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Cyrano (2021)
If it could be summed up in two words, they would be elegant and melodic
Let's start from the beginning: Joe Wright, in his characteristic directorial style, offers us a proud addition to his catalog of period adaptations (Pride & Prejudice, Atonement, Anna Karenina), only this time he doesn't analyze the injustice of marriage system, or the consequences of lying, or the implications of adultery, but the universe of beauty: physical and sentimental; the two beauties that captivate Roxanne, played by his wife Haley Bennett, throughout the entire film. This, of course, could become the film's main detractor in the future: beauty over content (helped by the setting of Sicily and Mount Etna), but its main objective is to enthrall and stun the aesthetic itself, be presented as a product of ornamental and artistic value. Joe Wright has used sun-drenched exteriors to make every frame look like a Renaissance painting, and the songs, by indie rock band "The National", complement such images with light, melodious orchestral richness.
The story is very common, if we want to put it that way, because the plot of unrequited love is well known, but Cyrano's audacity lies in its composition absolutely dependent on interludes, breaths, songs, which put together a poetic and dreamlike plot.
The performances of most of the cast are complete, intimate and very expressive, but the one who ends up being the best of all is, with good reason, Peter Dinklage, who gives a deep feeling of passion for his role on screen, he executes the difficulty of his Cyrano with exact and natural body gestures, giving his scenes a fierce and painful energy.
I've always said it: Joe Wright is a master of the proscenium, of the immediacy to the viewer, of the unconventional. Cyrano is worth seeing and judging for yourself.
BoksBalet (2020)
Fresh, imaginative, funny
Fragility and strength come face to face again in this short film to show that opposites attract... or do they repel? A little of both maybe, or a little of neither, a little coincidence and almost none of the typical fairy tale reverie.
In Boxballet there is a well-told story, interesting and tense in parts, which never forgets the juxtaposition and constant comparison of opposites. His style seems to pay homage to the silent cinema of exponents such as Chaplin and Keaton and adds current humor and the usual problems in which power is offered through fraud and degradation, especially powerful men abusing their power. All this while also balancing the political context of the dissolution of the USSR and its inevitable connection to Swan Lake.
The heroes of our short film are not, therefore, as opposed to each other as the title and the initial premise suggest: they are both faced with a moral choice, and their lives depend on that choice; they both want to follow their dreams, and for one reason or another they are prevented from achieving them; both are at the mercy of their political situation and will face the consequences sooner or later.
The plot weight of Boxballet goes beyond a love story. It implies sacrifice, dedication, devotion, bravery and even a little madness.
Maman pleut des cordes (2021)
Magical realism at its finest!
Mum Is Pouring Rain is a short film that perfectly sums up the magical realism genre and uses it to tell a simple but very important story. It talks about the maturity of children, the growth and understanding that come with age, and the importance of being children again once they are adults.
Worked in paint contrasting warm and icy colors, the short film has a simple, insolent and innocent humor throughout its duration, taking its childish protagonist through adventures that will make her mature between dreamlike and neat sets, light atmospheres, complete and endearing characters... alive and realistically embodied.
Mum Is Pouring Rain is heavily inspired by Studio Ghibli and yet manages to stand out on its own, mixing everything we love about Ghibli (the omnipresence of vegetation, the dreaminess between scenes, the maturity reached), and adding a good handful of of apple magic, flights with Cloclo and time travel between the tolling of the bells.
The character of Jane, in her anger and anguish, is touching and it hurts a little. She is in a place that she doesn't like, not understanding why and forced to believe that it is for the best. Depression is hitting the core of her, her family, but in the wise words of her grandmother, depression is not a fatality, but rather a condition that can be overcome. Janey then grows, changes, finds advantages, friends, hobbies and most importantly, love everywhere.
The animation is most beautiful and imaginative: Jane's "living" hair, the dynamism of the animated environments, the gestures of the characters, etc. Mum Is Pouring Rain is a beautiful, moving and beautiful story.
Affairs of the Art (2021)
A rather bizarre experience
There are worlds that mix with each other and are forced to coexist even though they seem strange to each other. In Affairs of the Art, family, death and art are balanced and they also coexist, sometimes too much, with each other. The characters, therefore, are most imaginative, realistic and strange; each with their own individual passion, each with their own contrasting qualities.
Animation plays a fundamental role in the construction of such a twisted and realistic artistic-family world, and it uses each of the advantages of traditional animation by hand to stay chaotic, not to fall into the static, the dead. Its best quality could also be its worst mistake: its intricate narrative, without connection or adherence, which serves mainly to complement the highly imaginative style of animation... to show us the observation, innovation, resolution, experience and preservation that comes from the soul of the artist, the soul of the Beryl family and probably of every person who indulges in art.
Of course, it also has its disadvantages, and those come from its great ability to offend its audience, to appear too cruel, too exaggerated and disrespectful, to generate conflict and disapproval. Probably if you are very sensitive you should not see it and hope that it fascinates you.
The Windshield Wiper (2021)
An amazing work of art. One of the best short films I've watched in my entire life.
"Love". There has never been a more misunderstood, complex, hallucinatory, dangerous and rare word. Nothing else has made us feel joy and fear, confusion and pain, on the same level as love.
The Windshield Wiper is a short film by Spanish filmmaker Alberto Mielgo, who has worked on all kinds of projects such as "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse", "Corpse Bride", "Love, Death & Robots" and even in the visual effects of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1". From its first frame, it already invites us to give a 180 ° turn to traditional animation, which by convention is limited only to children.
In the short film we are shown different vignettes of content, narration, animation, voices, music and editing, which are based on personal aspects of the director's life: emptiness, love and relationships, and how these can influence our perspectives and longings, expectations and disappointments - a philosopher smoking in a cafe while listening to other people's talks about love, a tramp practicing catharsis with a mannequin, a suicidal woman gazing into the abyss, a couple sitting on a beach... two strangers looking for the love that's right next to them in a grocery store...
The entire short film is made up of color palettes opposed to the standard dark = bad, light = good, etc., giving its own and varied personality to the multitude of situations that, developed in more detail, could be one of the best love anthologies ever made.
To speak of The Windshield Wiper as a simple short film would be an insult. It is a work of art in which Alberto Mielgo stamped his essence, from the direction, to the script, the editing and the sound design itself.
The Man Who Sold His Skin (2020)
All about the visual style
Careful if you're reading this, cause I will talk about the ending.
First, I want to talk about the most attractive feature of this film. I'm speaking about the production values, which are heavily relied on its cinematography, at times thought-provoking, with religious imagery, art symbolisms and tilted frames, all of them full of a color palette that results, as its content, very artistic. But it's not the kind of art that we're mostly attracted to but a weird combination of close-ups and bizarre images that tell us: we're dehumanizing this man, we're taking away what makes him human: his freedom, his desires, his right to be with his family. The movie itself then turns into a piece of art itself and, as the mirror in the musem, it becomes the reflection of a reflection. A paradox, as the artist would say: PURE ART! I haven't watched such a subtle yet provoking piece of philosophy in a movie in a long time.
Secondly, I want to talk about the director, Kaouther Ben Hania, and her amazing skills, showing without hesitating once, the hypocrisy of la crème de la crème, the upper class. I want her to become a much more known director, cause her style is just so wild, so on point. Her work needs to be watched relentlessly.
Yahya Mahayni's Sam Ali is a force of nature, a charismatic man whose ambitions moved me to tears. Isn't it something we all would do? Shout how in love we are? Cry for the ones we love, who have suffered because we're not with them? I loved him, I knew I would love him since frame #1.
Koen De Bouw, Monica Bellucci and Dea Liane are all on the same place: they deliver compelling performances that make you believe they're real people all the time.
The ending though, THAT ending is what is making people love or hate this movie. I will not say people are right when they're prefering Sam dead at the end, when ISIS covers his head and shots him, but I kinda understand what kind of movie it would have been instead: all that savage imagery, all that bravura filmmaking, all that filosophy feels kinda wasted when the happy ending comes. Personally, I prefer the movie the way it is, but if you're trying to watch some gruesome, real movie that doesn't feel like a fable, then this is not your type of movie.
Two Distant Strangers (2020)
A solid addition to the Best Live Action Short Film Category
Let me tell you this, this short film is very difficult to watch at times, cause you can't help from feeling anxious, angry and sad all at the same time. Even if the story is full of simplicity in itself, there are some impressive symbols, such as the blood with the shape of Africa, or the reference to George Floyd. Even if you didn't like the way it ended, or how it became a Groundhog-Day-like film, we must not forget the names of the REAL people who died without deserving to. The ending is so real and so important that it deserves a standing ovation, maybe not because of the film, but because of those people who will never come back and deserve that justice be done.
Hillbilly Elegy (2020)
Not a masterpiece, but a solid movie
When it reaches the end credits, it sure feels like those typical movies that end just the same, but it is the content the one that matters here. Glenn Close is the heart and soul of the whole movie and her work the one that carries the plot. It is somehow important to tell the stories that most Americans have: the rural opportunities compared to NY or maybe LA. That contrasting gap between having easy access to school's supplies and having to steal a calculator in order to do homework. Glenn Close nails it, Amy Adams too, but we learn much more about her character's weaknesses than her talents. Adams' character feels truly painful, and that's thanks to her amazing acting method and vulnerability. Hans Zimmer does something beautiful with the score near the end during grandma's death montage, too. I feel like this movie is more about matriarchal families and only those who belong to them will understand the whole spectrum of emotions displayed during the length of it. I didn't adore it, but loved it in a very beautiful way. I cried like... a lot! I really recommend watching it despite all the reviews it may have in the future.