Archive for September, 2015

Everest

Posted in Adventure, Biography, Drama, History, Sports with tags on September 28, 2015 by Mark Hobin

Everest photo starrating-4stars.jpgLace up your boots, strap on your pack, and let’s hit the trails. Everest concerns an ill-fated climbing expedition in 1996 to summit the world’s tallest mountain. The account mainly focuses on a crew in the Himalayas headed by Rob Hall (Jason Clarke), a guide for Adventure Consultants.

Everest has an extended cast of famous names. Most don’t get more than a few lines of dialogue, but nevertheless their familiar presence aids in our affinity for their characters. Rob’s clients include Beck Weathers (Josh Brolin), a seasoned hiker, Doug Hansen (John Hawkes), a former mailman pursuing his dream, and climbing veteran Yasuko Namba (Naoko Mori), who has scaled 6 of the 7 summits. Only Everest remains for her. Another excursion is led by Scott Fischer (Jake Gyllenhaal), the chief guide for Mountain Madness. These tourist treks highlight the commercialization of Everest, which is an underlying theme. Initially they happen to each meet at the base camp first, in preparation for their attempt to reach the apex. The two caravans communicate with Helen Wilton (Emily Watson), who manages the base camp compound. Everest is loosely inspired by the book Into Thin Air by Outside magazine journalist Jon Krakauer. He’s portrayed here by Michael Kelly.

Icelandic born director Baltasar Kormakur (Contraband, 2 Guns) ups the ante over his previous American films and produces something far more ambitious. Granted this isn’t intellectually deep or technically rich. Narratively it’s fairly straightforward. However there is grace in trusting that the genuine drama of the true story will captivate the viewer….and it does. Green screen technology is used sparingly. Everest was shot on location at Everest base camp. The Dolomite mountains in northern Italy stands in for higher elevations. At times, the chronicle has such a visceral quality, it almost feels like documentary. It does a nice job in depicting the physiological effects of the climb. At higher altitudes even breathing becomes a task because the percentage of oxygen in the air is lower. The conditions force the team to acclimate to the low atmospheric pressure first before continuing.

Everest is a rather simple tale about a quest that ended in tragedy. It’s an old fashioned rip roaring adventure ideally suited to the big screen. Early theater engagements were shown exclusively in IMAX 3D. The attributes of those formats serve this subject well. The visual splendor is beautifully conveyed. Sweeping vistas and aerial photography convey a sense of grandeur. One dizzy overhead shot above a high suspension bridge triggers feelings of acrophobia. This is a saga where nature is the enemy. A grueling storm, frostbite, blindless and the wind all threaten the safety of our courageous explorers. I am neither an experienced mountaineer nor was I present on the actual expedition. Therefore I am not here to vouch for the authenticity of facts of the sport or what really happened. What I am is a film critic, and I can say that Everest absolutely delivers thrilling entertainment.

09-24-15

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Sicario

Posted in Action, Crime, Drama with tags on September 26, 2015 by Mark Hobin

Sicario photo starrating-3andahalfstars.jpgWelcome to Juarez, a Mexican city along the U.S. border just across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas. Juarez is a battleground for drug cartels and one of the most violent places in the world. This is the setting for director Denis Villeneuve’s latest production which details an ever escalating war on drugs.

Sicario relies on a trio of solid performances. Emily Blunt plays Kate Macer, a naive FBI agent enlisted to aid in the capture of a dangerous drug lord. She runs a kidnap rescue team, but soon her talents will be pushed far beyond what she normally does. Right from the beginning, Sicario opens with a nightmarish find. Hidden within the plasterboard walls of a harmless looking home are dozens of corpses sealed in plastic bags. It’s a prelude to the vicious methods of the criminal organizations they wish to stop. Josh Brolin is the task force official in charge of the clandestine U.S. operation. Is he DEA? CIA? Something else? His affiliations aren’t clear as is the mysterious “consultant” they hire played by Benicio Del Toro. This the film’s most juicy role and he clearly relishes the part. Kate Macer is by the book. The rest of this crew, seemingly less so.

If there’s an MVP, it’s Roger Deakins’ cinematography. Once again working with Villeneuve (Prisoners), he extracts the art out of a grim drama. There are comprehensive aerial shots of the desert, a stunning night-vision raid, emotive close-ups in a climatic dinner scene. A convoy stopped to a standstill in a traffic jam at the U.S.-Mexico border is a heart-pounding set piece. Car chases are so cliche. Headless figures hung as a warning from an overpass, is a chilling image that lingers long after the picture is over. Jóhann Jóhannsson’s spare music with it’s punchy tones, is rather effective as well.  This is the same guy responsible for the lush orchestrations of The Theory of Everything. Talk about contrasts. It’s more sound design than melody, but the score mines a truly suspenseful feeling.

Sicario is an experience. An air of hopelessness permeates the atmosphere. This isn’t a detailed investigation. It’s a bleak mood piece that gives the viewer a you-are-there perspective. Director Villeneuve showcases the corrupt measures utilized to combat drug trafficking. Sicario is slang for “hitman” in Mexico and the simple title fits. The drama is minimalist, both in the articulated tale as well as style. As Emily Blunt plunges deeper into this sinister world, she registers confusion and uncertainty. To be honest, I wish the script had allowed her to be a bit more shrewd. Although we the audience can easily identify with her bewilderment. Who is this top secret U.S. Agency that she’s working for now? What has she gotten herself into exactly? And is there even a solution to the horrors of the illegal drug trade? So much ambiguity. We don’t get many answers, but such is life I suppose.

09-26-15

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The Second Mother

Posted in Drama with tags on September 25, 2015 by Mark Hobin

The Second Mother photo starrating-3stars.jpgThe Second Mother is the story of Val (Regina Casé), a maid who works in São Paulo. She has been the live-in housekeeper/nanny for the same family for over a decade. They are father (Lourenço Mutarelli), mother (Karine Teles) and son Fabinho (Michel Joelsas).  Val has a daughter herself named Jessica (Camila Márdila), whom she hasn’t seen in 13 years. Left in the care of relatives back in their small village in Pernambuco, Val has been sending money all these years so her daughter can have a better life and education. Then one day, Jessica decides to come stay in São Paulo in order to take a university admissions exam. Living with Mom and her bosses creates problems.

The Second Mother is essentially a movie about relationships. Writer/director Anna Muylaert is particularly focused on the idea of motherhood. The Brazilian film was originally titled: Que Horas Ela Volta? which literally translates as “What time will she return?”  It’s a chronicle of this woman Val.  The affinity between the wealthy employer’s son who adores her is contradicted by her biological daughter Jessica who holds a grudge.  Their psychological divide is emphasized.  Val is a very humble woman who understands her “place”. Her newly arrived daughter however, does not. Sleeping arrangements, the swimming pool, and even some choice ice cream, all become a bone of contention. Jessica’s forceful, almost arrogant conduct sparks a mixed reaction from the various members of the household. They have always treated their housekeeper with respect, but unspoken class distinctions are brought to the fore as a result of Jessica’s behavior.

At the heart of The Second Mother is a warm, humorous, gently nuanced performance from Regina Casé, a veteran actress of the Brazilian stage and TV. Her daughter’s contemptuous attitude arises out of Jessica’s refusal to accept the social class disparity that separates her mother from her supervisors. Val’s exasperated protestations are amusing, but also quite reasonable. You sympathize with Val. There is a resilience and dignity to her within her deferential demeanor. Her strained relationship with her own daughter is contrasted with the beloved esteem to which her employers’ son, regards her.  And why shouldn’t he? Val raised him from a toddler to adolescence, while her biological offspring is but a stranger to her. Ironically Fabinho’s connection with his own mother is more distant. This slight, at times inconsequential drama, ambles along at a leisurely pace through a series of circumstances that underlie hierarchical social categories in South American life. The examination culminates more with a whimper than a bang, but the journey to get there is fairly interesting nonetheless.

09-15-15

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Black Mass

Posted in Biography, Crime, Drama on September 18, 2015 by Mark Hobin

Black Mass photo starrating-3andahalfstars.jpgBlack Mass is the true story of Whitey Bulger, an organized crime boss of the Boston Irish mob faction known as the Winter Hill Gang. Indicted for 19 murders and sentenced to two consecutive life terms plus five years for his offenses on November 14, 2013, he is currently incarcerated. Prior to this, starting in 1975, Bulger served as an FBI informant. He reported on the inner workings of his rivals, the Italian American Patriarca crime family. In exchange, the bureau turned a blind eye to murder. His organization and their illegal doings went unchecked for years. Once Bulger’s relationship with the FBI was finally exposed by the local media, he went into hiding on December 23, 1994. For 12 of the 16 years he was on the lam, Bulger was #2 on the FBI’s Most Wanted Fugitives list, behind only Osama bin Laden.

The infamous Whitey Bulger has been the stuff of legend in popular culture. In 2006 actor Jack Nicholson portrayed Frank Costello, an individual loosely based on Bulger, in The Departed. The reference is especially apropos because Black Mass frequently calls Martin Scorsese to mind. Not just the Best Picture winner, but Goodfellas as well. Watch Johnny Depp rebuke an FBI agent for too readily revealing his “secret” family recipe for a marinade. The intensity with which he takes him to task for a seemingly honest remark, evokes Joe Pesci’s iconic “How am I funny?” scene in Goodfellas.

Black Mass is a well acted character piece. Joel Edgerton is important as John Connolly, the FBI agent who strikes up an alliance with Bulger, abetted by their childhood friendship. Also Benedict Cumberbatch as Bulger’s more respectable brother who chose the political world instead. Billy Bulger was President of the Massachusetts Senate for 18 years. Also of note is is Julianne Nicholson as the wife of John Connolly, who wants nothing to do with her husband’s schemes, and Corey Stoll as no-nonsense prosecutor Fred Wyshak. The latter two take nothing parts and turn them into the kind of roles that justify Oscar campaigns.

The only one that comes up a bit short is its star. I’ll admit, this is the most captivating Johnny Depp has been since Finding Neverland. He’s engaging and fully committed to the portrayal. Bulger is a frightening figure, as mean as they come. He’ll choke a friend’s stepdaughter with his bare hands if he thinks she might know too much. Regrettably his performance must still rely on an elaborate Tim Burton-style makeup job to “age” Depp into the role. The thinning blonde hair, brushed back to reveal a bald scalp, the rotten teeth, the ghostly, icy blue eyes aided by contacts. His pale, angular appearance makes him somewhat unrecognizable, but the transformation is distracting. It’s exaggerated, unnatural. He preys upon the innocent like a seething vampire. I remember back in 2012, critics were comparing Johnny Depp in Dark Shadows to Nosferatu. Well it’s happening all over again.

Black Mass is a solid, well-structured crime drama. The production is handsomely mounted. The cinematography is well photographed. The account doesn’t hold back from what a horrible man Bulger truly was. He puts a bullet in the head of a contrite friend in mid apology. It’s got brutal events carefully detailed in a fascinating true life tale of corruption. So what’s the problem? It’s a well presented series of facts, but it’s not much more. The studied approach requires passion. The film’s deliberate pace is so stately, it’s almost lethargic. In short, it lacks momentum and depth. It’s entertaining enough, a gripping character study bolstered by a supporting cast of earnest performances. However Black Mass won’t join the ranks of the greatest crime dramas. Along the way it often recalls them, but it pales in comparison.

09-17-15

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Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine

Posted in Documentary on September 17, 2015 by Mark Hobin

Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine photo starrating-4stars.jpgRemember when Steve Jobs swindled Steve Wozniak out of 90% of his share of payment for work they did on Atari’s ‘Breakout’ game?

How about when he denied his own daughter claiming in court documents that he was infertile so fathering a child was impossible for him?

Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine will undoubtedly be a wake up call to anyone who readily consumes his fastidiously cultivated public persona. If you worshiped the man as this beatific deity before, then you’re in for a rude awakening. This informational account doesn’t deny the fact he was an esteemed man and a genius, by the way. In fact it firmly cements his brilliance and furthers his immortality. But it’s also a study in contrasts. How a highly regarded man who invented things beloved by millions, did some undeniably horrible things.

The Apple corporation has always maintained a carefully fabricated public image. “Think Different” was a slogan Apple promoted beginning in 1997. They were David going against the indomitable Goliath that was IBM. Apple’s iconic 1984 ad that introduced the “free thinking” Macintosh computer to a legion of mindless zombies held in captive thought by a “Big Brother” like presence. Much lauded American documentarian Alex Gibney (Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks) makes a strong case that Apple ultimately became Goliath. From illegal “no-poaching” agreements with other Silicon Valley companies to FoxConn, the Chinese factory where iPhones are assembled to SEC charges over the back-dating of stock options to a raid on Gizmodo editor Jason Chen’s home – distressing stories pile up one by one. The abuses are many.

I suppose what one takes away from Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine depends a lot on what you already know about the man. The documentary opens as an investigation that questions the cult of Steve Jobs. If you worship the man now, then you’re not likely to change your opinion even when confronted with some pretty heinous truths. The chronicle even acknowledges this fact. The church of Apple with Steve Jobs as its god, is like a religion for some. He was unrelenting in his quest to create devices that didn’t just reflect you, there WERE you. Director Alex Gibney presents a a meticulously researched film. He assembles some fascinating interviews with early colleagues and friends. These include Steve Wozniak, Daniel Kottke, Bob Belleville, Andy Grignon and Chrisann Brennan. Each one individually provides an intimate albeit partial view. However these as well as many others put together provide a more complete and compelling window into the true nature of the man. Indeed he changed the world for the better. But he left a lot of causalities in his wake.

09-15-15

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The Visit

Posted in Comedy, Horror with tags on September 15, 2015 by Mark Hobin

The Visit photo starrating-2stars.jpgThe good news is that The Visit is M. Night Shyamalan’s best film in a decade. The bad news is that it’s still nothing to write home about. The perennial letdown hasn’t directed anything satisfying since 2002’s Signs. As of this writing, that was 13 years ago and with each passing year, the possibility of another gem like The Sixth Sense becomes less and less likely. However The Visit warrants some praise. He’s working with a much lower budget this time around, so the expectation for an “event” movie is gone. This is a much more restrained affair. Additionally, the lighthearted drama frequently veers away from standard horror into outright comedy. The two characteristics are enough to lift this out of the execrable muck from which his work usually descends. However, that still doesn’t mean it’s enjoyable.

Becca (Olivia DeJonge) and Tyler (Ed Oxenbould) are two annoyingly precocious teenagers who board a train alone. [Random aside: Oxenbould is the reincarnation of young 80s actor Joshua John Miller (River’s Edge, Near Dark)] Tyler is an enthusiastic rapper. It’s not clear whether this suburban white boy’s rhyming skills are supposed to be humorous or endearing. Grating is a word that comes to mind. Anyway, the two kids are on their way to meeting their grandparents for the very first time. That’s right, they’ve never met. Mom (Kathryn Hahn) had a falling out with her parents 15 years prior and so Nana (Deanna Dunagan) and Pop Pop (Peter McRobbie) have been estranged from the family for all this time.

Here’s where things go from adequate to unbearable. Becca is an aspiring filmmaker and wants to capture her visit for posterity. The movie we’re watching is her shaky cam footage of everything she views. Her brother Tyler is also given a camera so more than one point of view shot can be rationalized . Naturally M. Night Shyamalan is actually the one responsible for this approach. We get these headache inducing shots that switch back and forth between the two camcorders in an effort to record everything. Even when a device is dropped on the ground, it still conveniently captures the important action. This cinematographic style adds no value to the account other than to create a nuisance. It’s shtick and it doesn’t serve the story.

The Visit has a decent foundation. Kids stay with grandparents that are complete strangers to them.  Nana and Pop Pop are seemingly well meaning old people. Their initial impression is warm and pleasant. Then things change when the sun goes down. Their behavior becomes erratic, in essence bizarre. Nana roams the house at night in various states of undress. She vomits on the floor and scratches at the walls. Pop-pop keeps his soiled adult diapers in the woodshed, attacks a stranger on the street and delusionally dresses in formal wear for a nonexistent costume party. Are they suffering from aging mental disorders or is there something even more sinister afoot? The chronicle marks the kids’ vacation time with five title cards, one for each day of their trip. The first person shaky cam perspective only obscures an empty narrative. The gimmick takes what could’ve been a passable time filler into something interminable. Right around the halfway point you’ll realize there’s no plot. That is, of course, until that inevitable “twist” that in no way justifies the long-drawn-out set-up. Apparently M. Night Shyamalan knows no other way to creatively end a story. The movie is a mere 94 minutes. Yet you’ll be begging for that final Friday title card way before it appears.

09-10-15

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Stripes

Posted in Comedy, War on September 11, 2015 by Mark Hobin

Stripes photo starrating-3andahalfstars.jpgAll around screw-up John Winger loses his car, girlfriend, apartment and job as a taxi driver, all within a few hours. After seeing an ad on TV, he decides joining the army is the answer. With his friend Russell Ziskey, they go down to the local recruiting center to enlist. Bill Murray and Harold Ramis enter boot camp, make a lot of wisecracks and show off the lighter side of basic training. This American military comedy was a massive summer hit in 1981 and further cemented the popularity of rising star Bill Murray who had previously scored big with both Meatballs and Caddyshack in each of the two prior years.

Director Ivan Reitman would most successfully direct Bill Murray and Harold Ramis in Ghostbusters. Here he keeps things much looser in this meandering comedy that comes across as kind of sloppy in parts. Every major plot thread in the movie is a bit bewildering. To be quite honest, that’s a significant component of the film’s charm. Don’t try to reason why being late to your own graduation ceremony and then giving an utterly unconventional (albeit coordinated) drill display, earns you the accordance of even greater respectability.

General Barnicke: Are you telling me that you men finished your training on your own?
John Winger: That’s the fact, Jack.
Soldiers: That’s the fact, Jack!

Impressed, the General decides these are just the ambitious men he wants guarding a top secret EM-50 Urban Assault Vehicle. Incidentally, it looks like a Winnebago. The men are sent to Italy to guard the weapon. Here’s where the narrative falls apart. John and Russell basically run afoul over there. One thing leads to another and they end up taking on the Communists.

There are segments that make this seem more like a relic than the blockbuster comedy it became. Early in the film, when John returns home, his girlfriend Anita (Roberta Leighton) is casually walking around the apartment topless. Later the boys go to a bikini bar to participate in a mud wrestling match. It’s a protracted scene.  Gratuitous nudity was a hallmark of 80s comedies and this one employed it more than most.  Oh and apparently women are simply putty in the hands of Bill Murray. At one point, he gives his sweetheart (P.J. Soles) what he calls “The Aunt Jemima Treatment”. That’s where he charms her skeptical exterior by throwing her onto a stovetop and shoving a spatula into her crotch. It ends with her admitting that’s she’s “helplessly, hopelessly, deeply in love” with him. Something tells me this would end differently in the real world

It’s odd how a comedy from 1981 can seem more outdated than say one from 1961. Irreverent is the nicest way to put it. That’s not to say Stripes isn’t worth watching. It’s occasionally hilarious. At the time, the film was the third on which Harold Ramis collaborated with Bill Murray, but the first in which the two actually appeared on camera together. The chemistry of their effortless friendship in real life, easily translates on screen. There’s some terrific moments leading up to their arrival at Fort Arnold. The meet-and-greet scene in the Army barracks is a highlight for everyone involved. Ox (John Candy) and Psycho (Conrad Dunn) have amusing introductions. Legend has it that Bill Murray’s “Chicks Dig Me” speech, including the bit about Lee Harvey and the cow, was improvised, Their basic training and on through their graduation feature some extremely funny bits. Unfortunately the dramatic momentum runs out of steam during the final act. Up until then, it’s quite entertaining. Nostalgic viewers old enough to have originally seen it during the 80s should enjoy it even more.

09-09-15

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The Diary of a Teenage Girl

Posted in Drama with tags on September 9, 2015 by Mark Hobin

diary_of_a_teenage_girlSTARS3The Diary of a Teenage Girl is based on the graphic novel of the same name by Phoebe Gloeckner.  The chronicle details the troubled (and troubling) life of young Minnie Goetze, a 15-year-old girl in 1976.  She and her younger sister are raised by their single, bohemian mother Charlotte in San Francisco.  Although the maternal association one has with the word “mother” might not properly convey this frequently dazed, free-spirited hippie.  Perhaps “roommate” is more apropos.  When Minnie’s mother is too busy to go out with her boyfriend Monroe one day, Charlotte spontaneously suggests he take Minnie instead.  Do you see where this is heading? If not, bless your pure heart.  What starts out as an innocent outing develops into a flirtatious exchange.  Beside the fact that he is already dating her mother, that Monroe is 35 should cause considerable shock in any mentally sound human being.

Writer/director Marielle Heller has received a lot of credit for bringing Phoebe Gloeckner’s semi-autobiographical novel to life.  There’s been plenty of praise for the indie coming-of-age story.  The cognoscenti are fond of describing its frank depiction of sexuality as an “honest” meditation on adolescence.  Some have invoked the name of J. D. Salinger.  Given the title, much of the action is presented in voice-over narration to communicate the thoughts and feelings of our title character.  Minnie likes to draw and her style references cartoonist Robert Crumb as well as his future wife Aline Kominsky.  In fact, Minnie admires her so much that Aline occasionally appears in cartoon form to impart wisdom and life lessons.  Minnie also confides in her best friend Kimmie (Madeleine Waters). All of this informs a deep portrait of a life.  She is a young woman on the precipice of burgeoning desire.  Shy and unsure, she doesn’t see herself as beautiful.  Nevertheless, she finds she attracts attention from the opposite sex, without even trying.  This gives her the confidence to assert herself.  She begins to understand how her sexuality influences people.  This coming of age informs the dramatic thrust of the story.

The plot developments are indeed disconcerting.  There’s no justification for a man of 35 and a girl of 15 to engage in this type of relationship.  Let’s be candid, we’re talking about statutory rape.  But strangely, the affair is never presented as predatory or abnormal.  Monroe is such a kind, supportive, almost uplifting presence in her life.  Minnie seems to benefit from his guidance.  She never comes across as a victim, but rather an uninhibited girl with an inquisitive mind…and body.  Their interactions aren’t erotic, but they are empowering for her.  Their connection deepens into something more than physical.  Whether this lack of judgment or comeuppance is something to applaud is certainly questionable.  As her life goes even more completely off the rails, the narrative ultimately finds a moral center within its worldview.  An LSD trip is actually responsible for her moment of clarity.  The account can be disturbing, but it’s so emotionally heartfelt that it never devolves into something exploitative.  23-year-old actress Bel Powley believably portrays young Minnie.  The gossamer nostalgia hearkens backs to tales of growing up like Summer of ’42.  I’ll give it this: the production is an artistically filmed period piece.  It recreates the sensibilities of a faction of people for a particular time and place with perfect authenticity.

09-03-15

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Phoenix

Posted in Drama, Mystery with tags on September 2, 2015 by Mark Hobin

PhoenixSTARS3.5Spare, naturalistic drama about a woman who makes it out of Auschwitz. The setting is Berlin. The time 1945, post World War II. Nelly is a German Jew and a Holocaust survivor. Injured and left for dead by the Nazis. Her face now wrapped in gauze as a result of a gunshot wound to the face. A disfigurement occurring even before the picture has even started. She is accompanied by her good friend Lene (Nina Kunzendorf) who drives her back into Germany through an American checkpoint. Nelly wants to locate her husband Johannes (Ronald Zehrfeld) nicknamed ‘Johnny’, who happens to be a non-Jew. Lene would rather have both of them just leave the country without him, move to Palestine and help establish a Jewish state. However, Nelly is troubled by the past, not the future. To reunite with her erstwhile spouse is her main objective.

Phoenix concerns people picking up the pieces of their lives after the war. German director Christian Petzold has worked in this realm with Nina Hoss previously. This is his 6th movie with her as his muse. In the story, her physical and emotional identity has been obliterated. Her surgeon wishes to “re-create” her, to give her a new face and hence a new identity. Despite his recommendation, she wants to looks exactly as she did. The drastic reconstructive surgery is an unbelievable success. Save for a few minor facial scars, Nina is remarkably beautiful. She looks like herself, but then again she doesn’t. She appears different enough that her own husband doesn’t recognize her. Yet there are still enough similarities to her previous physical appearance to suggest a resemblence. The whole conceit strains credibility, so don’t think about it too hard.

There’s a lot of ambiguity here. Pale and thin, she has returned like a ghost in search of her past. She visits the bombed out rubble of her bygone home like a specter floating over the ruins. Nina was a singer before the war. Her husband, a pianist. As a Holocaust survivor, Nelly has risen from the ashes of the past. Phoenix symbolically describes her progress, but it’s also the name of the club at which she finds her husband working. Kurt Weill’s melody, “Speak Low” is a recurring score that pops up here and there. The tone of the drama is pensive and atmospherically haunting, but it’s very vague. The way these two souls interact is a long drawn out game of deception and remembrance. You’ll have lots of questions as the narrative unfolds. What exactly are these people thinking? Their tentative relationship is based on cryptic intentions. Director Christian Petzold keeps all of these questions unanswered on purpose as Nina goes in search of her former self and for truth. Just simmer for awhile in the pensive mood. The mystery ultimately builds to a perfectly constructed moment of clarity.

08-27-15

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