The Secret Garden
I watched this one during my stay at the beach this August, at one evening I missed going to the theatre. Given that during my regular life I go there twice or three times a week, I had a kind of abstinence syndrome and was feeling blue because of some family thing that happened there. Going to the theatre is a healing experience for me, as it is my only 100% happy place where I can forget about my real life issues. And this movie was totally adequate for the mood I sought to feel.
I only knew that The Secret Garden is originally a typical orphan girl that revolves a big manor novel, à la Pollyanna or Anne of the Green Gables – having heard about it in a Simpsons episode -. So, I knew perfectly that I was going to cry and feel bliss – probably at the same time -. I was the only male in the screening, and my age was at least 12 years higher than the average age of the audience. And I believe I had a far better time than most of the other people there, given that many girls were on the phone many times.
I didn’t cry as much as I expected, but I really felt bliss. The main characters did it pretty well, and the ambiance was perfect, including some post-WWII and 1920s vibes and aesthetics. It abused a bit of CGI and digital effects, which is something I really don’t like too much, but the overall experience was too good to let that disturb me. I don’t know if the story was loyal to the original novel, but it was solid, had all the basic genre formulae and delivered much comfiness and warmth. I believe everybody needs to feel like an innocent child from time to time again to stay positive, and this movie certainly helps. I also was surprised to see Colin Firth portraying a tortured, “ugly” character instead a charismatic gentleman, and he did it pretty well too. Some actors surprise you.
Anyways, I think this movie has a lot more to offer than what the industry destined it to be – a preteen girl blockbuster -. I hope it can transcend a bit or at least remain as low-key niche modern classic. It has all the vibes to achieve it.
Tenet
Christopher Nolan’s movies are always a hit, anywhere you go in the world. I am not a huge fan of this man, however. I liked Inception a lot, but I feel his Batman movies are too overhyped. Perhaps it’s because I don’t like superheroes, so I am biased in this sense. I still have to watch Dunkerque, though.
I braced myself before going. I saw in Twitter that it was allegedly too difficult to understand and that you needed help in form of charts and relationship networks to get it. This was not the case for me. I found it very clear to follow, because it’s all planned from the beginning without risking anything to be left on air; yet it can be heavy to digest in some scenes due to their speed or excess of action and detail. Perhaps I’m weird because I like mindfucks, but my friends weren’t as sure as I was after the watch. In either case, it’s fun to speculate and talk about what we watched.
I can have doubts about Nolan, but I will never deny that his movies have a fantastic look – very American (gray, artificial, clean and mechanized), but fantastic in either case. All the money power of Hollywood stands in his side. And the main trio nailed at their work. I always loved Elizabeth Debicki, John Washington is a heavy weight for me ever since I watched Blackkklansman, and Robert Pattinson was the brightest star as the definitive bro. I remember having talked with people here about how his roles are weird, but in an awesome way, and how he excels at them. Curious, considering his beginning in Twilight.
And Kenneth Branagh is one of my favourite movie artists, so any work with him is a total yes from my part. Even if his role isn’t stereotypically Shakespearean, you always can notice his history and classical tincts in all his roles. He’s a total monster.
For me it was well-spent money. I think I will watch it again, with my parents this time.
Donnie Darko
This is the only one of the set that I didn’t watch in a theatre, but at a friend’s house. Given that many of my real-life friends know about my side as a movie geek, this concrete fella asked me for recommendations of a list he had. Donnie Darko was in it. I was interested too, so we arranged a boys’ night for drinking and watching it on Saturday.
My only knowledge about this movie was the creepy rabbit, and this was an enough reason to give it a shot. I wanted to see what the heck it revolved around. My father dislikes this movie and told me so, but given that he hates all kind of fantasies, I did not listen too much to him on this topic.
I kind of liked it. And I mean that it fulfilled what it intended on its audience: it made me wonder about what the heck I watched. I love this kind of experiences. After having discussed with my friends about our interpretations on it, we read the official explanation. It surprised me to see how solid Donnie Darko is within, at building its universe and the chain of events. One of my friends had watched it for a second time, and told us that it was the same thing as rewatching something like Stein’s; Gate or Monogatari. That you get more things and you see it in a different light. I will wait a year or so to watch it again and judge.
Overall, it also gave me similar vibes to American Beauty, with the obvious differences. But the setting and plot approach is similar in both works. And that’s a good thing. But I still prefer American Beauty. It’s more like a sphere, bolder and well-rounded, and Donnie Darko is like an arrow, daring and piercing, mind-blowing, but less three dimensional. But it doesn’t mean that I can’t appreciate its goodness. And I see why it is a cult classic and a movie for stoners, too.
The Father
And with this one, I return to my cinéphile side again. During my Tenet watch, one of the trailers shown introduced this movie, and while it didn’t look amazing, it gave me some vibes of being entertaining. So, following my instinct, I went to watch it yesterday.
This movie is, no more and no less, a Bulgarian dramatic comedy. Yes, it’s possible. And yes, it works fine. In fact, it gave me the same vibes as the German dramatic movie Toni Erdmann, but The Father is way better in my honest opinion.
A thing I noticed from many modern movies of the old Second World countries is that they always rely on a realist genre. The old USSR states during its last decades was certainly good at realist movies, as some of its satellite states were too, and you can notice that many modern schools from the East follow this tradition.
This movie, depicting the life in rural Bulgaria as the frame, introduces an absurd situation where a man and his elderly father engage in a sort of strange road trip with many moments of dry humour. You perceive that this movie does not intend to be overly hilarious, but takes itself very lightly. It’s like the base it builds itself upon is very heavy and serious as Bulgarian reality is, but the decoration and the substance are meant to be absurd, stupid and unlikely to happen while staying loyal to its roots and premise. I chuckled many times, because of this strange effect. The movie also stays solid all the time: it knows what it wants to tell and how it wants to be perceived and performs it with Slavic will. The direction in this sense is terrific.
For me it was a cool watch. Not the most amusing thing in the world, but worthy for spending an evening. And again, as I always say with all Second World movies: it’s very interesting to see the reality of cultures you barely hear of and how their people manage to show it while doing fine works of many approaches and genres.