“White As Snow”– Movie Review

During the opening weekend of The 2019 Tribeca Film Festival, I attended the International Premiere of the new French comedy, “White As Snow” (AKA, “Pure As Snow” or in the original French, “Blanche comme neige”), directed by Anne Fontaine, with Isabelle Huppert. 

Synopsis

After a young woman is kidnapped, she is rescued by strangers – but when the kidnapper learns of her whereabouts, her life becomes endangered.

Story

There is absolutely nothing extraordinary about Claire (Lou de Laâge) or the life that she leads.  She works for her stepmother Maud (Huppert) at a spa she owns and operates.  Maud is an exacting proprietor who is detail-oriented and insists on meeting or exceeding the expectations of her clientele.  Both Maud and her stepdaughter are extremely focused on operating the business.  Perhaps this is because Maud’s husband (Claire’s father) recently passed away and this is how they both deal with their respective loss.  But who can say?  Maud has always treated Claire more like an employee than a stepdaughter and this hasn’t changed.

One day while going out for a jog, Claire is abducted by some masked people who toss her in the trunk of their car and drive to a remote rural area far away from the city where Claire lives and works.  During the drive, the kidnappers have an accident; they swerve off the road and hit a tree, crashing the car and rendering Claire unconscious.  Later, she awakens in a farm house without a clue as to either how or when she got there.  It turns out that she was saved by a pair of twin brothers who found her wandering around a nearby the forest. 

What is behind the mystery of Claire’s kidnapping?  Maud – who is jealous of the effect the beautiful Claire has on other men.  When Maud learns Claire is alive and well, she hunts her down, determined to finish the job the kidnappers could not.  But when she finds Claire, Maud is stunned to learn her stepdaughter has transformed into a a carnal seductress who has many of the town’s men under her spell.  Infuriated, Maud becomes even more determined that Claire must go, so she enacts a plan to take out her stepdaughter.  But will Maud’s attempt to poison Claire succeed?

Review

In the years this blog service has been available, there have been reviews of movies that have attempted their own take on an adaptation of the classic story of Snow White (see here and here as examples).  Without a doubt, Fontaine’s “White As Snow” is the most clever and original that have been reviewed on this site.  Also, it is certainly the most entertaining not to mention the sexiest.  Make no mistake about it, this is an adult interpretation of the legendary fairy tale (the scene with the squirrels on the car’s windshield is priceless).   

It is always a treat to see Isabelle Huppert on screen – unsurprisingly, she is great in “White As Snow”.  But hers is not the performance that is most notable.  Instead, it is that of Lou de Laâge; her Claire shows immense range in her acting talents.  Claire starts as being reserved and conservative in both her behavior and lifestyle.  The turning point is her kidnapping where this young woman turns her life around; her metamorphosis is believable but also remarkable.  You are awestruck when you see her exploring her sexuality and becoming the life of the party.   

Following the screening, there was a question and answer session with director Anne Fontaine.  She did not originally plan to make a film based on “Snow White”; what she originally set out to do was to tell a story about a woman who was sexually emancipated and who meets men with whom she can share her sense of newly-found liberation without fear of punishment or judgment of any kind.  When she met with the co-writer of the screenplay to hash out the idea, it was the co-writer who observed that the concept bore some similarities to the legendary fairy tale; it was at that point they decided this was the best way to go.  Fontaine mentioned that many of the overhead shots used drones rigged with cameras due to the rugged mountainous terrain which made it too difficult to use typical equipment like cranes. 

“Standing Up, Falling Down”– Movie Review

At the start of the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival, I attended the World Premiere of the new comedy-drama, “Standing Up, Falling Down”, starring Billy Crystal and Ben Schwartz. 

Synopsis

When a struggling comedian returns to his hometown, will a chance friendship with an older man help to rejuvenate his career?

Story

For the past four years, Scott (Schwartz) has been living in Los Angeles trying to break into show business as a stand-up comedian.  He’s found it tough going, to put it mildly, and decides to return home to Long Island, New York.  He’ll have to live with his parents – at least temporarily, anyway.  Scott’s new plan is to try to reinvigorate his career as a stand-up, despite the fact that his family isn’t terribly supportive of his aspiration; his father believes that since Scott’s now in his early 30’s, he should pursue something more stable.

While hanging out at a bar one night, Scott meets Marty (Crystal), a local dermatologist – surprising, given his current state of inebriation.  Scott makes an appointment with Marty, who treats him for a case of stress hives.  During the visit, the two seem to hit if off quite well and they start to spend quite a good deal of time with each other.  During this period, they share a great deal of personal information:  Scott, for example, admits to anxiety over his professional life and that he’s still pining over his ex-girlfriend, Becky; Marty talks longingly about his two late wives and both of his adult offspring, from whom he’s been estranged. 

After a few successful appearances at nearby clubs, Scott begins to get encouragement about his now-burgeoning comedy career.  Full of confidence, he decides to pursue Becky, who married another man after Scott left for California.  Marty, who’s dealing with a recurrence of alcohol abuse, decides to repair his relationship with both his son and daughter; they grew increasingly distant upon their mother’s suicide, which they blamed on Marty’s alcohol use as well as him having an affair with another woman.  Will the friendship that Scott and Marty forged prove to propel them in their personal life?  

Review

Over the years, it has been rare that many (or any) of the films that play The Tribeca Film Festival actually find a path to distribution.  “Standing Up, Falling Down” may actually turn out to be the exception.  This is not merely because of the the involvement of Billy Crystal and Ben Schwartz but also because it is a rather pleasant movie.  While having many serious moments, there are quite funny ones, too – most notably the scenes between Crystal and Schwartz where they are provided the opportunity to comedically riff off of each other to great result. 

By no means is “Standing Up, Falling Down” perfect.  The story reaches a point where it challenges your suspension of disbelief; that is the point at which the audience is expected to buy into the fact that Scott’s ex-girlfriend, Becky (played by Eloise Mumford), remains stuck on him despite her marrying a much more handsome man after Scott left her to pursue his comedy career in Los Angeles.  What it was she saw in him in the first place is difficult to understand, especially since Becky is so good looking it’s hard to grasp why she was attracted to him.  

Following the screening, there was a question and answer session with director Matt Ratner, screenwriter Peter Hoare and stars Billy Crystal and Ben Schwartz.  The movie was shot in only three days – due in part to its infinitesimal budget (Crystal seemed to suggest it was under a million dollars).  There is a scene that was shot in a temple, which Crystal claimed was the same one he attended as a child.  He said that his character presented something of a challenge for him because Marty was a complicated man and the role itself was a combination of humor and pathos.  Crystal added that he liked the script because it was reminiscent of his film, “Mr. Saturday Night”, which was one of his favorites. 

“Share”– Movie Review

This weekend, I attended the closing night of the New Directors/New Films festival, with the New York Premiere of the drama “Share”, written and directed by Pippa Bianco. 

Synopsis

When a high school student is victimized by a viral video, can she and her family recover from this experience?

Story

Early one morning, Mandy (Rhianne Barreto), a teenager, awakens, but she is not in bed; instead, she finds herself face-down on her parents’ front lawn.  How she got there is unclear, but she somehow manages to make her way inside, where she gets a much-needed good night’s sleep.  Eventually, she returns to school, where she attends classes and resumes playing on her high school basketball team.  Life, it seems, is back to normal – but this doesn’t last.  Before too long, Mandy’s friends contact her, informing her that there is a compromising video of her on the internet. 

From there, things begin to unravel for everyone.  Soon, the police are contacted, the school’s administration becomes involved and the salacious story is portrayed by the nightly news on television.  But the question remains:  who is the victim and who is the perpetrator in this instance?  None of the answers are crystal clear – including for Mandy herself.  She was at a party with her fellow students, then had an extended make-out session with one of them. After a night of binge drinking, she passed out and was then taken advantage of by that young man.

Soon, the community turns against not only Mandy, but also, her entire family.  When one of the boys in the video is suspended from school, his father engages in a physical confrontation with Mandy’s father.  Even Mandy finds herself under suspicion of the school when it is believed that she may not have been the victim she was originally portrayed to be.  Under suspension from her basketball team because of her drinking episode, Mandy finds her friends and teammates turning away from her.  With the entire family under the microscope, will Mandy be able to maintain her standing at the school when she discovers that she may have been a willing participant in this escapade?     

Review

In “Share”, there is an enormous degree of courage, nuance and complexity.  A great deal of this story’s complexity derives from the impact of technology – that is, the social impact which technology has had on all of us, regardless of our own individual demographic.  What that means is, culturally, we cannot see a clear right and wrong when viewing a movie such as this because rights and wrongs abound all throughout.  Clearly, the finger of blame may be pointed at more than one person and those targets are not necessarily ones who are the most obviously villainous. 

Pippa Bianco has created a film which will likely start a long, uncomfortable conversation for people regardless of political philosophy, gender and age.  Bianco tells her story by gradually peeling away layers of an onion; doing so makes for an interesting narrative choice but results in the audience being challenged.  We know whose story this is but have we been rooting for or against the wrong people?  The more we learn of the details behind the story, the more our view of certain characters changes.  As a result, the people whom we assumed were the protagonists and antagonists in the beginning may change as the motion picture progresses. 

Following the screening, there was an interview with writer/director Pippa Bianco, who said that this film started back in 2015 as a short with the same title; that version was basically the first portion of this movie and the feature (longer form) was the aftermath.  She shot the short with the hope and intention that eventually she would be able to turn in into a longer form eventually.  Towards that end, she did extensive research into cases such as this, which included not only victims, but also alleged perpetrators, school administrators, digital surveillance experts and many others.   

“The Best Of Enemies”– Movie Review

This week, I attended a TimesTalks screening of the new drama, “The Best Of Enemies”, starring Taraji P. Henson and Sam Rockwell. 

Synopsis

When a Klan leader and an African-American activist are forced to work together, will they learn to be more tolerant of each other?

Story

In Durham, North Carolina of 1971, the KKK has a stranglehold on many residents; as a matter of fact, many elected officials – while not actual members themselves – are quite supportive of the Klan and use them to help with maintaining white control.  Leader of the local Klan organization is C.P. Ellis (Rockwell), who runs a gas station in town.  His association with this group is something of an open secret, yet no one does much of anything to stop him from terrorizing their African American neighbors or white people who may be sympathetic to their plight.  

Of course, none of this sits terribly well with Ann Atwater (Henson), a fellow Durham resident who works as an activist for local African-American causes.  While she fights hard for herself, her family and her friends, Ann realizes that it’s a truly Sisyphean task – not that such a thing is sufficient to stop her, it’s just that she’s not foolish enough to think that any of it will be at all easy.  Ann’s greatest challenge comes when an all-black school is burned down, causing its students to miss school.  While they try to attended split schedules in order to make up the time, the best way to catch up is to integrate these students with their white counterparts at the remaining school.

This of course does not sit well with C.P., the Klan and most of the white people in town.  When legal forces intervene, they send Bill Riddick (Babou Ceesay), an African-American lawyer from up north, who is considered expert in resolving these matters.  In surveying the political landscape, Riddick decides that he must convene a charrette with the major stakeholders in order to resolve the matter.  In order to do so, he must gather together a collection of individuals from the opposing sides and pick a leader on each side.  But when he picks C.P. and Ann as leaders, will a peaceful resolution ever be realized? 

Review

“The Best Of Enemies” is based on a true story and is adapted from a book of the same name.  While the movie’s ending packs quite the emotional wallop, it is really the end titles that are more fascinating than the film itself.  During the credits, old interviews with the real people are shown; C.P. died in 2005 and Ann passed – poverty-stricken – in 2016.  Since Ann survived C.P., it is rather fitting that she delivered his eulogy. It is certainly a shame neither of these people lived to see their respective story reach the big screen. 

That said, it probably would have better been told as a documentary rather than a feature film. Given their history together and the amount of press coverage Ann got for her activism, there’s probably a good deal of footage that could have been repurposed for a more compelling documentary.  While the director swears nothing was embellished in this movie, he maintains the source material is so rich there was a considerable amount of information – both concerning the two individuals and the overall story itself – which needed to be expunged from the screenplay.  Even better justification for a multi-part documentary on PBS or Netflix, not unlike Ken Burns’ work.

This motion picture could very well have been produced as a made-for-TV movie; had it been, it likely would be better received.  As a major studio release, however, there’s not much about it that is particularly remarkable; in all likelihood, the reason for releasing it at all might very well be tied in to the success of the award-nominated “The Green Book” (a critical darling, despite its well-documented controversy) as well as the political climate in which we currently find ourselves (Charlottesville, anyone?).  One positive note about the film is its make-up artists: how they managed to make Taraji P. Henson look dowdy is a minor miracle.

“Monos”– Movie Review

This past weekend at The New Directors/New Films festival, I attended its Centerpiece screening, the New York Premiere of the Colombian drama, “Monos”, with Julianne Nicholson.

Synopsis

When an American engineer is kidnapped in Colombia, can she escape or will she be held hostage until a ransom is paid?

Story

Monos is a team of paramilitary teenagers stationed in the mountains of Colombia.  They have been holding captive an American woman – Sara Watson (Nicholson), an engineer whom they call “Doctora”.  Periodically, she is called upon to provide “Proof Of Life” to the outside world in order to show that she is unharmed.  In their rugged terrain, Monos have been trained to survive, but Doctora, as clever as she may be, struggles. This group of young men and women have forsaken not only their family but also their identity – they now do not go by their given name or their family name, but instead by made-up nicknames.

While in the mountains, they become aware of the possibility of an impending attack.  The opposition forces looking to not only defeat Monos but also to rescue Watson are on their way.  Monos prepare for the attack by building trenches as well as moving Watson to a more secure location in order to make it harder for the opposition to find her.  Following an intense battle, they succeed in retaining Watson, but since the opposition was able to track them down, they will now need to relocate. It is at this point they vacate their mountaintop and head for the treacherous jungle. 

Once in the jungle, Watson becomes restless and decides that now is the time for her to attempt an escape.  When the soldiers are inattentive, Watson sneaks out with a limited collection of supplies, trying to navigate the jungle and its wide variety of hazards.  But once she thinks she’s reaching freedom, she’s cornered by a couple of soldiers who bring her back to their camp, this time chaining her so she can’t move too far.  One day, Watson is eventually able to overpower one of her captors, smash the chain and get away. This time, will Watson finally be able to reach civilization, or will the soldiers be able to recapture her yet again?  

Review

If you compare “Monos” to a cross between “The Heart Of Darkness”/”Apocalypse Now” and “The Lord Of The Flies”, don’t worry – you’re in great company.  Such comparisons are inevitable. Many others have already done the same. In fact, director Alejandro Landes pays homage to “Lord Of The Flies” – there’s actually a scene where a pig’s head is on a pike.  Also, Landes himself admits to borrowing some from “The Heart Of Darkness” when conceiving the movie. In any event, the look and feel of “Monos” is certainly reminiscent of both works – apparently intentionally so. 

“Monos” is definitely not for everyone.  If you are familiar with the internecine battles that have hampered Colombia over the decades, then you will likely have better insight to this motion picture.  Aside from its savagery, the viewer is left in the dark throughout much of the movie. For example, it is not until very late in the story that we learn who Doctora is and possibly why she was kidnapped (it’s still not certain exactly how she became their prisoner).  What was the reason these kids joined The Organization? We can probably guess, but again, it’s still not very clear. Character motivation is never explicitly stated. If this is a problem for you, then “Monos” might not be your type of film. While we may find ourselves rooting for Sara Watson’s freedom, at no time are we ever hoping for these adolescents to escape because they seem to enjoy their role.       

Following the screening, there was an interview with director Alejandro Landes, who said the shoot was challenging because of the extreme environments; everyone was stretched to their physical limitations.  He was even carried out on a stretcher at one point.  The movie was shot in Colombia, which, Landes said, was the initial inspiration for the film. For the past 60 years or so, the nation has been involved in a civil war; now, Landes states, they find themselves in something of a fragile peace agreement. Landes believes that the people are wary because there are so many splinter groups throughout the country that they’re not sure if they will continue fighting or simply give up.