Movie Review: Goodnight Mommy

Director(s): Severin Fiala & Veronika Franz / Starring: Susanne Wuest, Lukas Schwarz & Elias Schwarz / Writer(s): Severin Fiala & Veronika Franz. 

Per IMDb, Goodnight Mommy is a German-Language psychological thriller/drama about two twin boys who move into a new home with their mother after she has face changing cosmetic surgery, but under her bandages is someone the children don't recognize. 

The trailer for this film has been spreading through the internet like wildfire for months now. Usually with the adjectives "terrifying" & "horrifying" attached. I was linked to the trailer on twitter and wasn't exactly hyped as everyone else was about it, but it still looked good to me. Now that I've watched I'm here to report that this is not a horror... at least not in a pure sense of the word anyways. And I kind of expected this.

The film starts out with the young boys, Elias & Lukas, roaming the Austrian countryside. The location wasn't specified, but my god is it beautiful. This cinematography in this film is immediately spectacular. The few, and I mean few, films I've seen out of Austria & Germany have been visually bleak but the visuals for this film are vibrant & indulgent. I was in awe of it from beginning to end. The boys play hide-and-seek, frolic through the forest, go swimming, etc. Do things that kids their age do. when you finally meet their mother(Wuest), it's a cold scene. The twins are unforgiving in their reaction the seeing their mother's bandaged face for what seems to be the first time and she misconstrues their being startled for disgust. Tension in the household begins to simmer.

At first it seems like the film is about the mother's disappointment with her self-image. It even seems to be hinted at with the big portraits of distorted female figures strewn throughout the walls of the house. From that I figured her impatience & resent of her children was due to their youth. Those elements are definitely there, but it's not the entire story. You later learn that the true source of her resentment is and what the second purpose of those portraits when the boys start to suspect their mother isn't their mother.

If you got caught up in the "most terrifying/horrifying" hype when the trailer was buzzing then you will be disappointed sitting through the first two acts of the film waiting to be scared by something. There are some slightly disturbing/hard to look at things that happen, some startling cuts in the editing and it has generally disquiet atmosphere, but this is mostly a slow burn... not a pure horror. Goodnight Mommy is a story of emotional & psychological trauma. To be fair, the way the trailer is cut is purposely manipulative in how it portrays it as a horror, but it still shocked me when I seen so many negative reviews for the film.

 It suffers  the same fate as The Babadook & the underrated Silent House remake. People come in with certain expectations of what they think it's supposed to be and miss the point of what it actually is in the process. It's not a horror with contrived plot about two sociopathic boys whose mother has been replaced by an evil witch or something, it's about two boys who are so perplexed by their mother treating them differently they think she's another person entirely. "Our mother would never do that," Elias & Lukas say in unison  when presenting their mother a video of her hitting one of them. 

The human psyche is fragile... even more so when it comes to children. So it's natural for children to lash out when they suddenly experience resentment & bitter embrace from the person who's supposed to love them the most. On the flip-side, this film is presented from a completely biased point of view of the children for most of the runtime. The Schwarz twins are brilliant, you'd think there's not much to what they had to do, but the precise subtlety to performances should not be taken for granted.

When you examine the mother's behavior closer, and look at it from her angle it becomes a completely different film from what you thought you were watching. Imagine you're a recent divorcée, highly insecure about your self-image and in a sensitive state... reeling from a traumatic experience(Susanne Wuest's face is wrapped in bandages for 2/3 of the film, but she still gives a great turn, emitting emotions the way she did with her face covered is no small feat.) Imagine the two people in the world you'd expect to adore you essentially reject you and choose each other's company over yours. Of course that doesn't excuse the abuse, but just imagine the isolation you'd experience seeing them frolic carelessly through the countryside while you're emotionally wrecked. Is that all of the story? No, but I have to reiterate that these elements are there and shouldn't be whisked away by the "twist" that's barely a twist in the first place. These are real-life themes only retrofitted with "horror" tropes. This isn't anything new either. 

In the beginning, most horrors were rooted in real-life phobias, fears & traumatic events. It's just that over the years horror as a genre has become a thing of its own and it has a lot of people thinking  everything that evokes some element of horror is supposed to scare them when that's not necessarily the case. Not the most terrifying film ever, but is one of the most engaging thrillers you'll see in a while.

Movie Review: Beasts of No Nation

Director: Cary Fukunaga / Starring: Abraham Attah, Idris Elba, Emmanuel Nii Adom Quaye / Writer(s): Uzodinma Iweala(novel), Cary Fukunaga

Beasts Of No Nation is a drama about a young boy's story of survival as child soldier in a war-torn unnamed West African country, based on a novel of the same name by Uzodinma Iweala. 

The film starts out with a voice-over of 12-year-old Abu(Abraham) telling us about his current life and his family, but learn nothing about the war between Abu's government and the NDF rebels, just that they're warring and there's some paranoia about it in his community. The war reaches his village and Abu is torn from his family and everything he loves. With almost no time for grief, he's immediately forced to go into survival mode. A rebel leader only known as Commandant (Elba) & his faction happen upon Abu and offer him an invitation to join them in their battle against the army. Abu joins knowing it's either be a rebel or die. He's trained, initiated then quickly dropped onto the front line of the war.

Abu is taken under the wing of Commandant along with another boy, a mute named Striker. They bond over a shared victimization from the Commandant whom Elba plays as charismatic, woeful and meditative. You naturally wonder about man who leads children into war, but despite that he still doesn't come off as the type of savage beast you'd expect these actions from. He's best part of the film by far, but his character sadly isn't delved into. He's not redeemable by any means, but he is humanized. You can tell he genuinely believes in what he's doing. He's a cog in the machine, not the driving force.

Abu's journey of survival plods along from one act of violence to the next until it feels like only a matter of fact. Abu is a boy who having only spent 12 years walking the earth and is forced to do things not even men should be doing. He's hurled into a world of darkness, but it's bittersweet because the film is shot so beautifully by Fukunaga yet so many horrible things are happening. It's harrowing, but majestic imagery. Sometimes it works well  syncing up with the contrast of Abu and the other child soldiers still behaving like children in the midst of all these violent acts they're ordered to do. But it ultimately feels wrong.

That fact this film takes place in an unnamed African country is simultaneously detrimental and beneficial to audience's perception of it's narrative. Though there is a little political subtext to it, this film is not about the tragic wars that take place in African countries, it's about a boy's journey in a war and how it threatens to dehumanize him, the backdrop doesn't matter as much as the story period. The anonymity of the country helps the viewer focus on the protagonist, but it could also lead to those who are uneducated having a blanketed perception about the continent. I hope it leans more to the former.

Even with everything he does, it's still hard to buy him transitioning into a heartless soldier. Maybe that's the intent considering he's still only a boy. But it feels muddled in the end as it amounts to a conclusion that feels a little unlikely. I know of similar real-life narratives that have ended this way so maybe I should instead say it just feels too neat for what kind of film this is. 

It feels similar to Fukunaga's first film Sin Nombre. That film is just as brutal and bleak, but handled with more delicacy. This is a story of survival as well Sin Nombre, but where that film ends on a note of promise, this ends feeling kind of indifferent and ultimately pointless. There's suffering, loss, more suffering and then what? Still, it's a good film, but not great. It's a heartbreaking and visceral experience, just it doesn't have a strong impact outside of that.

Movie Review: Boyhood + My Top 15 Coming-of-Age Films

Boyhood(2014)
Writer/Director: Richard Linklater
Starring: Ellar Coltrane, Lorelei Linklater, Ethan Hawke(Gattaca, Training Day, Before trilogy) Patricia Arquette(True Romance, Lost Highway)

 "You how everyone's always saying seize the moment? I don't know, I kind of thinking it's the other way around. you know, like the moment seizes us."

There was a lot of buzz about this film before it came out. I was interested in it, of course... what avid film watcher wouldn't wanna see how a film that took twelve year's to make turns out? But I'm not a huge fan of Richard Linklater outside of the Before trilogy. I think he's a great filmmaker, yes, but I find most of his other work essentially boring at the end of the day. Boyhood looked to be much of the same to me so I went in this managing my expectations. And it turned out this film is as good as it could ever be. I never imagined it would've touched me the way it did. The little things that I would've normally considered a flaws are perfectly encompassed by the overall magnitude of the film. Whether it be the acting that may come off as amateur or spurious, the script coming off as ultra-simplistic or the monotonous cinematography. I'm here to tell you that these things only compliment the film as sincere and realistic elements. You have to remember that life isn't perfectly written, framed or acted. This is less of a drama and more a window into everyday life of regular people. Not characters or actors, but real, complicated people in authentic settings in real-time.

I can relate to a handful of the moments in Mason's younger years and since I had somewhat of a unique childhood, I might hold some of those moments more dearly than others who had them as a given. But Mason's teen-to-later-years I could relate to even more. He was in a such dark place then. And I knew exactly how he was feeling at that time. They didn't dig that deep into it, but they do touch on it via an exchange with his girlfriend where she makes note of his gloom and doom attitude towards life then. "Fuck anyone else, I care what I think of me. Which isn't very much right much right now." he says... that right there was me for a long time. At one point I was so engulfed in sadness and self-pity that it felt like that's all I'd ever feel and all I ever wanted to feel. It was like I was in love with despair. It wasn't easy and I didn't do it alone, but I eventually climbed my way out of that trench. I still have my dark moments from time to time, but thankfully, I'm in a much better place now. And I'm a lot more optimistic about my future.

Before watching this for the first time, I had just found out Robin Williams had taken his own life. After witnessing a staple in mine & many others' childhoods pass away in that fashion and experiencing this film, my self-awareness became eerily high. I'm scared and excited for the future. At 21-years-old still I don't know exactly where my life is headed, but like this film's ending, there is promise shown. Film lover or not, this truly is a cinematic feat to be cherished and never forgotten by our generation. Thank you, Richard Linklater for giving us for this work of art that is not only moving, but has moved with us in a significant way. The moment does indeed seize us.

And in honor of Linklater's masterpiece I've compiled a list of other amazing coming-of-age tales

1. The 400 Blows(1959) dir. Francois Truffaut

2. Los Olvidados(1950) dir. Luis Bunuel

3. Fanny & Alexander(1982) dir. Ingmar Bergman

4. The Last Picture Show(1971) dir. Peter Bogdanovich

5. Tree of Life(2011) dir. Terrence Malick

6. Y Tu Mama Tambien(2001) dir. Alfonso Cuaron

7. Crooklyn(1994) dir. Spike Lee

8. Stand By Me(1984) dir. Rob Reiner

9. The Graduate(1967) dir. Mike Nichols

10. Paper Moon(1973) dir. Peter Bogdanovich

11. Pixote(1981) dir. Hector Babenco

12. City of God(2002) dir. Fernando Meirelles, Katia Lund

13. Almost Famous(2000) dir. Cameron Crowe

14. Dazed and Confused(1993) dir. Richard Linklater

15. The Sandlot(1993) dir. David M. Evans

Extended List Here

Movie Review: No Tears For The Dead

No Tears For The Dead(2015)
Writer/Director: Lee Jeong-beom
Starring: Jang Dong-gun(Tae Guk Gi:The Brotherhood, My Way), Kim Hee-won(The Man From Nowhere, Running Turtle, My Way) Kim Min-hee(Helpless),  Brian Tee(Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift, The Wolverine, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2)

"...Please don't cry. Don't you cry, Jin-gon."

Last year my friend linked me to the trailer for this movie because he knew how big a fan I am of Lee Jeong-beom's The Man From Nowhere. I was super excited, but after seeing some early reviews that were unfavorable my anticipation kind of died down. I recently decided to give it another chance. 

The story is pretty straight forward. It's about a hitman, Gon(Jang Dong-gun), born in South Korea, raised in the U.S. who botches up a job by a kid by killing a kid. He decides to retire, but his boss sends him to South Korea for one last job which turns out being the kid's mother, Mo-kyeong(Kim Min-hee). There's a reason why, but that's spoiler territory + I didn't really care for the rest of that story. And that's not me being an action whore it's just that it's not that interesting of a sub-plot. Once Gon gets to S. Korea he meets his liaison(Hee-won) to get info on the target and starts on recon. When he meets his liaison he curses him out and I didn't notice this until later, but this movie is really vulgar film. That's not a complaint, it's just that it's was so over-the-top I found it funny.

This is definitely a thriller, but not entirely. At times t's morose enough to pass for a drama alone. For a good third of the film Gon spends a lot of time sulking or stalking the mother and not killing her. On top of that we see Mo-kyeong's side of it with her grieving over the death of her child. She doesn't say it explicitly, but you can tell she blames herself. It's weird connection the two have. Gon's mother abandoned him as a child, Mo-Kyeong in a way feels like she abandoned her child. It's not unusual for an action-thriller to have some plot-foddering melodrama, but that's not the case here. It's genuine emotion and the acting is brilliant. One thing I've always noticed in Korean cinema is the balance of thrill and drama. What's unfortunate is that here the balance is achieved by mucking up the film's pace as a thriller.

When Gon stops sulking and finally goes to kill Mo-Kyeong he stumbles onto her attempting suicide and actually saves her after he tells her about his mother abandoning him. He's not a good guy at all and they don't try make him one at any point. So why he saves her after connecting her attempted suicide to his mother leaving him is kind of an oddity in his character arch, but not a big deal really. After Gon saves Mo-Kyeong, his boss back in the states decides to send another one of his men, Chaoz(Tee) whose life Gon once saved, to finish off the target and take Gon out. Finally all hell breaks loose. High volume shootouts. Though the camerawork is a bit erratic at times during, the hand-to-hand combat/knife fights are well choreographed. It's almost non-stop action brimming with blood and bullets. There's a moment amid all the action where Chaoz & Gon come face-to-face, Chaoz asks Gon why he's doing what he's doing and it's a very slight scene, but Tee plays it so well. You instantly feel the connection between the two, a bromance akin to something out of a John Woo movie that later leads to a very visceral final fight between the two.

The film's climax is more emotionally charged than what you're ready for and it comes to an extremely sad conclusion, but in a good way. It's a bittersweet ending that perfectly caps off the film's motif. It's easy to get caught up in the blood soaked goodness of the action once it takes place, but this is more a dramatic story of redemption for a hitman who's dead inside and finds a release through unfortunate means.  It's toted as an action-thriller, but to me the plot and action takes a backseat emotional aspect of the film. It's not as good as The Man From Nowhere, but not bad at all. Worth the watch, just manage your expectations going in.

On Netflix instant now