AFTER LUCIA Movie Review – GFF 2013

Posted by Daniel Sarath - 02/19/2013 - Film Festivals, Movie Review, Movies

My rating

4/5

Few films have been able to depict the horror of high school bullying with more potency than Michel Franco’s superb After Lucia.

The director’s sophomore effort follows young Alejandra (Tessa Isa) and her father Roberto (Gonzalo Vega Jr.) as they move to a new town following the tragic death of Ale’s mother. Both are trying to pick their lives back up with Alejandra starting at a new school while her Dad opens a new restaurant. They quickly come to realize, however, that beginning again isn’t easy as Roberto struggles to get his business off the ground and, more importantly, our protagonist becomes the victim of mistreatment by her classmates.

Her bullying begins with a simple prank but slowly escalates over the course of After Lucia’s running time into a full-blown crescendo of real-life horror as Alejandra’s harassment becomes increasingly harrowing and traumatic. As she is beaten, mocked and in one shattering scene forced to eat a rotten birthday cake against her will, it’s hard to conceive that people could be so cruel but remains grounded in reality by the humane performance from Tessa Isa.

After Lucia’s authenticity is helped by Franco’s creative decision to shoot it with the cold, unflinching gaze of Michael Haneke’s films. With its long, still photography he refuses to allow the viewer respite as the heroine is subjected to the aforementioned physical, emotional and psychological abuse. It’s intentionally revolting, sickening and almost impossible to watch.

But in being so, After Lucia is one of the most powerful and authentic films ever composed about this subject. It staggeringly depicts the harmful group mentality of bored teenagers that cause bullying, shows how it can traumatize someone for a lifetime, and offers no naive solutions to the problem with Ale’s teachers and father unaware of the trouble while she herself is too broken and intimidated to speak out.

After Lucia is unsurprisingly a difficult watch. Franco’s methodical, calculated Cannes Film Festival winner makes you want to reach through the screen and put a stop to the horrific acts committed against Alejandra, but you’re helpless, forced to watch on and unable to interject. And therein lies its brilliance: the film is remarkable in not only portraying such atrocities but also capturing how impenetrable an issue bullying is to solve.

THE WE AND THE I Movie Review – GFF 2013

Posted by Daniel Sarath - 02/19/2013 - Film Festivals, Movie Review, Movies

My rating

4/5

After the catastrophic disaster of his high-budget The Green Hornet adaptation, Michel Gondry strips everything back for his latest release The We And The I which follows a kaleidoscope of teenage characters on the bus ride home from their last day of school for the summer. In this restricted setting, Gondry captures the life of a modern urban high school from the social cliques that divide people to the unique friendships and romances that bring them together.

The We And The I falls somewhere between a traditional American indie like Do The Right Thing and a French New Wave film like Breathless. Gondry captures with authenticity the dialogue, the relationships and the lifestyle of teenagers in urban New York. It’s embedded, furthermore, with the filmmaker’s trademark playfulness that excellently gives weight to the film’s youthful vibe. Flashbacks are told via cell phone video footage, for instance, while other moments give way to a comic surrealism.

But what has always been the biggest criticism of Michel Gondry’s films is still on display in The We And The I: his decision to favor style over substance. Though it has an aesthetic, atmosphere and rhythm to die for, not to mention a great hip-hop soundtrack, this is a film that, in terms of drama, quickly grows thin. Neither the characters nor their stories are quite fascinating enough to carry The We And The I for all of its 103 minutes.

But while the story is somewhat lacking the young cast of first-time performers and Michel Gondry’s stylistic direction, nonetheless, make The We And The I a treat. It’s laden with charisma and magnetism as we watch these teens embark on their journey home, their relationships changing and evolving in a way that captures the humour, angst and pain of being adolescent. It’s an interesting and much needed step away from the mainstream for Gondry and will hopefully reinvigorate the mischievousness that made Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind such a breakout hit back in 2004.

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING Movie Review – GFF 2013

Posted by Daniel Sarath - 02/06/2013 - Film Festivals, Movie Review, Movies

Joss Whedon tackles MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING to beautiful results. There’s an aurora of serenity in every frame, as if Whedon is on cinematic vacation.

THE ABCS OF DEATH – AFI Fest Review

Posted by Kristal Bailey - 11/09/2012 - Film Festivals, Movie Review, Movies

26 letters of the alphabet. 26 different ways to die. A fairly simple premise, but it’s the sheer absurdity and audacity of some of the shorts that make The ABCs of Death a surprisingly fun watch. Rather than go through all 26 shorts and break them them down, let’s just dwell on the few that truly [...]

HYDE PARK ON HUDSON – Starz Denver Film Festival Review

Posted by Brad McHargue - 11/07/2012 - Film Festivals, Movie Review

One of the first scenes in Roger Michell’s Hyde Park on Hudson features Laura Linney’s Daisy giving Bill Murray’s Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s a hand-job in the seat of his modified car, away from the prying eyes of security and, perhaps more importantly, his wife Eleanor. Its awkward and humorous, yet perfectly sets the scene for [...]

THE IMPOSSIBLE – AFI Film Fest Review

Posted by Eric Ambler - 11/05/2012 - Film Festivals, Movie Review, Movies

The overwhelming natural forces that separate a family are no match for the emotional forces that keep their hopes of reconciliation alive in The Impossible, a harrowing survival tale based on the true story of a beleaguered Spanish family during the devastating 2004 earthquake and tsunami in Southeast Asia. Henry Bennett (Ewan McGregor) and wife [...]

WEST OF MEMPHIS – AFI Film Fest Review

Posted by Eric Ambler - 11/04/2012 - Film Festivals, Movie Review, Movies

The case of the “West Memphis Three” is well-trod ground. Not only was it exhaustively examined by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky in their Paradise Now trilogy, but it’s also the subject of a new documentary, West of Memphis, directed by Amy Berg (Deliver Us From Evil) and co-produced by Hollywood mogul Peter Jackson. But unlike [...]

THE MOST FUN I’VE HAD EVER HAD WITH MY PANTS ON – AFI Film Fest Review

Posted by Kristal Bailey - 11/03/2012 - Film Festivals, Movie Review, Movies

Road trip movies almost always line up with an emotional journey that parellels the physical one. In the The Most Fun I’ve Hever Had With My Pants On, the film follows two childhood girlfriends named Andy, played by the writer-director Drew Denny, and Liv (Sarah Hagan) as they reunite to scatter Andy’s father’s ashes from LA to Austin where [...]

Telluride Horror Show 2012 Shorts Roundup

Posted by Gabriel Ruzin - 10/19/2012 - Film Festivals, Movie Review, Movies

The 2012 Telluride Horror Show screened over two dozen shorts and, as a particular lover of the shorts format, I managed to see almost every one of them. It would be wonderful if I had the time and inclination to review them all, but (sadly), I do not. However, for your reading pleasure, I cherry-picked [...]