Annette [2021]

Coming nearly a decade after his previous feature – the manic, befuddling, flamboyantly experimental and absolutely fabulous avant-garde gem Holy Motors – Annette was perhaps a culmination of Leos Carax’s love affair with musical rhapsodies. While they made for memorable sequences in his earlier films, he decided to make a full-fledged musical, or a rock opera if you will, along the lines of an effusive “Classic Hollywood” romantic paean, meets the world of Jacques Demy where even spoken dialogues were sung, meets a twisted fairy tale that was his own. The resulting work – borne out of his collaboration with Ron and Russell Mael of Sparks, who wrote the story and also composed the songs – was, on one hand, maximalist and unapologetically grandiose, while also, on the other, maudlin, superficial and oftentimes uninvolving but for a few bold bursts. Suffice it to say, therefore, that despite infusion of a dark world-view, brooding atmosphere, commentaries on toxic masculinity and consumerist exploitation, and moments of striking sexuality and violence rarely associated with this genre, it was otherwise too simplistic, straightforward and psychologically shallow to create much of an impact. The tale revolved around the tragic relationship between a provocative stand-up comedian (Adam Driver) and famous opera singer (Marion Cotillard) – two people who couldn’t be more different – and the truly weird eponymous kid that they give birth to. An ingenious opening sequence, featuring the song ‘So May We Start’ shot in a glorious single-take, set the ball rolling, but balance songs, for most parts, weren’t as engaging as I’d hoped for. Further, while Driver brought in a raw, destructive energy to the role, it was unfortunate that an actress as talented as Cotillard remained under-utilized.

 

 

 
 

 

 

Director: Leos Carax

Genre: Musical/Romance/Showbiz Satire

Language: English

Country: France

No Time To Die [2021]

 There are few absolutes in life, but one of those is the fact that Daniel Craig completely redefined James Bond. He provided the franchise – which had become staid, sagging and plain uninspired – with a dramatic fillip by replacing slick, over-stylized, blasé depictions of ubercool with a gritty, grimy and gripping palette, so much so that the first three (of the five) films starring him remain by some distance the best “Double-O 7” movies ever made and strong spy thrillers too. This tectonic shift was heralded by the exceptionally thrilling Casino Royale, and things were taken a notch higher in the brilliantly topical Quantum of Solace – my personal favourite of the lot – and the dark, visceral Skyfall. The curve, however, went south with Spectre, especially through introduction of a typically all-powerful, megalomaniac, sociopathic super-villain – something that Bond movies are overstuffed with, but which the above three had intelligently sidestepped – and that annoying facet was continued in No Time to Die. But, that aside, Craig’s last hurrah as a bruised, battered and beleaguered Bond – he’s decided to retire but his past inevitably catches up with him– was interesting, if uneven. Its first half, in fact, was spectacular – covering a mysterious flashback; a leisurely vacation with his fiancée Madeleine (Léa Seydoux) that gets explosively ambushed; a high tech robbery; an engaging, extended sequence in Jamaica involving a new 007 (Lashana Lynch), Bond’s final get-together with Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright), and a sassy CIA agent (Ana de Armas); his antagonistic reconnect with M (Ralph Fiennes); and an ominous but brief reintroduction of Blofeld (Christopher Waltz). The rather bloated second half and overlong climax featuring a tepid super-villain (Rami Malek), however, were big downers.

 

 

 

 

Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga

Genre: Spy Thriller/Action

Language: English

Country: UK

Jojo Rabbit [2019]

Comedy (or humour), as the adage goes, equals tragedy plus time; and this does open up artistic and political possibilities in terms of deploying ironic, absurdist, darkly humorous portrayals of subjects that demand seriousness in the “present”. Furthermore, movies have also, over the years, chronicled horrors and devastations through the eyes of kids – from Germany Year Zero, Ivan’s Childhood and Cria Cuervos to Life is Beautiful, Pan’s Labyrinth and Turtles Can Fly. However, if this combination borders on flippant, shallow and simplistic, sacrificing complexity for cuteness and easy guffaws, and is filled with easy sentimentality and pat humanism, for a subject as dark and monstrous as the Holocaust, things can get squeaky and problematic, even if there’re loads of whimsy and playful ingenuity. That, in short, defines Taiki Watiti’s “anti-hate satire” Jojo Rabbit. That it was moderately engaging, had funny moments and was based on an interesting premise with a lot of potential, is beside the point. The film’s protagonist is 10-year old Jojo (Roman Griffin Davis), a Nazi fanatic and member of the Hitler Youth living with her mother Rosie (Scarlett Johansson) during the last days of WWII. His mother is part of the Resistance and hence is mostly out; his father’s at the Italian front; he’s often bullied for his lack of ability to inflict cruelty; and he has an imaginary friend in the form of a goofy Hitler (Watiti). His rabid love for anything Nazi, however, hits a strange roadblock when he finds Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie), a 16-year old Jewish girl, hidden in their home; and, despite his preconceived notion about Jews courtesy the propaganda all around him, he starts developing a crush for her.

Director: Taika Waititi
Genre: Comedy/Black Comedy/Political Satire
Language: English
Country: US

Snowpiercer [2013]

Snowpiercer, gifted Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho’s adaptation of a French graphic novel and his English-language debut, is a dystopian and futuristic sci-fi thrillers. With the world made inhabitable due to freezing temperatures, the last surviving members of the human race have become passengers in a train driven by a perpetual engine. The elaborately designed train, which is a closed ecosystem, provided a stark but over-emphasized metaphor for society’s class system where the rich enjoy at the cost of the poor. Thus, as can be expected, the rich wants to ensure continuance of the status quo while the poor wants to challenge it, with use of violence being a necessary tool for both the sides. Despite the massive odds placed before him, Curtis (Chris Evans) isn’t deterred from sparking the latest armed revolt to take control of the train and reverse the scenario for residents of the rear section who are forever at the receiving end of oppression, injustice and punishments. It also stars John Hurt as a wise but old and crippled leader of the Tail Section, Tilda Swinton as the grotesque enforcer for the Front Section, Song Kang-ho as the man who’d designed the train’s lock system, and Ed Harris as the leader of the Front Section. The train’s interiors were marvelously designed, with the grimy, grungy and claustrophobic art décor of the tail section providing for striking visual juxtaposition to the front section. The fast-moving script, except for the rather stretched climax, ingenuity of plot and nicely choreographed action sequences, added to the thrills. However, this would possibly rank as Bong’s weakest work so far, with the plot-holes, ludicrosity of proceedings, and lack of characterizations restricting it to just a muscular genre exercise.

Director: Bong Joon-ho
Genre: Thriller/Sci-Fi Thriller
Language: English/Korean
Country: South Korea