MOVIES I WATCHED THIS WEEK # 288:
"It's no use, Anu. You can't escape your fate.."
ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT (2024), a beautiful Indian drama, considered by many to be the best film of 2024 and with 💯 score on Rotten Tomatoes. A tender, realistic portrait of three poor nurses in Mumbai, powerless, hurting but resilient, an odd to friendship, sisterhood and how women support each other through the toughest of times. All this in the background of a metropolitan hellhole, where most westerners would have a hard time surviving in. Cramped trains, overcrowded streets, a caldron of immense busyness, noise and smells. And pelted by constant rains, humidity. Still the three friends carry on with dignity, fortitude and some hope.
In spite of the very Indian imagery, it featured lyrical naturalism born very much of western film-art aesthetics. The trailer Above. 9/10.
More: my third by Payal Kapadia, her first short, AFTERNOON CLOUDS (2017. 13 min.), a melancholic cinematic poem about longing, Edward Hopper style. [Female Director.]
5 BY PAKISTANI WUNDERKIND SAIM SADIQ:
🍿 NICE TALKING TO YOU (2019) was a random pick I knew nothing about beforehand. A quick one-night romance played in American Sign Language in NYC. It looked like nothing to start with, but in the course of 20 minutes, it grabbed me and turned me upside down. 8/10.
(I'm actually starting to develop a certain aversion for "Young Mindset", movies that try to relate the experiences of 20-something people. This short is exactly that, but it's like it was done by a mature filmmaker with 30 years experience, not a guy born in 1991.)
When it was over, I was surprised to discover that it was made by one Saim Sadiq, whose film 'Joyland' had been on my watch-list for at least two years! This was the opportunity I needed to see all his movies.
🍿 There were only 953 Pakistani films ever made, per letterboxd, and JOYLAND (2022) is the highest-rated of them, by a wide margin. I can see why: This highly-acclaimed and award-winning drama is made by a master craftsman, even if it's his debut feature. It tells of a married man from a traditional clan in Lahore who falls in love with a Hijra, a transgender performer at an erotic dance theater. A controversial and polarising topic, made with western fearlessness and nuances.
The deeply-rooted, primitive patriarchal dominance presented in this society suffocates all relationships, and makes life oppressive and unpleasant.
🍿 DARLING (2019) must have been an early sketch of 'Joyland', telling of a similar trans girl who vies for the spotlight in an erotic dance show, and about a sacrificial goat who goes missing. Bold.
🍿 THE CARETAKER (2017) tells of a talented, young woman who won a prestigious scholarship in England, but must find another family member to take care of her invalid grandmother. Down with the patriarchy; Women always get the short stick of life. 7/10.
🍿 THE LETTERS OF MIKAEL MUHAMMAD (2015. 20 min.) however was an early short about the first meeting between a cute young couple. Except of the final message, it was unremarkable. 2/10.
2 MORE BY FANTASTIC KOREAN DIRECTOR JULY JUNG:
🍿 A MAN UNDER THE INFLUENZA (2007. 14 min.) is the weirdest film I've seen all month! A truly unsettling form of story-telling about an awkward, coughing man stumbling into a dingy basement restaurant to order some Kimchi-fried rice. You have no clue what it is about, but you can't take your eyes off it.
Only after finishing it, I realized that I've already seen one feature film by the young director Jung Yoo-ri ("July Jung"): Her lesbian drama 'A girl at my door' which was my introduction to Bae Doona.
🍿 NEXT SOHEE (2022) is only her second acclaimed feature. This anti-capitalist tale is based on a true story and is divided into two equal parts: The first tells of an ambitious female student who commits suicide after constant abuse at a toxic call center job she must take in order to graduate from high school. The second, and very different in tone, is about detective Bae Doona uncovering the larger conspiracy, of a whole system, educational, economical and societal, which allows such exploitation to continue unpunished in Modern Korea.
It's female-sensitive story-telling, without overt feminist bent, but with an authentic female-gaze and sensibilities. 9/10. [Female Director.]
I can't wait for her upcoming adaptation of the Freudian case of 'Dora'.
🍿 THE HATTER'S GHOST (1982), my 16th peculiar crime film by Claude Chabrol, about an ordinary bourgeoisie Michel Serrault who’s also a serial killer. Another one of his which is based on a Georges Simenon book. The provincial town in Bretagne and the 1950's mannerisms and traditions are the most appealing aspects of this stilted, finely calibrated, Hitchcockian story. Charles Aznavour plays a meek Armenian tailor and baby face François Cluzet is a young reporter. Baroque and genre-defying 'Psycho' homage.
🍿 THE INQUISITOR (1981), my second by Claude Miller, another terrific French Noir which takes place all in one room at the police station and on New Year's Eve. This time Serrault is a wealthy lawyer in a small town who is a suspect as a murderer and a rapist, and inspector Lino Ventura is determine to grill him until he confesses. Except of the Romy Schneider sub-plot it's a tight thriller, perfect and well-acted.
🍿 "...Or, sitting in a Copenhagen cafe with a stranger... I'd go with Copenhagen..."
THE INVITE (2026) is Olivia Wilde's faithful remake of Cesc Gay's Spanish chamber drama 'The People Upstairs'. Hers and Seth Rogen's loveless marriage is troubled, and then she invites their intriguing new neighbors for vine and cheese, only to discover that they are swingers and a sex therapist who are interested to hook up with them.
I dislike remakes in principle, but as far as remakes are concerned, this actually wasn't bad, even though it had to be "bigger", louder, yuppier, less intimate than the original; Husband Seth Rogen had to be more assholey, Penélope Cruz sexier, and Edward Norton more seductive. While Gay's restrained humor was dry and understated, she directed it more as a punchy broad sex comedy. Still, I was surprised that the main relationship ended up realistic. Unusual, interesting score. 7/10. [Female Director.]
VOLVER (2006), my 5th confounded mystery-box by Pedro Almodóvar, an inexplicable mixture of genres and styles that left me thirsty for better coherence. Definitely a women film with only a few lines of dialog by men, it's an absurd comedy, a mystery and an emotional telenova story about sexual abuse and resilience. You can't ignore Penélope Cruz's boobs which are the focal point of the whole movie. Her daughter kills the father who tries to rape her, and her mother comes back from the dead to unravel the traumas of the past. It's all over the place. I loved the ending title sequence. 5/10.
Unrelated: My favorite ballad, Rita Payés' Nunca vas a comprender ("You'll never understand")...
🍿 THE OTHER SIDE OF HOPE (2017), my first re-watch of any of Aki Kaurismäki's dry movies (but not the last one) ♻️. The trailer.
Why is it so perfect? Deadpan, melancholic, poignant, droll. It definitely requires a certain acceptance, which not everybody has, but for me, it's 10/10.
🍿 "I know why you left me. I get it."
THE OUTRUN (2024), a terrific tale of addiction, of trauma and recovery with the glorious Saoirse Ronan. 9/10. Re-watch ♻️. [Female Director.]
🍿 Wim Wenders' Japanese fantasy PERFECT DAYS (2023) about finding joy in repetition and the love of great music (Patti Smith, Lou Reed, Van Morrison, Nina Simone, 'The house of the rising sun', Etc.)
The toilets were beautiful. 9/10. Re-watch ♻️.
Mark Lewinsohn is an English historian, one of the foremost leading authorities about 'The Beatles', including his own very extensive All Things Beatles archives. EVOLVER 62 is a recording of a one man show that he did in London in 2022, where he stands on stage and shares some of his granular knowledge of what exactly transpired in 1962. This was the year they were offered the contract with Brian Epstein, and just before they blew up, everywhere and all at once. Sounds like a boring, tedious fan-edit? Actually, for history lovers as well as Beatles diehard fans, it's thrilling - and highly recommended. 8/10.
"...I'm actually standing outside the actual hotel, in which the rutles actually stayed in 1964, actually in this room, here..."
🍿 UNTOUCHABLE (2026. 25 min.) is stand-up comedian Alaina Bamfield's hilarious retelling of her experience of being molested by Larry Nassar. Brilliant / Heavy.
🍿 “I took an AIDS test today... I haven’t had sex in years. But I just wanted some good news...” was the first joke in Louis C.K. new standup, RIDICULOUS (2026). I thought that I'll be able to write "and then it went all downhill from there". But actually, the whole show was hilariously, and disgustingly funny. Full of gay, racist, dead baby, sexist and other politically-incorrect flavors, but very funny. No mentions of masturbating in front of unwilling, less powerful women any more, he moved on from "that", and is now in full official "uncancelled" mod.
But funny and very well-made.
🍿 UNCLE JOHNNY (2025. 12 min.) starts as a sterotypical portrait of an irritating young woman talking on the phone to her mom while driving, and quickly turns emotional as she does a favour for her old uncle! 8/10!
🍿 “FUCK YOU PB&J! You don’t get to intimidate me, cause what have you done with your life? Nothing! Because you’re a fucking sandwich!”
GUTS (2024. 11 min.) is a different story, but with the same unexpected dynamics; The same actress invites an older woman for a real surprise meal. 8/10!
🍿 THE SPERM BANK (2023. 15 min.) is a comedy about a guy who’s diagnosed with testicular cancer. However, the young LA Improve cool vibes spoil the effects here.
She is going places! [Female Director.]
SPY HARD (1996), an idiotic Leslie Nielsen spoof comedy, a second-rated Zucker, Abrahams, Zucker-type pastiche, which was not made by them, but behaved as if it did - down to the "What is it? It's a big building, but that's not important now" routines. A James Bond parody mixed with scenes from Pulp Fiction, Home Alone, Speed, Sister Act, and True Lies. Stupid, but funny in a few spots, especially in the "Weird Al" Yankovic title song. 3/10.
🍿 THE MEMORIES OF OTHERS (2024) is a wonderful (but too short) portrait of an extraordinary Japanese war photographer Akihiko Okamura, who moved to Ireland in 1968, and documented everyday life during 'The Troubles' in a fresh and unique way. 9/10.
🍿 ”Delegates from South Carolina would demand assurances that Georgia would at least bring towels if they were to sit on the furniture.”
AMERICA: BIRTH OF A NATION (2026. 26 min.), The Onion’s Temu-mocumentary of a Ken Burns PBS production, just in times for the 3rd of July. Brought to you by the Bill and Anastasia Gates Foundation. The best part were the end credits.
🍿 The 8 min. traffic jam tracking scene from Godard's WEEKEND (1967) features the best cars (The list here). Could it be that I haven't actually seen the film itself?! I must amend that right away!
🍿 EARWORM (2025. 13 min.), a Swedish one-joke skit about a telemarketer that can't get Cotton eye Joe out of his head. It proves that these sticky songs are actually real worms. 3/10.
THROWBACK TO THE ADORA ART PROJECT:
(ALL MY FILM REVIEWS - HERE)
origamiaround
dailybridgerton
turnnoffyourmind
snowghoul
yousharknotpass
