Tag: Cannes Film Festival

Review: ‘The Zone of Interest,’ starring Christian Friedel and Sandra Hüller

October 9, 2023

by Carla Hay

Christian Friedel in “The Zone of Interest” (Photo courtesy of A24)

“The Zone of Interest”

Directed by Jonathan Glazer

German, Polish and Yiddish with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Poland, in 1943, the dramatic film “The Zone of Interest” (based loosely on the novel of the same name) features an all-white group of people representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: Auschwitz concentration camp commandant/Nazi official Rudolf Höss and his family live with casual indifference near the concentration camp, where about 990,000 Jewish people were murdered during his reign of terror.

Culture Audience: “The Zone of Interest” will appeal mainly to people who are fans of filmmaker Jonathan Glazer and people who are interested in unconventional Holocaust movies.

Sandra Hüller (pictured at right) in “The Zone of Interest” (Photo courtesy of A24)

Most Holocaust movies are shown from the perspectives of the victims or the rescuers. “The Zone of Interest” is told from the perspective of a Nazi leader who thought his job of committing genocide on Jewish people was perfectly normal. It’s a different type of Holocaust movie because it shows with unflinching clarity how the shameful horrors of the Holocaust were casually accepted by Nazi families, such as those of commandant Rudolf Höss. Concentration camps were treated like factories.

Written and directed by Jonathan Glazer, “The Zone of Interest” had its world premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Grand Prix Award (which is the equivalent of second place) and the FIPRESCI Prize. “The Zone of Interest” has since made the rounds at other films in 2023, including the Telluride Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival, and the New York Film Festival. “The Zone of Interest” is loosely based on Martin Amis’ 2014 novel of the same name.

The title refers to the term “used by the Nazi SS to describe the 40-square-kilometer area immediately surrounding the Auschwitz concentration camp on the outskirts of Oświęcim, Poland,” according to the production notes for “The Zone of Interest.” Approximately 990,000 Jewish people died in Auschwitz, which existed from 1940 to 1945. In real life, Höss was the longest-serving commandant of Auschwitz from 1940 to 1943 and from 1944 to 1945. He was eventually convicted of war crimes in 1947, the year that he died at age 45 by an execution hanging.

“The Zone of Interest” takes place in 1943, before Rudolf (played by Christian Friedel) is transferred to another concentration camp. On the surface, “The Zone of Interest” looks like it’s just about the mundane activities of a family. But the movie intends to show how deceptively “normal” people who commit heinous crimes can look, especially when they are surrounded by family members. An early scene in the movie shows Rudolf having a carefree picnic with members of his family near a lake.

Rudolf’s family members who are shown in the movie include his moody wife Hedwig Höss (played by Sandra Hüller), who is kind and loving to her children but rude and demeaning to the family’s housekeepers. Rudolf and Hedwig have five children, ranging in ages from infancy to about 14 years old. They are son Claus Höss (played by Johann Karthaus); son Hans Höss (played by Luis Noah Witte); daughter Inge-Brigit Höss (played by Nele Ahrensmeier); daughter Heideraud Höss (played by Lili Falk) and baby daughter Annagret Höss (played by Anastazja Drobniak, Cecylia Pękala and Kalman Wilson).

Later, Hedwig’s mother Lina Hensel (played by Imogen Kogge) comes to visit. Hedwig tells Lina in a bragging tone of voice, “Rudi says I’m the queen of Auschwitz.” It’s one of a few scenes in the movie where the Nazi followers show their antisemitism like a badge of honor. A cliché movie would have had the Nazis constantly spewing verbal hatred of Jewish people. “The Zone of Interest” more accurately shows that evil bigots don’t often say their most heinous prejudicial thoughts out loud several times a day.

Most of the “The Zone of Interest” takes place in the medium-sized home of the Höss family, where they live close to the death camp known as Auschwitz. The movie was filmed in the same vicinity where the real Auschwitz existed. Rudolf and Hedwig have no problem with the idea that their family is living near a place dedicated to torturing and murdering innocent people. There’s a disturbing scene where the Höss house is shown in a wide shot on a very sunny day that looks perfect—except in the background are the unmistakable smoke fumes of gas chambers being operated at Auschwitz.

The Jewish victims of these atrocities are never seen on screen in “The Zone of Interest.” It’s the movie’s way of saying that when these Nazi perpetrators were at home, Jewish people were “out of sight, out of mind.” However, Rudolf can’t help but take remnants of his work into his home. In one scene, he’s hunched over a bathroom sink as he blows black ash out of his nose into the sink. In another bathroom scene, he carefully washes his penis out of view of his family, with the obvious implication that he committed the type of rape that leaves damning stains.

Another scene shows a close-up of Rudolf standing up at work with only his body in the screen frame. But in the background are the harrowing sounds of people screaming and gunshots. It’s left up to “The Zone of Interest” viewers to speculate what type of crimes against humanity were being committed out of view. Much of “The Zone of Interest” is filmed as if it’s a cinéma vérité-styled documentary about a “typical” family in Poland at this time.

During another scene in the movie, Hedwig is talking at a kitchen table with a few visiting female friends, who are engaging in some gossip. In the next room, Rudolf and some of his SS colleagues are seated at table with their own conversation that is much more sinister: They are discussing the best way to engineer and place gas chamber equipment.

The Nazi men also talk about gas chamber procedures: “burn, cool, unload, reload.” They discuss it as if they’re talking about a regular assembly line routine at a factory, not burning people to death, letting their dead bodies cool off, dumping the bodies, and then bringing in more innocent people to murder in a gas chamber. The Höss family dog is treated with more kindness and respect than these hateful bigots ever had for the Jewish people they slaughtered.

There’s another scene where Rudolf makes a phone call to berate someone into making sure that the lilac bushes at Auschwitz get special care. He makes a threat to say that anyone who makes the lilac bushes “bleed” will be punished. (In other words: “Don’t get any blood on the lilac bushes.”) The Höss family home has a beautiful backyard garden, where the flowers get more care than the people who are starved, tortured and murdered in Auschwitz. It’s another example of how Jewish people’s lives are disregarded by Adolf Hitler devotees such as Rudolf and Hedwig.

Many movies about the Holocaust would want to recreate these disgusting crimes. However, “The Zone of Interest” effectively shakes people up into remembering that the Holocaust was allowed to continue for as long as it did because it was considered a “normal” way of life for many non-Jewish people who chose to look the other way if they didn’t directly participate in this antisemitic genocide. It’s the movie’s reminder that the Holocaust didn’t happen suddenly but in increments. Jewish people were targeted, their rights were gradually taken away, and then they were left vulnerable to being harmed in the Holocaust.

Not everyone in the movie sides overtly sides with the Nazis. The Höss children seem to be completely oblivious to the fact that they are living next to an antisemitic murder facility, although it’s implied that their parents are teaching these children to hate Jewish people. The Höss family has two housekeepers in their late teens or early 20s: meek and passive Marta (played by Martyna Poznańska) gets most of Hedwig’s wrath, while sturdy and reliable Aniela (played by Zuzanna Kobiela) is quietly rebellious and secretly helps feed the starving Jewish people at the concentration camp.

At night, Aniela rides her bicycle to the concentration camp to drop off apples in the dirt where the laborers will find them. She also drops apples into the underground bunker prisons where many of the captured people are being held. Aniela knows which areas to go where she won’t be seen by the soldiers keeping guard. When she’s doing these secretive activities, the movie shows her in night vision-type lighting, as if she’s under secret surveillance by a camera with night vision.

Rudolf and Hedwig talk about things that seem ordinary and typical for people in a middle-class household. Hedwig mentions that she’d like him to take her to a spa in Italy. Rudolf is seen reading a children’s book to one of his daughters in bed. It’s not exactly the movie saying, “Nazis: They’re just like us,” but it’s the movie’s way of letting viewers know that people who believe in this extreme bigotry don’t look like monsters on the outside. They could be the harmless-looking people next door.

In a scene toward the end of movie, Rudolf is standing alone near a stairwell of a government building when he dry heaves and spits on the ground. It’s a scene reminiscent of near the end of the 2012 Oscar-nominated documentary “The Act of Killing,” in which former death squad leader Anwar Congo, who participated in the Indonesian mass killings of 1965 to 1966, begins uncontrollably dry wretching, as if he’s overwhelmed by the memories of what his atrocities looked like and smelled like. In “The Zone of Interest,” a present-day scene at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum shows some of the devastating museum displays that have evidence of the many lives lost in the Holocaust.

Friedel and Hüller give capable performances, but “The Zone of Interest” doesn’t have big, showoff acting for a reason: The point of the movie is not to be about scene-stealing dramatics or to have cartoonish villains. It’s about showing how extraordinary cruelty can be condoned in plain sight and be rendered “ordinary” by the people who enable it to happen.

A24 will release “The Zone of Interest” in select U.S. cinemas on December 8, 2023.

Review: ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ (2023), starring Sandra Hüller, Swann Arlaud, Milo Machado Graner, Antoine Reinartz, Samuel Theis, Jehnny Beth and Camille Rutherford

October 2, 2023

by Carla Hay

Sandra Hüller and Swann Arlaud in “Anatomy of a Fall” (Photo courtesy of Neon)

“Anatomy of a Fall” (2023)

Directed by Justine Triet

French with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in France, the dramatic film “Anatomy of a Fall” features an all-white cast of characters representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A famous novelist, who is a German immigrant, is accused of murdering her husband, who fell out of a third-floor window in their home. 

Culture Audience: “Anatomy of a Fall” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in watching well-acted psychological thrillers and courtroom dramas.

Milo Machado Graner in “Anatomy of a Fall” (Photo courtesy of Neon)

“Anatomy of a Fall” is an above-average mystery thriller that will leave people guessing about the answer to the mystery. The movie is a little too long, but the courtroom scenes are riveting. “Anatomy of a Fall” had its world premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, where the movie won the Palme d’Or, the festival’s top prize.

Directed by Justine Triet (who co-wrote the “Anatomy of a Fall” screenplay with Arthur Harari), “Anatomy of a Fall” is a sprawling movie with a total running time of 152 minutes. The film achieves a tricky balance of spending a lot of time exploring the psyche of the story’s protagonist while still giving viewers the feeling that the protagonist is still too mysterious to completely know. This inscrutability is why the ending of the movie is effective but will be unsettling to viewers who want clear and undeniable answers at the end the story.

“Anatomy of a Fall” begins by showing a fateful day in the life of an affluent family living in a fairly remote French Alps chalet near Grenoble, France. The family has been living in this chalet for about one year. Early on in the story, one of the family members will die on the house’s property.

Sandra Voyter (played by Sandra Hüller) is a German immigrant who is a well-known, successful novelist. Her husband Samuel Maleski (played by Samuel Theis) is a university professor who is an aspiring writer. Their 11-year-old son Daniel (played by Milo Machado Graner) is visually impaired because his optic nerves became permanently damaged after he was accidentally hit by a motorcycle when he was younger. Daniel isn’t completely blind but his vision very limited.

The day starts off in a fairly normal manner. It’s winter, so there is snow all around, but the day is sunny and clear. Sandra is being interviewed in the family home by a graduate student journalist named Zoé Solidor (played by Camille Rutherford), who is a star-struck fan of Sandra.

During the interview, Sandra gets annoyed because Samuel is in the third-floor attic and is playing music that is loud enough to be heard in the room where the interview is taking place. An irritated Sandra loudly tells Samuel to turn down the music more than once before he finally does so. The song that he’s playing is Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band’s cover version of 50 Cent’s 2003 song “P.I.M.P.,” which is played several times later in the courtroom scenes.

After Zoé leaves, Daniel comes back from a walk with his guide dog, a Border Collie named Snoop. (The dog’s name is real life is Messi.) To his horror, Daniel finds the dead body of Samuel on the ground outside the home. It appears that Samuel has fallen out of the attic window of the house. Was it an accident, suicide or murder?

Those are the questions that continue to swirl when Sandra becomes a person of interest when the investigation into the death begins. Sandra claims she was taking a nap at the time that Samuel fell out of the window. About an hour into the nap, she heard Daniel scream when he found Samuel’s body.

She also tells investigators and her defense attorney Vincent Renzi (played by Swann Arlaud) that she thinks Samuel’s death was an accident. Vincent tells Sandra, “Nobody is going to believe that. I don’t believe that.”

An autopsy reveals that Samuel had a severe blow to his head before he died, but the cause of death is ruled as inconclusive. Sandra then changes her theory of how Samuel died by saying that he could have committed suicide. She tells authorities and Vincent that she remembers that about six months earlier, she found Samuel unconscious in a puddle of his vomit because he had taken an intentional overdose of sleeping pills.

Sandra, who admits she was the only other person in the house when Samuel died, becomes the only suspect. She’s arrested for murder, indicted, and then goes on trial, one year after Samuel’s death. Sandra pleads not guilty. Her defense is that the blow to Samuel’s head probably came from a small wooden shed located directly beneath the window, with the theory being that Samuel hit his head on the shed during the fall, before he fell on the ground. However, there was no DNA found on the roof of the shed.

Vincent tells Sandra early on when they begin working together that he doesn’t know if she’s guilty or not guilty, but he expects her to be honest with him. As time goes on, people find out that Sandra has many secrets. She’s often dishonest and rude, which affects her credibility and likability. But is she guilty of murdering Samuel?

One of the truths that come out during the trial is that Samuel and Sandra had a troubled marriage before he died. Sandra and Samuel met when they were both living in London, and he had just become a university professor. Their relationship revolved around “intellectual stimulation, even at the expense of everything else,” says Sandra.

Samuel and Sandra had a volatile marriage that got worse after Samuel convinced Sandra to move from London back to his native France. Sandra tells Vincent in a private conversation that she was very happy in London. She bitterly says of the decision to move to France: “I left my shithole in Germany to live in his shithole.” Sandra tells Vincent that Samuel was a frustrated and wannabe novelist who couldn’t finish a manuscript and was jealous of her success as a published author.

Sandra, who is openly bisexual, is described in the movie as being very seductive and alluring when she wants to be. She admits that she had sexual relationships outside the marriage, including an affair with a woman. Samuel knew about these affairs. According to Sandra, he wasn’t happy about the infidelity, but he tolerated it.

More suspicion falls on Sandra when it’s revealed that Samuel secretly made an audio recording of a violent argument that he and Sandra had the day before he died. The recording is played in court, but it’s difficult to tell from the recording who initiated the violence. At the time of Samuel’s death, Sandra had a bruise on her elbow. She says she got the bruise from accidentally bumping into a kitchen counter at her home.

One of the more memorable aspects of “Anatomy of a Fall” is how this entire ordeal affects Daniel. After the death of Samuel, introverted Daniel becomes very depressed to the point where it’s difficult for him to get out of bed. He’s assigned a child therapist named Marge Berger (played by Jehnny Beth), who is compassionate and tries to remain as neutral as possible with Daniel about what she thinks about Sandra.

As time goes on in the trial, the prosecutor (played by Antoine Reinartz) and the media seem determined to place the marriage of Sandra and Samuel on trial too. Sandra is also judged for not being a stereotypical image of a warm-hearted, nurturing and virtuous mother. It’s the movie’s way of observing how society can judge mothers who are on trial for murder.

Sandra is not cruel, but she is certainly a complicated person. The movie leaves it up to viewers to decide how manipulative she might or might not be. Hüller gives a masterful performance as someone who thinks she’s smarter than the average person and has little to no patience with anyone who doesn’t agree with her point of view. Graner gives a standout performance as vulnerable Daniel, who might have some secrets of his own.

“Anatomy of a Fall” has well-written courtroom scenes that will keep viewers interested in what will happen next. There’s also a point in the movie where it looks like Sandra and Vincent look like they’re attracted to each other. Will they act on this attraction? And is Sandra faking this attraction to manipulate Vincent? It’s a testament to the excellent writing and performances in “Anatomy of a Fall” that the movie raises many questions but the answers are not always predictable or simple.

Neon will release “Anatomy of a Fall” in select U.S. cinemas on October 13, 2023. The movie will be released on digital an VOD on December 22, 2023.

Review: ‘In the Rearview,’ starring Maciek Hamela and Ukrainian refugees

September 14, 2023

by Carla Hay

Members of the Lichko family in a scene from “In the Rearview” (Photo courtesy of Affinity Cine and SaNoSi Productions)

“In the Rearview”

Directed by Maciek Hamela

Ukrainian and Polish with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Ukraine and in Poland in early 2022, the documentary film “In the Rearview” features a nearly all-white group of people (with one black person) who were affected by the Russian invasion war of Ukraine.

Culture Clash: “In the Rearview” director Maciek Hamela, who is from Poland, documented the van rides that he gave to refugees escaping from Ukraine to Poland.

Culture Audience: “In the Rearview” will appeal mainly to people who are interested in watching a documentary about what it was like to evacuate from Ukraine during the Russian invasion that began in 2022.

A scene from “In the Rearview” (Photo courtesy of Affinity Cine and SaNoSi Productions)

The compelling documentary “In the Rearview” offers a glimpse into what some Ukrainian refugees were experiencing during the Russian invasion in 2022, while riding in a rescue van crossing the border into Poland. The film is intimate and sometimes very raw. It’s filmed in cinéma vérité style, in every sense of the word: There are no interviews, no re-enactments and no follow-ups to see what happened to the people in the documentary. “In the Rearview” had its world premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival and its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

“In the Rearview” is the feature-film directorial debut of Maciek Hamela, a Polish citizen who volunteered to drive a van of Ukrainian refugees from Ukraine to Poland when the Russian invasion began in February 2022. About a month after Hamela began doing these rescue missions, he started filming these trips at the end of March 2022. Most of the documentary’s footage shows the passengers inside the van, with the camera facing the passengers. Hamela has said in interviews that all filming was done by human camera operators—not a fixed or hidden camera on a dashboard (also known as a dash cam)—so that the participants knew that they were being filmed at the time.

There are several documentaries that chronicle the horrors of war. In the case of the Russian-Ukrainian war, documentaries about this war tend to focus on the people who are stuck or left behind in the war zone, or the documentaries have discussions of the politics that led to this war. “In the Rearview” has a unique perspective, because it’s about the transition period when war refugees know that they are leaving for a safer place, but there’s still a lot of anxiety and fear of what’s ahead.

It goes without saying that the refugees have had to leave almost all of their possessions behind in their abandoned homes. What causes much more agony is that many of the refugees have been involuntarily separated from loved ones or know that their loved ones have died. The people who have been separated from their loved ones often don’t know where their loved ones are. And if they do know where their loved ones are, communication sometimes isn’t possible for long stretches of time, because the war-torn areas often have no electricity or Internet service. Adding to the pain is the fact that some of the refugees need medical help that they won’t be able to get until they’re safely out of Ukraine.

All of these issues weigh heavily on the refugee passengers who are featured in the documentary. They are not identified by name while they are shown in the van. However, the names of the participants are listed in the end credits of “In the Rearview.” Hamela can be heard and briefly seen during these trips, as he has conversations with the people who are temporarily in his care during this terrible time in the refugees’ lives. Unlike some documentarians, Hamela doesn’t want to make himself the center of the attention during filming. He comes across as compassionate, humble and someone who deeply cares about the safety of these refugees.

Many of the passengers who are in the documentary are groups of families. A few of the refugees are traveling alone. Many are deep in thought and don’t say anything. They look like they’re too much in shock to speak. Some of the refugees are talkative, as if they want to unload some of the burdens they’re feeling.

People of many different generations are featured. The children under the age of 8 are often too young to fully understand what’s happening, but they know something is very wrong. In one of the documentary’s segments, a family with three generations of people, including two married grandparents, are in the van. The grandmother says, “We only left because of the kids.” She later gets teary-eyed when she talks about the family’s 9-year-old cow named Beauty that the family had to leave behind.

Another family has brought the family’s 5-month-old cat (a male with black and white fur), and is shown keeping the cat safe by having it tucked into a basket during the evacuation. The wife in the family says she no longer dreams when she sleeps. She says it’s because at night, she is constantly hearing explosions.

During another ride, a woman in her late 20s or early 30s is a pregnant surrogate, who wonders aloud what will happen after she gives birth. The woman who was supposed to raise this unborn child is apparently missing and is possibly dead. The pregnant surrogate, who is accompanied by her own mother during this van ride, seems to want to take her mind off of this dire situation by talking about her goal to one day open a bakery/sweets shop where people can test the pastries before eating.

The hellish experiences of the war are discussed in a few of the conversations. A girl who’s about 13 or 14 years old talks about witnessing a rape that happened as a direct result of the war. During another van ride, a woman in her 30s talks about how her father’s fingers had to be amputated because of injuries he got while trying to rescue her mother.

In a family of five people, identified in the end credits as having the surname Lichko, the family’s stressed-out patriarch Kirill Lichko describes how his house was bombed while his family members were inside. “I don’t know how they survived,” he says of his family members, with a mixture of relief and apprehension. Kirill has a 5-year-old daughter named Sofia Lichko, who is intelligent and polite. The members of this family were able to escape with their identification, so Sofia demonstrates how she was taught to show her ID form if she’s asked to show her ID.

The van is also a makeshift ambulance that doesn’t have medical supplies but is able to accommodate people who are not able to sit up. One of the more memorable refugees in the documentary is an injured college student, who is originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo. She is traveling alone and has injuries that require medical attention, so she is seen lying down in pain as she tells her story.

The Congolese immigrant says she came to Ukraine to study the oil industry and has been living in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv for the past 10 years. She has a sister who lives in Ternopil, Ukraine, because her sister came to Ukraine to study economics. This Congolese immigrant says the oil industry doesn’t interest her.

She also mentions that during her time in Ukraine, she opened a shop that sold African imports, but the business failed. Despite all of the uncertainty over her future, she is certain that she will come back to live in Ukraine, which she says is like a second homeland for her. She says she will return to Ukraine “when things calm down.”

These rescue trips across the border are also fraught with tension when the van is stopped by soldiers at the border. The documentary doesn’t show anyone being turned away, but you get the feeling that Hamela would’ve just found another way to get the refugees across the border. The evacuations filmed in this documentary happened early enough in the war for the refugees to be let across the border much easier than if they tried to evacuate when things got worse during the war.

“In the Rearview” is very much a no-frills “snapshot” documentary, where viewers are just given glimspses into the lives of the people who are featured. There are a few questions that remain unanswered, such as: “How did Hamela deal with a shortage of gas fuel in the Ukraine?” “Where did he drop off people who had nowhere to go?” “How far was he willing to go to drive people to help them find their missing loved ones?” Although “In the Rearview” does not answer these questions, viewers will have a clear sense of the vulnerable emotions of these refugees who were filmed during a very tumultuous and dangerous time in their lives.

Review: ‘Firebrand’ (2023), starring Alicia Vikander and Jude Law

July 8, 2023

by Carla Hay

Jude Law and Alicia Vikander in “Firebrand” (Photo courtesy of MBK Productions)

“Firebrand” (2023)

Directed by Karim Aïnouz

Culture Representation: Taking place in the 1540s, in the United Kingdom, the dramatic film “Firebrand” (based on the novel “Queen’s Gambit: A Novel of Katherine Parr”) features a nearly all-white cast of characters (with one black person and one person of Arab heritage) representing the working-class, middle-class, wealthy and royalty.

Culture Clash: King Henry VIII’s sixth wife Katherine Parr is secretly a feminist who wants to shake up the establishment. 

Culture Audience: “Firebrand” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of stars Jude Law, Alicia Vikander, and dull period dramas about the British royal family.

Alicia Vikander (center) in “Firebrand” (Photo courtesy of MBK Productions)

Good acting from Alicia Vikander and Jude Law can’t save “Firebrand” from its plodding screenplay and lackluster direction. This revisionist drama, about the British royal family in the 1540s, distorts feminism by turning the film into a man-hating lecture. For a movie that’s supposed to be about an eventful time in British history, “Firebrand” has an awfully thin plot that gets padded with a lot of repetition. “Firebrand” had its world premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

Directed by Karim Aïnouz, “Firebrand” is based on Elizabeth Fremantle’s 2012 book “Queen’s Gambit: A Novel of Katherine Parr.” (In real life, Katherine Parr’s name was also spelled as Catherine Parr.) Henrietta Ashworth and Jessica Ashworth, who are twin sisters, adapted the novel for the “Firebrand” screenplay. Viewers who know in advance that “Firebrand” is based on a novel, not a biography, might enjoy the movie better. However, it still doesn’t erase the movie’s problems.

“Firebrand” begins with a voiceover monologue by a teenager whom viewers later find out is King Henry VIII’s daughter Princess Elizabeth (played by Junia Rees), who will be the future Queen Elizabeth I. Princess Elizabeth says: “In a rotten, blood-soaked island kingdom cursed by plague and driven by religious unrest, there once was a queen by the name of Katherine Parr. She was the sixth wife of an angry and ailing king.”

Princess Elizabeth continues: “Of the wives who had gone before, two were cast out, one died in childbirth, and two had their heads struck from their bodies, on the king’s order. Twice a widow, but not yet to conceive a child herself, Queen Katherine gathered the other wives’ children around her, and loved us as her own.”

The monologue continues, “She is the only mother I have ever known. The queen believed in a land free of tyranny. She believed she could steer the kingdom to the light. When the king went to war across the sea, Queen Katherine was made regent. For a moment, it was as though a great weight had lifted and a new dawn was approaching.”

An early scene in the movie shows Queen Katherine (played by Vikander) in a wooded area, where she is watching a religious and political activist named Anne Askew (played by Erin Doherty) give a fiery speech to a small group of people assembled around her. “We must rise up and take what’s ours!” shouts Anne. “Revolution is upon us. The king will be with us, or we well go without him!”

Anne sees Katherine nearby and smirks at Katherine before walking away. Anne and Katherine have not seen each other in seven years. And it would be scandalous if King Henry VIII or anyone else in the royal court found out that Katherine was at at this political rally. (“Firebrand” was actually filmed in the German cities of Reinbek and Hamburg, which look convincing as 1540s England.)

When Katherine and Anne have a private moment together in the woods, Katherine tells Anne that King Henry VIII respects Katherine. She tells Anne: “I believe I was chosen to change the king’s mind.” Anne is skeptical. And it turns out that Anne is right.

King Henry VIII (played by Law) returns from the war. He’s every bit the self-centered brute that someone is to be cruel enough to have spouses murdered by execution, just to end the marriages. The king has gout (shown in graphic details in the movie), but that doesn’t stop him from having passionless sex with Katherine, who doesn’t enjoy these encounters but endures them because she doesn’t want ill-tempered Henry to get angry at her. Katherine wants to placate Henry because she wants him to agree with some ideas she has to give women more rights.

Over time, Katherine finally sees the obvious: Henry isn’t going to change his misogynistic ways anytime soon. He does things such as openly flirt with would-be mistresses right in front of Katherine and other people seated at the royal dining table. In this dinner flirtation, Katherine is hostile to the giggling younger woman named Agnes Howard (played by Anna Mawn), who flirts back with Henry, even though Henry (not Agnes) is more at fault.

Meanwhile, Henry hears gossip that Katherine has been hanging out with Anne, who is considered a radical disrupter. Katherine denies it. What’s a secretive, ahead-of-her-time “feminist” to do? She pretends to be a devoted and submissive wife who goes along with whatever her husband wants until she can figure out a way to outsmart him. That’s essentially what takes up about 70% of “Firebrand,” in very tedious scenes that don’t do much to further the story.

Historical figures such as Princess Elizabeth, Princess Mary (played by Patsy Ferran), Prince Edward (played by Patrick Buckley), Thomas Seymour (played by Sam Riley) and Edward Seymour (played by Eddie Marsan) come and go in the movie like background characters. Thomas and Edward were the brothers of Jane Seymour, Henry’s third wife, who died in 1537, shortly after giving birth to the future King Edward VI. Thomas and Katherine were in a romantic relationship before she married Henry, but she chose to marry Henry because he was the king. That intriguing backstory is barely acknowledged in the movie.

Instead of looking like a feminist, as the movie intended, Katherine just looks like someone with delusions of grandeur in thinking that she can change a murderous misogynist like Henry, just by being cute and adoring to him. Katherine also has a catty attitude toward women who make themselves available for meaningless flings to Henry, who doesn’t really love and respect Katherine anyway. It’s also questionable if Katherine’s “feminist” plans are really for the good of all women in the kingdom, or are really ways to gain more power for herself.

Worst of all, even with Katherine’s scheming and trying to fool herself into thinking that she can outwit Henry, she does the most soap opera-ish thing that someone can do in her situation. Katherine’s way of solving her problem doesn’t involve any intelligence. It’s a heinous copout that doesn’t make Katherine any better than some of the corrupt people she acts like she detests.

“Firebrand” is the type of movie that gets it right when it comes to technical crafts, such as production design, costume design and musical score. And there’s nothing terribly wrong with the acting performances in the movie. Law as the villainous Henry is much more entertaining to watch than Vikander’s somewhat muted interpretation of pseudo-feminist Katherine. Even with these assets in “Firebrand,” the movie’s message is very misguided in how problems are dealt with at the end of the story, even if it’s complete fiction.

UPDATE: Roadside Attractions and Vertical will release “Firebrand” in select U.S. cinemas on June 21, 2024. The movie was released in Spain in 2023.

Review: ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,’ starring Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Antonio Banderas, Karen Allen, Toby Jones, Boyd Holbrook, Ethann Isidore and Mads Mikkelsen

June 29, 2023

by Carla Hay

Ethann Isidore, Harrison Ford and Phoebe Waller-Bridge in “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” (Photo courtesy of Lucasfilm)

“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”

Directed by James Mangold

Some language in German and Greek with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in 1969 (with some flashbacks to the 1940s), in various parts of universe, the action film “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some people of African, Middle Eastern and Latino heritage) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: American hero Indiana Jones fights Nazis, as he tries to regain possession of a powerful time-travel artifact called the Archimedes Dial that has been stolen by his British con-artist goddaughter. 

Culture Audience: Besides appealing to the obvious target audience of “Indiana Jones” franchise fans and Harrison Ford fans, “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” will appeal primarily to people who don’t mind watching formulaic action movies that lack original ideas.

Mads Mikkelsen in “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” (Photo courtesy of Lucasfilm

“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” should be renamed “Indiana Jones and the Long-Winded Cash Grab.” It’s an overstuffed pile-on of formulaic action, insipid dialogue and ripoff ideas. It’s an utter failure of originality. And with a total running time of 154 minutes, only the most die-hard Indiana Jones fans will feel like this repetitive film is worth the very long ride that over-relies on Indiana Jones nostalgia instead of doing something truly bold and creative with this franchise.

Directed by James Mangold, “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” is the fifth movie in the “Indiana Jones” series, which began with 1981’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark”—still the best movie in the franchise—which was about an American hero battling against treasure-stealing Nazis. “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” is the first “Indiana Jones” movie that isn’t directed by Steven Spielberg. The screenplay for “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” was co-written by Mangold, Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth and David Koepp. The movie had its world premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” begins somewhere in Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II, with a very misguided action sequence that lasts for about 15 to 20 minutes. The sequence shows a middle-aged Indiana “Indy” Jones (played by Harrison Ford, with de-aging computer imagery in these scenes) fighting off Nazis with his longtime British friend Basil Shaw (played by Toby Jones, also de-aged in this sequence), who is an archaeologist and an Oxford University professor. In this sequence, Indiana does things such as fight Nazis on the roof of a moving train. Basil has been captured by the Nazis. But of course, Indiana is able to rescue Basil.

Indiana and Basil want to get a hold of the Archimedes Dial, an artifact that is believed to have the ability to open time portals. The Nazi contingent is led by Colonel Weber (played by Thomas Kretschmann), who is in charge of stealing valuable art and artifacts from Nazi-occupied countries and sending these treasures to Germany. One of the star subordinates of Colonel Weber is Dr. Jürgen Voller (played by Mads Mikkelsen, also de-aged in the 1940s scenes), who comes across Indiana Jones in the battle over the Archimedes Dial.

While still on top of the moving train, Indiana finds himself at the mercy of Jürgen, who has a gun and demands that Indiana Jones hand over the Archimedes Dial. Indiana abides by this request, and Jürgen escapes by sliding down a nearby pole. The conclusion of this fight immediately looks phony, because if this fight had happened in real life, a ruthless Nazi such as Jürgen would have immediately killed Indiana and Basil after getting the dial. But there would be no “Indiana Jones” sequels if that happened, so expect Indiana Jones to escape death again and again in unrealistic action scenes.

Another glaring reason why this sequence is very misguided is that it will make viewers wonder, “How long is this movie going to show a younger (fake-looking) Indiana Jones instead of the senior citizen that Ford is in real life?” It’s an example of how “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” relies too heavily on nostalgia. This high-energy action sequence will only just remind people of how the earlier “Indiana Jones” movies from the 20th century are better than the “Indiana Jones” movies released in the 21st century.

After this overly long trip down memory lane of how Indiana Jones used to look, “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” fast-forwards to the year 1969, when Indiana Jones is a cranky, bitter old man. He’s an archaelogy professor at Hunter College in New York City. He’s on the verge of retiring after teaching at Hunter College for the past 10 years. And he lives alone, because he’s separated from his wife Marion (played by Karen Allen), who met him in the story depicted in “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” explains later why Indiana and Marion have separated. (Hint: She left him.)

Someone who shows up unexpectedly in one of Indiana’s class sessions is Helena Shaw (played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge), who is Basil’s daughter. Helena is also Indiana’s goddaughter. She’s looking for the Archimedes Dial, which is believed to have been lost over the French Alps. As shown in the opening sequence, Jürgen thought he had the Archimedes Dial, but somehow Indiana fooled him by giving him only half of the dial. Indiana really kept the other half of the dial. Basil (who is deceased in 1969) lost the other half, so now Helena wants to find both halves.

The rest of “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” is about this quest, which includes a lot of bickering and backstabbing from the very annoying Helena, who is a con artist. Of course, we all know how this is going to go in the end, since Helena has the story arc of “Can this con artist be trusted? Can this con artist be redeemed?” Another question that comes to mind when watching Helena is: “Can this con artist get any more irritating?”

And once again, the Nazis (this time, neo-Nazis) are on the hunt for the Archimedes Dial too. Jürgen has another identity hiding his Nazi past. He’s now a physicist named Dr. Lehrer Schmidt, who works in the United States’ outer-space program. Jürgen/Lerer has a generic right-hand man named Klaber (played by Boyd Holbrook), who zips around cities on motorbikes as if he thinks he’s a Nazi version of James Dean. Jürgen/Lerer also has a henchman named Hauke (played by Olivier Richters), who also does a lot of the dirty work.

Along the way, Indiana Jones encounters a CIA operative named Agent Mason (played by Shaunette Renée Wilson), who is undercover as a Black Power militant. It’s just a sorry excuse for the movie to have Agent Mason say the word “cracker” as a racist term used to describe a white person. It takes entirely too long for Agent Mason to figure out that Klaber is a Nazi who is working undercover as U.S. law enforcement. This isn’t spoiler information, since the trailer for “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” clearly shows that Klaber is one of the villains.

A former excavator named Sallah (played by John Rhys-Davies), an old friend from Indiana Jones’ past, used to live in Cairo but is now a taxi driver in New York City. (And you know what that means when the movie has inevitable chase/action scenes in New York City.) Sallah shows up in the movie to check off more nostalgia boxes for “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.” Antonio Banderas has a cameo as Renaldo, a sailor/fisherman who gives advice to Indiana on how to find an expert diver in Greece. It’s a role that really just celebrity stunt casting.

“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” recycles the formula of giving Indiana Jones an adolescent male sidekick, who is a smart alecky motormouth. Qe Huy Quan had that role in 1984’s “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” the second movie in the series. Shia LaBeouf had that role in 2008’s “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” the fourth movie in the series. And in “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” Ethann Isidore has that role, as Teddy, a bratty teenager who doesn’t trust Indiana at first because he’s a friend of Helena’s. No one seems to question how creepy it is for Helena to be hanging out with a kid this young when he’s not related to her.

The acting performances in the movie are nothing special. Everyone seems to be playing their roles as if they’re video game characters. Expect to see the usual “race against time” action sequences, people yelling at each other, and narrow escapes from death that don’t look realistic at all. One of the more ridiculous action sequences is Indiana riding a horse in a New York City subway station as if he’s in the Kentucky Derby.

Sure, “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” is supposed to be an escapism adventure movie. And sure, people can enjoy seeing Ford returning to a character who is way past his prime. And sure, the globetrotting scenes are eye-catching. (The movie was filmed in Morocco, Sicily and the United Kingdom.) But “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” is an example of how computer technology cannot replace a good story. Compare “Raiders of the Lost Ark” to “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” to understand why “better filmmaking technology” doesn’t always equal “better filmmaking.”

Walt Disney Pictures will release “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” in U.S. cinemas on June 30, 2023.

Review: ‘Asteroid City,’ starring Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston and Edward Norton

June 16, 2023

by Carla Hay

Jake Ryan, Jason Schwartzman and Tom Hanks in “Asteroid City” (Photo courtesy of Pop. 87 Productions/Focus Features)

“Asteroid City”

Directed by Wes Anderson

Culture Representation: Taking place in 1955, in the U.S. Southwest and in New York City, the comedy film “Asteroid City” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few African Americans and Latinos) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: Told as a stage play within a TV show, “Asteroid City” tells the story of how a small town reacts to a visit from an outer-space alien.

Culture Audience: “Asteroid City” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of filmmaker Wes Anderson and comedies with intentionally quirky characters and sometimes bizarre scenarios.

Scarlett Johansson in “Asteroid City” (Photo courtesy of Pop. 87 Productions/Focus Features)

“Asteroid City” is exactly what you think a Wes Anderson movie is about how people react to seeing an outer-space alien. The comedy is hit or miss. Anderson’s recent movies seem like they’re competing with each other to have the most celebrity cameos. “Asteroid City” (which was directed by Anderson) had its world premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. Anderson co-wrote the “Asteroid City” screenplay with Roman Coppola, who is a cousin of Jason Schwartzman, one of the stars of the film.

“Asteroid City,” which is set in 1955, is told as a play within a TV show. All it means is that it’s an excuse to add more stars to the already star-studded cast. Overstuffing the movie with famous cast members can actually be detriment when most of these characters remain underdeveloped. And it will just lead to disappointment for the fans of the cast members (many of whom could easily headline films on their own) when they find out that the screen time of many of these celebrities is barely enough to be in a short film.

The constant parade of stars also seems like showboating from Anderson and the other “Asteroid City” filmmakers, as if to prove that all of these famous people are so in awe of Anderson, they’d be willing to do even the tiniest role in one of his movies. It certainly might explain why Margot Robbie has an utterly useless role as an unnamed actress/wife in “Asteroid City,” where all she does in the movie is talk for a few minutes in a forgettable conversation. “Asteroid City” makes good use of its principal cast members, but gets bogged down by all the distracting celebrity cameos.

The movie begins with black-and-white footage of a nameless TV host (played by Bryan Cranston) explaining that viewers will be getting a behind-the-scenes look at the making of a play called “Asteroid City.” The play is written in New York City by playwright Conrad Earp (played by Edward Norton), while the ensemble cast is led by Jones Hall (played Schwartzman) and Mercedes Ford (played by Scarlett Johansson). This behind-the-scenes footage is in black and white (as it would be in television in 1955), but the scenes with the play are in bright Technicolor-inspired lighting that would have been standard with movies released in 1955.

Schubert Green (played by Adrien Brody) is the play’s director. Polly (played by Hong Chau) is Schubert’s assistant. Saltzburg Keitel (played by Willem Dafoe) has a classroom that is used as rehearsal space for the play. All three of these characters are seen in short interludes and don’t add much to the overall story.

Asteroid City is in an unnamed state in the U.S. Southwest. In the “Asteroid City” play, a war photographer named Augustine “Augie” Steenbeck (also played by Schwartzman) is a recent widower. He is on a road trip by car to Asteroid City, a very small Southwestern town (population: 87), where the biggest attractions are a large meteor crater and a celestial observatory nearby. Augie is traveling with his 14-year-old son Woodrow Steenbeck (played by Jake Ryan) and triplet daughters Andromeda (played by Ella Faris), Pandora (played by Gracie Faris) and Cassiopeia (played by Willan Faris), who are about 7 or 8 years old.

The Steenbeck family is going to Asteroid City for the weekend celebration of Asteroid Day, commemorating September 27, 3007 B.C., when the Arid Plains meteorite crashed on Earth. Woodrow is also set to get a prize as one of the five winners of the Junior Stargazer Space Cadet Awards, given to young people who are aspiring astronomers. However, Augie’s car breaks down in Asteroid City. A unnamed, bumbling mechanic (played by Matt Dillon) is the nearest person who can fix the car.

After Augie finds out that he and his children are stuck in Asteroid City, Augie calls his stern father-in-law Stanley Zak (played by Tom Hanks) to ask Stanley to pick up the kids because “the car exploded.” Stanley is reluctant to come to the rescue of his stranded son-in-law and grandchildren because Stanley thinks that Augie needs to take responsibility for the kids. Stanley is annoyed that Augie has not told the children that the children’s mother (who was Stanley’s daughter) died three weeks ago.

It’s mentioned in the movie that she died from a unnamed illness. Eventually, Augie awkwardly tells the children about their mother’s death. He also tells them that she has been cremated. Her ashes are in a plastic bowl that Augie has with him. And as soon as cremated ashes of a loved one are shown in a comedy, you just know that something is going to happen to those ashes in a comedic part of the plot.

Meanwhile, this small town is about to get a much bigger temporary population when more visitors arrive. These other guests include famous actress Midge Campbell (played by Johansson), who (by her own admission) is vain and selfish. She is in Asteroid City because her teenage daughter Dinah (played by Grace Edwards) is one of the recpients of the Junior Stargazer Space Cadet Award. It’s mentioned that Midge has two younger children from her marriage to her second ex-husband

Also in Asteroid City is country musician Montana (played by Rupert Friend) and his band. Montana dresses like a cowboy and seems to be attracted to a schoolteacher in her 20s named June (played by Maya Hawke), who has arriveed by school bus with a class of 10 students, who are each 8 years old. Montana and June, like many of these supporting characters, have no real bearing on the outcome of the story.

Other visitors to Asteroid City who are very extraneous characters include egotistical businessman JJ (played by Liev Schrieber) and his mild-mannered teenage son Clifford (played by Aristou Meehan), who only seem to be in the movie to show that Augie and Woodward aren’t the only characters in “Asteroid City” who have father/son tensions. Clifford is one of the award recipients.

Other unnecessary characters are Sandy (played by Hope Davis) and her teenage daughter Shelly (played by Sophia Lillis), who are only memorable for wearing matching Girl Scout-type uniforms. Shelly is also one of the award recipients. It makes no difference to the movie’s story if there were three, four or five teens getting these awards.

Another parent-teen duo in “Asteroid City” are scientist Roger (played by Stephen Park) and his overachieving son Ricky (played by Ethan Josh Lee), who has somewhat of a rivalry with Woodrow about who knows the most about astronomy. Ricky is actually essential to the plot, since he makes a certain decision regarding the outer-space alien. Ricky’s decision has an effect on other plot developments. Meanwhile, Woodrow and Dinah have a growing attraction to each other.

Steve Carell is in the movie for less than five minutes as the manager of Asteroid City’s only motel. The observatory is run by Dr. Hickenlooper (played Tilda Swinton), who us the expected eccentric character that Swinton always to plays in Anderson’s movies. A crater meteorite that’s the size of a softball is one of the prized possessions on display at the observatory.

A very by-the-book military officer named General Grif Gibson (played by Jeffrey Wright) is in Asteroid City to lead the Asteroid Day festivities, which includes a tour of the observatory, a picnic supper, the viewing of the Astronomical Ellipses, and the awarding of the annual Hickenlooper Scholarship. General Gibson has a trusted, unnamed aide-de-camp (played by Tony Revolori), who is just a rehash of the “eager young man” roles that Revolori has played in other Wes Anderson movies.

The first half of “Asteroid City” is a string of vignettes where the characters are quirky and often blurt out things in a tactless way that’s supposed to be amusing. Augie and Midge are the most “no filter” of these characters. And so, it should come as no surprise that they become attracted to each other. It’s just like a Wes Anderson movie for two single parents to be attracted to each other at the same time the parents’ two teenage kids are attracted to each other.

“Asteroid City” doesn’t get really interesting or amusing until the arrival of the space alien, which is filmed like it would be for a stage production. The reactions to this space alien are the movie’s commentaries on greed and exploitation in society. There’s nothing wrong with any of the performances by the cast members. But it says a lot that “Asteroid City,” which is filled with talented people (many of whom are Oscar winners and Oscar nominees), doesn’t have an Oscar-worthy performance in the bunch. The movie’s production design is impeccable, but “Asteroid City” is a comedy that’s more enamored with the setup of jokes rather than the jokes themselves.

Focus Features released “Asteroid City” in select U.S. cinemas on June 16, 2023, with a wider expansion to more U.S. cinemas on June 23, 2023.

Review: ‘Elemental’ (2023), starring the voices of Leah Lewis, Mamoudou Athie, Ronnie del Carmen, Shila Ommi, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Catherine O’Hara and Mason Wertheimer

June 15, 2023

by Carla Hay

Ember Lumen (voiced by Leah Lewis) and Wade Ripple (voiced by Mamoudou Athie) in “Elemental” (Image courtesy of Disney/Pixar)

“Elemental” (2023)

Directed by Peter Sohn 

Culture Representation: Taking place in the fictional Element City, the animated film “Elemental” has a cast of characters representing fire, water, air and earth.

Culture Clash: A young fire being is under pressure to take over her family’s convenience store business while she has a potentially controversial romance with a young water being in a society where fire and water are not supposed to mix.

Culture Audience: “Elemental” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of Pixar movies and stories about following your heart.

Pictured in center front row: Gale (voiced by Wendi McLendon-Covey), Ember Lumen (voiced by Leah Lewis) and Wade Ripple (voiced by Mamoudou Athie) in “Elemental” (Image courtesy of Disney/Pixar)

“Elemental” is a good but not outstanding animated film about societal prejudices, family obligations,and true identities. The movie is marketed to look like that it’s equally about the four main life elements: fire, water, air and earth. Viewers should know that the characters representing air and earth don’t get as much screen time as the fire and water characters. “Elemental” had its world premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival and its New York City premiere at the 2023 Tribeca Festival.

Directed by Peter Sohn, “Elemental” has dazzling visuals paired with a story that’s very predictable but charming. John Hoberg, Kat Likkel and Brenda Hsueh co-wrote the “Elemental” screenplay, which is padded out with adventure scenarios that all lead to the inevitable way that this movie ends. The movie has some blatantly tearjerking moments toward the end, but nothing that would be too upsetting for the children who are a large percentage of “Elemental’s” target audience.

“Elemental” tells the story of two beings from very different cultures who find themselves drawn to each other, despite everyone around them saying that they shouldn’t be interacting to each other. The movie’s narrator is Ember Lumen (voiced by Leah Lewis), whose family immigrated from Fireland to Element City. The residents of the multicultural Emerald City consist of fire beings, water beings, earth beings and air beings. Fire and water are considered the least compatible of these four elements. And so, water beings and fire beings are taught not to mix with each other.

Ember is an only child. Her parents Bernie Lumen (voiced by Ronnie del Carmen) and Cinder Lumen (voiced by Shila Ommi) are hard-working and somewhat overprotective of Ember. Bernie owns and operates a convenience store named Fireplace, where Ember has been working part-time since she was a child. Ember has a “fiery temper,” so her customer service skills are very flawed.

Bernie has been training Ember to become more patient and even-tempered (he recommends that she take deep breaths before getting angry), but Ember is fairly stubborn. Ember is expected to take over the family business after Bernie retires. However, what Ember really wants to do with her life (but she’s afraid to tell her parents) is to make glass art.

Several years after Ember began working at Fireplace, she is now the equivalent of a young woman. One day, she loses her temper in the store, which accidentally causes the store’s basement to get flooded. Out of the flooding comes a water being named Wade Ripple (voiced by Mamoudou Athie), a water inspector who’s been sucked into a pipe. It’s the “meet cute” moment for Ember and Wade.

You know where all of this is going. Ember is wary of and sometimes hostile to Wade, who is sensitive and likes to cry a lot. For most of the movie, Ember and Wade’s relationship repeats this pattern: Wade shows that he’s attracted to Ember, but she tries to shut down any possibility of a romance because she’s been conditioned to think that fire and water should not mix.

Through a series of circumstances, Wade and Ember end up going on some antics together. A friendship starts to develop between them. When Wade finds out that Ember has a talent in making glass sculptures and other art, he encourages her to pursue this passion.

As already shown in the “Elemental” trailer, Wade and Ember eventually meet each other’s families. Wade’s mother is a widow named Brook Ripple (voiced by Catherine O’Hara), who is more tolerant of Ember than Ember’s family is to Wade. Cinder is particularly upset that Wade and Ember might be falling in love. “Fire and water cannot mix!” Cinder tells Ember.

Because “Elemental” is so focused on the Ember/Wade relationship, some of the supporting characters aren’t given enough character development. An earth being named Clod (voiced by Mason Wertheimer), who’s supposed to be the equivalent of a boy in his early teens, has a crush on Ember and lets her know it. Clod shows Ember that he’s reached puberty by lifting his arm to show that a flower is growing in his armpit. It’s explained in the movie that earth characters can be a little “seedy.”

Wade’s boss is the blustery air character Gale (voiced by Wendi McLendon-Covey), who looks and acts like a lot of hot air. Gale is an avid fan of the Windbreakers, an Air Ball team, so there’s a time-filling sequence about the Windbreakers playing a game at Cyclone Stadium in Element City. Gale’s mood can easily turn like the wind. “Elemental” makes these cutesy pun references throughout the movie, which might be annoying to some viewers.

Clod and Gale are lively characters but are very under-used in the story. They come and go in scenes that make Clod and Gale look very expendable. Truth be told, if Clod and Gale weren’t in the movie, it wouldn’t have made a difference to the relationship that develops between Ember and Wade. However, for a movie that gives the impression that it’s about life’s four main elements, the sidelining of earth and air in “Elemental” seems like a wasted opportunity.

“Elemental” has a very talented voice cast that brings much-needed personality and spark to what could have been a visually attractive but overly formulaic story. Lewis, Athie and del Carmen are especially good in their performances of making these non-human beings relatable to people watching “Elemental.” Most viewers know people like Ember, Wade or Bernie in real life.

The movie also handles its serious issues fairly well without being preachy. The prejudices passed down through generations about elements that are not supposed to mix with other are obvious metaphors about racism in a multicultural society. The issue of what Ember wants to do with her life—fulfill family obligations that she doesn’t want or follow her own dreams—is a dilemma presented in many coming-of-age films. The “opposites attract” theme is another stereotype in movies that have romance.

Even with all of these not-very-original ideas for a story, “Elemental” offers many unique visuals that are good enough to keep viewers reasonably entertained. There is no subtlety or nuance to this movie. And there are absolutely no real surprises either. “Elemental” is an apt title because the story is very basic and only saves itself by adding some eye-catching visuals and appealing characters.

Disney/Pixar Animation Studios will release “Elemental” in U.S. cinemas on June 16, 2023.

Review: ‘Falcon Lake,’ starring Joseph Engel and Sara Montpetit

June 8, 2023

by Carla Hay

Joseph Engel and Sara Montpetit in “Falcon Lake” (Photo courtesy of Yellow Veil Pictures)

“Falcon Lake”

Directed by Charlotte Le Bon

French with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Canada’s Laurentides, Québec, the dramatic film “Falcon Lake,” loosely based on Bastien Vivès’ 2017 graphic novel “Une Sœur (A Sister)”, features an all-white cast of characters representing the middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: While spending time at a remote lake house compound with their families, two teenagers have a tentative romance amid stories that the nearby lake might be haunted by a menacing ghost. 

Culture Audience: “Falcon Lake” will appeal primarily to people who like watching dramatic movies where the intended impact isn’t immediately apparent and slowly sneaks up on viewers.

Joseph Engel and Sara Montpetit in “Falcon Lake” (Photo courtesy of Yellow Veil Pictures)

“Falcon Lake” is an atmospheric drama that effectively shows the parallels of experiencing mysterious horror and experiencing teenage angst over love and romance. It’s a ‘”slow burn” movie with good acting performances from Joseph Engel and Sara Montpetit. “Falcon Lake” had its world premiere at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.

Written and directed by Charlotte Le Bon (who has an established career as an actress), “Falcon Lake” is loosely based on Bastien Vivès’ graphic novel 2017 “Une Sœur (A Sister),” which was set in France. “Falcon Lake,” which is Le Bon’s feature-film directorial debut, takes place in a remoted wooded location in Laurentides, Québec, Canada. It’s not the type of movie that should be considered a real horror flick, just because there’s a ghost story element to the film. There are hints of horror that are left purposely vague, until the mystery is solved at the very end.

The more unsettling tone in the “Falcon Lake” isn’t about the paranormal but about the frustration felt by the teenage male protagonist, who is kept on edge over how he’s going to handle his crush on an older teenage girl. “Falcon Lake” is told from his perspective. His name is Bastien (played by Engel), who is 13 years old and will soon turn 14.

In the beginning of the movie, Bastien has arrived at a vacation rental home compound with his mother Violette (played by Monia Chokri), his father Romaine (played by Arthur Igual) and Bastien’s brother Titi (played by Thomas Laperriere), who’s about 4 or 5 years old. It’s the first time that the family is staying at this vacation place. This family of four will soon meet two other people who are sharing living quarters at the compound: single mother Louise (played by Karine Gonthier-Hyndman) and her 16-year-old daughter Chloé (played by Montpetit), who is rebellious and eccentric.

Bastien is immediately smitten with Chloé, who shares the same bedroom as him in this compound. Chloé knows that Bastien is attracted to her, but she doesn’t quite know what to do about her burgeoning relationship with this younger boy. As so, Chloé resorts to teasing Bastien by playing harmless pranks on him, such as sneaking up and startling him when he’s at a dock by the lake. In another incident that’s much more disturbing, Chloé pretends to drown, just to see how Bastien will react.

Chloé and Bastien spend a lot of time together at the lake, by themselves and with teenagers who are closer to Chloé’s age. The lake is a symbol for the uncharted waters that Bastien is feeling for the person he hopes will be his first girlfriend. It’s also a symbol for Chloé’s fascination with local folklore that there’s a ghost living in the lake. This ghost supposedly grabs swimmers in the lake and especially likes to target young people.

Not long after they meet, Chloé tells Bastien this ghost story, and she seems disappointed when he barely reacts. Chloé asks Bastien: “Are you scared the ghost might grab you?” Bastien replies, “I don’t believe in ghosts.” He also says that he’s not swimming in the lake because he doesn’t like swimming, due to a near-drowning incident he had when he was younger. But as soon as Bastien says he’s not swimming in the lake, you know that Chloé will get him to change his mind.

Chloé also has a dark side of dabbling in self-harm. She tell Bastien that she sometimes likes to bite her hand until it bleeds. And she shows him how she does it. Later, as a way to impress Chloé, Bastien takes up this habit too. Much of “Falcon Lake” is about Bastien, who is somewhat shy, trying to win over bold and brash Chloé without looking too desperate. The mild flirtation between Chloé and Bastien (such as taking a bath together with their clothes on) might eventually turn into something more.

Bastien is new to the Laurentides are, but Chloé is not. She introduces Bastien to other teens she knows, such as 19-year-old Oliver (played by Anthony Therrien) and Paul (played by Lévi Doré), who smoke cigarettes and drink wine with Chloé. Oliver’s father Bryan (played by Jeff Roop) owns the lake house and is one of the few people in the movie who speaks English only, not French. Bryan, who is seen briefly in the movie, is outgoing and talkative.

The adults in “Falcon Lake” mostly fade into the background of the story, but there are multiple scenes that show Chloé and her mother Louise have a tension-filled relationship. Chloé thinks her mother is a promiscuous gold digger and doesn’t respect her. Louise thinks that Chloé is a rude brat. Chloé’s father is not seen or mentioned in the story.

Chloé’s negative feelings about her mother’s sex life affects her self-esteem in ways that Bastien can’t fully comprehend until he makes a very big mistake. He isn’t emotionally mature enough to pick up the clues, such as when Chloé tells him that Chloé broke up with Chloé’s most recent boyfriend because she wouldn’t do certain sexual things with him, but the ex-boyfriend lied to other people by saying that she did. There’s a pivotal scene where some local teens are having a loud, unsupervised house party, and Bastien gets an unwanted glimpse of Chloé’s life before she met him.

The “horror” aspects of the movie are very subtle and intermittent. Shadowy figures occasionally appear then disappear in a room. There are a few incidents where a teenager in the lake claims to feel unknown hands grabbing the teenager, but the movie shows whether or not it was just a teenage prank. “Falcon Lake” keeps people guessing about what could be supernatural until the last 10 minutes of the film.

“Falcon Lake” director Le Bon capably handles the moody tone of the film, which is a mixture of carefree teenage playfulness and a constant foreboding that something could go terribly wrong at any moment. Engel and Montpetit impressively bring much of the realism required for their roles, but viewers should be warned that “Falcon Lake” might be considered too boring for anyone expecting a typical “people being haunted in a remote area” ghost story. Viewers with the patience to watch “Falcon Lake” until the very end will see the movie in an entirely new way when a secret is revealed.

Yellow Veil Pictures released “Falcon Lake” in select U.S. cinemas on June 2, 2023. The movie will be released on digital and VOD on June 13, 2023. “Falcon Lake” was released in Canada on October 14, 2022.

2023 Cannes Film Festival: ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ wins Palme d’Or; complete list of winners

May 27, 2023

The 76th annual Cannes Film Festival (which took place in Cannes, France) has announced its award winners. The event took place from May 16 to May 27, 2023, with the prize winners announced on May 27, 2023. The awards were voted for by appointed juries.

FEATURE FILMS – COMPETITION

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCG2xAx6Prc

Palme d’Or: “Anatomy of a Fall,” Justine Triet

Grand Prix: “The Zone of Interest,” Jonathan Glazer

Director: Tran Anh Hung, “The Pot au Feu”

Actor: Kōji Yakusho, “Perfect Days”

Actress: Merve Dizdar, “About Dry Grasses”

Jury Prize: “Fallen Leaves,” Aki Kaurismaki

Screenplay: Sakamoto Yûji, “Monster”

UN CERTAIN REGARD

Un Certain Regard Award: “How to Have Sex,” Molly Manning Walker

Jury Prize: “Hounds,” Kamal Lazraq

Best Director Prize: “The Mother of All Lies,” Asmae El Moudir

Freedom Prize: “Goodbye Julia,” Mohamed Kordofani

Ensemble Prize: “The Buriti Flower,” João Salaviza, Renée Nader Messora, cast and crew

New Voice Prize: “Omen,” Baloji

DIRECTORS’ FORTNIGHT

Europa Cinemas Label: “Creatura,” Elena Martín

Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers Prize: “A Prince,” Pierre Creton

CRITICS’ WEEK

Grand Prize: “Tiger Stripes,” Amanda Nell Eu

French Touch Prize: “It’s Raining in the House,” Paloma Sermon-Daï

GAN Foundation Award for Distribution: Pyramide Films, “Inshallah a Boy”

Louis Roederer Foundation Rising Star Award: Jovan Ginić, “Lost Country”

SHORT FILMS – COMPETITION

Short Films Palme d’Or: “27,” Flóra Anna Buda

Short Films Special Mention: “Fár,” Gunnur Martinsdóttir Schlüter

HIGHER TECHNICAL COMMISSION (CST)

CST Artist-Technician Prize: “The Zone of Interest,” Johnnie Burns

CST Young Film Technician Award: “Le Théorème de Marguerite (Marguerite’s Theorem),” Anne-Sophie Delseries

OTHER PRIZES

Camera d’Or: “Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell,” Thien An Pham

Year of the Documentary: “Les Filles D’Olfa,” Kaouther Ben Hania and “Kadib Adyab” (The Mother of All Lies,” Asmae El Moudir (tie)

Queer Palm: “Monster”

Review: ‘Corsage,’ starring Vicky Krieps, Florian Teichtmeister, Katharina Lorenz, Jeanne Werner, Alma Hasun, Manuel Rubey and Finnegan Oldfield

May 6, 2023

by Carla Hay

Vicky Krieps in “Corsage” (Photo by Felix Vratny/IFC Films)

“Corsage”

Directed by Marie Kreutzer

Culture Representation: Taking place in Austria, Hungary, England and Germany, in 1877 and 1878, the dramatic film “Corsage” (based on the life of Empress Elisabeth of Austria) features an all-white group of people representing the working-class, middle-class and royalty.

Culture Clash: As she nears her 40th birthday, Empress Elisabeth feels neglected by a philandering husband and tries to rebel against a repressive environment that dictates her physical appearance, what she wears, and how she raises her children. 

Culture Audience: “Corsage” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of history-based biopics but viewers should be prepared to see a story that is more downbeat than uplifting.

Vicky Krieps in “Corsage” (Photo by Robert M. Brandstaetter/IFC Films)

“Corsage” is gorgeously filmed and woefully depressing with glimmers of playful sarcasm about royal culture. Vicky Krieps gives a memorable performance as Empress Elisabeth of Austria, but this drama won’t appeal to anyone looking for a fun-filled story. “Corsage” had its world premiere at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, where Krieps won a Best Performance award in the festival’s Un Certain Regard competition. “Corsage” also screened at other film festivals in 2022, including the New York Film Festival.

Written and directed by Marie Kreutzer, “Corsage” takes place in 1877 and 1878, mostly in the Austrian city of Vienna and the Hungarian city of Budapest. Empress Elisabeth, nicknamed Sissi, was also queen of Hungary. The movie, which changes some real-life facts, gives an up-close and sometimes disturbing personal look at the life Elisabeth, who seems to be living a charmed life in the public eye. In private, things are quite different for the empress, who is fretting about soon turning 40, her physical appearance, and her crumbling marriage.

Elisabeth says in a voiceover: “From the age of 40, a person begins to disperse and fade.” (Keep in mind, this is during an era when the average life expectancy was much lower than it is today.) From the first 10 minutes of the movie, it’s made clear that Elisabeth is deeply troubled and has self-esteem issues.

One of the things that she does on a regular basis (as shown in an early scene in the movie) is hold her breath underwater in a bathtub for as long as possible. The first time the movie shows her engaging in this dangerous stunt, she’s held her breath underwater for 40 seconds. She’s clearly not doing this for daredevil fun. It’s an obvious cry for help, because her life is making her miserable.

Elisabeth’s husband Franz Joseph I of Austria (played by Florian Teichtmeister) is inattentive and cold toward her. He seems bored with their marriage. Franz Joseph (who wears a fake beard and a hairpiece) won’t even let Elisabeth eat dinner with him. And when Elisabeth tries to be sexually intimate with Franz Joseph, he’s not interested. Later, Elisabeth sees Franz Joseph being affectionate with another woman. It just confirms what she probably knew already: Franz Joseph has been unfaithful to her.

Elisabeth and Franz Joseph have a daughter together named Valerie (played by Rosa Hajjaj), who’s about 7 or 8 years old, and a son named Rudolph (played by Aaron Friesz), who is in his early 20s. Franz Joseph and Elisabeth had another daughter named Sophie, who died years ago and would have been 22 years old in 1847. As a couple, Elisabeth and Franz Joseph do not talk about Sophie, but it’s implied that Sophie’s death has taken a toll on their marriage. In real life, Sophie died in a fire in 1897, which was 20 years after the story in this movie takes place.

Elisabeth feels so neglected, when she’s in public, she pretends to faint, just so she can get the type of attention that a royal woman would get when she faints. She does this phony fainting after getting out of a carriage during a visit to King Ludwig II of Bavaria (played by Manuel Rubey). Later, she tells King Ludwig II in a private conversation that her fainting spell was all an act. And she shows him how she does it.

One of Elisabeth’s concerns is how she is covered by the tabloid media. There have been reports that she’s been trying to lose weight. These reports are true. “Corsage” has several scenes where Elisabeth’s weight and diet are obsessively monitored by Elisabeth and many of the people around her. Observant viewers will notice that not much has changed with today’s tabloid media outlets, which give obsessive coverage to the physical appearance (including any weight loss or weight gain) of young and famous royal women.

In her spare time, Elisabeth does fencing and horse-riding activities. The movie shows how Elisabeth impulsively orders Valerie to ride horses with her in the early-morning hours. As a result, Valerie gets sick. Franz Joseph blames Elisabeth for Valerie’s illness, and it causes further strain in their marriage. Franz Joseph wants to make Elisabeth feel like she’s an unfit mother.

Elisabeth’s closest confidante is Ida Ferenczy (played by Jeanne Werner), a Hungarian lady-in-waiting for Elisabeth. Elisabeth is also close with another lady-in-waiting Marie Festetics (played by Katharina Lorenz), who keeps meticulous diaries of what her royal employer does. Also in Elisabeth’s inner circle is her hair stylist Fanny Feifalik (played by Alma Hasun), who is in for a shock after Elisabeth cuts off her own long hair during an emotional fit. It says a lot about Elisabeth and that her closest friends were also her servants.

Elisabeth also has some male friends, one of whom becomes her love interest. She and a younger man named Bay Middleton (played by Colin Morgan) have a mutual attraction. Elisabeth’s son Rudolph expresses concern to her that people are gossiping about how much time she spends alone with Bay. Elisabeth also strikes up a friendship with French cinematographer Louis Le Prince (played by Finnegan Oldfield), who makes short films with her. (In real life, Le Prince is considered the “godfather” of cinematography.)

“Corsage” has a very revisionist take on the real Elisabeth’s life, including how she died. The movie portrays her as possibly manic depressive but with a mischievous streak. She likes to flip her middle finger or stick her tongue out at people when she’s displeased about something. And in an era where it was considered not very ladylike to smoke cigarettes, Elisabeth was a chronic smoker.

Under the astute direction of Kreutzer, “Corsage” delivers everything that viewers might expect of a drama about European royalty: sumptuous costumes, luxurious production design, and elite characters talking as if they’re always breathing rarefied air. However, this admittedly stuffy movie can just as easily be a turnoff to viewers who won’t feel any emotional connection to these characters at all. Krieps gives a compelling performance, but Elisabeth’s self-destructive tendencies becomes a bit draining to watch.

One of the movie’s highlights is the musical score by Camille. It’s haunting and enchanting in all the right ways. “Corsage” is a cautionary tale told in an “all that glitters is not gold” manner. It’s a story that is about a specific royal woman, but it can apply to anyone who is living a restrictive and unhappy existence, even if that life might look privileged and wonderful on the outside.

IFC Films released “Corsage” in select U.S. cinemas on December 23, 2022. The movie was released on digital and VOD on February 7, 2023.

Copyright 2017-2024 Culture Mix
CULTURE MIX