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Ron_Solina
#NotCollegeGrad #DespiteBeingAProductOfPitifulPublicSchoolEducation
#GreysAnatomyFan #Seriously #Filipino #Cineaste
Favorite films: 12 Monkeys (1995); Inferno (1980); Herz aus Glas (1976);
Sorcerer (1977)/Le salaire de la peur (1953); Beetlejuice (1988)
Favorite TV series: Ghost Whisperer (2005-2010); Heroes (2006-2010);
The Good Place #Badass (2016-2020)
...and the rating system I added is inspired by Huxley's Brave New World (Just FYI.)
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Hymyilevä mies (2016)
An exquisite feel-good sporting film
The euphoric feeling one derives from the simplest of life's pleasures assuredly would always be either ethereal or bestial in origin. And for most people who do not give much thought to such notions, including the titular character as seen in the film itself, it abruptly comes, and the awareness lands like a sucker punch, especially when one realizes it much later rather than sooner.
A candid but earnest early 1960s period piece about a Finnish prizefighter Olli Mäki is a straightforward retelling of his venture to challenge the then-current world featherweight champion, the legendary American Davey Moore. The unembellished details laid out all from his drudging routine in getting himself match-fit to dealing with the media publicity that follows him to placating fight promoters and sponsors too excited in hosting the world championship title fight in Helsinki. The pressure mounts, but that impertinent Cupid always has other plans that benefit an unorthodox sporting narrative.
In the pantheon of great boxing films, this Kuosmanen film debut deserves its place alongside the Scorsese masterpiece. Overall, it is like a buoyant but never cloying folksy ballad to Raging Bull's rueful and tempestuous classical. Quite an excellent contrast.
The interplay between the acting trifecta is just as comparable. The LaMotta biopic showcases the boisterous performances of Moriarty and Pesci that balances that of De Niro's unbridled magnificence in his scorching depiction of the Italian brawler. The reservedness portrayed by an astounding Lahti as the reluctant sporting national hero, on the other hand, exudes an aloofness that subtly draws a perceptive viewer to him instead of being repelled. Inspired performances from Airola and Milonoff as his girlfriend and his coach, respectively, both serve as the bedrock of his existence, complements him with their support that has that refreshing hint of insouciance.
Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana, the operatic theme that figures predominantly as the main anthem in the Scorsese biopic, intensifies the melancholy and effectively softens the dire but sporadically turbulent narrative non-diegetically. The Finnish film, though, has an upbeat jazzy-brassy tune in its opening and closing credits by the Ykspihlaja Cinema Orchestra, a group to which the romantic female lead Airola also belongs.
Even though for a boxing film that only tangentially deals with the historical sporting bout in its pivotal center, it is in the things that sidetrack the athlete's focus that the film delves in, seeing the beauty and wisdom in the banality and the constant turmoil of obligations versus scruples. The scenes logically transition from one to the next despite a somewhat bumpy start that goes more smoothly as the story progresses. The director's logical use of that marvelously crisp black-and-white photography makes sure the audience concentrates on the character's contemplation and gaze. An artistic decision that serves Raging Bull as well, but that one is to accomplish the opposite as far as the gaze is concerned.
And quite befitting for the film to end by having the real-life couple whose story has just unfolded walk past their cinematic counterparts. It is quite a sumptuous dessert, especially for those already numbed by a constant diet of world-weary content despite its seeming prosaicness. It is a very much welcome antidote to cynicism seasoned with that intrinsically Finnish dry humor.
In rating this beta guy boxing film, this deservedly gets an alpha.
Interstellar (2014)
Christopher Nolan's masterpiece
This is by far Nolan's masterpiece of filmmaking in its scope, sagacity, and spectacle.
An apocalyptic pestilence has rendered farms in the U. S. desertified while sweeping dust storms have been continuously popping up which also has been taking a toll on the people's respiratory health. There's also a problem regarding the Earth having magnetic field fluctuations and gravitational anomalies that a search for a habitable planet has become a dire necessity.
At the heart of the story is the tender relationship of a former fighter pilot, Cooper, sharing a common interest in the sciences with his young daughter Murph whose feistiness got her in hot water in defending the veracity of the lunar landings as proven by her father's school textbooks, given the current federal government stance declares it all to be a ploy they hatched to bankrupt the Soviet Union into massive spending oneupmanship. It was the emotional element amid the grander scheme of things that's missing from Kubrick's science fiction chef-d'oeuvre 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) whose themes this film has referred to and upended elegantly.
From its engaging characters brought to life McConaughey to Burstyn to Chastain to Hathaway and all other top-notch players involved to Van Hoytema's astonishing cinematography and sublime sonority of Zimmer's musical score and the spell-binding Oscar-winning special effects, this two-plus-hour cinematic journey feels more like a divine gift. And for the select few discerning enough to figure out the maze that Nolan assembled, this is all food for the mind, the heart, and the soul.
An alpha-plus.
Sinong lumikha ng yoyo? Sinong lumikha ng moon buggy? (1979)
A frustrated Filipino's flight of fancy
After the world-renown that Mr. De Guia a.k.a Tahimik had achieved with the release of Mababangong Bangungot (1977), there is a necessity to somewhat delve a bit further into knowing, if not scrutinizing, the man responsible for creating that third-world cinema classic. What follows is a pseudo-documentary done a la video journal that obviously heavily influenced by the world's fascination during the late '60s, the United States Apollo Program wherein he even took lengths trying to describe the machinations behind it to the audience (seemingly lifted from encyclopedic articles, that is), presentation and absurdism done in a manner definitely borrowed from the Monty Python which also came out and became a phenomenon during that time. Wholesome light-hearted comedic elements are also present to make Mr. Tahimik seem unthreatening to the other German kids that his offsprings mingle with while they're staying in his wifey's German hometown where it was partly filmed.
As expected of a film made in a lesser-developed economy like the Philippines, the production values, not to mention the storyline for this film, just can't compare with the Hollywood-made films that were a product of cooperation and almost made with production assembly-line precision. And that is the thing that sets this apart from other cinematic works, that an American university-educated auteur like Tahimik could express his unexpurgated sentiments and sensibilities for the whole world to witness, one with freedom from organizational red tape.
This is the first of Tahimik's series of films which can kind of be called the proto-Kardashianesque spectacle specially made for the foreign audience overseas, Filipinos or otherwise, and educated Filipinos who are blessed enough to see these in select university or collegiate screenings (I'm assuming). It is best to see this first, and then check what I call his cinematic magnum opus Bakit dilaw ang gitna ng bahag-hari? (1994) or Why the Middle Color of the Rainbow is Yellow? Then followed by the differing versions of never-quite-reached-the-completion-status Memories of Overdevelopment (1984- ) to better see the progression of his family's travails.
Check it out whenever possible.
The actual English translation of the Filipino languaged title is "Who Created the Yo-yo? Who Created the Moon Buggy?"
A gamma-minus.
Climax (2018)
Superb anti-drugs narrative delivered in the funkiest and stylishly grotesque manner possible. Mucho gusto!
It is such a spectacular zombie apocalypse story where people want to make good of their lives despite the unprivileged places they came from or whatever emotional baggage they are carrying, and then someone who gonna be bound to be imaginative and drag as many unwitting people as possible into their devious schemes. And when everything turns awry, they just enjoy everything going down to shisters.
Not disappointed I was not left disorientated by how Noe cleverly captured his mostly amateur actors at work, the effortless grace that then descended towards the uninhibited frenzy for everyone involved. Gripping how such a simple story was told that is packed with as much emotional punch that is possible.
An alpha-minus.
Brutal (1980)
Idiot nasty
The film follows Clara Valdez (Charo Santos-Concio), dissatisfied with her career as a fashion writer, as she tries her hand in the world of investigative journalism. The first assignment that landed on her lap is the case of a woman named Monica (Amy Austria) who has fallen into a state of catatonic mutism after having killed his husband and his party mates. What follows is Clara's inquiry of sorts to get to the bottom of the murderous act.
It is commendable for Director Diaz-Abaya and writer Lee to devote their energies to explore marital rape and abuse, a subject matter that still is topical. What made this one special was that the laws designed to protect Filipina women against their vile spouses were a bit hazy in the late '70s, so this movie is a kind of a cinematic cause célèbre. It's just unfortunate that the story ended up becoming a half-baked attempt in upending the Filipino society's gender and sexual politics with its shaky foundation of underdeveloped and asinine characterizations. And conflicting tones in the narrative didn't help as well, only created a jarring feeling especially for one that is supposed to condemn domestic abuse.
And there's Clara's lover Jake (Johnny Delgado), for instance, which turned out to be a flawed character that did not help present the existence of a more enlightened Filipino male that's more receptive to Clara's ideals regarding the switching/sharing of gender roles. The character came off as a facile and a bit flippant. So heavy on the male bias, and very off-putting such a lopsided swipe on the Filipino patriarchy. The awfulness of the sweeping generalizations that were not only restricted to the dialogue certainly didn't help. Nobody needs to pressure anyone in presenting solutions to sort out such problems in a movie. It certainly could have been grand if there was a character that could have addressed ways to shift the antiquated conservative mores prevalent during that time. A missed opportunity, that one.
And then there's the notorious rape scenes, a migraine-inducing devil's fart those. The fact that the emotional anguish captured was too graphic even though it's not that heavy on violence or nudity, it is damn too effective for the film's good that ends up exploiting a sensitive subject matter that it is supposed to condemn. A bleak affair, all emotion, a sadist show that just left the aggrieved character cornered. There's even a scene in the movie where this exploitation for the sake of film and print revenues is discussed, but that was just nothing more than a facetious affair which is a shame because finesse and comprehensive knowledge of psychology are a must-have whenever attempting to make a bona fide legal drama which is supposed to be this one.
A zeta-minus.
Verdict (2019)
After the love has gone
Raymond Ribay Gutierrez instantly throws the audience into the fray of a marriage that's in its last legs. There's not much a hint as to why the husband is trying to rein in his wife in such a brutish way in front of their only child. By the time the five-minute mark comes, the director ushers in a very unflattering and veristic law enforcement and criminal justice system procedural that is seldom depicted in Philippine cinema which has heavily relied on mawkishness to tell of such stories.
What is seen in the film is criminal justice system though very much modeled from the American judicial system, it is one that has instead opted to forego the adoption of the jury system, thus leaving the court judge to determine and to weigh the facts presented to him in cases and handing out decisions just like that of a domestic violence suit that was presented.
A downer of a film, especially with that ambiguous retching ending that is unparalleled in Philippine cinema history.
An alpha, this one.
Gisaengchung (2019)
A blistering black comedy
One of the most horrendously hilarious portrait of any typical family ever committed in cinema in recent memory.
It's narrative had a global relevance seldom seen in cinema these days. It's multi-layered social commentary that still managed to be very Korean all with its profusely embedded cultural and historical references scattered throughout the story which seemingly etched in stone that was gifted to one of the main characters. Metaphorical, literal, it's everything a brilliant story could ever be. Never had I laughed in a cineplex so loud it's almost scandalous, an orgasmic feeling even. But what stands out as phenomenal in this film is the richness of how the characters in the film were all fleshed out, result is very multi-dimensional.
I've seen qute a few of Bong Joon-ho's film works, and I can already say this film is not his finest work but it's grasp over the numerous accolades it has received since its release is very much deserved, and I definitely still want to be surprised with the stories he has already told and are still gonna tell in the future, so I'm very much looking forward to exploring his other works as well, it's just like finding jewel in the rough as they say.
Definitely, an alpha.
Signal Rock (2018)
A must-see fictional drama not just for Filipinos.
Stories about the abuse being suffered by the Filipina diaspora at the hands of non-Filipino men could have had more potency had it been presented in a non-fiction news-and-public-affairs format, or if these fictionalizations have instead followed by the cue set by documentaries, just like Soderberg's Traffic. But Filipina-sploitation films have it's roots from Gil Portes' movie Miss X one done in the '80s that is set and filmed in Amsterdam. Though I must say that the blue-eyed Fil-Am comedian Rob Schneider has since made (what I consider) penance for that with his Razzie-honored trash that is Deuce Bigalow Part 2. I salute him for such stupid bravery.
Traversing the route of fictionalizion or melodramatizations of such narrative is justfied by the two scenes shot in the film: the wedding reception party hosted by the protagonist Intoy for the interracial May-December couple and his family's rushed meeting with the Finnish government official. The characterizations might be tad too theatrical given Rono is a veteran and a stalwart of Filipino motion pic industry, he's definitely in his element here but the thing that remains deliberately unspoken manifests in its most subtlest of forms, such thing that would have been harder to capture in a non-fiction setting. Although it could not have hurt if the filmmakers borrowed some characters from the Euro-auteur Lars von Trier. There's no shame in doing so I should stress. All in good intentions paved in beach sand.
A few words to describe what this movie is about, it's a sort of pyramid scheme where monies only play secondary role and one that focuses on those unfortunate who are relegated to the bottom. Though the paths traversed to commit fraud is detailed, such are unimportant given permutations are always a plenty for one to arrive to the intended result. Also one could view this as a flip-side of Ulrich Seidl's Paradise: Love though one that opted for a tad sweeter ending, and missed the opportunityin showcasing the gravity of the situation, a much more needed despair to keep this cinematic work grounded.
A gamma.
Serbis (2008)
The Movie Theater That Time Forgot
This is a film that has no cohesive narrative, really, it's more of a series of snapshots, if you will, of the lives that revolve on a ramshackle movie theater that can be considered as the star of this film, like a living breathing creature that it is, all with its operators and the patrons that frequent it, a place that had seen better days which nobody seems to clearly remember. Actually, only Nanay Flor, (played by Gina Pareño, an actress that in her heydays was quite a vamp) who's an embattled matriarch undergoing divorce proceedings with the unpresent patriarch, still manages to be unperturbed, feathers unruffled (a bravura performance), while others in the building just soldier on and are left just going through the motions. Despite the progress of technology where people can easily find pornographic content on the Internet during the decade of the noughts when this film is set, it still remains but a stubborn bastion of sleaze with its sieve-like fortifications, everybody or anything can get in and out of it in the middle of a noisy city. Noise pollution be damned (at least I could just read the subtitles like other non-Filipino speakers). Such cacophony of sounds, though the unacquainted might find that to be a bit overwhelming, has a higher purpose and it doesn't even matter much whether that was coincidental or contrived. So it is best tho have that immersive mindset as one watches this.
Living in the same country where this film is set, I'm one of those people (though definitely not well-off) fortunate enough to have had my first experience watching cinema alone in my mid-teens in one of those up-scale mall multiplexes, and still does so occassionally to this day, which at the time I'm writing this, that viewing experience is in itself in a state of quandary as streaming services looms to replace the film viewing habits of people globally. Though cannot be considered that bad but it's also not that good either, imho, because I find theaters have that certain charm, and though at times they have their own fair share of annoying co-patrons to deal with amongst other things, the overall experience tend to be on the kinder side.
An evocation of such nostalgia brings to mind the films like Tsai Ming Liang's Goodbye, Dragon Inn or Giuseppe Tornatore's Oscar-winner Cinema Paradiso, their love-letter to cinema both set in the theater space which does not shy away from detailing the seamier side of those experiences. But what we witness in Brilliante Mendoza's socio-realist masterpiece is that there is no energy to spare when it comes to sharing the mawkishness that that the Family Theater matron in the film have manifested. He instead went in and goes straight for the jugular, hastily sending subtlety to vacation to showcase the yuck factor in these kinds of places instead. And one just need and look at the film titles on offer that the theater exhibits. The poor uncouth masses subjected to the indignities of having to endure such filthy places just to ply their wares, in a place where the lower class people's only form of sporting entertainment are catered by these establishments, especially during the pre-Internet era. But a welcome escapism from such bleak narrative was the goat scene which is, like, the best live-action animal cameo I've seen done in the whole of world cinema ever (G.O.A.T., right?), even beats the rooster/chicken chase in Fernando Meirelles' City of God. The gracefulness of that animal as it scampered down that staircase centerpiece was just heavenly hilarious. Unfortunately, that is the only elegant treat in store for this film.
But as for Brilliante Mendoza's reputation as a filmmaker, I feel this has definitely cemented his place as a significant voice in the Philippine film industry. Though I was initially disappointed, having watched Kinatay before this, a film that I felt that something was quite lacking as I watched that one in full, I was left kind of dumbfounded as to what the hoopla surrounded Mendoza receiving that directorial accolade at Cannes. But only after watching this film that immediately preceded it, the more clearer it became to me what reflected their decision to give him those honors, and I couldn't agree more now. The dilapidated chic aesthetic of those two films, I dare say, go well together and should be seen as a double-bill feature instead because the director encapsulated all that needs to said without saying much with those two films he made back-to-back, providing the best way of presenting people who the people living in the Philippines really are, which is a quite very courageous statement.
So this film definitely functions as a quasi-document to express the lament of the silenced masses who have just resigned to their predicament, people that have no other way to voice out their despair, those of whom who don't have any more tears left to shed. Mendoza and his crew has facilitated that for them. So even if the passage of time inevitably replace of those dilapidated structures, at least the likes of me, we have this. Numquam obliviscar.
Rating: (A beta-plus).
Beau travail (1999)
...
A very, very loose film adaptation of the Herman Melville's novella and Benjamin Britten's subsequent operatic adaptation, Billy Budd, a story which is set during the late-17th-century pre-Napoleonic era where the British are seen pitted against the French. But what the filmmakers exceptionally accomplishes here was using that narrative as a frame for a story that gives glory to the French Foreign Legion, an institution which has been a place where hardened able-bodied men from different countries sign up to serve in protecting the best interests of the French military, whether it be due to economic hardship, evading punishment after having been embroiled in varying degrees of precarious situations in their respective countries. Western writers have heavily romanticized that way of life for decades, such as PC Wren, who himself was touted to have experienced it first hand. The film's title might have even been a light nod to the Brit's series of novels...
La cérémonie (1995)
!
The very clinical manner in which the French director chronicles the events leading to the tragic outcome where the people involved are steeped with contempt for the people they regard as outside their class, most unnerving realization. Mr. Chabrol demonstrates impeccable delicacy in showcasing actors' performances that represents different social strata and is able to elicit utmost empathy for them while dispensing a blistering appraisal on the bourgeois class and turning a critical eye towards the lower classes. But the film's most incredible achievement has to be the exemplary tastefulness in handling an otherwise very gruesome climax which aims to help cement judiciousness on the part of the audience rather than just dispense cheapjack thrills.
Strong support from Virginie Ledoyen, Valentin Merlet and Jean-Pierre Cassel, who makes up the three-fourths of the Lelievre household. All managed to make their upper crust characters to have such amiability that's sure gonna make their ultimate fate in the film, which is kind of a forgone conclusion, still feel a bit disconcerting despite their characters seeming a bit infuriating at times but that's mostly owing to the fact that the shelteredness of living in a position of privilege just robs them of any insight of how the lower-ninety percent goes through their lives.
But it's the characterizations of the three leading actresses, ever memorable in the sumptuous and understated quality that one should fervently anticipate. Jacqueline Bisset, whom I've only seen in a few roles during her youth (Day for Night, she's just divine in that one), still looks stunning as a woman in her mid-50s playing a maternal character that is quite a progressive one, a dignified bourgeois presence. And for Isabelle Huppert, whose work I've only seen are her latter roles in her career (I ❤ Huckabees I find being one of her funniest, The Piano Teacher being one of the nastiest) and this one I have to say is her finest yet in her filmography that I have barely explored. It's the exquisiteness on how she possesses the role of such a vile character which is more than enough for some to cherish checking this out and viewing the film multiple times. I bow down. Though this is the first time I've seen Sandrine Bonnaire, that scene where she's struggling to figure out the task given to her by her employers, the anguish was just disheartening to witness. Also the same could be said of that scene where the man-of-the-house George confronts her with a very serious matter while she's watching TV in her bedroom, those shifting glances seemingly conflicted as to whom/which would she turn her attention to. Unforgettable.
An appalling tragedy ever to befall upon anyone irregardless of their station in life.
(A-plus-plus)
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (2011)
A Spin Doctor's Tale.
Overhauling Paul Torday's work and giving it a more upbeat tone and a feel-good ending and ultimately, diminishing the satirical bent of the novel might come as a disappointment to some. But I had to say that I kind of liked the filmmakers' decisions, though it did only as much for me to consider it such an resounding success. It's the gender-swapping of the UK prime minister's press secretary Maxwell (which is actually male in the book) that did wonders for the adaptation, and also, for choosing a superb Scott Thomas to fill in that role, wherein that switch helped very much in shifting away the focus of an epistolary novel's narrative that just taps into the absurdist vein into one that showcases audience-friendly characterizations that has a career-mom spin doctor's narrative pitted side-by-side with that of the fisheries expert Jones' (McGregor) and financial adviser Chetwode-Talbot's (Blunt) romance born out of a man's need to escape a dull marriage to long-time wife (Stirling) who only just takes him for granted, and a woman's grief for having lost her soldier-lover (Mison) during a tour of duty in Afghanistan whom she had only actually known for three passion-filled weeks.
Faith is something that has been tossed out liberally in the story, overcoming adversity, all that stuff, courtesy of the Yemeni sheikh, Muhammed. Waked gives an earnest performance as an enlightened man determined to push forth his dream of introduce the fly-fishing sport and bringing the Scottish salmon to the sun-drenched tip of the Arabian Peninsula. Though that part is indeed the front-and-center of the film's storyline which brings out the very predictable moral to the viewer, which is not really that bad, it is the film's self-deprecating critique of UK politics that makes a lasting impression thanks in part to Scott Thomas's cheeky performance and Mr. Beaufoy's droll script. The humor might be a bit too British for the global audience where only non-Brits who are well-versed with their history will capture the nuances, but there's still enough comedic bits and pieces for everybody else. Just like the same way Shakespeare's appeal transcends borders and different social classes.
The desert setting though wonderfully photographed is not really that much of a breathtaking one, kind of pales in comparison to Minghella's epic romantic film with the lush visuals of the Sahara Desert, that coincidentally also starred Scott Thomas, The English Patient (1996). The same thing could also be said of the flyfishing sequences that still remains in the shadow of Redford's poetic coming-of-age drama, A River Runs Through It (1992). Though this might be a deliberate attempt the part of Mr. Hallstrom to instead focus more on the allegorical elements of the story rather than explore a deeper meaning to the symbolism of the environs or the hobby-sport. Just by the way those swimming salmons are presented in the film, opting to incorporate just a tinge of magical undertone in such sequences, a bit playful but quite restrained, just like Marianelli's subtle musical score. I might as well also say, isn't that the well-known trademark of Brit reservedness? (I'm looking at you, stiff upper lip. Or is it I'm looking at a stiff upper lip? Whatevs.)
And yes, marketing the film as a rom-com and the inevitability of being able to overturn the impossible have not really brought anything novel or revolutionary to the romance and moral depicted in the story. The pairing of McGregor and Blunt, though delivering charming performances, did indeed lack the sparks that people might expect in any decently made rom-com. But even that can be said as called for by the story: a neglected husband showing symptoms of Asperger's syndrome who have just clicked with someone just mourning the loss of a romantic fling. Poignant and downright genuine with just a dash of sweetness to a romance that involves a pair of love-struck civil servants. Can't expect that to blossom in an instant. Perhaps the passage of time would spice things up for them. And as for the moral espoused by the story wherein the support of the locals always dictates the success of any project established in any developing country, not much of that could really be incorporated even more to the narrative given the film's time constraints. No reason to drag the story even further than what's already needed and inflict further agony to the audience who might think they have only been served a cold watery soup when they were kind of expecting a thick soup with hearty chunks of meaty goodness. But for a story that transpires in such an arid landscape and carries such a ludicrous title, one might as well take that bowl of consommé as something that quenches the thirst instead as opposed to something that nourishes the soul. I could only guess that that might be point that the filmmakers are trying to make. But of course, in some parched places, might as well call such a thing liquid gold.
--B-flat--
Nelyubov (2017)
Ugliness and beauty intertwine in such a hostile terrain.
Severe and un-melodramatic portrayal of a couple who's at each other's throats and are desperately finalizing their divorce, where both are reluctant in looking out for the best interest of their 12-year-old kid, whom they consider more of a hindrance to their own separate paths to happiness.
It's the feeling of awfulness and marvel in seeing the beauty and the nastiness of humanity that occur in such a cold, stark environment which leaves a lasting impression to the viewer. With shot compositions that never for once looks contrived, effortless in photographing the quotidian scenery, it overwhelms, suffocates and unnerves the viewer by reminding that the onset of the winter season also reflects the bitterness the kid will have to face with the disintegration of his only known family.
The film focuses on Maryana Spivak (Zhenya) and Aleksey Rozin (Boris), who both did a stupendous job in capturing the varying degrees of steely disposition that overflows on such narcissists, way too consumed of the image that they would project to the people that surround them yet lacks the basic empathy to their own flesh and bone, Alyosha (Matvey Novikov in a heart-wrenching performance). But such uncaring demeanor as parents contrasts with that of the upright response shown by a few of their friends and complete strangers in manifesting the spirit of volunteerism. Decent performances from the supporting actors, apart from Natalya Potapova playing Zhenya's mother who almost steals the film with just a single scene in displaying such dreadfulness that rivals that of the irreconcilable couple, each and every one of them gives subdued and understated performances that's much like the way the strategically used minimalist musical score penetrates the background, and the way those inconspicuous brooding scenes transitions to yet another inconspicuous brooding scene.
Zvyagintsev's decision to end the film in an ambiguous note, just utter perfection, not wanting to petrify or shatter the viewer's feelings after witnessing a tragic story. It's the speculation of what the ending signifies that leaves a much more menacing outcome, and it should, (At least, that's how it worked for me), for people to have a more determined resolve in withstanding hardships that life has to offer because, the thing is, the end will never be nigh.
--A-plus--
Alice (2005)
through a glass darkly
A distraught father, Mario (Nuno Lopes), establishes for himself a Sisyphean task wherein every day he meticulously repeats all the mundane activities he did the day his 3-year-old daughter, Alice, went missing. He is guided by the notion that Alice would somehow gravitate towards those places where they spent their last moments together, just like a magnet. He ensures that if she ever does come back, he wouldn't miss it.
Though it is a rationale that seems a bit far-fetched and too much to expect from someone barely a pre-schooler, the people around Mario sees this and others even dare to point out its futility, all of which he just nonchalantly shrugs off. Even his wife, Luisa (Beatriz Batarda), an inconsolable nervous wreck and seen most of the time slumped on their bed, still has some lucidity to question the unusual methods of his search.
Mario's unyielding spirit is the focus of this film, a well-rounded performance from Lopes, a grieving figure seen most of the time handing out missing-child pamphlets of his daughter to motorists and passersby. Then his self-imposed ritual has him visiting different places, apartment flats, shops and building rooftops to collect the cassette tapes of the surveillance video cameras that he has been permitted to install. He then scours those numerous tapes simultaneously at the end of the day to search for any signs of Alice, all with varying degrees of success. Success, in his case, is him being able to spot anyone remotely similar to a small kid wearing the same blue coat that Alice wore the day she disappeared, those images he then captures and prints and painstakingly document. Such are the tasks which he has to do again the next day and so forth. Some might call that just downright stubborn, others an unwavering sense of hope, which is the thing that drives the narrative of the film. Not even the obsolescence of the equipment seen used by the protagonist robs it of its effectiveness in conveying allusions. Seeing some blurred low-resolution image of a kid he suspects might be his daughter goads him to continue on with his routine, because if faith is indeed capable of moving mountains, perhaps it could pick up a giant boulder and make it disappear.
Marco Martins brilliantly rendered, in equal parts, the sullen and the sumptuous cityscape of downtown Lisbon. All praises for infusing that imagery with the playful motifs from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and the somber musical score by Bernardo Sassetti. These elements contribute in eloquently evoking the melancholy of modern-day urban living. An outstanding debut film, if not an unforgettable depiction of someone's gloom.
Another of Martins and Lopes' later collaboration, an examination of the impact of the 2010-2014 Portuguese financial crisis on the lives of ordinary people is the drama São Jorge (2016), which somehow is in the same vein as this film, also inspired by real events as stated in the film's end credits, providing a cinematic snapshot of what issues a family goes through when faced with such a devastating loss that hasn't any form of closure.
Nothing can amplify the tragedy for the viewer even more than what follows that scene in police station after Mario and Luisa finally decides to report the disappearance and learns about the limits of what that office could provide in their search for Alice.
--A-plus--
White Nights (1985)
Bad-ass Bally-dancing.
A stroke of misfortune brought back a Soviet defector Nikolai "Kolya" Rodchenko (Mikhail Baryshnikov) back to his homeland and gets introduced to an American defector Raymond Greenwood (Gregory Hines) to keep him in a "leash" while they are in Leningrad, a city where the sun doesn't set especially in summer.
Both the male leads embodies the contradiction that's always a marvel to watch in a ballet, gracefulness and ruggedness in equal measure, and a soundtrack that includes "Say You, Say Me" and "Separate Lives", both songs could put a grown man into tears as you try to reminisce the story of the film itself. The dance sequence well captured by Mr. Hackford, enjoyable and captivating in equal measure. The climactic scene is just an engrossing cinematic treat. The female counterparts (Isabella Rossellini and Helen Mirren) both radiant and glowing, their beauty is just easy on the eyes.
The Cold War may have long since ended but the film transcends that particular point in history because of the superb narrative that's embedded in the story.
--B-plus--
The Terminal (2004)
A very much needed schmaltzy excursion.
When somebody says they're a visiting tourist upon arrival in an airport, is there ever really need for them to explain their itinerary to a complete stranger?
As long as they don't have any bombs strapped on them or they're not gonna unleash a deadly virus or don't plan to do mass killings, smuggle drugs, commit unspeakable horrors etc. in the destination country, why bother stating their reasons for visiting? Unless they are a market research company trying to survey the traveler, people will gladly accommodate that. There are people who don't want to hold up the queue, and there are some things that cannot be explained in a short paragraph (including my simple APPROVAL for this film), and not to mention the variations in people's communication skills. As long those visitors are willing to return home, it's none of people's biscuits whatever they do there that's conforms to whatever in the tourist destination is acceptable and LEGAL. Or people could just easily lie and say they're going to whatever is that country's equivalent of a Disney World.
Mr. Speilberg and Mr. Hanks in the early-noughties have reached the point in their careers where they have already acquired artistic gravitas. For Mr. Hanks, having escaped being typecast as a actor doing just light and screwball comedic roles, and Mr. Spielberg for breaking away from just being labeled as a giga-blockbuster sell-out film director (not that there is anything wrong with that). Given it is the time in history where the US has just been involved in a full-blown war in the Middle East, not to mention, post-9/11 era, for them to collab in a cutesy but sappy drama/comedy involving a creepy old-ish-man-child-ish (perhaps just naive) having the exuberance of 12-year-old discovering unfamilar things for him for the first time, the audience would still be beholden to their effort, a much-needed optimistic escapist fare.
But as far as Mr. Hanks is concerned, I hope this is the last of such comedic roles for him (Unless he would find it an acting challenge to up the ante in the cringe-inducing comedic schtick department, I would definitely not go check that one if ever that should happen). His take on the bumbling erudite prof wannabe crook in Coen Bros' laugh-out-loud The Ladykillers remake is him having a more matured comedic persona, and the one I kind of enjoy and prefer.
And for Mr. Spielberg, it's obvious that this film could have been passed over to a less-experienced director but chose to do it himself perhaps as contribution to his country during the trying times, a gift to his fans all over the world, a straightforward film with absurdist undertones. Even at the risk of sounding like a suck-up, I'd still say that even though the film is based on the experiences of a real-life character who got paid for the rights to use their story, the decision of opting not to use the guy's real name and chosing instead to use a fictitious version of the person facing the same sticky situation showed remarkable prudence on the part of filmmakers.
The airport set used is in the film is just spectacular. Never been into one (yet), but that film kind of raised the bar to what people's expectations of what an airport should look like, I guess. Other actors involved in the film: Tucci, Zeta-Jones, and others were splendid and enjoyable to watch in quite a decent and wholesome sincere film.
--B-flat--