Poor Things

 

What may be New Wave Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos's (The Lobster, 2015) finest film to date, Poor Things, based on Australian Tony McNamara's brilliant screenplay and on Scottish Alasdair Gray's 1992 novel of the same name, addresses social norms and behavior in a creative coming of age film.

Reminiscent of Shelley's Frankenstein, this 80^th Venice International Film Festival's Golden Lion winner, is an original steampunk, dark comedy-drama fantasy about a Victorian era woman, Bella Baxter (Emma Stone), who is brought back to life by disfigured scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe). She wakes up with a blank mind, without any memory of social constructs or conditioning. In her quest for self-discovery and independence, she leaves behind her fiancé Max McCandles (Ramy Youssef) and runs away with sleazy lawyer, Duncan Wedderbum (Mark Ruffalo).

The entire movie centers on Stone's superb, fluidic, transformative portrayal, showcasing her expansive performance arc. In addition, outstanding are performances by Ruffalo in his manipulative role and Dofoe in his confident and unorthodox portrayal.

Holly Waddington's costume designs, masterfully reflect Bella's personal evolution through her wardrobe, ranging from Bella's puffy silhouettes to a more, traditional corseted Victorian attire, and finally to bizarre, form-fitting, military-looking dresses.

Flawless are the makeup, hair and prothesis teams, Shona Heath's and James Price's elaborate set designs, as well as cinematographer Robbie Ryan's aesthetically dynamic, distorted visuals through the use of fish lenses. Principally photographed in Hungary, is the breathtaking panoramic scenery.

 

The Taste of Things (The Pot-Au-Feu)

After a 7 years gap, Vietnamese-French writer-director Tran Anh Hung returns with The Taste of Things, a historical romance drama, based on Marcel Rouff's 1924 novel, The Life and Passion of Dodin-Bouffant. The film is France's official submission for the Best International Feature Film category of the 96th Academy Awards in 2024. In addition, Hung is Cannes Film Festival's 2023 Best Director recipient.

Set in 1885's Anjou château, Eugénie (Juliette Binoche), has been a live-in head chef for 20 years for the renown gastronomic chef Dodin Bouffant (Benoît Magimel). Their shared passion for gourmet food developed into a harmonious, non-verbal expression of their love.

Luminous performances by Binoche and Magimel, two of today's biggest French cinema actors, in addition to Jonathan Ricquebourg’s exquisite cinematography highlight the simple pleasures of life.

Killers of the Flower Moon

 When it is discovered that the native Indian  town of Gray Horse, held by the Osage Nation in 1920's Oklahoma, contains large reserves of oil, tribe members became among the richest in the world.  

In the nearby Fairfax town of Osage county, William Hale (Robert De Niro) a prosperous cattle rancher and well respected philanthropist, encourages his nephew Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) to marry Mollie (Lily Gladstone), a full headright Osage member, with the scope of inheriting her wealth. 

When people start to inexplicably die, the Bureau of Investigations (the precursor of the FBI) begins a probe.

This epic and unsettling film adaptation by writer director Martin Scorsese, and co-writer Eric Roth (Forrest Gump), 

is based on American journalist David Grann's non-fiction book Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI (2017).

Performances are outstanding. De Niro's towering portrayal of an immoral person whose kind demeanor and disarming smile gains the tribe's confidence. DiCaprio's strong performance of a conflicted character, torn by his love for Mollie and his blind submissiveness to his uncle. Gladstone, the real heroine of the film, is magnetic and powerful in her composed, quiet but effective demeanor. Included is also a brief cameo appearance of Scorsese towards the feature's end.

Killers of the Flower Moon is Scorsese's first gangster with western iconography. Despite its 206 minute duration, it is well paced and packed with talent. Rodrigo Prieto's beautiful cinematography, blends of Bluegrass and Native American rhythms, as well as well developed characters and superb craftsmanship, add to the film's enjoyment. For improved accuracy, Scorsese immersed himself in the Osage culture, language and customs. All native clothes are period authentic and made by Osage designers.

Killers of the Flower Moon is a monumental achievement as well as a relevant and well crafted legacy.

Oppenheimer

This masterful historic biopic about the father of the atomic bomb tells the events that preceded and those that followed General Leslie Groves' (Matt Damon) 1942 appointment of J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) as Manhattan Project leader. Oppenheimer was to gather the world's top nuclear physicists to build an atomic weapon that will win the arms race.

Based on the book American Prometheus: The Tragedy and Triumph of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin (2005), writer director Nolan tells the story from Oppenheimer's perspective, focusing on what he knew, his emotions, and eventual bitter remorse and response to the long term effect of his actions.

Oppenheimer may be Nolan's best film to date. Despite being dense with information and the most verbal of his films (Inception, 2010; Tenet, 2020), Oppenheimer is a well balanced character study, with an outstanding script, as well as exceptional all star cast, most notably Robert Downey Jr. as U.S. Atomic Commission member Lewis Strauss and the tour de force performance of Cillian Murphy, and Emily Blunt as Kitty, Oppenheimer's wife.

A first for IMAX, is the use of alternating color and black and white scenes that Nolan uses to convey the difference between the subjective and objective, highlighted by Hoyte van Hoytema's stunning, intimate visuals.

A must see.

Maestro

In his homage to composer-conductor Leonard Bernstein (West Side Story, Mass, On the Town), Academy nominated Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born, Nightmare Alley) takes the dual role of director and lead actor, for the second time in his career. 

The briskly paced biographical musical drama is based on the original screenplay by Academy winner Josh Singer (Spotlight, 2015) and director and co-writer Bradley Cooper.

Maestro follows 25 years old Leonard Bernstein, (Bradley Cooper) from the time he meets his future wife Costa Rican-Chilean actress Felicia Montealegre (Carey Mulligan, Shame) at a New York party in 1946, to the launching of his career as a last minute stand-in for the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall, and the successful career that ensues. The feature's core, however, centers on his complicated 27 year marriage and his gay relationships, mostly with Tommy Cothran (Gideon Glick).

Mulligan's sparkling and powerful portrayal as the marriage's anchor and Cooper's immersive rendition of Bernstein's love for music are skillfully accentuated by Cinematographer Matthew Libatique's (Black Swan) scenic wide shots and long takes. His transitioning from black and white for the 1940's to full color in the 1970's, not only evoke period details but also a visual commentary.

Enhancing the scenes are the expertly researched period detail including the masterful aging by Academy winner Kazu Hiro's special makeup effects artistry, in addition to Kevin Thompson's production design, Liz Ainley and Rena DeAngelo's set decorations, and Andrew Ackland-Snow's art direction.

On the Adamant

Known for his humanistic interest in marginalized societies, 72 years old French documentarist Nicholas Philbert's latest film, On the Adamant (2023 Palm D'Or winner), masterfully portrays a    

patient-centered Parisian mental day care center on board a large,

wooden, floating house-like structure, permanently moored on the banks of the Seine river. 

The unique architecture of the Adamant Day Center  was designed in consultation 

with its patients as well as caregivers and opened in 2010.

The film covers Adamant Day Center's novel approach to psychiatry. In addition to psychosocial rehabilitation and medications, a warm, culturally enriched environment is provided. 

Patients engage in different forms of therapeutic workshops focusing on verbal, physical, artistic and cultural expressions such as photography, crafts, literature, dance, 

painting, music, acting and cinema among others. Patients also organize their own film festival every year and have impromptu concerts.

Philbert, best known for his documentary To Be and To Have (2002) along with his co-director, and previous collaborator, Psychiatrist Linda de Zitter (Every Little Thing, 1997), stayed on board the Adamant for several months filming. 

The result, is a gentle, compelling, non-narrative documentary in which patients freely and spontaneously express their thoughts, feelings and portray their daily lives.

With On the Adamant, Philbert creates a refreshingly original art-form, devoid of labels. People are not categorized as filmmakers, staff, caregivers or patients.

This captivating documentary about the unique structure, location, and approach to care of the Adamant, destigmatizes psychiatry while promoting an improved model of practice.