Memoria [SEA Premierre/SGIFF]

Apitchatpong Weerasethakul's newest Cannes Jury Prize-winning film was a lot like his previous films, slow and contemplative, but also deep and exploratory. However, it was also one of his more accessible films. Perhaps because of the language? A mix of English and Spanish, Apitchatpong's first non-Thai film. Or perhaps it was because of the enigmatic yet fully magnetic Tilda Swinton. 

Memoria was a film that mixed magical realism with mysticism and existentialism. It was a languidly paced and directed film that necessitated full attention to the long - sometimes mostly silent - takes to absorb the details that may - or may not - play a role in the ultimate appreciation of the film's purpose. 

This film deserved a re-watch just to better understand what exactly was happening.

The central plot itself was skeletal. The story that Apitchatpong and Swinton were telling was not dependent on traditional narrative and dramatic arcs and devices. It was about mood and atmosphere and feelings. There were definitely a lot of feelings. 

Scenes were long and cameras were mostly stationary which allowed Apitchatpong to fully enveloped his audience into the moment on screen. Also, the sound design and mixing were crucial in this film as we were fully immersed into the delicately crafted atmosphere of the scene. Sound was so important that we had a full 15 to 20 minutes long sequence all set in a sound lab with a sound engineer recreating the mysterious sound that opened the film.

That above-sequence may sound - lol - boring and technical on paper, but kudos to Swinton and Apitchatpong for truly making it engaging and fascinating. 

Swinton's performance was also crucial to the film. She, as usual, was magnetic and giving a full-bodied, lived-in performance that seemed so natural and yet so nuanced. Our eyes are always on her. The way she moved, how her shoulders sagged or head cocked, or how she spoke or laughed or paused. She carried the film in a way that would have been difficult for anybody else.

By the end of the film, you would - and hopefully should - have left the theatre with a sense of awe and maybe even a slight WTF just happened. And that is the beauty of cinema. To challenge, to question, to linger and to admire. 

Belle (竜とそばかすの姫)

I can see why this film had received a 14-minutes standing ovation during its out-of-competition premiere at Cannes this year. It really nailed the third act and landed a strong, emotional and emotionally-satisfying ending. A mashup of Ready Player One meets Beauty and the Beast, this was a modern, Japanese, anime retelling of a classic fairy tale complete with memorable songs, a stirring score, and gorgeous CGI and hand-drawn cinematography. 

Belle started out really strong with an engaging world-building and empathetic background exposition but it faltered in the Second Act where the emo teenage drama threatened to overtake the storyline and destroy any prior sense of character building. But thankfully, director/writer/co-producer Mamoru Hosada 細田 守 managed to salvage the situation, albeit slightly more bleakly than expected, and the climax paid off heaps - in terms of visual spectacle and emotional resonance. 

Tears were freely shed.

This was a film that was highly suitable for family viewing. There were actually many modern themes throughout that were made - and suitable - for family discussion with young ones/teens like internet bullying, online fame and self vs avatar. Then, there were the more classic exploration of familial loss, reclaiming one self, depression, humility, courage and sacrifice. 

There was even, if you read deep enough to it, a small jab at politics, the justice system and Western corruption.

Surprisingly, romantic love was just a small component of the story. And thankfully so, because whenever Hosada ventured into that realm, it was very clear he was out of his depth with regard to teenage girls' emotions. Those scenes actually bordered on annoying.

The highlights were the phenomenal songs and score through the film. Kudos to lead voice actor and singer Kaho Nakamura 中村 佳穂 and the music team of Taisei Iwasaki 岩崎 太整, Ludvig Forssell and Yuta Bandon 坂東 祐大. Coupled with superb character design and animation, the musical moments were outstanding. This would work so well as a musical, either as a movie or stage production.

Its Japanese title, literally The Dragon and Freckled Princess, may well have embodied the film than just simply Belle. Nonetheless, Belle may not have been as exciting as Demon Slayer: Mugen Train, or as epic and dreamlike as Spirited Away, nor as romantic and swoon worthy as Your Name, but it was beautiful and heartfelt and stayed with you after the end.

Passing [Netflix]

An interesting little film by actor-turned-director Rebecca Hall in her directorial debut. An intimate film about the internal conflicts of a woman as she crumbled under the weight of her own doubts, paranoia, societal-pressure and jealousy. Competently directed by Hall, albeit somewhat rote and predictable, the film was carried more by its leading ladies, a beautifully complex and nuanced Tessa Thompson and the blazingly illuminating and charismatic Ruth Negga. 

Hall, who also wrote the screenplay, presented the film like a stage play and that could be due to budgetary constraints - people stuck in a room/space, talking. At times it worked, the small imitate conversations allowing the viewers inside the characters; but sometimes, it felt cramped and as if the story could not breathe. Although, if we are being generous, that could have been a deliberate choice to echo Thompson's character increasing suffocation.

The film also tried to do a bit too much. Hall tried to juggle the relationships between the two women with commentary on racial inequality, societal injustice, gender disparity and the complexities of "passing", and most of the themes ended up being just lightly brushed across. Of course with a film titled Passing, one would expect that to be central, however after the first act, it kind of just lurked around in the background.

That was a fascinating slice of history that may not have been known to most people, and I would imagine that the story one could mine from it would be equally as rich and compelling. Although, granted, this film was adapted from a novel, and it would have required a female point of view to adequately bring the main characters to life. 

So, in the end, Passing was more a character study rather than a historical drama. 

Regardless, Thompson was outstanding. The little furtive glances and the slight twitching of the body helped to convey a portrait of a woman steadily losing control. Some moments may come off a bit strong - too "acting"-ly - but mostly Thompson glowed and carried the film.

Her co-lead, Negga, had the much flashier role and Negga fully utilised her innate charm and beauty to mesmorise and command her scenes. An overly dramatic character required an equally OTT performance, but Negga shrewdly never pushed it to the realms of caricature. And beneath all that shine and bluster, she imbued her character with a lingering sense of sadness, pity and sympathy.

At just slightly over 1.5 hours, Passing was an easy watch on Netflix. It will definitely be a shoo-in for the indie-awards, but for the big ones, Negga and Hall might be long shots for Best Supporting Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay nominations.

Eternals [IMAX]

Eternals was a wholly different kind of MCU movie. Chloe Zhao's first tentpole studio film had the arduous task of not only introducing a large new group of superheroes but also crafting and building a whole new MCU world and mythology (see: Guardians of the Galaxy for its introduction to space and Doctor Strange for its introduction to magic). 

Laden with so much expository need, Zhao, who also co-wrote the screenplay, chose to do it all by eschewing the MCU formula of an action/MacGuffin-led narrative, instead she stuck to her gun and kept Eternals mostly grounded to the emotional landscape of the characters (mostly, cause this was an MCU film after all). 

Zhao and cinematographer Ben Davis also maintained a lot of her visual style with gorgeous wide-angle and panoramic landscape shots during the magic hour, all those sumptuous sunsets and backlit silhouettes, natural blue hour lighting to underscore the drama and tension, and intimate close-ups of the actors' faces to allow the emotions to drive the story. Also, unlike previous MCU entries, Eternals actually had a great score, courtesy of Ramin Djwadi.

Eternals was, refreshingly, the closest the MCU has to an art film and it will surely turn off some, if not most of, their core fan base. Hopefully Kevin Feige remained devoted to Zhao and her team, and keep them on for the sequel. 

That was not to say that the film had no flaws. It was a tad overlong at 2.5 hours and the heavy exposition did weigh the middle act down. Kudos to the natural, non-CGI beauty captured by Zhao and Davis, but when the CGI was at the forefront it did seemed quite out of place. Our primary antagonists, the Deviants, seemed mostly amorphous and all blended together except, of course, for their leader, and the globe-trotting locales did have a sense of artifice about them.

As for the action sequences, there were quite a few of them and thankfully almost all were shot in the light with no annoying shadows and darkness to mask the action. However, although Zhao did an admirable job in filming these sequences - you could follow the action and knew what was happening - there were not enough big moments and kinetic energy through them.

Zhao may have an eye for beauty in terms of composing a landscape and emotional beats, but she lacked the vision for big spectacles.

Lastly, we have the problem of such a large primary cast, of which two were major A-listers, Angelina Jolie and Salma Hayek. As a result, it was inevitable that not everybody will get the same weightage in terms of screen time and storyline. 

Gemma Chan and Richard Madden were ostensibly the leads of the film and the way Zhao's camera captured their moments really helped to sell their era-spanning relationship which was slightly better than Chan and Madden's onscreen chemistry which seemed inconsistent (although narratively possible). 

Chan is a good actress. Her work on Humans was exceptional, but she may not be ready to an anchor such a big film. Perhaps, if Eternals was more typically MCU, she would have fit right in, but Zhao's direction and screenplay demanded a lot more emotional depth than what Chan could muster now.

And in this aspect, her co-stars outshone her. Madden, especially, was impressive. His internal conflict was well expressed and his big climatic scene/moment was surprisingly moving. Jolie and Hayak undoubtedly have chops and it showed, although Jolie tended to be inconsistent whilst Hayak was more subdued. 

The other acting highlights were actually the supporting cast. From the expressive Lauren Ridloff who packed more emotional punch in her brief scenes especially with the uniquely sardonic Barry Keoghan. Lia McHugh had sass - and style - to spare for someone so young. Kumail Nanjiani, Brian Tyree Henry and Don Lee brought the laughs with their quips but also a humanity that was lacking in the other superheroes (though Nanjiani did not really have to be so jacked-up).

Cinematographer Davis and composer Djwadi were great here. Davis' lensing with Zhao vision created many gorgeous vistas. Some might say, too many. However, it did sort of suit the mood that Zhao was aiming for. Similarly, Djwadi's score was one of the best MCU scores. Epic yet otherworldly, but also soft and tender with a clear Sersi and Ikaris theme.

IMAX was great, again for those beautiful moments, and really to encapsulate the galactic nature of the Celestials/Eternals. The sound system was put into great use for the climatic, big fight.

Two post-credits scenes as per usual. One mid-credits that seemed to pave the way for the sequel and one post-credits that may be leading into a separate movie or Disney+ series. 

Eternals was definitely not for everyone and definitely not for the rote marvel fanboy or general audience. There was room for improvement but overall it was a refreshing new view into the MCU that was satisfying and exciting.

The Card Counter

Featuring an intense and riveting performance by Oscar Isaac, The Card Counter was a slow-burn sorta-crime drama that used the guise of gambling and card counting to tell a Paul Schrader-esque morality tale of redemption and guilt. However, beneath its constant shroud of moral self-flagellation laid a sliver of hope. 

Tiffany Haddish and Tye Sheridan turned in arresting supporting roles, both tugging to bring that glimmer of hope to the surface. In particular, Isaac and Haddish's chemistry was natural and easy (perhaps not as electrifying as his with Jessica Chastain's in Scenes From a Marriage) which was a good counterpoint to the heaviness within Isaac's character. 

Sheridan, on the other hand, remained a cipher throughout much of the film and the deliberate greyness of his relationship with Isaac helped the film from being too clearcut and straightforward.

Isaac remained mesmerising throughout the film and Schrader smartly allowed the camera to linger on his visage for long takes as he shifts through different emotions in a scene. The way Isaac sagged his shoulders, slouched over, the hollowness of his eyes and distant staring all served to emphasised that this was a fellow weighed down with an immeasurable amount of pain and guilt. 

This was a character driven film, but what made it so engrossing, other than Isaac's performance, was Schrader's screenplay. Although we were exploring the inner turmoil of this man and slowly unpeeling his layers, through his interactions with others, we always had a sense of something worse is going to happen. But yet, Schrader, the director and writer, always teased us that perhaps it would not come to pass mand we may be in for a happy ending. That elusive hope always just peeking through the grey and hinting at the possibility of peace. 

Although, perhaps, we may not necessarily have needed so much voice-overs.

Nonetheless, in this way, despite its nearly two-hours runtime, The Card Counter was an engaging film as we unhurriedly moved along to the film's eventual inevitable conclusion. The film may likely make a few critics best-of-the-year lists, but for the Oscars, it most likely is a long shot for Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Screenplay nominations.