Change Your Image
elliottriebman
Reviews
Imelda 3: Simone (2020)
Best IMELDA of the trio - humorous but also emotional
IMELDA 3 is delightful and funny in the way the first two are but is also emotional in a way they are not.
The humor stems from Imelda interacting with her old friend, Simone, a successful singer in a church. Simone reflects on her life and insecurities, particularly relating to her weight after singing a perfectly written song: "The Fat One." While she describes the history of insults she has endured in her life, Imelda sits behind her nodding along with each insult. She then adds on to them in the way only she can. This is enjoyable to watch but what I found moving is the depth of the relationship that hides beneath this harsh, critical dynamic between the women. It is based on their history together; they know each other so well they can say something that cuts to the core of the other. It is almost like two enemies who have a mutual respect for each other that is just under the surface tension of their conflicted relationship. They derive appreciation for each other because they know what can hurt the other the most.
Like Villeneuve's first two Imelda films, this is beautifully shot, particularly the opening scene with the frog and the gorgeous church interior where the exquisitely talented Ginette Reno as Simone sings. The song itself is perfectly composed for the character about her insecurities concerning her weight. This cuttingly contrast with Imelda who prides herself on always being as thin as could be and is unabashed in her willingness to point out Simone's negative traits and concerns about her weight.
Beneath the negativity is actually a genuine respect and love. This sincere side of Imelda is not depicted in the first two films, or remains hidden behind her acidity, but is on display here through her relationship with Simone in a heartfelt, moving way.
This film is very funny at parts, because of Imelda's bluntness and Villeneuve's incarnate performance, but on the whole it is more emotionally poignant than IMELDA and IMELDA 2. Gorgeously shot, framed and filmed. I wouldn't have thought Villeneuve could have topped the first two films, but this was as good if not better than them. I would say the second was better than the first, in terms of humor and humanizing Imelda, but that the third is the best at illustrating the depth of her character. A character that one feels glued to even just watching her listen.
Imelda 2: le notaire (2020)
Pleasure to see an excellent director make a short
It is always a pleasure to watch an excellent director put the time, thought, and effort into making a short.
After seeing Martin Villeneuve's TED Talk, I immediately watched his feature MARS ET AVRIL and was blown away. It's poetry of language and imagery is visually stunning and emotionally moving in an epic story about existence. This short is a meditation on existence but in a very different way; in contrast, smaller and more intimate, as we see an older woman near the end of her life.
I found this one funnier than the first. Partly because Villeneuve as Imelda was able to play off another actor--one of Canada's best, Robert Lepage--who's begrudging, obligatory, hilariously annoyed response to her absurdity as her son is delightful.
Imelda is an incredibly unique but also remarkably relatable character, which shows how brilliantly original Villeneuve was in (re)creating and inhabiting her. She feels so real and it is a SHOCK to see a photo of the real Martin Villeneuve next to himself in makeup/costume for the role. The ticks, idiosyncrasies, quirks and sheer physicality in his performance seems second nature; maybe he's more comfortable in her skin following the success of his first short that won him a "Best Actor" award.
I smirked while watching the first one but laughed out loud at this one. And that was while watching from home streaming it online. I can only imagine how its comedic energy played in a theater with a live audience.
Only because Martin clearly loved his grandmother so deeply is he able to make light of her complaining about her depressingly lonely situation. He does it in a clever and funny way that we can all relate to being annoyed by our constantly complaining set-in-their-ways grandmothers, who we continue to love and care for as long as they're here.
It's worth seeing if only for the exchange with her son, Lepage, in his notary office where he tells her that his therapist said she is the root of his problems. "See another therapist boy," she retorts.
There's a hint at the depth of Martin's grasp of psychology and philosophy in the film's final poetic scene that ends with Lepage's dialogue over a perfectly framed shot of Imelda. This was reminiscent of sequences in MARS ET AVRIL; filled with poetic dialogue over gorgeous imagery.