carrythe2 Reviews

Beyond Utopia (2023)

Extraordinary

[9/10 · 24 October 2023]

Beyond Utopia is not a journey into the "hermit kingdom" (as other documentaries have attempted over the decades) but a journey out, for those lucky enough to get the opportunity. As Pastor Kim - the film's de facto hero - says, the hard part is not crossing the North Korea/China border, but navigating to safety from China, all the way to South Korea via Thailand. A fraught and treacherous journey indeed, one that is becoming more difficult all the time.

One of the most extraordinary elements of this film is that we, the audience, are privileged to accompany a family of defectors (they were actually banished but I won't go into that) all the way through this exhausting endurance test, and hopefully to safety. Said family is certainly not one you would wish to put through such hardship, consisting as it does of two girls around 6-8 years old, their parents and their grandma of 80 years. An unlikely group of survivors - but these are North Koreans, a people whose hardiness and determination are showcased with extraordinary vividness throughout this film.

The mere act of capturing unauthorised footage in the country is highly dangerous, and yet there is plenty to see here (including some distressing footage of public executions and secret beatings). But the focus is always on the people, their stories, their feelings, their worldview. The filmmakers intentionally make the things about NK we always see on the news (Kim Jong Un, the nukes, the palace intrigue) only background to the realities of everyday life.

But the most extraordinary element of all is Pastor Kim himself, a tirelessly heroic champion who coordinates the journey of the family via the many anonymous brokers who lead, drive and accommodate them on their long journey south. Remarkably, he personally escorts them through much of the journey despite a number of personal injuries and medical complaints, just as he has with hundreds of others before (and hopefully hundreds more in the future).

This is an incredibly emotional journey that is impossible not to feel on the deepest level. A more powerful and intimate documentary about this strange and terrifying country and its people is hard to imagine. By shining such a bright light on the struggles of some of the world's most oppressed citizens, this is a hugely important film that will inspire sympathy across the world, and hopefully even some positive change for North Koreans.

White Noise (I) (2022)

Whatever else it may be, it's highly entertaining

[8/10 · 10 October 2022]

Having glanced at the critic reviews I'm not surprised by the general response that White Noise tries to cram too much in/tries to address too many ideas and becomes muddled. But so what? Does that ruin the possibility for entertainment? Not a bit. This is a film that delights in being muddled, fragmented, and many things at once.

White Noise is fundamentally a strange and unfocused ramble of existentialist angst, full of surreal and absurdist humour with a little horror thrown into the mix from time to time. The plot is divided into very distinct chapters which constantly lurch through styles and levels of seriousness and silliness in a way that often reminded me of Netflix's miniseries Maniac, especially given the retro setting and the obsession with the medicalisation of personal problems, and the desperate hope that a little crackpot scientific advancement could save us all. The po-faced absurdity of the characters and situations is also reminiscent of Baumbach's earlier work with Wes Anderson (particularly The Life Aquatic, for which he wrote the screenplay).

Adam Driver is at his most hilarious as the pompous academic, with Don Cheadle excellently serving as his tirelessly philosophising sidekick. In fact everyone is a delight to watch, even Greta Gerwig (how does she manage to be so watchable and yet so abysmally wooden at the same time?). The plot takes this hapless group into some wild and extreme places, and by about the 90-minute mark I was honestly having so much fun wondering where this trip would go next. Unfortunately, the film does sag in its final episode, as the plot becomes less imaginative and more familiar in subject matter. And the ultimate message of the ending is rather trite and simplistic given the ideas it explores in the earlier chapters.

However, I would still highly recommend giving White Noise a try, particularly if absurdist humour is your thing. It manages to do a lot of things extremely well, especially portraying the sheer madness of everyday existence.

Ten Percent (2022)

Pale imitation

[6/10 · 2 May 2022]

Anyone who hasn't watched the French original, I sincerely advise you do that. This is merely a pale imitation. It's hard to put a finger on all the reasons why, but suffice to say that everything that's vital has been lost in translation.

The funny thing is, it's disconcertingly faithful to the original. The characters are each precise replicas of the French ones - even down to facial features - as are the settings, and the plot lines are often similar. But somehow the wit and flair of the original writing has all been sucked out. What you're left with is a rather empty shell.

Zola (2020)

Not worth getting too excited about

[6/10 · 2 August 2021]

I went into this one with excitement based only on the trailer, which made it look like a lot of fun. I was only made aware of the Twitter thread it was based on by the film's intro. The question that kept nagging at me throughout was - where did the filmmakers go wrong? Was it in the way they adapted the source material or in the very idea that this story was enough to base an entertaining feature on? Because, sadly, the result is not that entertaining or fun.

Despite the story's reputation of being "a wild ride", this adaptation is weirdly lacking in energy and pace. It is told with a strangely smooth, dreamlike quality that runs counter to the outrageous events and loud characters. There are moments of humour and wit but they are dampened by unnecessarily slow tracking shots, mirror kaleidoscopes and twinkly music that makes a short, fast-paced story feel like wading in treacle. I got the sense of a narrative being stretched thin over what should be a tight 85 minutes.

The setting and characters reminded me a lot of Tangerine, and it's a good comparison to help understand where Zola is lacking. Tangerine has lower production values, fewer locations, a slightly longer run time, even less of a plot - but it's somehow much more compelling and enjoyable to watch. Why? The characters are sympathetic, and your opinion of them can change throughout the story. There's a mix of emotions illicited by their tragicomic lives. There's wit in the writing but not at the expense of authenticity.

The characters in Zola are rather one note. They don't develop, they don't have much to say, they're really just average joes. That is both good and bad - they feel completely authentic but not interesting. That's not to say I never cared about what was happening. There are some really tense and dangerous situations which sometimes spill over into comedy at the right moment. I think these parts make the film just about worth recommending, but certainly not worth getting excited about.

La Révolution (2020)

Kinda cool but dull

[6/10 · 28 April 2021]

A beautiful, lavish series with a cool premise, marred by slow and stodgy storytelling and somewhat bland characters. They're just all so straight and earnest and... flat. They aren't given any memorable characteristics or a single sentence of witty dialogue. They are essentially just agents for the plot, which grinds away slowly and takes its sweet time getting to the good stuff. There is potential for a captivating series but it needs to up its game and make the minute-to-minute watching experience more worthwhile.

Queen & Slim (2019)

Flawed but its strength drives it through

[7/10 · 19 October 2020]

A passionate and heartfelt drama with plenty of jeopardy and tension. It does drag in a number of places, particularly in the second half. And there are plenty of unlikely scenarios that dampen its credibility. But ultimately, it has an emotional strength that drives it to the end. The two leads are fantastic. Their characters' developing relationship is the beating heart of the story, and it has an authenticity that just about makes up for the more preposterous plot moments.

Ratched (2020)

Uninspired

[6/10 · 18 September 2020]

Fans of American Horror Story may have already been clued in by the trailer that this show is along similar lines, and they would be very much correct. Having personally quit AHS mid-season 2 as I found it too schlocky and heavy on the body horror, watching this series, with its similar themes of cruelty and sadism in the guise of psychiatric treatment, was like a bad dream recurring. The events on screen are handled with a similar level of subtlety and taste to AHS, i.e. none whatsoever. The performances are good (although often rather pantomime as you may expect) and the sets, locations and costumes are really something, but the story is uninspired and feels like a retread. If you were really bummed that they stopped making AHS and wanted more, you may enjoy this. Otherwise I wouldn't bother.

Da 5 Bloods (2020)

Good in parts but doesn't hang together

[6/10 · 14 June 2020]

There's some good stuff here, some good scenes of atmosphere and tension and some exploration of PTSD (although nothing that hasn't been said about Nam before). But overall the film is unfocused and the story doesn't hang together well. Most of the characters feel unreal and lacking something. There's also a weird, mischievous tone to the violence - Tarantino-esque - which jars with the more serious subject matter. A weird one, all told. If you're expecting something like BlackkKlansman, you'll probably be disappointed. Try to go in without those expectations and you might be entertained.

#BlackAF (2020)

In desperate need of an editor

[6/10 · 2 June 2020]

I realise this is not for me, I'm not black or American and it's all about that culture and experience. But there are plenty of universally funny moments in this show. The problem is that all the episodes are too long. I've seen it compared to Curb a number of times but one of the strengths of Curb was the perfect editing. This show is so loose and rambling. If you're going to do improv comedy you have to be BRUTAL with your cutting or you're going to end up with a flabby mess. There are some episodes of this show that are 45 minutes long! I mean, what?! It's self-indulgent. Shame because the material is there.

Waves (I) (2019)

Intense, immersive and deep

[7/10 · 13 October 2019]

Waves is one hell of a story, an emotionally draining tale about the crushing pressures on some teenagers and the fallout that can result from poor communication and lack of understanding between parents and their children.

It is also a wild sensory experience, particularly in the masterful use of music to encapsulate the characters' emotional state, in a way that will be familiar to anyone who was a music-lover in their teens - that heady, swirling intensity of sound that seems to speak only to you. At times it feels as though the soundtrack is ahead of the story, driving it forward.

Waves is deliberately a film in 2 halves, and if you're like me you'll be wondering where the hell it's going towards the end. Whilst the intensity builds relentlessly in the first half, the second is gentle and meandering. It's understandable why the story takes that direction (and it's a bold break with conventional storytelling) but, unfortunately, it makes watching to the end a bit of an endurance test - it just completely loses momentum.

However, I'd still highly recommend it. It is a confident and complex film exploring extremely relevant and important issues about modern family life. It is a deep exploration of the teenage (and particularly black American) experience.

Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound (2019)

Informative and deeply passionate

[8/10 · 9 October 2019]

Making Waves is both an informative, friendly introduction to the world of film sound and a passionate advocation of the art. There are in-depth interviews with some of the biggest names in Hollywood sound design - Ben Burtt, Skip Livesay, Randy Thom, Gary Rydstrom and the industry's superstar, the always-entertaining Walter Murch - and in directing - George Lucas, Stephen Spielberg, David Lynch, as well as a great many others.

There's an entertaining history of film sound and a breakdown of all the elements that go into the finished whole. In a concise 90 minutes it manages to include most of the major technological innovations and pioneering films and figures. It also manages to give a strong voice to the many women who have worked at the highest level on blockbuster films (e.g. Cecilia Hall on Top Gun, Anna Belhmer on Braveheart).

On the downside, it is very Hollywood-centric (or perhaps California-centric - at one point George Lucas says "so we relocated to San Francisco" like it was some giant leap for filmmaker kind). But to be fair, the filmmakers did admit in the post-screening Q&A that they wanted it to be much more of an international story but they already had over 200 hours of transcripts just from the US and didn't have the funds to travel for interviews.

That aside, it would be hard to ask for a better film about this fascinating but obscure subject.

For Sama (2019)

Hits like an emotional ton of bricks

[9/10 · 20 September 2019]

In the opening minutes of this film we are seeing a woman's point of view in a building we soon realise is under attack. She gives her baby daughter to another woman who runs downstairs. As she is filming the corridor, up ahead there is an explosion and debris and smoke burst out from one of the doorways. The effect is clear - the audience immediately understands that this film is going to be a huge dose of frightening reality. A civil war seen from the inside.

Journalist Waad Al-Khateab lived in the heart of rebel territory during the siege of Aleppo with her doctor husband Hamza. Whilst he and his colleagues treated hundreds of injured civilians in a makeshift hospital she worked hard to document everything that they and their friends experienced whilst also bringing up her baby daughter, Sama, to whom the film is lovingly addressed.

The result is a searingly powerful collection of extraordinary footage, which captures both the horror and brutality of the violence visited on civilians as well as the humanity and genuine heroism of those who chose to stay and treat the wounded. The footage is unflinching and shocking in many places, and the audience is party to scenes of gut-wrenching grief. But we are also shown shining glimpses of humanity, of survival, camaraderie, love, and even humour at times.

But what makes For Sama really special is the intimate portrayal of a mother's love in the most terrifying of circumstances. Everything is filmed - we get to see Waad's immediate reaction as she holds the newborn Sama for the first time, and suddenly begins to weep for all those people they lost up until this point. It's a stunningly affecting thing to watch a documentary maker bare herself emotionally in this way.

And there are so many moments like that, of extraordinary emotional rawness, throughout this film that make it a must-see. It is a tough and harrowing watch but it is more than worth it for the unique and intimate perspective it provides.

Animals (I) (2019)

A mostly enjoyable depiction of enduring friendship

[7/10 · 3 June 2019]

Two young women, Laura and Tyler, share a close 10-year friendship of hedonistic, carefree times in Dublin with all the drink, drugs and casual encounters with boys that implies. Their friendship is one of those platonic almost-marriages - they share a bed as well as a flat and never leave each other's side. But life is beginning to intrude more and more into their happy world as they enter their 30s and cross that dreaded line into a new era where one's life is suddenly supposed to have meaning. Laura's sister Jean, a former fellow traveller on their wild adventures, is newly married, pregnant, sober and increasingly distasteful of her sister's apparent immaturity - and even more so of Tyler, a freewheeling partier who becomes increasingly despondent as she realises she is losing her friend.

But while all of this may sound thoroughly predictable, what Animals does well is to diverge from by-the-numbers plotting and not hem in its characters with cliche responses or obvious moral lessons. Laura is determined not to go quietly into a life of marriage and cohabitation with her new fiancé, Jim, or to leave behind her BFF despite the inevitable forces coming between them. And the film throws up little surprises that keep you on your toes and keep up the story's momentum.

Unfortunately, what's lacking is wit - it just isn't as entertaining in depicting banter as it aspires to be. While the dynamic of the two lead characters has been compared to Withnail and I, for legitimate reasons, that comparison brings obvious trouble with it - W&I was full of brilliantly funny scenes of nothing but two guys being drunk, high or horrifically hungover, a tricky thing that few imitators have pulled off well. There are large parts of this film (particularly the first half hour or so) that rely too much on the audience finding the characters and their antics hilarious. While the characters are likeable, they aren't much more entertaining than your real-life friends, even if they do quote Yeats more frequently.

Overall, though, it deserves credit for being a truthful and heartfelt depiction of enduring friendship and a break with the expected norms of both film storytelling and of polite society. If you find the dialogue a shred more entertaining than I did, you'll have a blast.

The Nightingale (I) (2018)

A tough but powerful and rewarding watch

[8/10 · 2 June 2019]

We were introduced to the film by one of the lead actors who advised us to "strap ourselves in", which I think was good advice. It does depict some horrific things done by humans to other humans, and a few people walked out of the screening in the first 10 minutes because by far the worst scenes are at the start.

But I recommend sticking with it as it's really about showing glimpses of humanity underneath murderous hatred in an extremely hostile environment. It is not simply a gleeful revenge thriller, despite the often cartoonish evil of the British soldiers and the Tarantino-esque levels of violence. When the revenge does come, it feels like a drop in the ocean of cruelty that surrounds it - by which I mean the everyday treatment of the aboriginal people by the white settlers and of women as property. The larger themes come through with crushing strength.

There isn't much in the way of humour or lightness here, but it manages to be a compelling and rewarding experience even if it feels a bit exhausting. You can tell it was a tough shoot - it's mostly set in the muddy, wet Australian bush - but like the actors I came out feeling it was worth it in the end.