Breakwater review – troubled souls cross class and age barriers in nicely judged debut feature

-
An Oxford theology student and a middle-aged fisher are drawn together despite their many differences in an ambitious first film from Max Morgan This evocative debut feature from Max Morgan is a film of many contrasts. One is the May-December attraction between Otto (Daniel McNamee), a theology student and aspiring violinist, and John (Shaun Paul McGrath), a middle-aged fisher with a shadowy past. The worlds that they inhabit seem poles apart. Compared with the storm-ravaged Suffolk coast that curves around John’s rugged village, the imposing halls of Otto’s college at Oxford are at once grand and isolating. Despite their differences in age, the two men are bound by shared trauma and turmoil: both struggle with their sexuality and the loss of a loved one. The highly textured cinematography renders these inner conflicts strikingly tactile. The camera at times stays uncomfortably close to the main characters, highlighting the gnawing anxiety of not belonging. From the demands of a frustr...
Post a Comment

Streaming: Past Lives and the best immigrant stories on film

-

One of the year’s best films, Celine Song’s Korean-American love story, now on streaming and DVD, continues cinema’s rich tradition of immigrant stories, from Chaplin to Persepolis

Awards season often tends to benefit the newer, shinier end-of-year releases that are freshest in voters’ memories, but Celine Song’s lovely, low-key Past Lives appears to be quietly staying the course. Having premiered way back in January, hit cinemas in the summer and since become available to stream – with the DVD out last week for physical media loyalists – it is now routinely popping up on best-of-2023 lists, and scooped best feature at the Gotham awards in the US. Something sticks in the mind and heart about Song’s melancholic, gentle but emotionally acute tale of a rekindled relationship between a Korean-American immigrant and the childhood friend she left behind in Seoul. Anyone whose life has been split across countries can relate to its study of the split identities and frayed possibilities of immigrant existence.

It’s those infinitely complex internal tensions – at once universally recognisable and particular to each individual – atop external fish-out-of-water challenges that make the immigrant experience such a rich and recurring film subject. As early as 1917, English émigré Charlie Chaplin distilled all those dynamics in his 22-minute short The Immigrant (Internet Archive), playing his signature Little Tramp character’s calamitous voyage to, and overwhelmed arrival in, New York for maximum comedy and pathos. Nearly 100 years later, American director James Gray took the same title for a rather more solemn look at a European ingenue seeking a new life in the Big Apple, meeting with ugly exploitation and poisoned ardour. Gray’s The Immigrant (2013) plays as symphonically grand tragedy, but retains that old romantic mythos around the US as a place to make or remake yourself.

Continue reading...

from Film | The Guardian https://ift.tt/SpW86FM
via IFTTT

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Miracle Club review – Maggie Smith can’t save this rocky road trip to Lourdes

-
Laura Linney is upstaged by older co-stars Smith and Kathy Bates in this sentimental tale about a group of Dublin women who go on a spiritual journey together Who’s up for a golden-hued heartwarmer set in 60s Ireland starring Kathy Bates and Maggie Smith about women with secret fears and dreams going on a church trip to Lourdes and finally finding the real miracle is their new compassion for each other? The answer to this question could well have been … me. I have a liking for a gentle tale and there is nothing necessarily wrong with, just occasionally, showing Ireland and the church of this period with something other than outrage and horror. But The Miracle Club does not at any time, to use a discredited metaphor, throw away its crutches and walk. And it’s painful to note that this is largely because of the way film can’t convincingly use that estimable actor Laura Linney in a central role. She is upstaged by the older, fruitier performances and doesn’t hold her own with a more seri...
Read more

‘I lost a friend of almost 40 years’: Nancy Meyers pays tribute to Diane Keaton

-
Film-maker who directed Keaton in Something’s Gotta Give, and wrote Baby Boom and Father of the Bride, says ‘we have lost a giant’ Film-maker Nancy Meyers has paid tribute to the late Diane Keaton, her “friend of almost 40 years” and collaborator on celebrated comedies Something’s Gotta Give, Baby Boom and Father of the Bride. On Monday, Meyers wrote on Instagram that she’d had a difficult 48 hours since Keaton’s death was announced on Saturday, but “seeing all of your tributes to Diane has been a comfort.” Continue reading... from Film | The Guardian https://ift.tt/TFc820j via IFTTT
Read more

Malaika Arora scolds 16-year-old dancer for inappropriate gestures: “He is winking, giving flying kisses”

-
Bollywood diva Malaika Arora found herself at the center of an unexpected controversy during the filming of Hip Hop India Season 2. The popular dance reality show, judged by Arora alongside choreographer-director Remo D’Souza, took an awkward turn when a 16-year-old contestant made suggestive gestures toward her during his performance. The incident, which left Malaika visibly uncomfortable, was captured on video and has since gone viral. What Happened on Hip Hop India Season 2? The incident unfolded during a recent episode of Hip Hop India Season 2, which streams on Amazon MX Player and showcases India’s top hip-hop talent. While judging a contestant’s performance, Malaika noticed the young dancer directing inappropriate gestures her way, including winking and blowing flying kisses. Clearly taken aback, the actress and fitness icon didn’t hold back her disapproval. In the now-viral footage, she can be heard reprimanding the teenager, sternly demanding, “Mummy ka phone number do!” (Giv...
Read more