Category: Film

PREVIEW: The Worst Person in the World

Angela Gosselin Leave a comment

Firstly– it’s great to be back reviewing for [art]seen! I’m looking forward to wrapping up my final semester chatting about some great art.

 

The Worst Person in the World is a Norwegian drama about understanding love and growing into one’s own self. It was nominated for the prestigious Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and is now up for multiple Oscars. Besides that, the trailer looks equal parts genuine and hilarious. As our local theaters show nominees for award show season over the next month, I highly recommend taking advantage of so many showings of quality work!

 

The film is now showing at the State– if anything, you’ll be able to make plenty of absolutely awful jokes with a play on words of the title.

REVIEW: Disfluency

Joann Leave a comment

Michigan theater welcomed back alums who once worked on assignments for film classes in Ann Arbor but came back with beautiful and successful production. The Auditorium of Michigan theater was quite full of locals and friends of the production team. The audience enjoyed the live music from the film, the screening of ‘Disfluency’, and the Q&A that followed. Before we jump into the review about the movie itself, I just wanted to say that I appreciate the event because it felt as though I was glimpsing a page in the growth of people working in the production industry, how they made friends, who turned into colleagues and created something beautiful together.

Disfluency was a young, beautiful film. Its beauty was not a helpless sort – it ran with vitality through the lake of early summer, shimmering like the lake frequently shown on the screen. I had to mention ‘beautiful’ as the first word that came to my mind about the film because of the mise en scene. The way that the scenery and the characters were filmed had affection to it and the locations on camera were perfect depictions of a calm lake town and a summer that was not annoyingly humid. In the movie, Jane’s hometown had to be a place where Jane ran away from college, where she could, although she had doubts, reunite with her friends and family, digest what had happened to her, and find the courage to decide on what to do with it. The movie persuaded the audience that Jane’s hometown was a place where those things could happen with the visuals. Also, marking the scene where Jane was going through PTSD with bright fairy lights was not only visually satisfying but also clearly communicated what was going on; flashback to the past every time Jane is experiencing PTSD would have been consumed too much time and made things off focus, but short insert of lights did not hurt the flow of the story while focusing on Jane’s emotional state.

Although this movie was beautiful, its beauty was not something fragile that was there for the sake of examination. It had the horror of reality in it, but it did not let the sorrow eat up the whole story and character. Instead, it showed how a person may, even though they were not okay and stumble, manage to face the incident. I think this was possible because of the storyline. Although the storyline was emotionally sensitive, it was not too dramatic. The monologue where Jane breaks down crying in the bathroom of a police office and tells her sister about what happened, the doubts she had on what had actually happened, and on herself whether she was acting too dramatic was a great example. This was a sudden burst of emotion and information, but it was not excessive because people cope with too much stress like that in real life. We don’t build up and give out hints like in delicately structured operas. We break down at one point. Jane in the movie did, too. I also liked how the start and end of the story used the same narration and the same space but the position of Jane, first in the audience seats but later on the platform, would change in the end, symbolizing how her emotional state had changed.

For regrets, there were some scenes, especially near the start where the camera was shaking a bit, although I could not easily understand the purpose if they were done intentionally. But in all, it was a movie that I certainly don’t regret investing a weekday evening.

REVIEW: The Batman

allychoi Leave a comment

Trigger Warning // mentions of Asian violence

! Discreet spoilers ahead !

9:45 pm. Our lone car sits in the theater parking lot, rain striking its windows. As we run in, puddles quiver under our feet, breaking the neon reflections cast against the pavement.

Despite the drizzly, late hour, there’s no damper to my mood. I’m home for spring break, watching a movie with my family, for the first time in forever. We prance into the theater fifteen minutes late, but thanks to the endless trailers and commercials, we don’t miss a thing. In the very last row, reclined as far back as we can go, we even catch a teaser for the animated D.C. League of Super-Pets, which features a cast of Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart, along with Keanu Reeves, voicing their own cartoonish Batman. I attempt a wordle as we wait for the lights to dim. A solid two minutes; I give up. I imagine this is how Batman must feel, going up against the Riddler.

But all throughout the film, he solves them with ease. Bruce probably has no problem guessing his way to green squares in six tries– even the ones after the New York Times took over. He’s just cool like that: the hero who uses fear as a tool and carries a Presence™ everywhere he goes. But like user @NebsGoodTakes on Twitter, it “took me an embarrassingly long time to realize [that] Batman was walking slowly to record everything, not just for the vibes.”

In the opening of the film, the mood immediately reads darker, more melancholy than your usual superhero-starring motion picture. The eery, tired rasp of Curt Kobain’s voice sets the scene seamlessly: his numb hum shapes the perfect song when I walk into a room for the perpetually dark circle-sporting Batman.

To gush a bit more about the film’s score and soundtrack:

It’s the last show of the night. As well as a new beginning and end for Gotham. I Have But One Heart, Dido’s Lament, and the familiar Ave Maria all heighten the apocalyptic atmosphere of the place. If I were a professional playlist curator, I’d also sneak in Cannibal Holocaust by Riz Ortolani and Where Did You Sleep Last Night by Nirvana, as they’d fit right in with the rest of the tracks.

Also to applaud: the camera work and elements of depth of space, movement, and lighting. The use of upside-down and wide shots, blur, and an unmoving camera were extremely effective and refreshing, especially for a superhero movie. This veers from the movement-heavy style of most Marvel films, which accommodates the need to follow the action, draw the audience in, and heighten the intensity. But utilizing still shots – which allow the action to unfold without ceremony – lays it all out for the audience to take in, somehow creating a greater sense of emotion, tension, and magnitude. I felt closer to the events plastered across the screen; it all seemed more raw. Visceral.

The movie handled difficult themes, yet felt easy to watch. Even for somebody who went in not knowing the first thing about Batman (me). Something that immediately stood out to me was the early-on subway attack scene, where Batman defends an Asian victim against a group of men who target and follow him out of the subway. It caught my eye as an Asian American person wondering whether this was a subtle call-out or acknowledgement towards real life events. However, many viewers found the scene “triggering” and insensitive to Asian Americans during a time of increased violence against the community, regardless of whether the attack was intended as racially motivated” (Yang). David Chen, who hosts the podcast “Culturally Relevant,” argued that “depicting such loaded imagery without making a larger point about the meaning behind it is disrespectful. “To me, this was an irresponsible and inflammatory use of this imagery that (knowingly or unthinkingly) gestured at real life horrific events” (Yang). It also feels notable to mention that this is the only Asian representation in the entire film; using this scene simply to portray Batman’s “I’m vengeance,” tagline and foreboding demeanor feels off-putting.

Aside from this controversial choice, I genuinely enjoyed the film and found it brilliant, well-casted, and visually dynamic. Running back out into the empty lot at one am, I happily splashed my way back to the car. It may have been raining, but hey, at least this city wasn’t treading in deep water.

sources:

Featured Image from Hollywood Reporter: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/the-batman-box-office-opening-1235104983/

NBC News – ‘The Batman’ criticized for scene of attempted subway attack on Asian victim:

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/-batman-criticized-scene-attempted-subway-attack-asian-victim-rcna19034

Twitter: https://twitter.com/nebsgoodtakes/status/1500619986208919553?s=21

PREVIEW: Disfluency

Joann Leave a comment

A film written and directed by U of M Alum(U-M Dept of Film, Television, and Media Alum ’15), Anna Baumgarten, is coming to the Michigan theater on March 8th, 7:30 pm. ‘Disfluency'(2021, 95 minutes, drama) is about a senior, Jane, who failed her final college class and returned home and her trauma. This film won the Jury Award for Narrative Feature in Austin Film Festival 2021 and was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress in Indiana Film Journalists Association, US 2021.

I am looking forward to this film for two reasons: first, there’s a power of seeing art that talks about Trauma and how to overcome them. The spring break just ended a while ago but I’m sure that a lot of people were feeling that they need a break, maybe a bit longer one than a week. Won’t it be nice to see a story where someone copes with their own trouble, learns, and muster the energy to fight the conflict, and use it to fights one’s own trouble? I feel like this would be a good time for me to get that sort of empowerment. Second, this was filmed in Southeastern Michigan. Yay for local production!

Finally, for all the creative people/film fans out there, this event will be even more special because the writer/director Anna Baumgarten and Producer Danny Mooney will be at the post-film discussion. Hearing from the production team is a rare and exciting chance, especially because you can not only understand the film better but also because you can get a glimpse of what it’s really like to be the person actually making the art, not bound to the audience seat which sometimes limits the scope of appreciation for the artwork.

 

Free tickets can be purchased from the Michigan theater website.

REVIEW: Purple Rain

Joann Leave a comment

Great as a preserved performance, so-so as a movie.

My overall review is that even though the movie was interesting enough as a record to experience Prince’s performance, it wasn’t watcher-friendly.

The movie follows Prince and his problems when he was a young, aspiring star, presumably telling the story around the time when he first played his hit ‘Purple Rain’ in front of the public.

As mentioned, as a recording of the music performance, it was great. I felt as though I was actually in a concert and the camera used angles that were very efficient in portraying the performance style of Prince. Even though I had never seen videos of Prince performing before, I could get the sense of his style and ‘coolness’. The camera also did not fall into the mistake made at some band performances – focusing on the vocal yet using too many angles and effects. This may captivate the watcher’s attention but would draw the attention away from the personal aura of the performers. However, Purple rain focused on the lights, fog, and motion of Prince; the real elements on stage that draw the watcher’s attention to the actual movement of Prince.

As for the storyline, it wasn’t articulated enough for the watchers to be immersed in the story. I couldn’t help comparing the with Bohemian Rhapsody, a film that took a similar format of songs from an iconic artist and told a story about the artist. The impression I got was that Bohemian Rhapsody laid out the story more carefully. Bohemian Rhapsody made the characters likable. It gave enough information on the context of the character’s emotion so that the watcher could understand and build an emotional attachment with the character. Enough description was given on characters so that felt lively as well. However, In Purple rain, the story seemed to be an assembly of pieces. Strong emotional events were given – relationship with Apollonia, the conflict between Prince’s parents, and discontent from the band members. However, instead of building the foundation of each story and how it developed, the storyline only threw strong events at the audience without providing room for the audience to emotionally understand or resonate with the character. Also, the characters were flat. Think of Apollonia-why did she join Morris and how does her feelings toward Prince develop? What’s Morris’ opinion of Prince and what’s the story behind the conflict between Prince and the Band? What is needed for it to be resolved? All these questions, which are well developed, could have been an interesting human drama, were glazed over and not discussed.

In all, I recommend this movie to people who miss the heat of the concert scene and miss the music from the era before digital beats took over. It was also fun to imagine how Prince’s performance would have affected artists of later generations because a lot of his movements reminded me of scenes I’ve seen on contemporary artists’ performances. However, if you’re looking for an emotionally well-told movie with a sound track-you might want to look for something else.

REVIEW: Princess Mononoke

Nellie Shih 1 Comment

Princess Mononoke is a Studio Ghibli film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki that follows a young man who searches for a forest spirit that can lift his curse, one that was inflicted upon him by a possessed demon boar. This is one of Miyazaki’s darker films, depicting the way in which human progress often comes at the expense of nature, as well as at the expense of other humans. 

The key players in this film and what make it worth watching are a young woman named San who was raised by wolves, and Lady Eboshi, the woman who runs a nearby town where her ironworks provide the primary source of income. Eboshi actively seeks to rid the forest of San and the wolves in order to expand her town and presence as a threat to other villages. The forest is represented by the Deer, Wolf, and Boar Gods, who seek to protect their home and clearly voice their hatred for humans. The way the relationship between humans and the environment is particularly compelling, with demons being created by the violence perpetrated by the humans of Irontown, and Eboshi justifying her actions as Irontown provides a safe space for sex workers and lepers. Eboshi is the clear antagonist of the film and is driven by greed, but I find it interesting that she also sees the forest as a source of evil, and believes San was corrupted by the animals in the forest. I always find it interesting when an antagonist is more interesting than the protagonist – Ashitaka is a little boring – and I also really enjoyed how the forest was essentially a living creature, represented by the Gods and San, all acting defensively with reason to hate the humans. 

Another aspect of the film worth noting is the animation. Studio Ghibli is known for its whimsical background and character designs, and Princess Mononoke continues this trend, but also incorporates more violent imagery to go along with its themes. There are several fight sequences in this film, the best being a confrontation between Lady Eboshi and San early on. I particularly loved the animation for San’s movements, how quick and aggressive she ran and fought, and how acrobatic her technique was at the same time. One of my favorite shots from the film is in this scene: it is from San’s point of view as she charges head on at Eboshi, who remains centered in the frame as the townsfolk scatter out of the frame.

I also loved the design of the demon that Ashitaka fights in the beginning of the film and again, I love the movement. The way it crawls is terrifying and the tendrils coming out of its body are disgusting yet mesmerizing to watch (click the image to see for yourself). 

There is so much to appreciate about Princess Mononoke – its themes, characters, technical aspects, and more. It is one of my favorite Studio Ghibli films and perhaps one of their more underrated films – and I highly recommend it.