow White. I agree with him. The Queen's neuroses made her a more full-bodied, alluring, and complex specimen of beauty, inside and out than the oblivious, silly Snow White who seemed more intent on cleaning up the Forest. Damn straight!
