Elizabeth Moss once again impresses in an independent film that even if it isn’t quite great, is at least highly interesting. Shirley Jackson is of course a real American novelist and while the characters and circumstances of this film are based on her life, I don’t believe that this is intended to be a biography and should be thought of as fictional. Instead this is as much about a young couple who have come with Shirley and her husband as Shirley herself and, in line with the other works that Moss has recently appeared in, is about the woman’s place in a man’s world.
This film probably popularized the use of the Japanese word it is named after back in the day but it draws only shallowly from this exotic cultural reference. Similarly it has zero real emotional depth and a weak overarching plot. Still it is considered one of the most notable action movies ever made, being particularly well known for its car chase scenes. I also love its beautiful on-location shots. It is so great when American directors realize that there is so much more to France than just Paris.
Indian cinema is underrepresented here as the country generally is not thought to produce great films especially in the modern era. Yet it would not do to skip over this particular title, a film that was far ahead of its time and underappreciated in India itself when it was released but achieved great international success and is now regarded as one of the greatest films of all time. It is certainly difficult to imagine any film that better encapsulates the conflict of old money versus new money and the passing of the aristocratic era.
As I mentioned not so long ago, Adam Sandler actually is a fantastic actor despite the trashy films that he is most known for these days so its great to see him in fine form as he is here. This is effectively an in-depth psychological profile of someone of who is addicted not just to gambling but to winning the big score no matter what it takes in order to defy everyone else. It was made by brothers Josh and Benny Safdie whose film Good Time I’d previously featured here.
As always, it is real pleasure to be immersed in the cinema of a country for the first time, in this case Romania, so long as they are decently made. This one with its slew of honors including ones at Cannes more than qualifies and looks like it’s a brutally assessment of modern Romania. However it also make some directorial decisions that makes it feel oddly paced and ends on a somewhat unsatisfying note.
This is a film that purports to be science-fiction but is probably best described as psychological horror. It looks reasonably realistic and features some well thought out details of how a near future in which space travel within the Solar System is commonplace might play out. However it plays fast and loose with scientific facts which seriously impacts some major points of its plot. Still it is beautiful and works very well as a very personal mood piece.
Orson Welles is a very inconsistent director to say the least as he is known for plenty of stinkers along some of the most celebrated films of all that time. This noir was at the time of its release considered one of those stinkers but opinion on it has improved since then. I don’t think I like it very much given that it tries too hard to be clever rather than to be true to its theme. But it is a fascinating film that uses some inspired and beautiful camerawork so it probably is worth watching all the same.
