sundance Archives - Page 7 of 7

Saturday

25

January 2020

Sundance Review: Summertime

Written by Ian Thomas Malone, Posted in Blog, Movie Reviews, Pop Culture

Raul Herrera, Jason Alvarez, Benet Benton, Amaya Blankenship, Tyris Winter, Gordon Ip, Lydia Ip, Maia Mayor, and Marquesha Babers appear in Summertime by Carlos Lopez Estrada, an official selection of the NEXT program at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by John Schmidt.

It’s rare to see a film unabashedly embrace the heart of Los Angeles, an often-maligned city rich with so many different cultures. Too often, films focus on the superficial or the star-crazed, a city seemingly as fake as the sound stages it houses. With Summertime, director Carlos López Estrada harnesses the power of 25 young poets speaking their truths in the city they call home.

Spoken word poetry drives the narrative, which possesses a loose continuity throughout the film. The individual scenes mostly function as vignettes, each containing a different poem from the large ensemble cast. The poets are breathtakingly raw in their deliveries, presenting their full emotions to the audience.

The characters comes from many different backgrounds, brought together largely by chance encounters. Summertime harnesses the sheer humanity in community, a powerful testament of simple interaction. The social media era provides glimpses into practically the whole world, sometimes at a cost to one’s awareness of reality around them.

Most of the plotlines are pretty heavy in nature, but there’s plenty of levity. Cheeseburgers play an important role in the narrative, a simple pleasure that can mean so much to people in times of struggle. Most of the characters are compassionate to each other despite being strangers, an optimistic tone in an era where too many find nothing but despair.

Estrada does a masterful job weaving the many strands of the narrative into a relatively cohesive story. Aside from one plotline’s time-jumping, the bulk of the film takes place over the course of a single day. The crossovers between characters do feel a bit arbitrary, but the emotion of each scene makes it easy to forgive some of the bumpier transitions.

Juggling twenty-five characters, Summertime doesn’t waste a single second of its runtime. Estrada tears at the heartstrings in every scene. It’s a tearjerker at times, but also quite hilarious in other moments. The film has an interesting grasp on realism, presenting intimate stories layered with a zanier delivery at times.

The film might struggle to win over skeptics of the spoken word emphasis. Estrada based the film off a high school showcase he attended, leading to its fairly singular presentation. Summertime works best for audiences that approach the film with open hearts, ready to take in Los Angeles from the poet’s souls.

Utilizing an exceptional young cast, Summertime crafts a beautifully raw love letter to Los Angeles. The loose structure allows it to reach a degree of authenticity that few films dare to try for. Estrada took more than two dozen moving pieces and made a tearjerker of a story.

Friday

24

January 2020

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Sundance Review: Miss Americana

Written by Ian Thomas Malone, Posted in Blog, Movie Reviews, Pop Culture

A still from Miss Americana by Lana Wilson, an official selection of the Documentary Premieres program at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute.

The big challenge for films like Miss Americana is to present its stars in a way that doesn’t feel like one big infomercial. Taylor Swift is one of the most famous people in the world. She doesn’t need to give access to anyone. Director Lana Wilson covers a wide range of Taylor’s life while building a narrative that strikes at the nature of her relentless drive.

From a timeline perspective, Miss Americana includes practically the entirety of Swift’s life, aided by footage numerous home videos. The film spends the bulk of its time on the past few years, namely the production of Reputation and Lover. Swift allows cameras in the studio for the first time in her career, capturing intimate moments where her music comes alive.

Swift has kept up an impressive workload for an artist who has little left to prove. Unsurprisingly in that regard, she often conducts herself as a person still trying to climb the mountain well after she’s reached the top. Success at an early age appears to have instilled a deep longing for the public’s approval, often to her own detriment.

Wilson wields Swift’s own words to tell a story that hints at the artist’s shortcomings without ever feeling like it’s being outwardly critical. Miss Americana breaks new ground while thoroughly remaining on Taylor’s side. It’s a singular kind of music documentary, one with the artist’s full participation that manages to be thought-provoking, even if it’s clear that punches are being pulled. Wilson doesn’t need to be Mike Wallace to dive deeper into her subject.

Sometimes she earns an eye roll for complaining about things that can be safely filed into first world problems, but that also reflects a person who has barely had any privacy for over a decade. Strangers break into her house to sleep in her bed. That’s not normal by any definition of the word.

Miss Americana works best when it focuses on Taylor’s rise in the resistance after a decade of silence on the political front. For a performer with roots in the country music world, the Dixie Chicks serve as a cautionary tale for what happens when you bash a Republican president. Taylor’s embrace of feminism and LGBTQ rights created an untenable situation for staying on the sidelines.

To her credit, she admits mistakes on this front. She has one of the most powerful microphones in the world. Though her management, including her father, protests, she wades into the 2018 senatorial race in Tenessee, knowing full well that attacks from the Tweeter-in-chief are bound to follow. Plenty of people and big corporations talk a big game on inclusion, but Swift feels genuine in her desire to grow as an ally. The sexual assault case that she recently won had a profound impact on her approach to activism. That kind of sincerity is sadly too often missing from this political climate.

The film does leave a couple strands of her career undeveloped. Early on, the film walks up to the idea that Reputation had made some mistakes, but never really follows through on this idea. The Taylor Swift that once sang about how “the old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now” is nowhere to be found. That Taylor appears to not only be dead, but forgotten also.

For a film with a ninety-minute runtime, it’s understandable how stuff like her feud with Katy Perry wouldn’t make the cut. Taylor Swift has had a very long and storied career, all before the age of thirty. Also absent is Scooter Braun, though the ongoing nature of that dispute makes it difficult to include in a narrative like Miss Americana.

It is somewhat disappointing to not see the thought process behind songs like “Bad Blood” or “Look What You Made Me Do” explained, or even examined. Miss Americana frequently highlights the fact that Swift writes all her own songs, making it all the more jarring that Reputation’s lead track borrowed the melody from Right Side Fred’s “I’m Too Sexy,” a truly horrendous one-hit wonder.

Miss Americana succeeds at its primary objective, to take a global superstar and present her in a relatable fashion. She’s one of the most successful musicians in history, but also a human being. Society may not want those two versions of Taylor to co-exist, but people need growth to sustain themselves. Taylor Swift may have it all, but the film proves just how hungry she is for more.

Friday

24

January 2020

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Sundance Review: Cuties

Written by Ian Thomas Malone, Posted in Blog, Movie Reviews, Pop Culture

Fathia Youssouf, Medina El Aidi-Azouni, Esther Gohourou, Ilanah Cami-Goursolas, Myriam Hamma, Demba Diaw, and Maimouna Gueye appear in Cuties by Maïmouna Doucouré, an official selection of the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute.

The desire to rebel is a natural instinct for many children. To be told what not to do tends to fuel an inherent urge to push back against authority. Set in France, Maïmouna Doucouré’s Cuties demonstrates the universality of these themes, transcending language and culture.

Amy (Fathia Youssouf) is a fairly rebellious eleven-year-old, discontent with the strict rules in her household. The circumstances make it hard to blame her. Her mother Miriam (Maïmouna Gueye) is a hard-working parent struggling to raise three children while her husband pursues a second marriage in Senegal. Miriam is a compassionate woman who played by the rules of tradition, with seemingly little to show for it.

A group of girls who dub themselves the “cuties” attract Amy’s interest with their elaborate dance routines. Eager to join their clique, Amy starts to deviate from the guidelines set before her. A stolen cellphone provides Amy with valuable cultural capital, as well as a glimpse of the broader world she’d been sheltered from.

Doucouré is quite skilled at conveying emotion, capturing the highs and lows of adolescence in a way that speaks to the universality of growing up. Cuties is often hilarious. The young talent are superb at drawing laughs from subtle moments that are easy to relate to.

Though many have not had to experience the idea of having a second wife move into one’s already-cramped apartment, Cuties touches on themes that are quite popular in American cinema. Amy’s father is not shown to be a great guy, and the adults in her life struggle to help Amy copes with this harsh reality. Earlier eras put up with that stuff in a way that simply isn’t appealing to a younger demographic that’s experienced a world outside the strict confines of religion.

Which isn’t to say that Amy is some misunderstood angel. Like many eleven-year-olds, she’s prone to behaving like a brat. Doucouré captures this trajectory in a powerful way largely through Amy’s relationship with her mother. American family sitcoms are filled with predictable teaching moments at the end of their episodes. Cuties follows similar arcs, but shakes things up in a refreshing manner, dealing with reality rather than a “mom knows best” outcome.

Cuties captures adolescence life in a deeply moving manner. The film is very well-crafted with a keen sense of pacing, packing quite a lot into a ninety-minute runtime. Doucouré fully understands what it’s like to be a kid and an adult, delivering a compassionate family narrative that respects both sides of the equation.

Tuesday

21

January 2020

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Sundance Review: Jumbo

Written by Ian Thomas Malone, Posted in Blog, Movie Reviews, Pop Culture

Nomie Merlant appears in Jumbo by Zoé Wittock, an official selection of the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute.

For years, the discussion around gay marriage included plenty of preposterous claims such as allowing gay people to wed would lead to individuals wanting to marry their pets or their cars. Similar outlandishness follows the fight for transgender rights, as “jokes” about people wanting to identify as attack helicopters or penguins are made on a daily basis even to this day. In her debut feature Jumbo, Belgian director Zoé Wittock pursues a similar line of thinking in a surrealistic take on the meaning of love.

Jeanne (Noémie Merlant) is a creative young woman who’s happiest in her thoughts. She works the graveyard shift at a local amusement park and builds elaborate models in her free time. Her mother Margarette (Emmanuelle Bercot), a bartender, is troubled by Jeanne’s lack of drive, particularly with regard to her romantic life. Margarette herself enjoys a healthy sex life, especially with a new partner Hubert (Sam Louwyck).

A new attraction at the park catches Jeanne’s interest, much to the chagrin of her boss Marc (Bastien Bouillon), who pursues her romantically. Unfortunately for Marc, Jeanne’s heart belongs to a Tilt-A-Whirl ride, with its bright lights and mechanical spinning prowess. Dubbed “Jumbo” by Jeanne, she pays special attention to the ride during her shifts, making sure his lights are in tip-top shape.

Jumbo is the kind of film that works best when it skirts the lines of reality. Wittiock includes many beautiful sequences where Jeanne quite literally loses herself in the grandeur of Jumbo. The cinematography is spectacular, using light and color to convey meaning in the absence of words. Wittock appeals to all the senses in her efforts to convey a very peculiar kind of love.

Merlant is spectacular as Jeanne, capturing the essences of emotions foreign to many. She fully sells Jeanne’s emotion, as absolutely ridiculous as that sounds. Her performance sets the terms for the audience’s engagement with the narrative, presenting Jeanne not as someone who should be pitied, but rather appreciated for the way she holds her ground in the face of relentless opposition.

The supporting cast is also superb. Louwyck in particular stands out as Hubert, taking what could easily have been a throwaway role and transforming the character into someone with remarkable depth. As Margarette, Bercot puts forth an authentic portrayal of what any mother might struggle with in such a position, with happiness and reality existing in stark contrast to each other.

Perhaps the only point of critique for Jumbo is the absence of a broader sense of rationale behind Jeanne’s behavior. For a film with such an intimate scope, it’s understandable that there wasn’t much backstory, but there’s a lot of questions that the audience is left with by the end of the narrative. Film cannot present a complete portrait of a person’s life, but there’s so much to Jeanne lingering beneath the surface that supplies much food for thought afterward.

Jumbo takes an absurd premise and fully commits to presenting a heartfelt story. It’s easy to laugh at the idea of a person falling in love with a machine. Rather than make a mockery of the subject, Wittock finds beauty in the unexplainable.

Tuesday

21

January 2020

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Sundance Review: Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness

Written by Ian Thomas Malone, Posted in Blog, Movie Reviews, Pop Culture

Sadaf Asgari appears in Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness by Massoud Bakhshi, an official selection of the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute.

Films like Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness shine a light on the complexities of justice. The idea of an “eye for an eye” is frowned upon in most societies, even Iran, where the practice is allowed. To beg for forgiveness under those conditions is to strike at the heart of humanity, mercy and vengeance existing at polar opposites.

Maryam (Sadaf Asgari) has been sentenced to death for the accidental murder of her much older husband Nassar. Her fate lies in the hands of Nassar’s daughter Mona (Behnaz Jafari), herself old enough to be Maryam’s mother, who alone can choose to sentence her to death or spare her life. Further complicating matters is the fact that Maryam’s fate will be decided on live television.

The film takes place almost entirely on the set where the reality show is filmed, where millions of people are watching to see whether Maryam will live or die. The audience themselves can play a role, texting their own verdicts to the show, the results of which could determine if the program’s sponsors will pay the blood money owed to Nassar’s family. A young woman’s fate decided in a similar fashion as American Idol.

Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness is a powerful film, striking at the heart of humanity through a jaded modern lens. The idea of a reality show determining a woman’s fate feels sickening, yet the film depicts the show in a compassionate manner. The show’s producer Ayat (Babak Karimi) and host (Arman Darvish) aren’t bad people looking to exploit Maryam, but to play the system they inhabit in a way that satisfies all sides.

The film largely succeeds on the back of Asgari, who demonstrates her range as an actress time and time again throughout the narrative. Understandably, Maryam resists the idea of playing into this absurd premise of begging for her life on national television. That is, however, exactly what’s expected of her. Asgari’s grasp on emotion is gut-wrenching, casting a light on the horrors of her reality. She cuts right through any perceived glamor of show business.

Jafari also does a great job as Mona, a woman with understandably conflicted emotions toward the younger woman who killed her father. In the heat of passion, it’s easy to call for someone’s head. The film understands the fleeting nature of rage, leaving Mona alone and clear-headed with the stakes of her decision.

Though the film takes place over the course of a single night, director Massoud Bakhshi packs a lot of story into the narrative. The audience gets a pretty good grasp of the events that happened, largely through an on-air back and forth between Maryam and Mona. The show never lets you forget that it’s not actually a trial, but it often functions that way.

Watching Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness is often an unsettling experience. Showbusiness and justice are not typically thought to go hand in hand. Bakhshi is extremely effective at presenting the dichotomy between Iran’s traditional approach to punishment and the modern method of carrying out that practice on reality television.

Wednesday

21

December 2016

1

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Rectify Goes Out On Its Own Terms

Written by Ian Thomas Malone, Posted in Blog, Pop Culture

The question of Daniel Holden’s innocence has always been Rectify’s low hanging fruit. If Sundance’s first original drama aired on network TV, the ads every week would feature variations of “did he do it?” along with some gripping music and a voiceover, but creator Ray McKinnon never made that the focal point of his masterpiece. In the week leading up to Rectify’s finale, I got the sense that we weren’t going to get any definitive closure. The four seasons we spent with Daniel remind us that life doesn’t work like that. Thankfully, the finale didn’t tell us anything different.

It’s easy to forget that the entirety of the show takes places over a few short months. The circumstances surrounding Daniel’s life barely change over the course of the series. He’s on the road to recovery and probable exoneration, but that’s about it thirty episodes later. Rectify’s pacing is a true marvel, moving at a glacier slow speed but with such precision that it’s easy to forget just how little time has passed, though for a show about a man who spent nineteen yeas in solitary confinement, it feels oddly fitting.

Part of the beauty of Rectify is that we’ll never know if Daniel really did it or not. The show supplied enough details to suggest Chris Nelms killed Hanna Dean, but never fully lets its lead off the hook. Daniel himself claimed to not remember in the season opener, understandable considering he was on mushrooms that night. Most shows would be ripped apart for not definitively revealing the killer, but Rectify managed to frame its narrative so that it almost would have been a cop out to supply the answer.

That’s also really not what Rectify was ever about. As Daniel put it in the finale, an exoneration would be only good for an occasional visit home, plus any future Google searches by artsy companions. He won’t get his years back. Some people in Paulie will always think he did it. Rectify never tried to trick its audience into thinking otherwise.

I didn’t think the season finale was the best episode of the season. I’m glad it didn’t try to be. There were so many deeply moving scenes throughout the season that you almost couldn’t imagine that there were any heartstrings left to tug. Of course Rectify managed to find a few, but the goodbyes offered in the final episode ended on a happier note than what we’ve come to expect from the show over the years.

Rectify’s conclusion had all the makings of a proper TV finale set through the lens of one of the most unique shows ever to air. We got to see familiar faces one last time, without the kind of shock scene that would have felt out of place. The best TV finales are the ones that remind you why you loved the show to begin with. The final dream sequence offered the only kind of conclusion Rectify could offer, bringing the show to an end knowing full well that Daniel Holden’s story is far from over.

Few shows demonstrate such mastery of the craft. Like The Wire before it, Rectify won no major awards and never achieved a sizable following while it was on the air. Both are fairly unwelcoming in their brutally honest deliveries, which rarely spare punches to their characters. Hopefully history will rectify Rectify’s standing in this so-called “golden age of television,” but until then we can rest easy knowing what a fantastic piece of art we got to enjoy.