“Clemency”– Movie Review

 

This week, I attended the opening night of the 2019 New Directors/New Films festival, screening the New York Premiere of “Clemency”, a drama, starring Alfre Woodard, Wendell Pierce and Aldis Hodge

Synopsis

When a long-time prison warden becomes overwhelmed by executions, can she prevent the next one when she suspects the inmate may be innocent?

Story

After years of overseeing her prison’s executions, they are beginning to take its toll on Warden Bernadine Williams (Woodard).  Comforting friends and family members of the inmates destined for capital punishment is draining, as is the execution process itself.  Following a prisoner’s particularly problematic death by lethal injection, Bernadine finds herself haunted by this experience; she reacts by hanging out in bars after work in order to self-medicate.   In addition, the relationship with her husband Jonathan (Pierce) is collapsing as a result. Her home life is just as troubling as her professional life.

Due up next is Anthony Woods (Hodge).  All during his trial as well as his incarceration, Woods has been adamant about the fact that he is innocent.  Given that his execution date is soon approaching, he and his lawyer Marty (Richard Schiff) have been accelerating their efforts to get him exonerated.  At the very least, Woods seeks clemency from the governor’s office in order to avoid execution. Marty decides to try the case in the court of public opinion -- he takes to the media in order to get Woods’ story some much needed publicity, hoping that enough advocates can influence the governor’s opinion.

The more Bernadine learns about Woods’ case, the more she begins to question whether the decision to execute him is correct.  Agonizing over this situation, she tries to be of as much assistance and support to the inmate as possible. Bernadine meets with Marty to discuss Woods, but she insists that her hands are tied in this matter.  Marty refuses to take this as an answer and vows to both Bernadine and his client that he will fight back as much as possible in as many ways as possible. On the day the execution is scheduled, Woods is ushered into the execution room with witnesses observing.  Can Bernadine go through with this or will she refuse to allow Woods to be executed?

Review

The main reason to see “Clemency” is its cast; there are top-notch performances here.  Having said that, however, the presence of these actors and their performance (both individually and collectively) cannot elevate a screenplay that has some obvious weaknesses here.  As a director, Chinonye Chukwu tends to linger on certain shots a little too long, almost to the point of creating an awkward moment. This script was somewhat ill-conceived. For one thing, it has an inconclusive ending that provides no clear resolution to the story.  Also, the protagonist, while a sympathetic character, is not necessarily designed in a way that lends her to be rooted for in a dramatic narrative.

This last point merits further attention.  The character of Bernardine is essentially drawn as a passive heroine; she has no arc.  In other words, we can see her conflict (albeit somewhat internal) and the audience can understand what she wants (or doesn’t want).  Yet, she effectively does nothing about either resolving her conflict or getting what she wants. We are given to understand that Bernardine is in turmoil and that it impacts her both professionally and personally -- but when her husband leaves her, it is temporary and he conveniently returns just as quickly as he moved out.  From a dramatic standpoint, this is all a bit too tidy; if he was really that disturbed by her behavior, he would not have moved out in the first place. Making this a throw-away story beat is a disservice to both the movie itself and its viewers.

Following the screening, there was an interview with writer/director Chinonye Chukwu.  She recalled her involvement began back in 2011 when she first heard about a real case of an execution being protested.  Due in part to a small budget, the film was shot in only 17 days.  When shooting the execution scenes, she retained a warden to help her block the scenes and make the process look as realistic as possible.  In fact, there were some other special considerations that had to be addressed when shooting those scenes:  A therapist was kept on set for these scenes in order to provide emotional support for the cast members and crew; some people who were cast as extras found themselves being triggered. 

“Diane”– Movie Review

This past week at The Film Society Of Lincoln Center, I attended a sneak preview of the drama “Diane”, written and directed by Kent Jones and starring Mary Kay Place in the title role.

Synopsis

Can an aging woman bond with her substance-abusing son despite a past indiscretion that has divided them for years?

Story

Diane (Place) is a giver.  She always has been and she always will be.  But she’s a human being so, by definition, she’s not perfect – and she’s well aware of this.  Nowadays, she works at a food kitchen with her friend Bobbie (Andrea Martin) where they feed the indigent.  When she’s not busy there, Diane spends her time visiting and caring for other people.  One of them is her cousin Dottie (Glynnis O'Connor), who has been hospitalized with cervical cancer.  The other is her adult son Brian (Jake Lacy), a drug addict. 

Shortly before Dottie passes away, she confesses to Diane that while she forgives her for something that happened twenty years ago, she clearly hasn’t forgotten it either.  It turns out that Diane stole Dottie’s boyfriend Jess and ran off with him, leaving Dottie to care for Brian all by herself.  It is only shortly before Dottie’s death that Diane learns she has been holding this against her all this time in spite of the fact that it has all been unspoken for a long time.  After Dottie’s death, Diane starts to lose other close friends in seemingly quick succession and she finds herself mostly alone. 

When Diane is unable to locate Brian for some period of time, he suddenly reaches out to her and informs Diane that he’s been in a rehab facility all of this time.  What she eventually learns is that through his rehab, he has become a member of a cult-like Christian church where he has met and eventually married a woman who shares his religious obsession.  While Diane is quite disturbed by this, she believes that the best thing for her at this point is to distance herself from Brian and his wife.  But when Brian subsequently visits Diane and confronts her about the incident from twenty years ago, will they finally be able to find a peace with each other? 

Review

About a year ago, “Diane” was shown at the Tribeca Film Festival here in New York City; it wound up winning awards for Best Narrative Feature, Best Screenplay, and Best Cinematography at that festival.  Based on that, and some degree of success in other festivals, it was fortunate enough to find a path to distribution.  All of that having been said, it is something of a slog to get through, despite the fact that it is only about an hour and a half in length.  This is due to two factors:  one thing is that it is totally absent of  any humor, which causes it to feel a bit painful to sit through.  The other is the fact that it lacks forward momentum that pushes the story forward. 

While many of the kudos for “Diane” go to the performances by the cast, this is largely due to it essentially being a character-based movie; it is an episodic slice-of-life style with very little in the way of a traditional narrative three-act structure.  In “Diane” it is difficult to discern the act breaks because many of the scenes feel as though they could be relocated to other points in the film without the viewer noticing very much.  Without a sense of the story propelling towards a conclusion, the viewer doesn’t get the impression the motion picture is going in any particular direction; instead, it is just meandering.       

Following the screening, there was an interview with writer/director Kent Jones, who said that “Diane” was shot in only 20 days.  Although the story takes place in western and central Massachusetts, he shot it in upstate New York because of the tax breaks the state offers.  There are quite a few shots of driving; while the obvious assumption is that it was done for transitional purposes, that’s only part of the reason for their inclusion.  The other reason, Jones stated, is that in western/central Massachusetts, people do in fact spend an inordinate amount of time in their car driving in order to get from one location to another. 

“Keep An Eye Out!”– Movie Review

This past weekend, I attended the closing day of The French Film Festival at The Film Society Of Lincoln Center, for the New York Premiere of the new comedy, “Keep An Eye Out” (aka, “Au poste!”).

Synopsis

When a suspect in a murder is interrogated by police detectives, can he convince them of his innocence?

Story

Fugain (Grégoire Ludig) stumbled upon a dead body outside his apartment building.  Being the good citizen that he is, Fugain immediately reports his findings to the local police department.  When brought in for questioning, he is surprisingly viewed as a possible suspect. The case is assigned to Inspector Buron (Benoît Poelvoorde), who is particularly fastidious when it comes to his sui generis interviewing technique (to put it mildly).  But after taking an unusually long period of time to conduct the interview – and to ask seemingly irrelevant questions – the Inspector decides to take a break. It is at this point he assigns Philippe (Marc Fraize) to make sure Fugain doesn’t try to escape while he’s away.

Philippe is an interesting choice to stand guard.  This is mainly because he only has one eye. Suspicious of Fugain – who’s becoming increasingly hungry since it is now well-past his usual dinner time – Philippe sets forth the idea that he may be a dangerous character who might try to kill Philippe in order to escape.  When Fugain voices his skepticism – especially because he has no access to weapons – Philippe demonstrates that Fugain might grab the triangular ruler on the Inspector’s desk to attempt to slit the officer’s throat with one of its sharp edges. Proud of being on the force, Philippe offers to show Fugain his badge; having trouble locating it, he begins scavenging about the office – but when Philippe trips, he accidentally impales himself in his remaining good eye with the ruler.  Philippe is now not just completely blind, he’s also completely dead.

Understandably, Fugain begins to panic.  When Inspector Buron returns, will he assume that Fugain murdered Philippe?  If so, will this lead the Inspector to believe that Fugain may have committed the murder that he is already investigating?  With all of this running through his mind, Fugain then proceeds to hide Philippe’s body and clean up the mess before Buron gets back.  Upon the Inspector’s reappearance, he resumes this tortuous, excruciating interrogation of Fugain, who is now considerably more nervous than before Inspector Buron left.  Once Buron notices Philippe is missing, will this cause Fugain to be charged with dual murders?

Review

The surreal, absurdist dark humor of “Keep An Eye Out” is what makes this film stand out, but the heavily stylized manner in which the story is presented causes watching the movie to be something of a chore, despite its short length (it clocks in at less than an hour and a half).  There is a scene at the start of the motion picture that is used as a device for the opening titles; while this may plant the thought in the mind of the viewer that the subsequent story will spring from this, it actually turns out to be something of a non-sequitur (ore perhaps more accurately, a comedic MacGuffin), as it is never referenced again and is otherwise irrelevant.

For those sensitive to graphic violence, it should be noted that this movie is rather sanguinary, albeit in a way that attempts to be comedic.  The scene where Phillippe accidentally stabs himself, while funny, can be a little brutal when you’re shown the result. That and a shot of a man lying on the ground in a pool of blood outside of Fugain’s apartment complex are pretty much the only bloody scenes, so if you’re able to handle that, then you should be able to watch the movie without too much trouble (except, of course, when it comes to trying to make sense of all the mayhem, but that’s another matter altogether).

As mentioned, there’s a surreal and absurdist nature to the film – you either go with it or you don’t (and if you don’t, you may be completely lost).  For one thing, why would a police department hire someone missing an eye? Also, what is a police department doing with a triangular ruler (also known as a set square), which is typically used almost exclusively by architects?  Why is Fugain having these hallucinations in his flashbacks? What is a human eye doing on the floor of the detective’s office? The answer, presumably, could be, “Because absurdism”. And for some, that may be a sufficient justification. If interested, a good piece on the nature of absurdism may be found here.    

“When Margaux Meets Margaux”– Movie Review

This past weekend, I attended another screening at The French Film Festival of The Film Society Of Lincoln Center, attending the New York Premiere of the comedy, “When Margaux Meets Margaux” (aka, “La belle et la belle”). 

Synopsis

When a young woman meets an older version of herself, will either of them benefit from this improbable encounter?

Story

Margaux (Agathe Bonitzer) is a young woman who is doing her best to enjoy life in her twenties -- she has a steady rotation of young men with whom she sleeps and always looks forward to meet other men to share such pleasures.  On the other hand, there’s also Margaux (Sandrine Kiberlain), a career woman in her forties, who never married or had children. When the mature Margaux has to leave town for a funeral, she takes the opportunity during her visit to attend a party held by a friend’s relative -- the only problem for her is that the overwhelming majority of the other guests are significantly younger.

While at the party, she happens to run into the younger Margaux; when they begin to chat, they learn that they have an incredible amount of things in common above and beyond merely their first name.  In fact, when each find out exactly how much they know about the other, it becomes downright spooky. Quite by coincidence, they wind up on a train going back to the same town. They take advantage of this by spending an inordinate amount of time together to sort everything out; once they exchange information they determine that they must be caught in some kind of rip in the space-time continuum. 

As they spend time socializing, the younger Margaux is introduced to the older Margaux’s long-time friend Mark (Melvil Poupaud) -- a former lover of hers.  Future Margaux tries to impress upon present Margaux that he is the one that got away; she made the mistake of not valuing their relationship, which is why she finds herself alone to this day.  The three go on a ski trip together where mature Margaux tries to impart a good bit of wisdom and advice to her younger version -- whether she’s receptive to it or not. During the trip, the younger woman incurs a severe head trauma as the result of a fall, resulting in amnesia.  Will this cause the “spell” to be broken when the young woman no longer remembers who Margaux is?

Review

“When Margaux Meets Margaux” is one of the truly remarkable women’s films because it touches on multiple themes within the same story:  motherhood, sisterhood, friendship, romance and of course personal life choices which you may or may not foresee yourself making in the future or past choices which you come to regret later on in life.  So many themes are not easy to balance all at once, but the filmmaker somehow manages to pull it off quite nimbly. The movie is for, about and by women; as such, it views the world through a feminine prism (young Margaux is played by Agathe Bonitzer, who is writer/director Sophie Fillières’ daughter in real life). 

As far as the performances are concerned, Bonitzer comes off as perpetually sad or angry or frustrated (which apparently is not distinctly different from her real-life persona, as evinced in the post-screening interview).  By far, however, Sandrine Kiberlain as the older Margaux stands out; the portrayal of her Margaux emanates humanity and wisdom that only comes from surviving life experiences. What is curious about watching these two women interact is that although Kiberlain is “future Margaux” and Bonitzer is “present Margaux”, they sometimes relate as big sister-little sister and at other times you feel more of a mother-daughter type of relationship. 

Following the screening, there was an interview with writer/director Sophie Fillières and the movie’s star, Fillières’ daughter Agathe Bonitzer.  Fillières said that when she began writing the screenplay, she started out with a very simple idea:  What if two women had the same name?  The longer she thought about the idea, the more she was convinced that the concept needed to be expanded:  these two women must be the same person but with a substantial age difference.  She didn’t want the story to veer off into science fiction, which is why she didn’t cast the same actress in dual roles.   

“The Trouble With You”– Movie Review

This past week, I attended the opening night of The French Film Festival at The Film Society of Lincoln Center for the New York Premiere of the comedy-drama, “The Trouble With You” (aka, “En liberté!”).

Synopsis

When the widow of a legendary police detective learns the truth about her late husband, can she correct his wrongs and get on with the rest of her life?

Story

The past few years have been difficult for Yvonne (Adèle Haenel).  A young widow, she is living under the memory of her late husband Jean (Vincent Elbaz), a captain at the local police precinct in Francemwhere she also works as a lieutenant.  Jean was hailed as a great hero and after his death while serving his community, a statue is erected in his honor.  Every night, Yvonne tells their son bedtime stories about his father’s heroics so that he will grow up to have fond memories of him.  Sadly, all of this comes to an end when Yvonne learns that Jean was a crooked cop who profited from helping to plan a jewelry store robbery which sent Antoine (Pio Marmaï), one of the jewelers, to prison.

Learning that Antoine is soon to be released, Yvonne pledges to help him integrate himself back into society and rehabilitate.  This will be tricky, however, because she doesn’t want him to know that her husband was the man who wrongly had him incarcerated.  Initially, Antoine returns to his old girlfriend, Agnes (Audrey Tautou), with the expectation that they can both pick up from where they left off.  However, it turns out that imprisonment changed Antoine – and not necessarily for the better.  With this being the case, he realizes that he and Agnes no longer have anything in common and he must now leave her. 

Soon, Yvonne discerns that one of her coworkers, Louis (Damien Bonnard), as a crush on her.  This complicates matters considerably – not only because they work together closely, but also because she has developed an attraction to Antoine after she “saved” him from what she perceived as his attempted suicide.  Alternating between Antoine and Louis, Yvonne has difficulty sorting out her feelings.  When she finds out that Antoine is now planning his own jewelry heist, Yvonne now realizes that it is her duty as a police officer to prevent this crime.  But will she be able to stop Antoine from robbing the jewelry store and in so doing, turn the corner and get over her thoughts of Jean?

Review

The trouble with “The Trouble With You” is its outlandish premise.  As we know well, the French are different from the rest of us. That can be great.  Vive la France! Problems arise, however, when we find that their perspectives clash with our own and it becomes difficult to stay with a given story or cast of characters.   Such is the case with this movie. French films embrace romance and sex (note that the two have been separated), which can be titillating. But sometimes, as in the case with “The Trouble With You”, it can take matters too far and render the tale a bit on the ridiculous side. 

There is no doubt that this movie contains funny moments.  But Yvonne, our heroine, can present a bit of a challenge to root for at times -- largely due to the fact that she is so flighty.  She cannot make up her mind as to whether she wants Louis, Antoine or no one at all since she has been so turned off to Jean. Which one is she in love with?  It doesn’t appear Yvonne even knows, that’s how mixed up she is at this point in her life. At times, the film is charming and amusing, but it can also be a bit grating, too -- this is especially true when trying to resolve the story and things take a turn for the madcap and slapstick. 

Whether you like “The Trouble With You”, hate it or simply leaves you feeling nonplussed, what just about everyone could agree on is that it’s strange.  At this screening, the movie was introduced by director Pierre Salvadori and one of its stars, Pio Marmaï (Antoine). During the introduction, Salvadori shared his experience from the previous screening.  While waiting in line in the men’s room, he overheard two guys talking about his motion picture. “So, what did you think?’, the first one asked; the second responded, “It’s unusual”. The director decided to take that as a favorable review.

“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