🎬 #147 An Otherworldly Undercurrent.
One of the things I’m drawn to in film is realism but with a coating or intrusion of something extra ordinary. Something alluded to that isn’t part of our normal day to day lives but is handled as if it is. This week’s two films dabble with this idea - one more obviously than the other.
Happy choosing, happy viewing
Bry
FILM ONE: VOX LUX
2018 Dir Brady Corbet
1 hrs 54 mins
Last week I talked about Brady Corbet’s first film, The Childhood of a Leader - he followed up the inception of a dictator with the inception of a superstar pop star. Again, I like that everything in the film feels grand in some way - from the opening and closing titles, messing with our expectations of what opening titles should be and where they should appear. Like his first film too, I enjoy how things don’t feel overly lit, the image, though beautiful, isn’t overly manicured or colour corrected within an inch of its life.
The handling of the blocking, and the performances feel like Bresson in places - a huge compliment. There is a cool distance about the film, as if we’re a bit numb like the characters we’re following, as they deal with events in recent history. As I said, there is an implied largeness to the film, like a really dark version of Forrest Gump - the central characters feel connected to or somehow have influence on world events. I really enjoyed the mood more than anything - it has an early millennial feel to it, in parts reminding me of Gus Van Sant’s Elephant. My friend Narghi wholeheartedly disagreed with me though so maybe not for most people.
TL;DR: Corbet’s second film takes us into the dark voyage of a pop star as she navigates the first decades of the 21st century.
*Available for a small rental fee on Apple and Amazon in the US and the UK.
Fact: Rooney Mara was originally cast to play the role Natalie Portman plays.
FILM TWO: ATLANTICS
2019 Dir Mati Diop
1 hr 46 mins
One film my talented filmmaker friend Narghi did rave about to me is Atlantics. So the reason I’m recommending is purely down to her unrelenting insistence and the fact that it is a very good film.
As I mentioned, this film leans heavily into a world that is at once ours, but also one where hexes, mysticism, and possession are possible. Superstitions can be manifested, just another fact woven into the fabric of everyday life - as tangible as sweat on a hot misty day by the beach. The mood here is established mostly on a foundation of Matt Diop’s excellent use of Fatima Al Qadiri’s score. It feels ethereal - light, a cloak of magic over the beautiful yet jagged realism of the environment the film is set in. It’s a film whose elegant simplicity suddenly becomes magical in the best possible way. It’s the filmmaking equivalent of a Rinko Kawauchi photograph - another world captured in the hazy mirage of a sunset.
TL;DR: Mati Diop’s Cannes winning look at love and the possibilities of life beyond the realities of the everyday is a mysterious thing to behold.
*Available to stream on Netflix in the US and the UK.
Fact: This is one of the first films released by Netflix to be given a Blu-ray release via The Criterion Collection.
BONUS: My next short film is live - please enjoy!