I watched 6 movies last week:
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- Where Is the Friend’s House is so effective because it is seen so thoroughly through a child’s eyes. We know what Ahmed knows, even when the adults around him don’t, and we understand his inability to articulate that, even as he feels compelled to the right thing for his friend.
- All the reviews I read of The Unknown Girl compare it unfavorably to the Dardenne brothers’ earlier films, none of which I’ve yet seen, but praise Adèle Haenel’s performance, which I agree is what makes the movie work.
- There’s a sense of inevitability that hangs over The Beasts, but it’s so well observed, asking you to empathize with all its characters, even those who do and say terrible things.
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- The Heroic Trio is ridiculous, but it’s frequently ridiculous fun.
- Saint Omer is slow and emotionally draining, but it asks difficult and important questions.
- Roger Ebert called The Marriage of Maria Braun the story of “an indelible monster who is perversely fascinating because she knows exactly what she is doing and explains it to her victims while it is being done.” And yet, I think it’s more than that, because Hanna Schygulla’s performance is so good and self-assured that we never quite feel like Maria is a monster, even as she undoubtedly treats others around her monstrously.
I also re-watched Interstellar, which I think I liked more the second time around, a decade later, and Dagon, which remains a really good Stuart Gordon Lovecraft adaptation, all the more so for its micro-budget.