Toni Erdmann

Time and time again, we get fiction revolving around the frayed bond between parent and child. A good majority of the time it's when the child is grown and distant (both physically and emotionally) from the parent. It's been examined so many times, how can it still be a functioning plot?

Now Maren Ade's Toni Erdmann is one of the latest titles to have this plot but there's something about it that makes it stand out. Maybe it has to do with its country of origin (Germany) or perhaps its genre (comedy). Either way, it gets your attention from the get-go.

Yes, "German" and "comedy" doesn't exactly sound like a combination of an ideal variety but Toni Erdmann makes it work. It doesn't rely on humor at the expense of other people but rather the playful frame of mind from Winifred (Peter Simonischek). He just wants people feel a little bit better, not to be taken down by mockery.

But where does the element of family come into Toni Erdmann? That happens when Winifred tries to re-connect with his workaholic daughter Ines (Sandra Hüller). It seems at first to be a fruitless endeavor from Winifred but Ines soon starts to open up, and it isn't all peaches and cream.

Toni Erdmann is both playful and mature in showing the bond between Winifred and Ines. It may make one want to reach out to their parents afterwards if they haven't been in contact with them recently. (Worth mentioning that more often than not female directors tend to get parent-child relationships down pat.)

My Rating: ****1/2

Sand Storm

There has always been strife between varying generations. The continued feud between parent and child is a constantly ongoing one, the type that seldom reaches a conclusion. (Even more if said conclusion is a civil one.)

Elite Wexer's Sand Storm follows a plotline for this type of story: the daughter seeing someone their parents don't approve of. But Wexer doesn't focus strictly on the daughter and the boy she's head over heels for. She also focuses on the parents themselves.

Wexer doesn't shy away from the fact that daughter Layla (Lamis Anmar) nor mother Jalila (Ruba Blal) feel confined in the world they're a part of. (It is set in Israel after all.) They try to make the best of their current situations but how much longer can they endure it?

It isn't just Layla who rebels against her mother's conformities. One of her younger sisters (perhaps unknowingly) doesn't follow the usual formalities Muslim women are expected to follow. Of course to those not of that belief wouldn't grasp why such behavior would cause a sense of shame in their elders; it's not always easy to explain one's culture to another.

Sand Storm how parts of the world still perceive women. To those who live in a more (supposedly) civilized country, it seems almost like a prolonged form of abuse towards the fair sex/ But as Wexer shows with her film, there's a glimmer of hope for future generations. (A faint one, but it's there.)

My Rating: ****1/2

Loving

Our history is full of blights. We've rectified a few such as how the LGBT+ community is treated as a whole and how the battle of the sexes may very well be coming to a sort of resolve. But such achievements aren't without their many bumps in the road.

Jeff Nichols' Loving is set within a time when discrimination was practically the norm for everyday life. Nowadays such attitudes would be met with disdain from (most) people but fifty, sixty years ago, that disdain would be aimed at those supporting the cause. (And sadly we still encounter such animosity today.)

Now Loving focuses on Richard (Joel Edgerton) and Mildred Loving (Ruth Negga), an interracial couple whose marriage would change history. Of course that in itself doesn't begin to describe the story Nichols presents. It's one of, quite simply, love.

As Nichols showed with his previous films, Loving doesn't need big dramatic moments from its stars to make it effective. (Nor does it need passionate love scenes to show how Richard and Mildred feel for one another.) After all, less is more.

Loving is, well, lovely. It's perhaps the human film of the year, an accomplishment most strives to achieve but fails a majority of the time. Because of the work from Nichols, Edgerton and especially Negga, it's a work that becomes proof that love conquers hate.

My Rating: *****

Neruda

Where does the line between fiction and reality start to blur? At what point does that become acceptable? And, more specifically, when can it be used for storytelling?

Pablo Larraín's Neruda answers the latter question with some playful twists and turns. One would assume the film would be focusing on the Pablo Neruda (Luis Gnecco), the famed poet on the run from prosecution  for his involvement in the Communist Party. Instead, much of its focus is on Oscar Peluchoneau (Gael García Bernal), the police officer on Neruda's trail.

What Larraín shows with Neruda is a difference between how the two men live their lives. The poet (almost unsurprisingly) leads a life of alcohol-fueled soirees and prostitutes while the police officer has a more straight-laced existence. Naturally this distinction between private and personal lives is a common aspect throughout fiction but there's a notion of envy in this as well.

And it's the two lead performances of Neruda that make the film work. Between Gnecco's flamboyance and Bernal's stoicism, Larraín shows how both men handle life and its many changing elements. But at the same time, Larraín finds a similarity within these men.

Neruda has an unconventional way of storytelling, yes, but that's one of its charms. As he also did with Jackie, Larraín takes the expectations of an oft-attempted genre and turns it on its head. Here's hoping Larraín's career will be a successful one.

My Rating: ****1/2

Paterson

Life in itself may not offer anything of significance to some people. Sure, there are the many ups and downs but sometimes that's fine to those people. They're content with their day-to-day lives.

And the titular character (Adam Driver) of Jim Jarmusch's Paterson is no exception. He's a man of routine, every detail of his day barely changing. (His wife Laura (Golshifteh Farahani) is the polar opposite of him.) But it's how he carries on with his day that makes him both him and the film so interesting to watch.

There's also something interesting in how Paterson and Laura's mindsets work. Paterson is much more of a realist (though he writes poetry in his spare time). Laura, meanwhile, has a figurative and literal black-and-white way of thinking. It's this detail that shows why Jarmusch's one of the best directors working today.

Speaking of which, Driver has taken great lengths as of late to establish himself as an actor. (He has worked with the likes of Noah Baumbach and the Coen brothers in recent years.) Under Jarmusch's direction, he shows he's someone whose career you should keep an eye on.

Paterson makes for a good companion piece with Inside Llewyn Davis. (Coincidentally both films feature Driver.) It's a quiet glimpse into one's life, regardless of how remarkable it may appear to the outside world. But what matters is if they feel satisfied with how they spent their days.

My Rating: ****1/2

Elle

Any film that opens with a violent (but mercifully offscreen) rape is bound to be something of an unsettling nature. Throw in the fact its director is Paul Verhoeven (and its star is Isabelle Huppert), and the insanity goes through the roof. (And even that's an understatement.)

Yes, we've been treated to the likes of Basic Instinct and Showgirls from Verhoeven (and The Piano Teacher from Huppert), but there's something different about Elle that makes those earlier works pale in comparison. No doubt it has mostly to do with Michèle's (Huppert) general frame of mind but also from what happened in her past. (To say what it was would spoil the twisted nature of it all.)

Much like The Piano Teacher, Elle has Huppert exploring the darker elements within human nature. Often sporting a glare that makes Bette Davis' look flimsy, she won't let society's gender norms control her every movement. And like Michael Haneke's film, the results aren't pretty.

Of course it's what happens in the opening scene of Elle that sets the unhinged precedent of the film. The theme of rape culture comes up every now and again but Verhoeven turns those attitudes on their heads repeatedly. (It may be too much for some but it can be gleefully deranged.)

Elle is so phenomenally screwed up, it has to be seen to be believed. Usually Verhoeven's films that their shock value to the nth degree but this one takes the cake. (Honestly, how is he going to top this?)

My Rating: *****

Things to Come

What does one do when their marriage suddenly ends? Some might mourn over their spouse leaving them for someone else, others embrace their newfound freedom. But everyone reacts differently to certain things.

In Mia Hansen-Løve's Things to Come, Nathalie (Isabelle Huppert) takes the news of her husband leaving for another woman quite well. (Granted, she's trying to balance out her mother's erratic behavior and her philosophy class at once.) But once the separation starts to sink in, she begins to embrace her new independence.

It's possible that Hansen-Løve borrowed some cues from An Unmarried Woman for Things to Come. Both involve women of a certain age now free from their marriage and at first not sure what to do. But once time starts to pass, they begin to open up.

There's something about Huppert's performance in Things to Come that proves why she's one of the best actresses working today. She doesn't need that big scene to show what she's capable of, she just needs to be. (Also, it always seems to be female directors to utilize such performances from their actors.)

Things to Come may appear as an unassuming piece of fiction but it unfolds into something deeply reminiscent of the likes of Abbas Kiarostami. (Coincidentally, there's a scene where Nathalie is watching Certified Copy.) It's a depiction of life in its later stages and what one could expect from it all. (No one ever said it would be without its bumps in the road.)

My Rating: *****

By Sidney Lumet

There's no denying that Sidney Lumet was one of the all-time great directors. With a career spanning half a century, he made films that stood the test of time. But how did his mind work when he was making a film?

Nancy Buirski's By Sidney Lumet may have a few answers to some of those questions. Using an interview of Lumet's conducted a few years before his death in 2011, the documentary focuses on the auteur's lengthy career as well as some of his upbringing.

Also featuring clips of his various projects, the documentary uses them to coincide with what Lumet is talking about. (There's one point where he's discussing Lloyd Bridges' outburst while filming an episode for The Alcoa Hour.) There's no denying that storytelling can affect people; sometimes it can be the person telling the story themselves.

At one point in By Sidney Lumet, the director talks about the recurring theme of morality in his works, admitting it's not an entirely conscious decision to have it be there. Regardless of that, it's that element that makes his films so engaging. (Why else do you think people still talk about his work?)

By Sidney Lumet chronicles how he worked as an artist and how he conveyed his beliefs (both personal and religious) into his films. Buirski shows how Lumet was in fact as human as many of the works bearing his name. After all, what's a better way to endure a legacy than by admitting one's flaws?

My Rating: ****1/2

Lion

What would it be like to be removed from the comfortable world you're familiar with to one both figuratively and literally foreign to you? Naturally it'd be a jarring experience for anyone. But what if it happened at an impressionable age?

Garth Davis' Lion is a real-life account of such an instance. Based on Saroo Brierley's own experiences, it chronicles how he went from a small Indian village to be adopted by an Australian couple. And unlike other similar titles of this nature, it's not told from the perspective of a white supporting character.

Instead, it focuses on Brierley from beginning to end, first as an child (Sunny Pawar) then as a young adult (Dev Patel). Through both of these perspectives we see the sense of amazement and faint confusion as he discovers new things. (Grieg Fraser's cinematography adds to that sense of discovery.)

Of course with a film with a premise like this, Lion could've easily fallen flat on its face early on. But Davis ensures that doesn't happen, and the work from Pawar and Patel do the same. (There's also a more subdued moment from Nicole Kidman.) It's very affecting work from them all.

Lion is a quiet film about re-discovery and how one finds themself. Admittedly it does feel manipulative in some scenes but overall it's a film that works. Patel, who's been considerably underused since his breakout role in Slumdog Millionaire, will hopefully get more parts of notable quality because of his work here.

My Rating: ****1/2

The Salesman

At what cost does one's actions have on both them and those around them? Sometimes there are no repercussions for said actions, other times there are. Regardless of the outcome, very rarely does one emerge unscathed in the aftermath.

Asghar Farhadi's The Salesman focuses on a such a scenario. Focusing on a young couple as they move into a new apartment, things start to shift once they begin to settle in. And after an intruder breaks in, everything starts going downhill.

So where does the film's title originate? Farhadi has Arthur Miller to thank for that (the couple is in a production of Death of a Salesman). And there are shared elements between the two works. (To say what precisely would give both works away.)

Like what he did with A Separation, Farhadi provides a slow burn for the actions of The Salesman. He allows the audience to get to know its leads before the plot really kicks in. It's a delicate process that very few creators do well, and thankfully Farhadi is one such person.

The Salesman is a bewitching film. We crave to know what's going on in their quiet lives, it never dawns on us that we're intruding their privacy. And like A Separation, we're left wanting more as the credits start to roll. That's always a promising sign for any creator's work. Here's to a fruitful career for Farhadi.

My Rating: *****