A young NASA scientist named Isaac (Ryan Masson) becomes obsessed with finding proof of extraterrestrials after a close encounter.
We live in a world where we are basically oversaturated with deeply depressing with dark themes. That’s not a bad thing at all, though, don’t get me wrong. In fact, my favorite movies of all time are those that make you think long after the credits roll. One of the best examples of a science fiction movie, in particular, being immensely interesting and enthralling all the way to the end is Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.
But sometimes, you just want to watch a movie that is going to entertain you and will leave you feeling perhaps a little bit nostalgic. Eric Demeusy’s Proximity is exactly that type of movie and it’s such a delight. It never really takes itself too seriously and instead opts for more lighthearted thrills while also managing to tell a compelling story of love amidst the alien story.
One of the reasons why this movie works as well as it does is thanks to the performances from the two lead actors, those being Ryan Masson and Highdee Kuan. Together, they deliver some of the strongest performances of the entire year thus far. They are asked to do quite a bit emotionally, oftentimes having to show their emotions with just facial expressions and they make it look easy.
Not only that, but their chemistry together felt quite strong. It genuinely seemed as though they had known each other in real life for many years and were close friends. In addition to that, their characters were developed in satisfying and interesting ways. By the end of the film, I did find myself wrapped up in their stories and I was glad that I was able to go on a journey with them.
Although that journey is incredibly fun and gives off major Steven Spielberg vibes in all the best ways, this movie can be a little bit too goofy for its own good at times. There are several scenes in which our protagonists are on the run from futuristic soldiers complete with laser guns and everything. These scenes sadly broke a lot of tension that was otherwise planted very well within the movie’s storyline.
Furthermore, the main villain here was not only quite predictable but was similarly corny and over-the-top. The motivations behind why they are doing what they are doing aren’t ever made too clear, and instead, they come across as one-note and incredibly flat.
But none of that takes away from the fact that this film was, as a whole, quite entertaining and is a greatly lighthearted watch. It won’t grip you and take you on a rollercoaster ride of emotions or anything like that, but it will more than likely put a smile on your face and will even make you nostalgic thanks to its influences from 80s films such as E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. How can you go wrong with that?
Proximity is an enjoyable, nostalgic blast to the past, even if its villain and certain story beats are a bit familiar and goofy.
Shepherds In The Cave: Review – The shepherd has a responsibility offering humanity a guarantee that natural laws will be respected. There are spaces that exist to be travelled across and spaces that exist to be cultivated. The shepherd must know and respect these rules that are part of a social conflict between the shepherd and farmer. The shepherd recognises and respects the growth of the flock because this brings serenity.
As a child in the south-eastern Italian region of Puglia, Tonio Creanza helped harvest the durum wheat, vineyards, and olive tree cultivation on his family farm, while constantly observing archaeological features – cave settlements and frescos – which were all part of his daily landscape. Always curious about these artefacts, he questioned where they came from and which culture they were related to. Turning his childhood curiosity into a career as an archaeologist, Tonio travelled the world until he was summonsed home to help harvest the olives. From 1995 he organised the first archaeological workshop at the site of Jesce, Fornello, a transportation stop during the Roman empire along the Via Appia (Appian Way).
A self-confessed pragmatist and idealist who acts, Tonio named the project Eutropia, after the imaginary city in Italo Calvino’s novel Invisible Cities. It was to be a place where people would meet and trade experiences, while coming into contact with grassroots cultural conservation. Restoration of stone walls and frescoes, and the cleaning of caves took place and the group continued in an unofficial capacity for fifteen years. According to Tonio, the municipality just had other more urgent matters to attend to so they handed them the keys and left them to it.
It was a way of avoiding the habitual red-tape that had previously prevented projects progressing, but at the same time meant that sites and museums which held all the artefacts, had appeared to have been mismanaged: “In a country like Italy, where there’s a tremendous amount of antiquity, the question is where to spend the available funds”. Now officially called The Fornello Restoration Project, this cultural conservation initiative founded by Tonio and agronomist Giovanni Ragone, is devoted to restoring medieval frescoes and traditional cultural practices in an extensive network of caves near Altamura.
The project continues to welcome groups of people for twelve days each summer, all working together on sites in Altamura and Puglia, Matera & Metaponto. Participants come from all over the world, a working vacation for some and research gathering for others. Sites previously owned by farmers, some now owned by the municipality, continue to be in daily use. The caves continue to be used for cheese-making and protecting sheep in bad weather. These caves possess fresco-covered walls – the art-work of 12th century Byzantine monks who fled persecution in the Balkans and took refuge here. To the visiting foreigners these are exotic treasures – « If you grow up living in this neighbourhood, well then frescoes are just ordinary, aren’t they? », observed one participant.
However, the young Italian participants state that they themselves are often unaware of the treasure the country possesses. Meanwhile the weather-beaten Italian farmers discuss the sale of some of the caves to the municipality, and their memories of wandering tourists visiting the living sites, some of which have now become locked up treasures, away from the gaze of admiring visitors. Their work as regional storytellers has diminished. « Knowing these things connects you to your roots », states a young Italian engineer. I suspect this is the same sentiment experienced by the farmers.
https://vimeo.com/173711361
Inspired by a friend working on the project, Canadian director and producer Anthony Grieco’s interest in making a film grew when he discovered that the caves were still being used. “The area’s caves and frescoes have suffered from neglect”, he said, “but not necessarily mishandling.” The striking images by cinematographer Jon Thomas mean that the scenes glide slowly, reflecting the measured work – artisanal and restorative – as well as the long summer days, the working farmers, and prolonged communal meals.
Tonio accepts diverse people from around the world into the project. During the summer of the film he welcomed icon restorers, speleologists, art historians, engineers, biological and apprentice anthropologists, and even an asylum-seeker who arrived on the nearby Puglian shore from Libya. All silently working on their own piece of the caves, collaborating and learning as they go. In this rural place, these caves cannot become a museum. The only way they can be preserved is to integrate them, as has always been the way, with the activities and lifestyle of the local shepherds. Cheese is still made in the traditional way, using rennet, and shepherds still have the right of way, their sheep naturally fertilizing the olive fields as they pass.
Stories from participants are woven together throughout the film as they reflect on the treasure they have in front of them and under their feet. For the participants, the value lies in participating in the discovery as well as the community. Donato, poet, musician, and storyteller is an integral part of the project with his stories and meditations infiltrating the process: “The cave offers us the chance to rediscover our solitude (…) The cave is the heart of the earth. It teaches us to be accepting of ourselves and one another because we’re all strangers on this earth. We are all strangers…”.
As the summer’s project comes to an end and Tonio listens to the participants reflect on their experience, the words community and connection are repeated – to the site, land, people, both visitors and locals. Tonio embraces everyone, and waves them off back out into the world as they promise to return the following year.
Grieco’s film admirably brings together history, storytelling, grief, community and the connection that is created from working together. At the heart of the story is the question of the exotic. What is strange and beautiful to one person appears ordinary and banal to the person who sees it and lives with it daily. What is of intrinsic value is essentially the premise of the film, with the film’s aesthetic successfully incorporating the restoration project as well as the locals, who continue their work throughout the summer, observing and being observed by the project participants. The restoration of the caves in Puglia is not just about renovation and repair but also about something being both functional and valuable, while enabling a richer understanding of our world today.
SHEPHERDS IN THE CAVE was produced with support from the Canada Council for the Arts and Red Mammoth Media. (Screened at Royal Anthropological Institute Film Festival (UK), Ethnografilm Festival (Paris, France), Cinema on the Bayou (Louisiana, USA), Italian Film Festival (Vancouver, Canada), Cinema Grande (Altamura, Italy), Teatro della Memoria (Jesce, Italy), Casa Artelor Gallery (Timisoara, Romania), and the Archaeology Channel Film Festival (Eugene, Oregon).
Clementine is the story of Karen. A young woman who has just broken up from a long relationship and is, understandably shattered by the experience, decides to go to a lake house that is owned by an ex of hers. However, there she meets Lana, and things get complicated again. It is a mix of being a coming of age drama and a thriller, I guess, about a hurt woman in a new relationship.
What I liked about this film was that there was an obvious passion for the project. The cast does well enough. They clearly have talent and their chemistry, particularly when they are wordlessly acting against each other. I can’t say that I am familiar with either of them, but I wouldn’t be against seeing either of them in more down the line. While I don’t have much of an ear for music, I thought that the score was very atmospheric and added to what tension the film had.
I also loved the long shots. At times there is an almost Hitchcockian in nature. They capture the character’s feeling of loneliness and emptiness perfectly. It is in these moments that the score accompanies so well. At times Clementine feels as melancholy as a Lars Von Trier film. I mean that as a positive.
Unfortunately, there is a major issue with Clementine. You see, the point of a film is to entertain you. Now, this can mean a bit of fun – mindless or lighthearted – which is what the film world is filled with lately. Or it could mean something that is slow, methodical and demands you to think – the questions posed, and the artistry of the project can be entertaining in their own right.
The Evil Dead is fun, The Witch is not, but The Witch is so masterfully crafted and keeps you guessing and thinking long after it’s done that it is still entertaining. It is all about how the film engages with the audience. I bring this up because Clementine is one of the least engaging films I have seen in some time.
The story has the potential to be something great – a close look into Karen’s mind that will be relatable to those who have had a rough breakup. But despite the suspense we don’t really go anywhere with it, or at least it feels like we don’t. Things happen, certainly, but they all feel small in the big picture. And when the actors talk it is with that very slow, quiet whispering – the same way that all people speak in an M Night Shyamalan film. The dialogue suffers as a result, falling flat and making the film feel more uninteresting.
There are also times when the score and camerawork came as a detriment. While the long shots are effective and the opening scenes are gorgeous, the rest felt pedestrian and just disengaging. The score is loud in this film, perfect for quieter scenes but it gets annoying and distracting in the louder or more dialogue heavy ones.
Despite some promise I simply did not enjoy Clementine. It feels like the bad points were just missing the mark and more practice would sort it out. It felt like one more draft of the script or adjusting the shots the slightest bit would have helped matters. As it is, I find it hard to recommend. If it sounds of interest then give it a go, otherwise I wouldn’t bother.
What is a human life worth? How is it possible that a woman like Agnes (Carla Juni) could agree to kill another human being? Is it the money? Or are there other forces at play? A funeral. A young widow and two adult children. Agnes is burying her much older husband and the children are his, not hers. Agnes senses that someone is watching her and glimpses a woman roughly her own age standing nearby. Within seconds, the woman is gone. They were once very close, Agnes and Henny (Gemma Chan). A friendship both rewarding and demanding, which ended in disaster. Now Henny seeks reconciliation.
But Agnes seems cautious. Agnes is completely thrown by Henny’s proposal. Henny is married to David and asks Agnes to help her murder him. She’s prepared to pay good money and also to let Agnes choose the manner in which David is to die. Agnes realizes that the past has caught up with her and that she has no choice. What really happened between Agnes and Henny in Bruges all those years ago? How could it be that two people who enjoyed one another’s company so much, could end up hurting each other so badly? They, who had loved each other so much.
The Intrigo trilogy so far has been quite frustrating with me, especially the first two. They all have such terrific concepts that end up ultimately going to waste. The writing in each of them manages to handle the stories in such sloppy ways that make you disappointed knowing what the potential could have been.
With that being said, however, I have noticed over the course of these three movies that they slowly get better as each movie passes. The weakest one of the bunch is without a doubt the first, Death of an Author. It was painfully complex and ridiculously sloppy. Samaria was a step-up but still not enough to impress. Thankfully, in a shocking twist, Dear Agnes is not only the best entry of the trilogy, but it is actually a good movie.
A large part of why this is is due to the screenplay. It’s heaps and bounds better than the stories we got previously. Yes, it still plays out in the traditional style of each Intrigo film before it, but it’s either I have gotten used to this style of storytelling now, or the plotline here was actually interesting. Some part of me thinks it’s both.
Daniel Alfredson and Birgitta Bongenhielm wrote the screenplay for Dear Agnes. A screenplay that, much like the others, takes a bit to get going, but eventually gets genuinely interesting. I felt a true connection to the characters this time around because they were actually fully developed.
Before even going in to watch this movie, I was already a little bit excited knowing that Gemma Chan was in the film as one of the lead characters. Chan is not new to the field, starring in high-profile pictures such as Crazy Rich Asians, Captain Marvel, and Transformers: The Last Knight. Her acting abilities have always impressed me, and they did once more here. She is powerful and raw as Henny, a character that mourns for the past and struggled with her friendship with Agnes. The way her story was presented was very detailed and thought-provoking.
But in addition to Chan, all of the other actors do a great job and have amazing chemistry with one another, namely Carla Juri and Jamie Sives. Together, they all three deliver strong performances in a movie that is finally deserving of their incredible acting talents.
I suppose the story could have delved a little bit deeper and could have taken these characters to even darker places, but the story we already got was still surprisingly fun and gripping to watch. Finally, we have a good Intrigo movie. It’s just a shame that its the last one.
Dear Agnes, the final installment in the Intrigo trilogy, finally manages to tell a compelling enough story worthy of its incredible actors.
Judy and Punch is a curious film. It’s the reimagining of the quite problematic childhood puppet show some of us will remember, Punch and Judy, told from Judy’s perspective. It’s frightfully violent, darkly comic but doesn’t quite succeed in being the feminist film it attempts to be.
The story is based on the Victorian puppet show Punch (Damon Herriman) and Judy (Mia Wasikowska). Except for this time, it is Judy’s story that takes front and centre and the title of the film accurately reflects that Judy’s name comes first. The story is set in the fictional town of Seaside. Judy is the master puppeteer yet Punch is the whose ambition drives the show. He is the showman but through his recklessness and alcoholism, tragedy strikes and worst still, he lies to try and save himself.
This film is brought to us by writer/director Mirrah Foulkes. It is interesting seeing Judy through a woman’s gaze and these two characters are well rounded. It is equal billing. She manages to tell a story without it descending into preachy melodrama. In no small part is she aided by brilliant performances by the entire cast. The cinematography adds to the dark dramatic comedy that this film sits in and is sublime.
The first half of the film is told at a cracking pace and the level of violence that Judy and Punch dole out on each other appears commonplace in Seaside society where women are hung for witchcraft without proof etc. The main problem with this film is that Judy is not in it for quite a chunk of time and that means we, the audience, almost forget about her. When she does reappear we can guess what will happen and it leads to us guessing what the ending will be.
For all its flaws, Judy and Punch is a timely examination of social norms that have long stood commonplace, men being believed over women no matter how flawed the man, low level violence and mob hysteria. It is only a shame that Judy wasn’t in the film more.
