There is a clear analogy between Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive, where one side of a dual narrative seems to function as displaced wish fulfillment for the protagonist of the other side, who has killed their spouse/partner out of jealousy. But Mulholland Drive is vastly simpler to interpret, because it draws a clear boundary between waking reality and a dream (we literally see her head hit the pillow at the beginning and then see her wake up later on). Granted,…
Most of Denis’ work has an elliptical quality; she forsakes the usual connective tissue of exposition and instead shows us evocative shards of narrative. L’Intrus pushes this tendency to its far extreme. At one point, we see the film’s unsympathetic protagonist, Louis Trebor, go to sleep in Geneva, Switzerland and then we see him wake up in Busan, South Korea. Further confounding the narrative, surreal waking events are juxtaposed with dreams in a way that unsettles the distinction between the…
Cut and shot very oddly, and at first I was like “good lord I do not like this!” But I settled into it as I realized that what’s happening is that the framing of the story as a conversation between journalists is translated into a newsreel editing style. It’s actually quite amazing how long it’s sustained. The plot is otherwise a pretty typical “invincible badass stands up against injustice” story, more reminiscent of Telugu than Tamil masala films. Yash has…
I normally avoid this kind of talking heads documentary like the plague, but my wife is a major John Singer Sargent enthusiast and I wanted to surprise her by having this ready when she got home from work. As these things go, this is pretty excellent. Aside from the appeal of the subject matter, the talking heads have interesting insights and the exhibits themselves, which pair the actual garments his models wore with the paintings, are very illuminating. I learned a lot watching this. Also, wife is happy.
This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
One of the all time AA/recovery movies. It doesn’t spend as much time depicting meetings and sponsorship as other movies that tackle the subject, but it really gets at the angst and urgency of the 12 steps better than just about any movie I can think of (Tommaso is up there as well). In my first letterboxd capsule I discussed the way Justin’s rationalization suggests received AA wisdom about letting sleeping dogs lie, but on a second viewing I would…
