(Mostly) Bangers, (Most of) The Time

So far among the best days I’ve had at the fest, with only one I’m more mixed on. I think by now all my Centerpieces are just about finished except for Closing Night, which feels a tad strange but perhaps appropriate. Schedule will remain fluid based on what I hear from people.

Tender Loving Care (Mike Leigh): A-

Allow me to join the chorus singing the praises of Leigh’s potential last feature. Had expected Kate O’Flynn to be great of course (haven’t been fully aware of her dramatic work, I didn’t recognize her in Widow’s Bay after seeing Happy-Go-Lucky) but hadn’t expected to fall so in love with Alice Bailey Johnson (also a Leigh veteran, from Mr. Turner and Hard Truths). Sometimes a bit blunt but it expands in some really lovely and heartbreaking ways, retaining his core sense of humor; one of the funniest scenes of the year consists of Paul Jesson sitting in a chair reading an Atlas thanks to the editing. Don’t think it’s necessary to have seen Career Girls to pick up on some of the quoting of his past work but it adds just a little spice to proceedings. More than anything it’s just such a joy to hang out with these girls and the parents, they feel so lived in like the best of his work with a hint of darkness hanging around the margins, and ultimately kind of a hopeful, if mournful, final message. A worthy film to end on. Someone please put Kate and Alice in a million more parts together.

Fjord (Cristian Mungiu): C+/B-

It’s Fjine. Not an inherently despicable track to take with this story, apparently based on a real life event from 2016 (which explains the extremely jarring presence of a brand-new PlayStation Vita in one scene). I agree with others that the deck is pretty stacked in favor of the family, even though I still came out feeling like they shouldn’t be doing that to their kids. One thing to dispute on the nature of a “slap” and the language barriers that could make discerning seriousness difficult; another to have a child stand up in class and say homosexuality is a sin (plus having Sebastian Stan leering in the background of his maybe-closeted daughter, as well as a gender identity poster in a school). Maybe it’s unrealistic for that to happen but in my mind it doesn’t really reckon with what type of things we should be tolerating under “religious views”. The fact that both Stan and Renate Reinsve seem to be pretty decent parents all things considered feels like a missed opportunity, given how annoying at best Evangelicals can be, not to mention the ideas swirling around of the far-right using this for their own ends even if they are kind of right. Stuff about the real problems being at home also kind of landed flat for me, just seemed disconnected no matter how many Norwegian flags are in the background. Beautiful landscapes but you’d have to try real hard to make those look ugly. Wouldn’t have given this any award at Cannes, much less the Palme, but I guess court room scenes are the big draw now.

Behemoth! (Tony Gilroy): B+

Didn’t know much about this going in beyond Pedro Pascal as a cellist directed by Tony Gilroy, which is probably the best way to experience it. He talked in the Q+A about the title coming about as a code name for another project and really liking it as well as it being inspired by his life in the biz, and I wouldn’t disagree with those who say it’s a bit messy and all over the place. That element is kind of what made it work for me though: as slippery as the timeline can get, it does feel unique to dive into memories inspired by specific tracks that function as diagetic music, and Gilroy seems to have had as much fun flipping through tones and genres as the numerous composers did riffing on scores. Pascal is good in the main role for the most part but doesn’t particularly stand out to me as owning the screen, but he does have a way with a one liner and he’s very pretty to look at. Olivia Wilde isn’t in it as much as you’d think from her second billing but she plays such a chaotically funny demon that I totally get why she’s there; I actually said “Oh god” when I realized she was coming up in one scene and I honestly could’ve used more of her or at least more backstory. A fascinating oddity and as diplomatic as Gilroy is, it feels like the kind of thing you deserve from Disney after making the only Star Wars piece widely considered “good” by the vast majority in ages. Hope he gets more.

Josephine (Beth de Araújo): A-/A

Brutal and unsparing but remarkable in its sensitivity. Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan have gotten and will receive much praise for their performances (easily the former’s best work) and justly so but don’t let Mason Reeves get lost in the weeds either. It’s the kind of movie that lives and dies on the strength of a child performance and she handles it with such aplomb. Never saw de Araújo’s debut Soft and Quiet though I have been intrigued; her work here is completely assured, making great use of dissolves and transitions as well as the San Francisco fog on a visual level, but she excels at trapping the viewer in Josephine’s state even when she isn’t using a POV camera (it does break once or twice from that, and I’m not sure that was totally needed), often cutting back to her face for key moments. I’ve seen a lot of reviews quibble with the parents for not taking her to therapy in the aftermath and being horrible parents generally but putting aside the fact that there’d likely be no movie (or at least not an interesting one): both genuinely believe they’re doing what’s in the best interest for her, unable to get outside their own feelings on the horrible event. Pynchon has a line in Vineland comparing something difficult to explain as “explaining rape to a child” and this is basically that extended to an entire film, reckoning with how much she should know about both the incident and themselves, while the girl herself struggles with the sudden crushing reality that the world is unsafe and a gender may not be able to be trusted. My praise is tempered a little mainly from some moments that feel a little like “owns” – specifically in the very well-done court scene, which I’m sure has happened before even if it’s a little overboard – and I did wish it ended slightly earlier even though it finds the perfect grace note to land on. A small distributor named Sumerian Pictures has it, and I highly urge anyone interested to check it out. It’s a real reckoning with childhood trauma and the ways parents accidentally hurt their kids, and a major work.