RUMOURS *UPDATED*

Canadians have always fascinated me because they have an immense sense of national pride all while taking comfort in being the unofficial “second place” and/or “little brother” to America. Years ago I interviewed Guy Maddin on here and he made a point to associate Canadians with second place:

PINNLAND EMPIRE: Who, in your opinion, is the best active filmmaker working right now?

Guy Maddin: Without a doubt, Sokurov. Then Malick, for those of us, like all Canadians, interested in second place finishers.

Much of the promotion & interviews for Rumours are shrouded in this interesting lighthearted Canadian self-depreciation

if you're making movies in the shadow of America you're pretty self-conscious. You’re the little country next to the big behemoth. Many of my favorite movies are American – Evan Johnson, Reverseshot.com

America has this mythic scale that Canada doesn't quite have – Galen Johnson, Reverseshot.com

As Canadians we are not used to confrontation – Guy Maddin, hammertonail.com

Even when Canadians claim to dislike America or play up the rivalry, their personality is still based on being the underdog as if they have to prove something (it's similar to the almost one-sided sports rivalry between Boston & New York city).

Now...part of me feels like because Canadians are so openly insecure about their relationship to America that it’s an inside “bit” that all Canadians are in on for their own self-amusement and genuinely do feel like they're better than Americans.

Rumours is incredibly Canadian. It’s polite, strangely wholesome and filled with national pride (just underneath all of that are the weird darkly comical perversions that make Guy Maddin films so unique). I love the film as it stands but it would be an interesting “Five Obstructions"-like experiment to see the same film play out under the direction of a director from each of the seven countries represented in the movie just to see how different it would be.

The story pulls from obvious current events, old zombie films & B-movies and the lesser acknowledged work of fellow Canadian filmmaker John Paizs (Rumours would make for the perfect double feature with Paizs’ Top Of The Food Chain in that that they both get a lot of their aesthetic from old B-level zombie movies).

The Brain From Planet Arous / Rumours

There are also a handful of other typical homages regular Guy Maddin influences like Bunuel, Lynch & Benjamin Christensen...

I watch a movie and I pretend Luis Bunuel is sitting beside me - Guy Maddin, TheAVClub.com

Los Olvidados / Rumours

Eraserhead really hit me hard. I was really impressed. It was a big influence - Guy Maddin, Fandor.com

Eraserhead / Rumours

Being evil never looked so sumptuous. I like the alternate version, Witchcraft Through The Ages - Guy Maddin, Criterion.com

Haxan / Rumours

While this film is certainly shrouded in current events & social commentary through a Canadian lens (the character that represents Canada in the film is the most interesting & heroic of the bunch), Rumours is ultimately a comedy about the difficulty of working together & completing a group task. For those that don’t know, this isn't just a Guy Maddin film. He’s the most recognizable name of all the directors, but Rumours was directed by Maddin, Evan Johnson & Galen Johnson (things don’t even feel like a Guy Maddin film until midway in). Directing a movie solo is difficult enough but three directors all working at the same time is a lot. The task of directing Rumours and the basic plot of the film go hand in hand. In front of the camera is the story of seven world leaders trying to come to a consensus on a global crisis in the midst of an apocalyptic attack. Behind the camera are three filmmakers trying to make one cohesive piece of art. The outcome is one of my favorite films of the year and one of the best features Maddin has been associated with with in quite some time. 

Rumours is getting more of a push than the average Guy Maddin/Guy Maddin-related film so it’s bound to get a wider audience than something like My Winnipeg or Brand Upon The Brain (Cate Blanchett might be the biggest movie star Maddin has worked with in his almost 40 years of filmmaking so her presence also helps it's popularity). This might not be the best entry-level Guy Maddin film but for folks like me that are familiar with his body of work, this is something new.

THE SHROUDS *UPDATED*

I enjoyed this movie for the most part but I also know it’s very weak by Cronenberg standards. That’s a very contradictory thing to say but hear me out.  Is The Shrouds better than Maps To the Stars? Yeah. Should it be mentioned in the same breath as something like Dead Ringers? Absolutely not. I know this movie is pretty flawed, kind of uneven and takes forever to end. The performances & chemistry between the actors leaves a lot to be desired at times as well (I guess Viggo Mortensen was busy?). The basic premise, about a unique cutting edge way to grieve & obsess over deceased loved ones is certainly interesting but it’s hardly the most intriguing thing about the movie. It’s only been a day since I’ve watched this so my opinions are super fresh and could change over time but right now I feel like this is nothing more than a very interesting idea executed by someone that’s bored. The emphasis on things like A.I. & voyeurism felt 15 years too late (is David Cronenberg turning in to our slightly out of touch uncle posting out of date memes on Facebook??). The most common early criticism of The Shrouds is that it’s Cronenberg simply going through the motions and just “playing the hits”. I’ll be the first to admit that the director does borrow heavily from his previous films. At times The Shrouds plays out like Dead Ringers & eXistenZ with some new seasoning (even the sex scenes are right out of Crash). But after decades of countless filmmakers stealing & heavily borrowing from Cronenberg on the most surface level - I think he’s allowed to reference himself. At least he understands his work and his own style. I can’t say that about most filmmakers that namedrop the body horror icon as an influence (Lucile Hadžihalilović’s Evolution is really the only semi-recent film worthy of a Cronenberg comparison).

David Cronenberg isn't a Tarkovsky guy but that didn't stop my subconscious from making a quick Solaris connection...

Solaris /
The Shrouds

And while both Cronenberg & Frank Henenlotter are masters of the "body horror" genre - I doubt these moments were intentional no matter how similar they are. But I couldn't help myself. I had to highlight the similarities...

Frankenhooker / The Shrouds

Outside of the similarities to his other films, the movie is incredibly meta. Not only does Vincent Cassel play a former industrial filmmaker, but his character kind of looks like Cronenberg. There’s even a line in The Shrouds where someone says to Cassel/“Cronenberg”: you’ve made a career out of bodies. David Cronenberg is a complex & layered guy that shouldn’t be defined by one thing, but anyone familiar with him knows that “body horror” is his most common descriptor. It’s the safest thing to say about him and his work. This is clearly a personal film for him. Part of the story involves a mysterious entity stealing the main character’s data. Could part of The Shrouds be David Cronenberg throwing a shot at folks stealing his ideas for the last 50 years? 

Vincent Cassel as David Cronenberg

There’s two movies playing in theaters right now (Cuckoo & The Substance) that everyone is calling Cronenberg-esque when in reality they just come off as movies made by people that think David Cronenberg’s only claim to fame is gore. Look - I get it. I understand why things that are gross & visceral are compared to his work but most of the time they’re more Brian Yuzna/Stuart Gordon knock-offs than they are David Cronenberg knock-offs (It should be noted that he is a fan of recent stuff like Titane & The Substance which probably wouldn't exist without his work)…

Videodrome/ The Substance

The Fly / The Substance

Scanners / The Substance

Society / The Substance

From Beyond / The Substance

Personally, my favorite thing about this movie is the humor. The dry, awkward perfectly timed humor is The Shroud’s saving grace. David Cronenberg is no stranger to comedic moments even in his most dramatic films. But his latest felt like a full-on dark comedy.

And I don’t know how intentional this was (and I could be completely off in my assessment) but Cronenberg captured a lot of great modern architecture in the background without presenting it as something bad or evil. At this point I don’t think it can be denied that modern architecture gets a bad rap in film. Whenever anything is presented as bad or evil or cold, directors always make it a point to show a modern building under shitty lighting at unflattering angles. All modern architecture isn’t bad but you wouldn’t know that watching most modern movies. I don’t know about you all but I’d love to live in Vincent Cassel’s home in the film over some dusty Brooklyn brownstone. But that’s just me (an architecture graduate with 20 years of design experience).  

This sounds shitty but if you go in to The Shrouds with low expectations you’ll probably end up enjoying it. Just don’t expect vintage Cronenberg.

FERRARI @ NYFF

Unlike the other films I saw at this year’s New York Film Festival (click here & here to read), I actually sat with this one for a few days before sharing my thoughts. I waited seven years to see this and I want to chose my words carefully. I have mixed feelings about Michael Mann’s latest Enzo Ferrari biopic. It disappointed and exceed expectation at the same time. Anything involving a car is an A+ as far as I’m concerned. The sound design, the cinematography, etc – it’s all great. Even the couple of surprise car wrecks, reminiscent of Tarantino’s Death Proof, were incredibly visceral and got a reaction out of me that no movie has in quite some time (I haven’t really spoiled anything. These scenes come out of nowhere and you wont be expecting them). 

Now…anything that had to do with the actual story felt like a C-. I know some folks may think it’s silly to take a piece of art and use school grades to judge – but some of the accents in the film are pretty silly. Too silly for a film like this in my opinion. I appreciate Adam Driver’s dedication to his semi-subdued yet sill forced Italian accent but Shailene Woodley’s portrayal of Lina Lardi (Enzo’s mistress and mother of his son) was a bit frustrating. Her accent was a mix of American, Eastern European & Italian, and the performance was pretty forgettable (the chemistry between Driver and Woodley wasn’t really there either). Watching Ferrari made me wish there was a bigger pool of diverse actors to pull from in terms of age & nationality. Adam Driver was “fine” as Enzo Ferrari but are there no prolific older actors in their very late 50s/early 60s that could have pulled this role off? Is there no young up & coming Italian actress that could have portrayed Ferrari’s mistress? This is Michael Mann’s first feature film in almost a decade so that’s really the draw. It’s not like Woodley’s presence was going to make any difference. I know you need a "big name" or a recognizable actor to "sell" a movie but this is about the return of Michael Mann at the end of day.

With the exception of a few flashbacks, Ferrari focuses primarily on the 1957 Mille Miglia race along with Ferrari’s failing marriage & business. The issue here is even though the movie takes place over the course of one summer, there’s still the equivalent of three movies in this one biopic (a potential Right Stuff-style story about the team of racers hired by Ferrari, the horrific tragedy that came out of the 1957 Mille Miglia race, and Ferrari’s personal life at the time). This isn’t a quick 100 minute film but it’s still ten pounds of substance in a five pound bag. The movie ends at a weird place leaving me wanting another hour. But at a certain point I guess we do have to wrap things up. Perhaps this would have worked better as a mini-series? 

I’m giving Ferrari a hard time but there are some positives. I sensed pinches of modern-day Terrence Malick's style in some select isolated moments. I know that might turn some folks off but that's a good thing as far as I' concerned...

A Hidden Life / Ferrari

Knight Of Cups / Ferrari

Knight Of Cups / Ferrari

I’m not even that caught up in the visual accuracy or how much the actors look like the real life people they’re portraying. If anything we need to stray further away from that. The more obsessed some actors & filmmakers become with the look and mannerisms of their real life subjects - the more things turns in to a feature length SNL sketch (Viola Davis’ recent portrayal of Michelle Obama should have made folks do a universal reset on how biopics are approached). Mann doesn’t get caught up in any of that with Ferrari but there’s still a lack of chemistry between a lot of the actors and just an overall layer of flatness outside of Penelope Cruz’s portrayal as Laura Ferrari (I assure the accents are not the only problem with this movie).  

There are certainly a nice amount of signature Mann-style shots in Ferrari but he doesn't go full-on "Michael Mann" from start to finish (the trailer does a good job of capturing the best shots but those moments are stretched out inside of a 140+ minute film). If I'm being honest, even Public Enemies has more style than Ferrari which is a problem because, in my opinion, an Italian film full of sexy cars should be oozing with style from start to finish and that's just not the case here.

 

No matter how many mixed feelings I have, I still loved watching Ferrari on the big screen. That’s the only way to watch it. This movie falls short in a few places but I still encourage everyone to see it big. I suppose this is the best thing Mann has done since Miami Vice? But is that really saying much? 

WRONG REEL EPISODE 665: THE 61ST NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL RECAP

 

James, Rob and myself continue our yearly tradition of New York Film Festival talk.

Click here or the image above to go to the episode.

EUREKA @ NYFF *UPDATED*

Do not enter Lisandro Alonso’s Eureka with any expectations. If you’ve watched a trailer or read a review – forget anything you think you’re about to see. Don’t even watch the trailer or the handful of clips that are available online. It’s best to go in to Eureka with a clean slate. As a matter of fact – don’t even read this review any further until you’ve seen it. This is an intentionally deceptive movie that starts out as a playful mockery of Alonso’s last feature (Jauja) then quickly morphs in to a story about a modern-day Native American community in South Dakota.

Eureka isn’t exactly a movie you can spoil (outside of the first 15-20 minutes), but it’s best to compare it to other films within the same lane rather than “review” it. Imagine a spiritual sequel to Jauja (right down to Viggo Mortensen playing another father character looking for his missing daughter) that quickly switches over to an Uncle Boonmee/Tropical Malady/Blissfully Yours-like spiritual tale with pinches of Jarmusch’s Dead Man. I’m sure folks might even be reminded of Carlos Reygadas and/or Amat Escalante.

Eureka was shot by Aki Kaurismaki cinematographer Timo Salminen (the second collaboration between Alonso & Salminen) who's visual style can be seen all over the film...

Timo is one of the best, and he had championed my work, so I asked to collaborate with him. His visual style is another form of narration, if you want to call it that - Lisando Alonso, Film Comment

Ariel / Eureka

Lisandro Alonso has been an unofficial student/admirer of James Benning for quite some time and his latest effort is just proof of this on a visual level...

Used Innocence/ Eureka

Eureka also has some strong visual similarities to other filmmakers that Alonso has name-dropped over the years as influences or sources of inspiration...

Jarmusch...

Similar opening scenes: 
Dead Man /
Eureka

A few more similar moments...

Dead Man / Eureka

Dead Man / Eureka

 And Weerasethakuul...

Blissfully Yours / Eureka

Blissfully Yours / 
Eureka

Eureka is best enjoyed if you’ve seen Alonso’s previous feature; Jauja. I’m not usually a fan of director’s using their art to take shots at critics or to look directly in to the camera to wink at their fans, but this is an exception because it’s done so masterfully (I’m not sure when this will be released so you have time to check out Jauja before Eureka comes out if you haven’t yet in order to get the full experience).

Now…this movie is almost 2-1/2 hours long. Lisandro Alonso doesn’t use the entire feature to troll critics and wink at his fans. After getting all the naughty prankster stuff out of his system in the first section, the remainder of the film is as genuine as possible thanks to the dry comedic delivery of the wonderful non-professional cast (using non-professional actors can feel exploitive sometimes but that isn't the case here).

If it isn’t clear – I love this movie very much but I wouldn’t blindly recommend it to anyone unless you’re a fan of the director’s previous work and all the other cinematic reference points I namedropped earlier. I’m sure Lisandro Alonso wants as many people as possible to watch Eureka (this would be a hell of a movie to go in to blindly), but there is a core audience this was intended for. As an unofficial spokesperson for said audience – I can say this delivers and then some.

THE BEAST @ NYFF *UPDATED*

Okay. I'm going to say something a little schematic about French cinema. But if we imagine two lines, we can say there is [Jean] Renoir and [Robert] Bresson that gave us [Francois] Truffaut and [Jean-Luc] Godard, that gave us [Maurice] Pialat and [Jean] Eustache, that gave us [Arnaud] Desplechin and [Leos] Carax. I fall more on the Bresson/Godard/Eustache/Carax side than the other one - Bertrand Bonello, cineaste.com

That quote above is an important passage to remember before going in to Bertrand Bonello’s latest sci-fi tale because there are a lot of Leos Carax-isms throughout (beautiful-looking comedic absurdity masked underneath a layer of arthouse cinema). The Beast comes off like a cross between Holy Motors and Highlander with a pinch of Maya Deren’s Meshes Of The Afternoon told from the perspective of an incel. I can namedrop folks like Deren & Carax without giving any background because chances are anyone looking forward to The Beast will already be familiar with Bonello's work and his influences. This is not the kind of movie that you just blindly watch. Now...I know my description of this movie sounds like a fun little “gumbo” of influences & ideas, but at the end of the day it doesn’t work. That’s what’s so frustrating. To have so much in common with so many fun cinematic reference-points to be a big nothing almost takes extra effort to accomplish. I’m a Bertrand Bonello fan/occasional defender but I can’t defend this one. The Beast is very much a mixture of all the things I just mentioned but it’s kind of a mess as opposed to a well-crafted collage of ideas. I really don’t know who this was made for outside of bored disingenuous letterboxed "critics" that love to go against the grain and claim that bad movies are really misunderstood masterpieces. 

Holy Motors / The Beast

The Beast felt like two feature lengths films and a short mushed together in to one movie (in a way, this was Bonello’s She Hate Me). The film follows two lovers that cross paths with one another through different time periods. Bertrand Bonello takes the audience back & forth between the early 1900s and a post-Covid mask-wearing dystopian future with a pitstop in to modern day California.

The California section of the film, which owes a lot to Maya Deren’s Meshes and David Lynch’s Lost Highway, is the only interesting part of the movie but still not enough to stop me from checking my watch every 10-15 minutes (it should also be noted that this is Bertrand’s second feature in a row to borrow heavily from Maya Deren. Read my thoughts on Zombi Child here).

Meshes Of The Afternoon / The Beast

Meshes Of The Afternoon / The Beast

Meshes Of The Afternoon / The Beast

I was resistant to compare this to David Lynch but after I re-watch I came to the realization that is has quite a few Lynch-esque moments...

I think Season Three, the Return… I mean, it was a real shock for me as a filmmaker and it has been very present in my mind since I saw it. Maybe the biggest influence of David Lynch on me is the possibility to be free - David Lynch, thecurb.com

Twin Peaks: Season 3 / The Beast

there was a screening of the film in a Paris a few days ago, and someone told me that in one of Louis’ videos you can see David Lynch’s house in the background. I don’t know if that’s true, but maybe there’s a connection there - Bertrand Bonello, BFI

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me / The Beast

Lost Highway / The Beast

Inland Empire / The Beast

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me / The Beast

Inland Empire / The Beast

The Beast vision board: 

I watched two films before shooting. One was The Age Of Innocence by Scorsese. The other was When a Stranger Calls - Bertrand Bonello, Hammertonail.com

The Age Of Innocence / The Beast

When A Stranger Calls / The Beast

Earlier this year there was some press about The Beast being rejected from the Cannes film festival and now that I’ve seen it I kind of understand why. Movies don’t need to have a complete thought, a "satisfying" ending, or a set of rules to follow but I think The Beast would have benefited from a bit more structure. Somewhere within the 140+ minutes that is The Beast is a 72 minute feature that could have possibly worked. I’ve made this criticism before and I’ll do it again here - this movie is the equivalent of “showing your work” on a math test without getting to an actual answer.

 

THE ETERNAL DAUGHTER *UPDATED*

*MILD SPOILERS*

Movies like The Eternal Daughter always fascinate me because while it is a masterful film (Joanna Hogg does an amazing job of mixing awkward humor & personal grief) - it’s really only made for a specific group of people. Not that there isn’t a market for small intimate arthouse films, but this is part of a series of films that you’d have to be familiar with in order to appreciate the entire saga (this might be my favorite movie of 2022 but I wouldn't blindly recommend it just anyone). I guess The Eternal Daughter can be enjoyed by anyone on a surface level. Who doesn’t love a simple yet beautifully executed ghost story? But if you’ve been invested in Hogg’s last few films (The Souvenir & The Souvenir II) then you’re part of that aforementioned group I’m talking about. This one is for us...

In this latest installment in the “Souvenir Cinematic Universe”, Joanna Hogg takes some of the characters from her previous two films and places them in a haunted hotel 30+ years or so after the events of the first two films. Julia is now an established filmmaker working on her latest project all while trying to take care of her widowed mother. The ongoing 35 year working relationship between Joanna Hogg & Tilda Swinton has always been very meta and The Eternal Daughter is no exception.  Not only does Swinton play both Julia (a cinematic alter-ego of Hogg herself) & her mother, but she takes over the role that her real life daughter played in the previous two chapters. 

 

There’s a lot of pushback against "cinematic universes" these days because Marvel has cornered the market on sequels, prequels & offshoots. There is some understandable fatigue towards superhero/comic book-based films. Marvel's impact on movie franchises is undeniable at this point (Lord Of The Rings, Game Of Thrones, DCU, etc etc). But the world of “arthouse” cinema has been doing this decades before the MCU was even a thought. Everyone from Francois Truffaut to Leos Carax have been crafting their own cinematic universes for decades. Claire Denis’ Beau Travail is a loose continuation of Godard’s Le Petite Soldat. Bruno Dumont has been making nothing but sequels & prequels for the last decade. I’m all for endless sequels & continuations if it brings on more movies like The Souvenir & The Eternal Daughter (it should be noted that Tilda Swinton carries the honor of being the only actress to exist in both the Marvel cinematic universe and the Souvenir cinematic universe).

Click here & here to read my additional thoughts on The Eternal Daughter

and then Jacques Tourneur’s Night of the Demon; the opening of that film was a huge influence - Joanna Hogg, Letterboxd

The Night Of The Demon / The Eternal Daughter 

The Night Of The Demon / The Eternal Daughter 

One film was Jacques Tourneur’s Night Of The Demon which is really atmospheric - Joanna Hogg, Rogerebert.com

The Night Of The Demon / The Eternal Daughter 

The Night Of The Demon / The Eternal Daughter 

The Eternal Daughter is bound to draw some obvious comparisons to The Shining (what modern film set in a haunted hotel with long unbroken shots of hallways isn’t?). 

 The Shining /
The Eternal Daughter 

 The Shining /
The Eternal Daughter

 The Shining /
The Eternal Daughter 

 The Shining /
The Eternal Daughter 

Those comparisons would be fair, but given Hogg’s deep love of Chantal Akerman, I’d say The Eternal Daughter borrows more from Hotel Monterey. 

Les Rendezvoud D'Anna /
The Eternal Daughter

Les Rendezvoud D'Anna /
The Eternal Daughter

Hotel Monterey /
The Eternal Daughter

The influence is already all over the previous Souvenir films…

Hotel Monterey /
The Souvenir

I sometimes wonder if Akerman rubbed off on Kubrick in some subconscious way. There aren’t any ghosts in Hotel Monterey but there are some eerie moments that predate some of the imagery in The Shining…

Hotel Monterey / The Shining

The Eternal Daughter would be a nice ending to the Souvenir cinematic universe but I said the same thing about the Souvenir II and here we are with a new brilliant surprise chapter. Part of me feels like as long as Joanna Hogg is alive, there will always be the possibility of a new installment and I am totally fine with that.