[NoHo Arts District, CA] – This month’s movie and TV reviews by Mike Peros take a look at Hamnet, Train Dreams and Nouvelle Vague.
Many movies have just been released just in time for Christmas (and awards season), so I thought I’d toss out a few thoughts and let your moviegoing shoes take you where you will (although some of these are on Netflix, which makes the trip that much shorter).
Hamnet
Hamnet, from director Chloe Zhao (who co-wrote the screenplay with the book’s author Maggie O’Farrell), was a pleasant surprise. I had heard (through the grapevine) how fabulous it was—so naturally I approached it with wariness. It’s a speculation on how the play Hamlet emerged from the author’s grief over the loss of one of his children. (Shakespeare is referred to as “the husband” in both the novel and the film—unnecessarily, I might add.) The movie takes its time, establishing Shakespeare’s growing relationship with the enigmatic Agnes (beautifully played by Jessie Buckley as a resourceful, intuitive, loving, proud young woman) and the opposition to (and grudging acceptance of) their union. As “the husband” (a very good Paul Mescal) finds it challenging (creative block, finances) to move his growing family to London (a daughter, followed by twins—a girl and a boy—named Hamnet), he goes on ahead—since London is where the creative action is. I don’t want to reveal what happens in particular; suffice it to say the last half-hour is perhaps one of the most emotionally powerful sequences I’ve seen in recent years. Beginning with an unexpected and devastating loss and culminating in the first performance of Hamlet, as it is witnessed by an initially resentful Agnes (Jessie Buckley is most impressive in her changes in this scene), Hamnet is a moving meditation of how grief can be transformed to art—and the catharsis it provides to those who are a part of it. It also helped me to look at the play in a new way. Well worth seeing.
Check out Hamnet showtimes>>
Train Dreams
Train Dreams, from writer/director Clint Bentley (in turn, based on Denis Johnson’s novella) is another film I’ve heard/read nothing but good things about. And I’ll tell ya…I was disappointed. It is certainly a beautifully composed and filmed “epic” about the life (and death) of Robert Grenier (Joel Edgerton), a railroad worker who experiences small triumphs and major tragedy as he works to facilitate progress, without sufficiently enjoying or engaging in the spoils. The movie is also rather stately—as in slow-moving. The performances (including Felicity Jones as Grenier’s wife and William H. Macy as a philosophical logger are fine. The voiceover (delivered by Will Patton) is nicely delivered, but it both comments on things we already perceive and also instructs the viewer on how to feel. There are certainly technical, visual, and even performance aspects to admire, but the emotional impact (for this viewer) was negligible. Though it clocks in at a mere (!) 102 minutes, this apparent homage to Terence Malick is still slow going. It’s on Netflix and still in theaters.
Nouvelle Vague
Probably the most entertaining film I’ve seen recently is Nouvelle Vague, an homage to the beginning of the French New Wave, and the making of Breathless in particular. (One might say this movie is even more entertaining than its subject—depending on how you feel about the original movie). Director Richard Linklater, writers Holly Gent, Vincent Palmo, Michele Halberstadt and Laetitia Masson, cinematographer David Chamille (filming in glorious black and white) and a fine cast succeed in making a film that evokes the energy, passion, and idiosyncracies of the actors, producers and directors of the period. Anchored by Giullaume Marbeck’s Jean-Luc Godard, Aubry Dulin’s Jean-Paul Belmondo (first films for both actors), and Zoey Deutch’s Jean Seberg (masterful performance by all), the film is witty, fast-moving, and even insightful. It breezes by and there’s just enough on display to see why Godard remains an influential figure—even if it is sometimes despite himself.
Find tickets to see Nouvelle Vague>>
*****
Want more TV and movie reviews? Check out Mike Peros’ review on Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein>>