As a critic, I have been prone to fawning over the occasional arthouse movie. That isnāt to say that mainstream fare is lost on me. After watching so many superhero blockbusters, one longs for some originality. No better place than the film festivals to showcase more unique entries. Most audiences roll their eyes at pretentiousness, but still really good movies come out of the fray. Here is just a few of the cream sieved out for your perusal.
Over on Amazon Prime, āAnnetteā proves to be very unusual indeed. A musical drama set in the world of celebrity, Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard play a mis-matched couple on opposite ends of the performing spectrum. He is a shock stand-up comedian with a penchant for drinking and a cynical world-view. She is an opera singer, the darling of her profession. Americaās sweetheart and its eyesore, they are very much beauty and the beast. And the crowd and paparazzi eat them up like cake. Throughout the film there are TMZ-style news breaks with each new phase of their relationship.
Mentioning the music, the songs are literal ear-worms burrowing into your head for days. I had to buy the soundtrack just because of how obtuse but catchy the score was. Written by the band Sparks, brothers Ron and Russell Mael not only wrote the music but the story itself. Parts feel like a musical but in others it is almost modern opera. One particular sequence when a group of women come forward to denounce Driverās character Henry feels like Greek chorus. So does it when the audience sing back at Henry McHenry (yes, it is that type of story).
Director Leos Carax, who helped with the story and lyrics, has been known to make this type of out-there work before. This only being his sixth feature, he made the bizarre āThe Lovers on the Bridgeā with Juliette Binoche which burst him onto the scene. From there he returned with the racy āPola Xā and whatever āHoly Motorsā was. Each time he has never failed to astound with where his narratives lead. Nothing about the man shocks me.
When Cotillard, in this movie, gives birth to what is a marionette, my suggestion is just to run with it. In fact, so much was put into the puppetry and design, it didnāt take me out of it. If anything, this aspect just added to the already brilliant style. From the real-life streets of Los Angeles to the deck of a yacht in a maelstrom, the journey traversed with not be in vain. Easy to see why this won Carax best director at the Cannes film fest. Hope the Oscars not overlook this, especially in the music categories.
While browsing HBO Max late this summer, I came upon a short number by Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar called āThe Human Voice.ā Clocking in at only thirty minutes we follow Tilda Swinton as a woman waiting for her ex to show up to take his suitcase from her apartment. A break-up is clearly evident from the context. The director use of bright colors and dramatic lighting is present. But the apartment is clearly a mock-up, pointing to a sense of artifice.
True, the work is based on a play by French poet Jean Cocteau. However, Almodovar brings his own verve, adding a part where Swinton leaves to go to a hardware shop. The play has been filmed previously with the likes of Ingrid Bergman and Rosamund Pike. While those were more grounded in reality here the soundstage as backdrop doesnāt take away from Swintonās performance, if anything enhances it. When she yells or cries on the phone with her former lover, you feel it. The audience at Venice must have too. Happy viewing readers!
