“Soft Rains Will Come”– Movie Review

This weekend, I attended The Latin American Film Festival at The Film Society of Lincoln Center for a screening of the new drama from Argentina, “Soft Rains Will Come”.

Synopsis

When a group of children discover that the adults in their town are unable to awaken from a deep sleep, will they be able to fend for themselves?

Story

Alma is understandably concerned.  Although she has spent a fun day playing with her friends, this is the first time her parents have let her spend the night away from home.  She has been promised that her mother would pick her up the next day.  Alma believes her mother.  And yet …  She goes to sleep with her girlfriends and their siblings.  The next morning, however, is something else altogether.  Looking around the house, Alma is suspicious.  The adults are nowhere to be found.  Family pets are scrounging for food.  What’s worse, there appears to be no electricity.  Something’s not right.

Once Alma’s friends awaken, they notice that their parents are still sound asleep – and they won’t wake up.  Nevertheless, they are confident that eventually the adults will get up and everything will return to normal.  But where are Alma’s parents?  The children try to feed themselves – but unable to cook, they can only eat a stash of candy and some ice cream that’s starting to melt since the freezer doesn’t have any electricity to work properly.  With darkness coming, they are able to secure some flashlights, but how long will the batteries last?   

The next day, Alma declares that she must leave as she’s now concerned about her baby brother.  Even though her parents still haven’t arrived or tried to contact her, she sets out on her journey – but not alone.  A few of Alma’s friends volunteer to join her on what will turn out to be a very long walk.  Along the way, they meet Simona.  Simona is slightly older than the rest of them, but nevertheless, finds herself in a similar circumstance when her grandmother is unable to awaken from her slumber.  She joins them on their trek, but when they finally arrive at Alma’s house, how will they deal with the surprise they have found? 

Review

The title of this movie is derived from a poem by that name written a century ago.  This poem “There Will Come Soft Rains” is about the effect of war on nature and the impact man also has on nature.  While this is something of an interesting concept, the film itself meanders considerably and the seemingly aimless nature rather detracts from the story.  Although we are aware that the group is trying to help Alma get home, they admit that they’re not sure if they’re going in the right direction, so we have no idea whether they’re making progress or not.  In fact, it isn’t until near the end of the motion picture that we learn that they have found her house.

Another matter is the ambiguity in the third act, which doesn’t seem to have a clear resolution to the story.  There appears something which the director refers to as a “presence”; it is unclear whether this is a ghost or a space alien or the figment of someone’s vivid imagination.  Apparently, it’s left to the viewer to interpret this as he or she wishes. Where this gets a little confusing also is the reaction that the children have to this “presence” -- they laugh with delight rather than initially responding in a terrified fashion.  Also, there is the curiosity that the children don’t seem as scared as one might expect given the fact that their parents are not waking up (nor do there seem to be any other adults who are awake).

Following the screening, there was an interview with director Ivan Fund.  Sleep is an important element of this movie; the girl in this story was afraid of sleeping away from her parents.  As a child, Fund himself couldn’t sleep when having a sleepover at a friend’s house. He believes that this comes from him being an only child who slept in the same bed as his parents when he was little.  The children in “There Will Come Soft Rains” are not professional actors. Most of the children in the film are girls; Fund stated that in his original version of the script, these characters were all boys.  However, when he went to audition the children in this town, he found that by far, the girls had the most acting talent, so he changed the script to have most of the characters as girls.

“Ash Is Purest White”– Movie Review

This week at The Film Society of Lincoln Center, I attended a sneak preview of the new Chinese drama directed by Jia Zhangke, “Ash Is Purest White”. 

Synopsis

When a young woman goes to prison in order to protect her boyfriend, can they pick up where they left off upon her release? 

Story

In 2001, Datong, China is undergoing many changes – not only culturally but economically, too.  This caused people to have to find new and creative ways to get by – even if you were a member of the Chinese underworld known as the jianghu.   Bin (Fan Liao) was one such low-level gangster in that organization and Qiao (Tao Zhao) was his devoted girlfriend.  She was madly in love with him – perhaps because she was also madly in love with his bad-boy lifestyle.  They shared many things together – Bin even taught her how to shoot his gun.  A fateful choice.

As a member of a gang, Bin has many enemies.  Rival gangsters are out to get him.  One night, as he and Qiao are driving through town, his car is attacked by men from another gang.  When he gets out to defend himself and fight back, he is initially able to hold his own – but soon, the gang overwhelm him.  Seeing her boyfriend taking a serious beating, Qiao decides to end the fight; she gets out of the car and grabs Bin’s pistol, shooting it threateningly into the sky.  This succeeds in breaking up the fight – however, since there were so many witnesses on this crowded street, she is reported to the police and subsequently arrested. 

After doing five years of hard time in prison, Qiao is finally released.  She immediately sets out to seek Bin, who never visited her or contacted her during the period of her incarceration.  Although he tries to evade her for a long time, Qiao finally tricks Bin into meeting with her; he informs her that while she was imprisoned, he found a new girlfriend – since he’s moved on, he suggests she does likewise.  This knocks Qiao for a loop – she expected Bin to be anxiously waiting for her return.  Years later, when Bin suffers a downturn in his luck, will Qiao be willing to take him back or has she had enough with him?    

Review

Heartbreaking and yet at times quite funny, “Ash Is Purest White” ostensibly sets out as a crime drama, then winds up transmogrifying into a tender romance.  It is simultaneously wondrous and alarming that Jia Zhangke is able to do this, but when a director is at the top of his form, he can turn almost any story into a sort of visual poetry.  Watching Zhao Tao’s character grow and change over a 17 year period is remarkable; her Qiao’s character arc gradually transforms into a heroine for the ages. This movie reminds us of the complexity of human relationships and that love can take many forms, some of which can be quite painful quite painful.

While you might expect a movie that covers a 17 year period in the life of two lovers to be long, at nearly two and a half hours, “Ash Is Purest White” can feel a bit slow at times.  For one thing, it takes nearly an hour for the real story to start because we are given so much background about this couple. Also, it somewhat confuses the viewer by having what might be thought of as a “false ending” – i.e., just when you think you’re about to see the credits roll, the story continues for quite a bit longer.  As much as you may be enjoying the film up to that point, it can nevertheless be a little bit infuriating.

Following the screening, there was an interview with the director Jia Zhangke via an interpreter.  When asked about how he came to have this title for the movie, he said that the original Chinese title was something completely different.  However, when looking to distribute the film overseas – especially in the United States – he knew that title would not work because it was a phrase that would only resonate in the Chinese culture.   As a result, he set off to find something that might be more palatable for an American audience. During the shoot, this title occurred to him because he came to realize that the heat from volcanic ash performs something of a purification process.  Likewise, people in the “heat” (pressure) of society can sometimes tend to disintegrate into ash. The essence of the film is about the pressures of society that came about from the drastic changes in China.

“Birds Of Passage”– Movie Review

This week at The Film Society Of Lincoln Center, I attended an advance screening of the new Colombian drama, “Birds Of Passage” (aka “Pájaros de verano”).

Synopsis

When the drug wars in Colombia heat up in the 1970’s, an entrepreneurial man seeks his fortune in this business – but will his ambition be his undoing?

Story

In the late 1960’s, Raphayet (José Acosta) sees a world around him where easy money can be made by selling marijuana – especially to Americans, who seem to have an extraordinary amount of disposable income.  To this end, he visits an old acquaintance, Aníbal (Juan Bautista Martínez), who is known to grow a huge crop of weed; he offers to help him distribute the product so that they can both earn a substantial living.  They eventually come to a mutually acceptable arrangement; Raphayet agrees to buy from Aníbal a certain amount of the crop regularly, which he will in turn sell for profit. 

Over time, however, Raphayet finds that other people are making his business difficult to run and are going out of their way to create problems for him.  One such person is his old friend Moisés (Jhon Narváez), whom Raphayet hired to assist him in his business.  Unfortunately, it turns out that Moisés is out of control and becomes too much of a risk.  When Aníbal threatens to terminate his business dealings with Raphayet because of Moisés’ behavior, Raphayet is forced to eliminate the problem.  However, since he took his time dealing with the situation, Raphayet has damaged his relationship with Aníbal. 

After renegotiating their business deal in a way that is more favorable to Anibal, he and Raphayet continue their arrangement, although it is considerably more uneasy by this time.  Across the years, Raphayet attains an unimaginable level of success and his family wants for nothing.  But Leonídas (Greider Meza), an in-law who becomes part of his crew, grows into being another headache, just like Moisés was; this time, however, he disrespects Aníbal’s daughter.  By now, Aníbal loses faith in Raphayet’s ability to manage his people.  Can this be repaired or will the two be destined for war?     

Review

If you like the Netflix show “Narcos”, or the movie “Scarface” (the Al Pacino version) or even just the El Chapo trial, then you might enjoy “Birds Of Passage”.  There is plenty of action and violence for those who find that kind of thing entertaining. Having said that, however, it’s a bit slowly paced in parts, especially in the beginning; eventually, it picks up.  While it never gets to a point of being fast-paced, it definitely has more of a feel of forward momentum. Unfortunately, the slow pace early on could cause some folks to bail out of the story and make it hard – if not impossible – to get them back. 

Based on true incidents from the 1960’s to the 1980’s in Colombia, “Birds of Passage” is certainly an ambitious undertaking.  While it is an interesting concept, it’s something of a challenge for the audience to root for any of the major characters since they are all directly or indirectly involved in the illegal activity of drug dealing.  True, in this case it’s only marijuana, but still, it was considered an illegal activity at the time. There are different, nuanced levels of villainy here, so whom you root for (if anyone) may be up for grabs. None of the characters are truly innocent; everyone has dirty hands.

Curiously, this level of complexity makes the story even more interesting.  In this immoral world, morality is relative. What might be considered immoral in decent society may be thought of as acceptable in this framework.  There is also the matter of different tribal customs and what is considered “honorable”. Who is murdered or stolen from may be quite tolerable, depending on whom the victim was or the circumstances in which the deed took place.  If you are unfamiliar with these societies, the concept may be hard to grasp – but on the upside, “Birds Of Paradise” certainly takes the viewer into an entirely unfamiliar world.

“High Flying Bird”–Movie Review

This week, I attended a screening at The Film Society of Lincoln Center of the new Netflix drama, “High Flying Bird”, directed by Steven Soderbergh. 

Synopsis

During an NBA lockout, can the players figure out a way to monetize their athletic ability in order to earn a living?

Story

After nearly six months of an NBA lockout, professional basketball player Erick (Melvin Gregg) is running low on funds; he has wound up being forced to borrow money because he spent everything he had before the lockout.  As if things aren’t bad enough, Erick now finds himself being lectured by his agent Ray (André Holland), who is also in a similar situation due to the lockout.  Upon returning to the office, Ray learns that the previously successful agency he works for has been forced to lay off much of its staff due to the lockout.  Since Ray primarily represents NBA players, he’s out, too.

Despite his situation, his (now former) assistant Sam (Zazie Beetz) not only remains loyal to him, but now also tries to continue to help him dig himself – and his main client – out of the deep hole in which they find themselves.  With no end in sight to the lockout, Erick is growing increasingly impatient and starts taking it out on Ray, who has assured him he could turn things around for them both.  One day at a charity event, Erick is confronted by one of his main rivals on the court; they decide to settle their differences by playing a little game of one-on-one.  A video of their basketball duel is recorded and uploaded to the Internet.  It doesn’t take much time for it to go viral.

Before long, Ray and Erick are being inundated with offers to make a regularly scheduled television show where Erick plays one-on-one with another professional athlete.  Discussions of big money are being tossed around.  But would making such a commitment violate Erick’s contract and render him susceptible to a lawsuit with the NBA?  Since the lockout has been protracted, Ray argues that the league has not upheld its part of the bargain and Erick is free to seek another means of livelihood.  Will Ray and Erick risk their career on this deal or can the NBA end the lockout beforehand?       

Review

The premise for “High Flying Bird” is rather clever; while there may be some comparisons with “Jerry Maguire”, such a comparisons can only be done on the most superficial level – a story about a sports agent.  Where this movie takes a totally different turn is that the agent uses out-of-the-box thinking in combination with modern-day technology in order to solve a crucial problem.  Part of the enjoyment in watching this film comes from watching the agent out-play and out-think everyone else who believes they are considerably smarter than he.   

Unfortunately, the movie in its entirety does not hold together terribly well and comes off as a bit muddled in areas.  This is especially true when certain characters are introduced and the viewer is not quite clear who these people are and what relationship they have to the primary characters.  Instead, the audience is left to figure it all out as the movie unfolds, which risks taking the viewer out of the story temporarily.  Also, by the conclusion of the film, there is little in the way of an emotional impact on the viewer since there wasn’t much of an investment in the characters early on.      

Following the screening, there was an interview with the movie’s screenwriter Tarell Alvin McCraney, as well as two cast members, André Holland and Zazie Beetz.  Holland stated that he kicked off this project by pitching the idea to Soderbergh and it took four years to be realized.  Soderbergh shot the entire movie on an iphone. Beetz said that she found some differences in the way she approached acting before an iphone as opposed to a traditional camera; while her acting is basically the same, she noted that performing in front of an iphone is somewhat less distracting.  She added that shooting in this fashion, they moved more quickly because there was no setup required – natural lighting was utilized, so no lights needed to be positioned. Beetz added that since this shoot didn’t allocate much time for rehearsal, it required all of the actors to be extremely well prepared at the time they were before the camera.

“Men Without Women”– Book Review

Ernest Hemingway is a puzzle that continuously needs to be solved over and over again.  In a sense, reading him can be like reading Shakespeare in the sense that it desperately needs to be annotated in order to understand what’s going on at any given moment in the story.  Whatever he is writing about often needs to be unlocked by how he is writing it – i.e., the narrative descriptions and the comparisons, analogies or euphemisms.  As a writer, Hemingway struck the perfect balance between merely observing life (human nature) and being an active participant in it (war, boxing, bullfighting). 

If you are an admirer of Hemingway, then rest assured that “Men Without Women” touches on all of these topics – human nature, war, boxing and bullfighting.  Originally published in 1927, this is a collection of fourteen of Hemingway’s short stories.  The title, however, might be a bit misleading because some of the stories are actually focused on the complexity of relationships between men and women – which is, arguably, the author’s métier.  Most notably is “Hills Like White Elephants”, which, at its essence, is about abortion. 

This particular short story is what motivated me to read this book because of my personal history with “Hills Like White Elephants”.  My first reading of this story was back in 1977, the Spring Semester of my Freshman year in college.  Given the fact that I was attending a Catholic University at the time, one might imagine how eye-opening it was for me to discover that such a classic short story was about this particular topic; at the tender age of 18, it was quite a bit for this teenager to wrap his head around, particularly in such a religious environment. 

What is a so-called “white elephant”?  One definition is that it is something that is not desired by its owner or a possession maintained at much expense.  It may be suggested that for those who do not seek parenthood that children, in general, are both unwanted and expensive – a difficult thing to refute.  The fact that Hemingway could write about it so artfully without actually mentioning the word abortion was never actually used speaks to the author’s skill and subtlety.  Also, keep in mind that this was written decades before Roe v. Wade, so the procedure could only be done legally in Europe. 

Another reason why this particular story so remarkable is how well Hemingway writes about the complexity of the relationship between men and women.  In “Hills Like White Elephants”, one gets the sense that the woman is going through with this simply to please her man because she doesn’t want to lose him – and yet it seems as though this relationship is nearing its end.  He knows that she truly wanted this baby and is now even trying to convince himself that this procedure was a mutual agreement between them, whereas it was really coming at his insistence.

While there are other good stories in this collection, it’s rather haphazard; there’s filler in between the worthwhile pieces.  What makes it worth the read, however, is not only the better stories but also the historical context; it features Hemingway at his early stages in life, working and practicing in order to become the legend that he was.  To see him make a misstep or two along the way almost humanizes him.  For all his success, there were considerable artistic imperfections.  Not even Babe Ruth hit a homerun every time he came up to bat.       

Men Without Women: Ernest Hemingway: 9780684825861: Books ISBN: 0684825864 ISBN-13: 9780684825861