The Assistant
A most timely #metoo film about a day in the life of a young woman working an entry-level position for a big-time movie producer in New York City. Writer-director Kitty Green (Casting JonBenet) opts for a minimalist aesthetic approach, focused instead on examining how toxic behaviour and abuse can permeate the most mundane situations. The big boss in question is never seen, but his presence looms large — this film is not so much about any one Harvey Weinstein figure, but about the system that protects powerful men like him from consequences. Emmy Award winner Julia Garner (Netflix’s Ozark) superb in the lead role, giving an exquisitely internalized and pained performance, her character Jane forced to passively react to the abuse of power she is repeatedly subjected to. Matthew Macfadyen especially strong (and positively infuriating) as an HR manager who makes it very clear where his allegiance lies. Excellent character-serving costume design by Rachel Dainer-Best, who dresses Jane in a puffy winter coat and oversize scarf that visually represent the way this environment infantilizes her and strips her of power and authority. This movie will make your blood boil.
Grade: B+
Beanpole
Two women in the Soviet Union, deeply connected after fighting together in World War II, attempt to adjust to postwar life despite the profound trauma that each has experienced. This is a slow-moving, deeply disturbing film, with palpable pain colouring every scene. I realize that my description makes this sound unpleasant, but I can’t stress enough how much beauty and humanity and healing you’ll find here too. War is ugly. Trauma is ugly. This film is about the work it takes (often misguided, often unsuccessful) to transform that ugliness into something more tolerable. I can only begin to understand after one viewing what message emerging writer-director Kantemir Balagov is conveying here, but I do know that this film is totally engrossing and immersive. Though the content is difficult, my experience watching this was rich and satisfying. That’s largely thanks to the two towering lead performances by Viktoria Miroshnichenko as Iya (the titular “beanpole”), a very tall nurse who suffers from catatonic episodes resulting from brain damage sustained during the war, and Vasilisa Perelygina as Masha, desperate for a child despite emergency wartime surgery rendering her infertile. Gorgeous use of colour — the muted palette juxtaposed again vibrant greens and reds. This is ambitious, haunting cinema.
Grade: B+
Color Out of Space
Mind-bending cosmic horror film based on the short story by Lovecraft in which a meteorite crashes into the New England property owned by the Gardners (Nicolas Cage and Joely Richardson), mutating everything and everyone with its colourful light. Another enjoyably bonkers performance by Cage. Director Richard Stanley (in his first narrative feature in nearly 30 years) takes the theme of family sticking together to horrific places. Stellar sound design. Brilliant use of colour — the colour pink may well creep you the hell out from now on. Truly inspired makeup design that will haunt your dreams. In a month filled with mediocre-to-bad horror movies, this one stands above the rest as a reminder of how imaginative horror cinema can be, and what it can accomplish outside of the Hollywood studio system. This was a super disturbing and trippy movie, and I can’t stop thinking about it.
Grade: B+
Incitement
Israeli film about Yigal Amir, who assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995. Director Yaron Zilberman (A Late Quartet) does a good job of getting inside the mind of a killer and tracing step by step how he became radicalized, as well as understanding how Amir viewed himself as a patriot protecting his country rather than the murderer he was. However, I would appreciate this film more if Zilberman had something meaningful to say here beyond just telling the story as it happened. Handsome emerging actor Yehuda Nahari Halevi very strong in the lead role, disappearing so deeply into Amir’s mind that he reportedly needed therapy afterwards to help him extricate himself. Sturdily directed, though perhaps overlong. It’s a well-made film by a talented director; I just wish there was more here to care about.
Grade: C+
José
José (Enrique Salanic) is a young man in Guatemala who spends his days working hard to support himself and his single mother, using his free time to arrange casual hookups with men he meets on dating apps and street corners. When a one-night stand with Luis (Manolo Herrera) develops unexpectedly into something deeper, José must reexamine the hopes he has for his life. Though it’s marketed as a gay romance, Chinese-American filmmaker Li Cheng (Joshua Tree) structures his film more as a series of vignettes exploring daily life and the hopelessness of the gay experience in Guatemala. Salanic confident and courageous in his debut performance. Cheng favours long scenes of minimal dialogue and kinetic camera movement, immersing the viewer in the sensory experience of life in Guatemala — except for one truly bizarre, discordant scene in which José and Luis argue about what the future holds for their relationship. Inelegant dialogue, soap-operatic camera angles, weak acting — it’s as if this one scene was written and directed by a different filmmaker and snuck into the final cut. Otherwise, though, this is a fine film that I found fascinating; we so rarely see Guatemala on the big screen, so I appreciated spending time in that part of the world and seeing this film’s depiction of such a conservative, ultra-religious society where people live their lives with a palpable connection to the region’s Indigenous past.
Grade: B-
Lore
Low-budget indie horror film about two separated parents who reunite to search for their teen son, who disappeared during a solo camping trip on a remote mountain located in Indigenous territory. Has its share of ultra-indie pleasures — a slow pace that gives the spectator time to be immersed into this world, a showcase for unknown actors (plus a cameo by Eric Roberts as the local sheriff), the use of outdoor locations and natural lighting. The film is, however, unfortunately reliant on a “Magical Indian” trope, featuring a scarcely developed Indigenous character (Sean Wei Mah) who exists in this film only to help the white people on their journey. In a happily coincidental turn of events, he just so happens to know every last detail about the ancient evil haunting this mountain, which he imparts to the white people before immediately falling victim to said evil. Yes, I just gave you a spoiler — but direct your anger instead at the way this film focuses on Indigenous culture and folklore, but then uses its primary Indigenous character merely as a way to dump exposition. Also, the unresolved ending totally fizzles. Lyndsey Lantz best in show as the worried mom. First-time filmmakers Christian Larsen and Brock Manwill clearly have talent, but there’s definitely room for them to hone their storytelling skills.
Grade: C-
Les Misérables*
Oscar-nominated French film about police brutality in the Montfermeil neighbourhood of Paris. First-time filmmaker Ladj Ly does an admirable job of connecting this film thematically with the Victor Hugo story (set in the same neighbourhood), showing how everything has changed 200 years later, yet nothing has changed — the local youth are now black and Arab, yet they’re still poor and stuck fighting an unwinnable battle against the authorities. Ly’s a superb director, such confidence and skill despite this being his first film. Stunning, wholly believable performances grace every frame of this film — Damien Bonnard, as Ruiz, a police brigadier on his first chaotic day on the job after moving to Paris; Alexis Manenti (also the film’s co-writer) as the racist and abusive Chris, one of the partners Ruiz is assigned to; and especially Issa Perica, as a young boy being pursued by both the police and the local Romani circus troupe for stealing a lion cub. Editor Flora Volpelière knows when to ramp up the blood-chilling action and when to linger uncomfortably on Ly’s deeply flawed characters facing the consequences of their choices. Gorgeous work by D.P. Julien Poupard, whose drone cinematography plays a crucial role in the storytelling. This film could not be more timely, though I don’t think it ultimately has much that’s new to say about this topic. Nevertheless, Ly has emerged as one of France’s most exciting new directors.
Grade: B
*Oscar-qualifying run in 2019
Three Christs
Richard Gere as a psychiatrist in 1950s Michigan who treats three patients all claiming to be Jesus Christ. Gere a solid if rather bland lead here. As the three titular men, Peter Dinklage, Bradley Whitford, and Walton Goggins go very big, as if instructed by director/co-writer Jon Avnet (Fried Green Tomatoes) to make sure we never forget that they are playing mental patients. Avnet also wastes terrific actors like Julianna Margulies, Jane Alexander, Stephen Root, and Tony winner James Monroe Iglehart in underwritten roles. Handsome, though unremarkable, period costumes and sets. Gere’s Dr. Stone spends the film fighting against the hospital authorities who want to shut his project down due to his progressive methods (actually having the three Christs talking together in a group and interacting, rather than simply sending them for electroshock therapy) — it's almost as if this film is an extra-long TV drama pilot with a stale conflict like that. IFC Films dumped this into theatres the first week of January more than two years after its premiere at TIFF, and it’s not hard to understand why. Avnet seems to have no point of view about the story he’s telling, so there’s not much of a point to this film. This particular story has the potential to be interesting, but I finished the film and just shrugged.
Grade: C
The Traitor
Biographical Italian film, which premiered in competition last year at Cannes, about Tommaso Buscetta, the real-life Sicilian mobster turned informant. Pierfrancesco Favino a sturdy lead, though nothing about the storytelling or performances here excites. I recognize that this in an interesting story worth telling — it's just that there have been so many movies about the Mafia, and this particular one isn’t all that special. It doesn’t help that the story being told unfolds over 20+ years — even with a punishing 2 1/2-hour running time, there’s just too much information to convey, inevitably resulting in a Wikipedia-style Greatest Hits biopic that piques the viewer’s interest but inspires zero enthusiasm. D.P. Vladan Radovic capable of pure magic; two high-action scenes in particular left me jaw-agape in wonder at their miraculous photography. Veteran Italian director Marco Bellocchio a polished, stately filmmaker, but this left me cold.
Grade: C+
Weathering with You*
Anime from writer-director Makoto Shinkai (Your Name) about a 16-year-old boy who runs away from home to Tokyo, where he meets a girl who can control the weather. So beautiful to look at — gorgeous animation bringing vividly to life both the immense Tokyo cityscape and the rain clouds and sunshine that form the foundation of this story. Compelling, complex characters that you’ll care about, each one with glimmers of darkness and pain that I wasn’t expecting. I also really enjoyed the Magical Realism that Shinkai plays with here — this is a world in which it’s totally understood that some people just happen to be “sunshine girls” who can banish the rain with their thoughts. Storytelling clunky at times, however; the pace is sometimes far too slow with overlong scenes, and sometimes too rushed, leaving many questions unanswered and plot details underexplored — as if Shinkai needed to trim 30 minutes off the runtime or possibly expand it into a full miniseries. And that heroic climax is far too easy and convenient. Nevertheless, this is ambitious, imaginative filmmaking full of visual and thematic pleasures.
Grade: B-
*Oscar-qualifying run in 2019
Zombi Child
Haiti, 1960s: an unnamed black man is poisoned, buried, and resurrected as a zombi in order to work as a slave in a sugarcane field. Paris, present day: a clique of white girls at a prestigious boarding school initiate a new classmate into their group, a Haitian girl who emigrated after losing both parents in an earthquake. These two plot threads unfold in tandem, until the connection between them eventually becomes clear. Writer-director Bertrand Bonello (Saint Laurent) has many ambitious themes on his mind — post-colonial relations, the fascination of rituals (those of Vodou, of adolescent girls, of boarding schools), the dangers of cultural appropriation — but the execution of these ideas is not always successful. Nevertheless, this film is both intellectually and aesthetically stimulating, and I look forward to subsequent viewings, which might very well make Bonello’s thesis more coherent. Gorgeous cinematography by Yves Cape, particularly in the shadowy nighttime Haiti sequences. Bonello’s genre experiments are rewarding as well — despite the presence of zombies and Vodou rituals, this is more of a European art film than a horror film, though both genres are present throughout. Despite the film’s narrative shortcomings, I do recommend it. I don’t quite understand what message Bonello is attempting to convey here, but I can’t stop thinking about what he’s put on screen.
Grade: B-
