One of my favorite directors, with Bugonia, Yorgos Lanthimos has done it again. However, D noticed that there are quite a few beheadings in this latest venture. Not surprising when you notice Mr. Midsommar himself, Ari Aster, produced. Aster probably gave the most input on how to fake blood realistically, the aforementioned headlessness and the customary face smashing with a blunt instrument. Why normalize Ari Aster? That said, Aster’s darkness counterpoints well with Yorgos’ typically deep exploration of human psychology, existential angst, stupidity, pathos — and the absolute tragi-comic essence of it all. That’s a lot to contain in a movie and I’m so glad that Yorgos goes for it.
Not to put too fine a point on the beheadings but D and I thought we would get a lot of those in 2016’s Ben-Hur, starring Morgan Freeman. It’s a gladiator movie after all. But no, they are all here in Bugonia instead.
Speaking of Bugonia, Teddy (the great Jesse Plemons — who could forget his recent turn in Civil War) has got a lot on his mind. His mother has a terminal disease and is in a coma, his neurodivergent cousin is thinking about starting a family, his co-workers are bending the knee, afraid to make waves. All the while he has cracked the code on identifying the Andromedans who have infiltrated our planet. But Teddy has a plan. He is going to fix all of this and save our species. He simply needs to have a sit down with the alien chief aboard their spacecraft.
As with anyone who has ever picked up a paintbrush, a pen or a camera — the artist has a reason. Even if the reason is not to decry violence or war but simply to make art for arts sake. Or perhaps just as simply to make a buck. There is a reason. What Yorgos is saying in Bugonia is really worth thinking about. Maybe a re-read of Andy Grove’s seminal business text, “Only the Paranoid Survive” is in order here.
Bugonia is intense, all the way through. It grabs you and holds you. You want to look away but you know you can’t. It’s partly a suffocating horror film (thanks, Ari!) with an epic score that lends to the gravitas. But it is equally a meditation on our shared humanity; on where we ultimately put our faith.
Splittsville wins for my picture of the year, 2025. While watching a film, a lot of times I wonder, “How did they do that?” referring to some technical aspect of filmmaking. But the duo of Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin amazed me with their combinations of slapstick, portrayals of the depths of human anguish and holding this comedic and dramatic tension for the entire film. After watching a lot of predictable, blockbuster, franchise films recently, Splitsville renewed my faith in movies. However, I’m certain at least one goldfish was injured during the making of this film. I’m sure these filmmakers made up for it somehow. They seem like those types of people. This duo also made a film called The Climb , which D reviewed.
Click the link and read all about it. I’m looking forward to rewatching Splitsville and whatever Covino and Marvin come up with next.
Anemone
We were very excited to watch DDL do his thing. And he comes out of retirement to do it in this movie, directed by his IRL son. There were some deeply moving and even painfully amusing scenes in this film but I could never escape that it was Daniel Day-Lewis, Acting. There is DDL looking serious…there is DDL having spit run out of his mouth because he’s so angry…there he is running on the beach! You get it. However, if you’re a DDL completist or someone particularly interested in The Troubles of Northern Ireland, Anemone is worth watching. For the rest of us, a rewatch of Phantom Thread is in order.
One Battle After Another
When a new Paul Thomas Anderson film is coming out, we have tickets weeks in advance. That expectation is ultimately why I felt disappointed by OBAA. It’s essentially a comic book, with big broadly painted characters doing over the top things. I recognized the writing as something I could have come up with, and that’s not good because I’m objectively not a very good screenwriter. Benicio del Toro is already being nominated for awards for his performance, which, yes I did enjoy. But I also felt it was so easy for him. I would love to see him in a part with some teeth. I felt like, there’s BdT telling a funny joke…there’s BdT kicking someone out of a car…there’s BdT being cool. You get it. One person who did deliver a really astonishing performance was Sean Penn. At one point towards the end, D leaned over and said, “That’s Sean Penn.” and I had to laugh. But that is exactly what a truly great performance is all about. The actor, no matter how well-known or famous, transforming themselves into this other person.
I was rapt during moments behind the scenes at the immigration detention center. Since even our elected officials are denied entry into these places, it’s left up to the Cinema to shine a light on their inhumanity for us. However the film runs off the rails and becomes a Quentin Tarantino parody. And sadly, the characters here have no arc. They start out one way and end up that same way. That’s another real disappointment. Finally, the ending doesn’t ring true for the main subject. I’m not sure who’s supposed to be excited about OBAA apart from a political partisan. If he’s supposed to be inspired by The Battle of Algiers, PTA missed the greater message about how there are no winners, no good guys, in war. Ultimately, the story feels like pandering instead of understanding the logical motivations and possible choices that these characters would make. D keeps saying he wants to watch this again, which makes sense since he’s a self-described PTA junkie. But I’m good.
After the Hunt
This film was truly well acted, honest and believable. Julia Roberts sinks into this character. Sometimes I’d think, “There’s Julia Roberts.” I’d follow it with, “I love watching her act.” And then I would forget, falling back into the story. Michael Stuhlbarg deserves a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role has her psychiatrist husband. One scene of his is particularly hilarious and biting.
This story tackles difficult topics and does a French intensive gardening method with our recent social, philosophical and political situations. The characters at times do illogical things but not enough to break the spell of the story. The worst parts of the film for me were the strange musical and non-diegetic sound choices. It’s not a horror film, what is going on here? Maybe because the Director is Sicilian, there is a loose, European sensibility with the score. It was anachronistic to the verisimilitude of the character depictions. Also, things have been written and said about the final scene. I found it absolutely unnecessary. We’re all adults here and can come to our own conclusions. You don’t need to throw these characters under the bus. Overall, I found this film to be thought-provoking, fearless at times and included some fine performances. Certainly worth watching if you are in for some serious Cinema.
Blue Moon
D said we are going to Linklater film. And that’s all I knew going in. I didn’t even know the title. As I’m writing, I still don’t know the title! What’s amazing about this film is how it is contained essentially to one set, a bar. Luckily the bar happens to be the famed thespian haunt, Sardi’s, in Midtown Manhattan, so the possibilities grow. Of course, anyone who has seen 12 Angry Men, knows that a great script and great acting can transport you. Blue Moon doesn’t feature any flashbacks, it leans on the great Ethan Hawke and the great Ethan Hawke delivers. His character is so pathetic and repulsive at times, cringy. And then at others sympathetic and even empathetic as well — most people have acted like absolute fools at some low point or another. So that as a viewer, you are emotionally spinning. This certainly feels like a film that would not have been made at the peak of the #MeToo movement. It’s unapologetic about advancing a story that’s still feels uncomfortable. The phrase warts and all may never have been so applicable. After the film, I asked D, “I’m not sure who this film is for?” And without missing a beat, he said, “No one.” We both laughed. I’d say that if you’re interested in the history of musical theater in America, or that you might enjoy a period piece from 1943, or absolutely love watching Ethan Hawke at the top of his game, this one is for you. I did find it to be a solid and I’m sure memorable piece of filmmaking.
It’s been a good run the past few months. Somewhat hit or miss but these movies are all asking thought-provoking, intriguing questions, include great performances and are well over the $6 Tuesday bar at Marcus Cinema. Free popcorn too. …Meet us at the movies!
There is one weakness in the sci-fi, rom-com, horror picture, Companion. It’s that Josh (Jack Quaid), feels that instead of immediately trading in murderous companion robot, Iris (Sophie Thatcher), back to the Empathix company, he must first say goodbye. At issue is that Iris is all tied up at the moment, literally. She figured out that she was not human and about to be shut down, unpaired and replaced. In Josh’s defense, she did just kill a guy and is covered in tons of blood. On the other hand, titanium or otherwise, the guy was a creep and Iris acted in self-defense. Do robots have a right to self-defense? How about if they don’t even know that they are robots? This ethical question comes much further down the list of questions like, Are these “companion” robots unwitting sex slaves? Yes. Yes they are.
In one of the first sci-fi films ever created, Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927) depicts an inventor, Rotwang, trying to resurrect his lost love, a woman named Hel. The iconic cinematography and art direction has been copied many times over the decades, from Young Frankenstein to Poor Things. I was lucky enough to watch Metropolis in a one screen art house cinema in Paris’ Left Bank. Like many others, it left a lasting impression on me.
No major spoilers but let’s just say Metropolis doesn’t have a happily ever after ending. This is like almost any of the films that depict the animation or reanimation of machines and/or machine and human hybrids for the singular reason of fulfilling the emotional void and base desires of human protagonists. Terminator goes on a rampage against Sarah Conner, Jexi tries to take Phil out, Ava erases Nathan, permanently, in Ex-Machina, Samantha, in Her, psychologically blends Theodore into so much emotional mush, etc. It’s really only in Blade Runner where you can point to a somewhat happyish ending where the robot (or maybe robots?) end up together. But how long can these replicants stay alive? At least, we believe, they will be free.
As AI evolves, like Josh in Companion, people will start projecting human feelings, emotions and even consciousness to this bloodless, immortal collection of chips, wires and metal server farms. Like Rotwang in Metropolis or the Wizard of Oz himself, AI Owners like Sam Altman want you to believe that the army of engineers, mathematicians, programers, designers and marketers have created a sentient being, here for only you. And out of convenience, loneliness or many other complex reasons we are slowly turning over our ability to do things like: sit calmly, grieve or think clearly for ourselves. Is AI useful? Yes. Will it be abused? Yes. Will it try to get revenge? Your guess is as good as mine.
I was the Cinematographer of a rom-com feature, Big Gay Love. Harvey Guillén who plays Eli in Companion, was featured. He was charming, a natural and such a pleasure to have on set. It doesn’t surprise me that his star keeps rising in Hollywood. In Companion, Harvey has a touching relationship with the cyborg Patrick, played by Lukas Gage. I mentioned to D. that this was most likely the first depiction of a gay robot love story in a feature film. He calmly burst my bubble with a simple combination of letters and numbers that would otherwise be meaningless. “C-3PO”.
If the opening scene of Anora doesn’t get your blood moving one way or another, I have terrible news for you. You have died. … The silver lining is of course that even as a dead person, you’re still able to watch movies and read movie reviews. That opening shot, tracking across a line of guys getting lap dances, drops you right into the world of eponymous heroine, Anora, with no apologies. It’s made apparent quickly enough that for these working women, it’s just another day at the office. Except that in this career there is no 401(k), health insurance or paid time off. This is the world of men. If you don’t like it, there’s the door.
It’s within this milieu that Anora, who shares an apartment with her sister and brother-in-law, takes on escort work. Back at Headquarters strip club, as a Russian speaker, she’s assigned to entertain the son of a wealthy oligarch, who asks if he can see her outside of work. Here the so-called fun and games of the story ensue. And they do ensue, extending Act I almost uncomfortably. Has the director lost control of this story? — Or what you realize later. You’ve been wonderfully set up.
Act II takes you into the realm of comedy but with the real threat of violence underpinning every moment. It’s unnerving but you settle into it. The strength of Anora is that it simultaneously holds what could be an absurd Eastern European folktale within the bounds of a tangible New York City universe. Here, broken noses are felt. As our friend B., who’s an M.D., leaned over to give us a real-time diagnosis of one of the characters. The prognosis wasn’t good. The severity of the mounting symptoms meant that the other characters needed to rush the injured one to the ER. STAT.
And broken dreams are deeply felt as well. Disappointment is the millstone that’s anchored around every neck in Anora. And one apparent theme is that just because you wish something to be real, doesn’t mean it is.
There are a few outrageous and memorable scenes in Anora. The Coney Island tow truck scene stays with you. And the haunting final scene reveals the depth and complexities of the characters. Cutting to a silent credit sequence gives you no reprieve and invites reflection. A perfect antithesis to the chaotic euphoria of the opening shot.
It doesn’t surprise me that Director, Sean Baker, a kid from New Jersey, walked away with the Palm d’Or at Cannes for Anora. He has a track record of fearless filmmaking, expressing himself by any means at his disposal. In the character of Anora he found a kindred spirit.
Conclave is a surprising film. In fact, its theme is don’t be confident that what you think is true. The question is posed and answered by Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes), the Dean or manager of the conclave to elect a new pope, “If we were certain of the answers, why would we need faith?”
Although I wasn’t thrilled with the plodding pace of the film, the plot got more intriguing as the story grew more complex. A solid performance by Stanley Tucci (most recently seen eating his way through Italy in a Max series) and star turns by Lithgow, Sergio Castellitto, Carlos Diehz, Lucian Msamati and Isabella Rossellini leave a lasting impression on the viewer.
As usual, your faithful correspondents, L & D could be heard laughing at all the wrong places and zinging away with our zingers. But there were quite a few other folks in the theater (another surprise) and so a little restraint by us was in order.
The film really got interesting when D. started applying his “This Film is like The Shining” theory on the fly. We recently watched the 40th anniversary release of The Shining on the silver screen (I’m still processing) and lo and behold the analogy between these films can easily be made. The cardinals are sequestered in a hotel with long hallways. There is a room that no one is allowed to enter, which the pope died in. There is intense cello playing throughout. The footprint here is indeed one of a horror film. The horror being that the Church may decide to turn its back on the progress it’s made in becoming a voice for peace.
I won’t say more except Conclave is well worth the watch and way over the $6 Tuesday bar. Be prepared to check your assumptions at the church steps.
Once you know that Director Simon Hacker was an apprentice to the Safdie brothers, a lot of the style of Notice to Quit becomes apparent. Like their Uncut Gems, the New York that’s depicted on screen is a blistering, suffocating and crushing one. If you’ve ever been in that particular mother of all concrete jungles in the middle of Summer, you’ll have a visceral reaction to the heat in Notice to Quit. And also to its almost mythological level of adoration of the otherwise ubiquitous air conditioner. The protagonist, Andy Singer (Michael Zegen) in fact carries an air conditioner around, like Sisyphus pushing a boulder, for what feels like the entirety of the movie.
However, unlike Uncut Gems, there is room to breathe in Notice to Quit. This is wholly due to the presence of Andy’s daughter, Anna (Kasey Bella Suarez) a 10-year-old who needs her Dad to step up and save her from a life-altering move to Florida. But Andy, he can’t even take care of himself. He’s four months behind on his rent, a scam to skim appliances has backfired big time and he can’t seem to walk a straight line without having a coffee cup face plant itself on his dress shirt. Forget about the apartments he’s supposed to be renting as a broker. His listings include a place with a toilet in the living room.
The film is easily stolen with the appearance of Andy’s dad, played brilliantly by Robert Klein. When Klein’s roommate Marvin (Rao Rampilla) quotes Death of a Salesman in a sleeveless T-shirt, “A man is not a piece of fruit.” Andy says he doesn’t understand how this applies to his father not being willing to look after Anna. To which Klein says definitively, “It applies.”
Notice to Quit is an homage to independent films like the Wim Wendersclassic, Alice in the Cities. It’s also shot on 35mm film, which lends itself to the throwback feel. It’s a character driven film that works within the constraints of a single day and the end of a chapter in the relationship of this father and daughter. There are plenty of real moments, of fun and games and most of all a lot of heartfelt emotions.
One last thing. Not only the Writer and Director, Simon Hacker is the Producer and Distributor. He got tired of waiting for other distributors to get his movie on screens so he, in indie style, figured out how to do it himself. I’m glad I caught Notice to Quit on the big screen and I look forward to Simon Hacker’s next Directorial effort.
Just a Bit Outside is ostensibly about the Milwaukee Brewers 1982 World Series run but it’s really about how a city can fall in love with a team. In this case, a team of misfits who could simultaneously claim four future Hall of Famers.
The city of Milwaukee had a World Champion in 1957 when the Braves beat the Yankees. But the team broke the city’s heart when it skulked off in 1965, like so many manufacturing jobs, to the South to become the team from Atlanta. However, in 1970, the Brew Crew né Seattle Pilots arrived to bring baseball back to Milwaukee. …Too soon. The fans, once bitten, twice shy, weren’t in the mood. By 1982, the economic mood was dire. All of the breweries had closed down and the schlemiel schlimazel salad days were a thing of the past.
Interestingly, the start of the ’82 season was anything but auspicious. And the club was just about in the cellar. In the midst of this disappointment, a new manager was hired, Harvey Kuenn. Coach Kuenn was former player, a leauge batting champ no less. Maybe more importantly, he and his wife Audrey owned a tavern, Cesar’s Inn, a few blocks from the stadium. Both Harvey and Audrey tended bar. They lived in the back! And they had the players over for dinner and drinks at the tavern after every game. — I can’t even conceive of this situation in our day of multi-million dollar salaries for players and coaches. Coach Kuenn hated meetings. In his first meeting as new manager he said, “I have two things to say. Number one, I hate meetings. Number two, this meeting is over.” In his wisdom, he let the players play. He unleashed them and they produced victory after victory. A great lesson in getting out of your own way. How’s that for Zen coaching, Phil Jackson?
The real stars of Just a Bit Outside are the rabid Brewer fans. A lot of the b roll footage is from the many rockin’ taverns of the time. And the fact that the boys don’t ultimately win all the marbles doesn’t stop the fans from loving them anyway. The film makes you ask, “Is it possible that they even love them more?” When I was growing up in New Jersey, in the late 1980s, the Devils were a fun new hockey team. In fact, Wayne Gretzky infamously said they were a Mickey Mouse franchise. So they played with a chip on their shoulder. For the fans of course, being from Jersey meant already having a chip on your shoulder. It was a match made in heaven. When the Devils lost in the playoffs, we the fans went to the airport to greet them when their plane landed. We had bonded with the players, win, lose or draw. Just a Bit Outside captures that dynamic precisely, with great humor and emotion.
When I asked my friend F if he wanted to join me to see this film about the Milwaukee Brewers, he said in his typical to the point manner, “I am a Yankees fan!”. But after watching this movie about a specific team and year, I realized that this film could be enjoyed by any fan, anywhere. Personally, as kid, I started off rooting for the Yanks myself. Then when I moved West, the SF Giants. Followed by the LA Dodgers for my years in Tinseltown. I just did what the song said to do, “Root, root, root / For the home team”. But will I now, as resident of Wisconsin, become a Brewers fan? These words of wisdom were carried on the wind from generation to generation, from the bleachers of old Milwaukee County Stadium to the ears of one of the all-time Brewers greats, Bob Uecker, “Down in front!”. The Brewers 1982 season proves that nothing is impossible.
Director Yorgos Lanthimos must have the strangest dreams. At times during the triptych of shorts that is Kinds of Kindness I inadvertently said, “What the Fuck” out loud. D leaned over with a, “Yeah, we could have left after the first one.” But I wasn’t thinking we should duck into Inside Out 2 or Despicable Me 4. I was thinking, these shots are so inspired. Where is he getting these from? The way Yorgos uses the wide shot, it’s like Bob Ross dipped his patented Number 2 Landscape Blender Brush into liquid LSD.
There are flashes of Wes Anderson in these films: The reeling off of items in a hand written note, the robotic gait of an actor, the traditional literary narrative structure of the stories, and their titles, working like chapters of the same book — the use of Willem Dafoe!
However, Yorgos does have a specific visual language and thematic preoccupations of his own. And they’re often revolting in a riveting, I know I’m going to feel nauseous/possibly hurl/maybe be too amped and have to write about this film at 1:00AM, but I can’t look away, kind of way.
The great Senegalese Director, Djibril Diop Mambete (check out Touki Bouki or Hyènes immediately), once said that he was against the Hollywood system because it asked you to believe that the actor you saw in a movie last week was now a different person in a movie you are currently seeing. But Yorgos proves that an audience can indeed suspend disbelief in this regard. In these back to back movies, it’s easy to buy into the imagined world with these great actors in complex stories. It reminds me of the sleight of hand I saw Piff the Magic Dragon perform at the Flamingo in Vegas. Before everyone’s eyes he changed one playing card into another by rubbing his finger over it. The trick was being transmitted live on screens in the auditorium, as a close up. So how did he do it? The term movie magic typically refers to cheap tricks in special effects or editing. But I would posit that there is a much deeper level where we can talk about movie magic as the transformation of these talented actors, like chameleons, changing colors right before our eyes.
The stories are all absurd parables, that harken to the literature of Kafka, Dostoevsky and Marquez. Stories that draw a murky line between no one to root for and everyone to root against. But to say they are dark would be simplifying unfairly. Yorgos does have his own signature. Yes, it’s written in the blood of the nearest available animal or human internal organ —but it’s nevertheless his. And I believe what redeems his films are that he is coming at these motifs with a critique of how we treat one another. He looks unflinchingly at the deformity of the human soul as it leverages wealth to debase even genuine miracles themselves. He makes us ask honestly, is anything sacred?
Yorgos loves to reveal human avarice and unspool it to its logical final conclusion. If you don’t mind being disturbed in a similar way that Poor Things disturbed you, I highly recommend Kinds of Kindness. For your efforts you will be rewarded by witnessing a tennis racket, whose head John McEnroe destroyed in a rage in 1984, preserved under glass, illuminated by a spotlight.
A guest review by music writer and performer Mr. Ian Moore, who by his own admission is, “prolly banned”.
A powerful woman bows before a home shrine, the mood reverent and gentle. A samurai enters and meticulously prepares his estranged wife a small matcha tea, which she drinks and ceremonially compliments his performance before refusing his offer of reconciliation. Such are the illustrative vignettes created in “Shogun,” the Sengoku period Japanese epic now streaming on Hulu. Meditative, rainy landscapes, rituals, and trials form the main action of the plot; but not to worry, plenty of heads get chopped off and the occasional ship race, battle, or wreck erupts in high-budget glory, courtesy of the James Clavell novel that “Shogun” is based on.
The two main characters are struggling against the Osaka council’s takeover when a mysterious British naval pilot is captured attempting to open up trade with Japan, now monopolized by the Portuguese. Lady Mariko and Toranaga are trying to save Japan from tyranny and are constantly on the run back to Edo, a smaller fishing village, keeping them in sight of the British ship and the warlord who graphically boiled alive one of the British crew, though now he’s ready to enjoy some of the good saké while plotting to make Toranaga the Shogun, the military leader of Japan. The marooned Blackthorne has an uncertain mission but quickly makes himself indispensable to Toranaga as leverage against the council while developing a relationship with Mariko, who interprets for him having been taught Portuguese by the scheming Catholic priests. The depiction of women in “Shogun” reflects a deeply repressive society with a rigid role-based hierarchy but subverts this system occasionally with female power moves and notably when a madame eloquently uses a bartered moment with the leader to request that he set aside a large district in his capital city for retired courtesans. More unexpected business filled some episodes: a conniving small town warlord is shown to be pretty kinky and the plot often revolves around not violence, but Toranaga or Mariko gaming the complex political world to outwit the council in unpredictable ways.
Throughout the ten hour series, the mise en scene is almost another character, we’re forever coming upon the samurai staring out into the rain like moody teens – it’s heavy when the fate of the empire is on your gorgeously robed shoulders. Each character wore iridescent fabrics with geometric, jacquard knots – even in the remote village where dry cleaning must be outrageous! If someone happens upon a noble warrior in such a moment, then it’s time for impromptu Haiku. Characters would go back and forth composing a poem together until one is overcome by the elegance of the others’ imagery and submits. Or, as another friend said, “that show is boring,” but I like a good poetry slam and the soundtrack is just perfect – composed by half of the Grammy-winning duo that scored ‘The Social Network.’ I just loved how complicated the characters were, often double-crossing each other and employing tricks of etiquette to wrongfoot their opponents. It’s a war movie, so that might not be your thing, cannon blasts and swordplay are maybe 1/5 of the film. Also: tons of subtitled talk of keeping your third heart hidden and building an eightfold fence in your mind; but the sex was really sexy and the blood spurty, so there’s something for the whole family!
Some DVDs will supply you with the bonus of a Director’s Commentary. Something that every cinephile looks forward to. Most of these tracks are disappointing. Either the Director would rather be somewhere else for whatever reason or there is a whole gaggle of people along for the commentary ride. This only serves to muddle the narrative.
My favorite Director’s commentaries include those of Wim Wenders. He really knows how to tell a story. He seems so pleased you are listening and sort of invites you in. He’ll explain through personal anecdotes about his own life (I grew up in this valley) and funny ones (the Cinematographer fell asleep with one eye on the viewfinder in this scene), or critical aspects of the movie (we waited a day for this one-way mirror to be installed and it became the most iconic scene in the film). As opposed to a lecture or spoiler about how things were made, it’s much more a sharing and a conversation, in a sense. Since you never see the Directors, they seem quite at ease. For example, in the Director’s commentary for The Thing, you can hear the ice clinking in John Carpenter’s whiskey glass.
Schnabel will tell you that he couldn’t make any of his films by himself. However, there is no doubt about his stamp, his signature. He is a physical Director, in the style of Werner Herzog. This makes his Director’s commentary compelling. One scene in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly finds an actress submerged, going deeper and deeper under water, holding on to the person in the diving bell. Schnabel says, “They wanted me to put weights in her jacket, so she could stay down there. I wouldn’t allow it. I was down there with them.” Of course he was! As I have been researching my 7th annual Winter Film Series, for which I selected four Schnabel films, what comes across to me is how he is someone who weaves himself physically into the film. As much as an oil paint becomes inextricable to a canvas. In behind the scenes you see Schnabel diving off a pier to prove to Javier Bardim in Before Night Falls, that it’s safe to jump into this part of the sea—you also witness an injured Schnabel being wheeled around in a make-shift hand cart. In the commentary he will throw away facts like, “That’s my shirt.” or “That’s my hat.” But without the commentary, you would not have the insight that 0n-set, Schnabel gives everything.
During one of the soliloquies in Diving Bell, Schnabel opines in the commentary, “It would be a crime to speak over this.” This is the greatest form of Director’s commentary. Actually experiencing the film along with the audience. At another point in the film, during a gut-wrenching phone call by Jean Dominique Bauby’s father (Max von Sydow) Schnable is moved. He lets you know he watched the scene just like the audience. He says of the father, “Who talks like that?”
If you’ve never watched The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, or read the book, I highly recommend both. It’s on the surface, an incredible story of a person who is paralyzed but can still communicate through blinking. But what it is truly about is the power of the human imagination and the dignity of creating an active and healthy inner-voice for oneself. Another one of Schnabel’s themes seems to be the artist’s ability to transmute mortality, to live on, through their work. The final shot of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is actually during the credits. Schnabel says that the entire film was inspired by this shot of massive glaciers violently crashing into water. Except that in a surreal but soothing twist, the footage is moving in reverse. The glaciers, healing, repairing and transforming back into their once glorious states. Schnabel won’t say but for me it’s a hopeful message that no matter how seemingly broken someone is, with imagination we can envision them anew and with promise.
The Winter Film Series is held annually, December through March, at the 602 Club in Appleton, Wisconsin.https://the602club.wordpress.com
L&D Report 
