Category Archives: Romance

Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Portrait of a Lady on Fire               4 ½ stars

Portrait de la Jeune Fille en Feu or Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a complex love story with only female characters set in eighteenth century France that is certainly very difficult to describe.  A young painter, Marianne is commissioned to paint a portrait of a noblewoman’s daughter (Heloise) who has spent her adult life in a convent and is to be married to a Milanese suitor.  The problem is Heloise is to think that Marianne is there as a companion and is not to know that her real purpose is to paint a portrait.  Thus, the painter has to do the painting in secret without the benefit of a posed subject.  The relationship between the two young women changes and grows throughout the slowly developing plot as we learn more about Heloise.  How she wants to enjoy her freedom and is less than enthused about her planned marriage, about the suicide of her sister and the failed attempt at a portrait by a previous painter.  It is a well put together love story about a slowly growing attraction between the characters and a resentment of the circumstances of their lives.  The story is told with very few characters and a minimum of dialogue.  An additional feature is how the film shows just how difficult it is for a painter to create a painting, something I don’t remember seeing before.  For those who love period romances, Portrait of a Lady on Fire is highly recommended.

Emma.

Emma.                                   4 ½ stars

The latest adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel Emma by director Autumn de Wilde is full of wit and social satire as it takes a look at the life of one Emma Woodhouse (Anya Taylor-Joy), the attractive and mettlesome daughter of a rich landowner (Bill Nighy) in a large country estate.  Since Emma is rich and “had lived nearly 21 years in the world with very little to distress or vex her”, she spends her time manipulating those around her, trying to pair people up or breaking them up according to her own liking.  There are plenty of parties, dances and picnics for the gentile, rich upper class that give Emma the chance to work her devilish charms on those she takes an interest in.  This film is more comedic than most Austen based movies as the characters often express themselves without being too direct about their intentions.  The one exception to this rule is performed by Mr. Knightley (Johnny Flynn), Emma’s friend from childhood who is often direct to Emma about her schemes and their effect on the lives of others.  Taylor-Joy’s mannerisms and expressions are perfect for role of Emma as one always gets the impression that there is a scheme going on behind those wide eyes.  And I cannot fail to mention the incredible costumes and hairstyling that plays a major part in the film.  All Jane Austen fans should definitely go see Emma.

Border

Border                                  4 ½ stars

The Swedish made movie, Border has to be one of the most unusual movies of 2018 or for that matter any year.  It concerns a young woman, Tina, who works as a customs inspector and possesses a most unusual and valuable talent.  She has the ability to smell emotions in people such as guilt, shame and fear which is instrumental in catching individuals trying to smuggle illegal goods into the country.  She even gets involved in a police investigation of a child trafficking ring.  Her unique qualities don’t end there though.  Tina’s appearance is especially striking as she has to be one of the most unattractive women ever to appear in film.  She has a protruding forehead and a very heavy jawline so one would always notice her in a crowd.  If I would have checked ahead I would have known that the film was nominated for the Academy Award category of Best Makeup and perhaps wouldn’t have been so surprised by her appearance.  Tina lives in her isolated shack of a house with her lazy boyfriend who likes to watch lots of TV and enter his dogs in dog shows.  Besides that she makes regular visits to her elderly father in a nursing home.  Then one day her world is changed forever when she meets a man on the job who resembles her in many ways including the facial features.  And she finds that her special skills don’t work on Vore which is very confusing to her.  As she spends more time with him she finds that they have much more in common such as an interest in walking through the woods, insects and worms and the occasional snack on maggots.  And that is far from the most bizarre thing about the movie.  As she makes a connection with Vore certain hidden aspects of her life become clearer to her especially when things get weird.  And then the movie gets even weirder.  And then when you think it’s as weird as it can get, it gets so weird that I can’t even describe it.  Something happens that I have never seen in a movie before and it might make you uncomfortable in mixed company.  It is certain that Vore has a very different take on people and the world than what Tina has ever felt.  Ultimately, I think the movie is about realizing who you are and finding your place in the world.  I know that despite all the weirdness I liked it.  I can’t spoil the surprises for you.  It will be more fun to find it out yourselves.

Clueless

Clueless               4 stars

It’s the twenty-fifth anniversary of the nineties teen comedy, Clueless, so I decided to rewatch this classic.  The movie stars Alicia Silverstone as rich teen high school student Cher, who attends an upscale Beverly Hills high school, lives in a mansion with her lawyer father and spends her time getting the right clothes, convincing others to give her what she wants and hanging out with her upper-class friends.  Her best friend is Dionne (Stacey Dash), another rich girl.  The two of them are named after “great singers of the past who now do infomercials”.  She also likes to play matchmaker to the less fortunate like she does with two of her high school teachers (Wallace Shawn and Twink Caplan).  Her latest project is new student Tai (Brittany Murphy), a nerdy girl that Cher takes a liking to.  She quickly befriends the girl and seeks to get her matched up with the right boy.  One of the fun things about watching an old teen movie is seeing early roles of successful actors.  Here we have a young Paul Rudd playing Josh, Cher’s step brother and longtime friend.  There are also roles for young Donald Faison and Jeremy Sisto as high school students. New relationships form and are broken, and there is one of the usual teenage house parties that gets out of hand.  Ultimately, the characters will each end up with the right partner after going through some pain to get there.  Clueless was an enjoyable break from the reality of being stuck and home and all ages should enjoy it.  One interesting fact: The new movie Emma, has the same basic plot as Clueless and was apparently based on the movie!  Hello! As If!  Whatever!  Uh uh. No Way.

The Photograph

The Photograph                4 ½ stars

The Photograph from this year is a well told film about two different love affairs taking place in the past and present. It has an all black cast of mostly known actors and I found it refreshing to have such an all black movie that is not about police brutality and racial injustice. Michael (LaKeith Stanfield from Sorry to Bother You and Knives Out) is a magazine writer on a story about a photographer, Christina Eames who has just passed away. His investigation puts him in contact with Isaac, a New Orleans fisherman who has a relationship with her in the eighties and he is eventually led to Mae (Issa Rae of HBO’s Insecure and Little), a New York museum curator who is the deceased photographer’s daughter. Michael and Mae hit it off and try to have a relationship that has to deal with the complexities of their career intense lives. The other story about Christina and Isaac is also told as the two stories are intertwined. We see how young Christina resents being limited by her life with Isaac and wants more out of life. Her ambition is to be an artistic photographer is New York so life in New Orleans does not exactly appeal to her. There aren’t really any surprises in the movie and there aren’t any conflicts involving police or any other outside characters. It is basically a romance story about the challenges that these couples are facing through the realities of life. This is a nice relief given what we have been going through lately. Issa Rae shows that she can do more than comedy in this dramatic role. The movie also features Lil Rel Howery (from Get Out) as Michael’s brother and Rob Morgan (of Just Mercy, The Last Black Man in San Francisco and Mudbound) as the older Isaac. Law & Order fans might also recognize Courtney B. Vance as Mae’s father. The movie also features some smooth background music of R&B and jazz. I have seen only a few 2020 releases so this one has to be the best so far.

Palm Springs

Palm Springs      4 ½ stars

The last time I went to Sundance the Andy Samberg/Crintin Milioti romantic comedy was the hottest ticket going and I was not able to see it then (in spite of getting to over 30 movies). I finally saw it after it was released on Hulu and found it was a real delight. It seems to start out with the old formula of Groundhog Day as Andy Samberg’s Nyles is attending a wedding with his girlfriend Misty and finds that he is in a continuously repeating loop of the same day that always starts over the moment he falls asleep or is killed. He has apparently been at this for hundreds of days when we see him but things change when circumstances bring Cristin Milioti’s Sarah, the older sister of the bride into the same loop to share Nyles’s fate. Nyles plays seemingly amazing tricks on people as he already knows what events are going to happen to the second and tells people details about their lives that he has learned in previous iterations. Things take a darker turn as the two explore imaginative ways of trying to get out of the loop including killing themselves, but then speculate on how meaningless everything is in this strange world they find themselves in. Ultimately, the romance in the romantic comedy shows up as the two find out how much the other means to each. This “formulaic” romantic comedy works well and is definitely worth seeing.

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil          2 ½ stars

Five years after Sleeping Beauty got the Disney treatment in Maleficent comes the sequel, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil. You may recall that in the 2014 movie, Maleficent, the horned winged fairy in the Moors turned out to be a sympathetic character who loved and cared for Aurora, the human princess who had been cursed to eternal sleep. The new movie continues the story a few years later with Aurora (Elle Fanning) still living in the wooded Moors where she regards Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) as her mother. Things are still tense with the humans in the kingdom of Ulstead though where Maleficent is viewed with suspicion by King John and Queen Ingrith (a wonderfully scheming Michelle Pfeiffer). When Prince Phillip, son of the king and queen proposes marriage to Aurora, the upcoming wedding becomes an opportunity for the two kingdoms to unite in an alliance. This leads to a very tense scene that might be called Meet the Parents, Disney style. The tensions boil over and King John ends up with a sleeping curse which Queen Ingrith uses as an excuse to start a war with the fairies. But it turns out that it was the Queen who put the curse on her husband King John which would make her President Trump’s favorite character in the movie. Then Maleficent discovers that there is an entire kingdom of fairies led by Borra (Ed Skrein) that have been hiding out from the humans and are looking for a way to wage war against them. One tragic character is Conall (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a fairy who is opposed to war and is a protector of Maleficent. After this the movie turns into something out of the Marvel movies with a long fight sequence between the humans and fairies with the humans producing a secret weapon to ensure their success. The movie goes back and forth between fight and warlike scenes to cute comical scenes involving cute small creatures of the forest including Thistlewit, Flittle and Knotgrass from the original film. There is also a female henchman, Gerda (Jenn Murray who some might remember as the emotional Lady Lucy Manwaring from Love & Friendship) who is something of a secret assassin of the Queen’s. The special effects are topnotch in true Disney fashion but the story tends to be formulaic and predictable. It’s a good one for true Disney fans to see, but is probably not for everyone.

A Hidden Life

A Hidden Life     4 stars

We set aside the deadly other worldly creatures this time for a feature about the human kind of deadly creature. Last year’s A Hidden Life is based on the true story of Franz Jagerstatter, a poor Austrian farmer in the 1940’s who faced the threat of death and destruction brought on by a totalitarian ruler, Adolf Hitler. I didn’t know anything beyond that when I started the movie, but soon noticed that this looked a lot like a Terrence Malick movie, which of course it is. Among the Malick directed movies I have seen are To the Wonder, The Tree of Life, The New World and The Thin Red Line. Malick has a style all his own that includes hand held cameras following characters, wide angle lenses and quick editing cuts. The dialogue is kept short and there is plenty of narration from characters showing what they are feeling. His movies are usually long and convey a spiritual message you don’t often see in this business. In this movie there is also historical footage present to show the rise of Hitler. Franz refuses to serve in the Nazi German army as it goes against his religious beliefs. Why can’t he just serve as a medic like we saw in the movie Hacksaw Ridge about an American GI in the Pacific? That would require Franz to sign an oath of loyalty to the Fuhrer, something that his faith will not allow him to do. And it is something I pray never becomes a reality in the United States. His decision comes at great cost as he is placed in prison facing the threat of execution, leaving his wife and children to fend for themselves operating their farm in the Alps of Austria. His fellow villagers shun them for his “traitorous” acts. I, for one am amazed that considering all the horrible things that happened during World War II, this story has not been forgotten. The dialogue alternates between English and German without any subtitles, but there is enough there for the viewer to get the idea of what is going on. The movie moves rather slowly with about half of it taking place in prisons with Franz suffering the abuse of guards and isolation from his family and at nearly three hours running length it may be a bit much for many moviegoers. For the story and fans of Terrence Malick, A Hidden Life should be seen.

Mississippi Masala

Mississippi Masala           4 stars

Mississippi Masala from 1991 is an early work of director Mira Nair who is best known for her movie Monsoon Wedding about a large family wedding in India. It is also an early starring role for actor Denzel Washington who is obviously very well known. Nair starts the story in 1972 Uganda where the Indian family of Jay, Kinnu and young daughter Mina are forced to leave their home by dictator Idi Amin. Amin has declared that all Asians must leave the country after the government took possession of their property. The family lands in the American Deep South, in Jackson, Mississippi where the story picks up in 1990 where Mina (Sarita Choudhury) is now an adult with ideas of her own. Mina works at a local Indian owned motel, a situation that director Nair discovered to be quite common in the South at the time the movie was made. There she happens to meet Demetrius (Washington), a young black man who operates his own carpet cleaning business and stays in the area to care for his father. It doesn’t take long for a connection to be made between the two and the romantic sparks take off with the romantic scenes being quite intense for the time period of the making of the movie. It is when the families find out what is going on that the racial aspects of the movie really become the story. Despite the racism that exists against both Indians and Blacks from whites, the movie exposes the prejudice feelings that members of people of color have toward one another. Thus, despite the friendliness the families may show toward the other race, when it comes to matters of the heart and family, people are not so openminded. The movie is about two hours long and perhaps tries to cover too much ground in that time with more characters than is necessary. It is a worthwhile early effort of Mira Nair and I was glad to run across it. It is also interesting to see a movie from nearly thirty years ago and notice how movies have changed.

Weathering With You

Weathering with You      4 ½ stars

Weathering with You is the creation of Japanese writer and director Makoto Shinkai, who has made several animated films, but this is the first that I have seen. The animation looks a lot like the animated films of Hayao Miyazaki, of which I have seen several, like Kiki’s Delivery Service. The story centers on teenager Hodaka who has run away from his small town for the big city of Tokyo. There the city is engulfed in horribly gloomy rain that reflects the circumstances of the runaway. While he is taken in by a man who seeks to exploit him in his gossip magazine business, Hodaka meets a young girl named Hina that he takes an immediate liking to. She also comes from an unfortunate home situation and has a younger sister and brother to look after. Hodaka discovers something very unusual about his new friend. Hina possesses the power of a Sunshine Girl, a being of a Japanese myth who is able to control the weather through prayer. Her explanation is that she came to be this way through her praying by her dying mother. The pair find that they are able to make a living off of this power by bringing sunshine to Tokyo for payment. They soon become quite the celebrities on social media, but find that this power comes at a price when it endangers their lives. The weather aspect of the movie reflects the mood on screen of the main character and has a message about climate change as Tokyo is threatened by the rising water level. I found the movie to have a dramatic message about the power of love and self-sacrifice. It has some very detailed animation of an urban landscape drenched in rain and some well placed songs to support the mood of the film. Shinkai is also known for his very successful earlier film in Japan called Your Name. I have not seen it but it apparently has a similar theme to Weathering with You and sounds like it would also be worthwhile to see.