A mother and her teenage daughter must confront Death when it arrives in the form of an astonishing talking bird.
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Tuesday is the latest release (June 2024) by A24, and as we are used to the film company’s creations, it does not lack emotion.
Focusing on an important yet rarely discussed - one could say avoided - topic, death, and its relation to life, Tuesday manages to shine a new light on the most feared event in our lives in a rather unexpected and creative setting.
The movie starts off strong, geniously capturing what it means to be a mother, and what it means to be the loved one of someone on their deathbed.
It manages to make you laugh and cry at the same time, knocking down your defense and leaving you completely and utterly confused - which is a necessary step for gaining a new perspective. It cleverly uses humor and absurdity to contrast the heavy scenario where death comes to take a young and sick daughter (Lola Petticrew) away from her devastated mother (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), who is in denial.
After the strong start however, the scenes stretch too long without being filled with depth and sentiment, and the usually mesmerizing picture we got so used to by A24 also falls short of expectations.
Plot : 5/10
Picture : 8/10
Acting : 8/10
Message : 10/10
Overall : 7/10
Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends, are wrest apart after Nora’s family emigrates from South Korea.
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This heart wrenching movie by Celine Song touched something in me that I didn’t know existed. It took my heart and played the most beautiful, human, realistic and painful song on its strings I’ve ever known. It made me and everyone else in the theater cry unstoppably and uncontrollably, in a devastating yet beautiful way.
This movie is an absolute must for those who are disillusioned with Hollywood’s countless shallow romances. Gorgeous pictures, unique storytelling, touching music, beautiful lights, relatable emotions; and finally a movie with a lot of silence, silence that leaves room for acting - and great acting for that matter.
Some feelings simply don’t need to be overexplained, or best not explained at all, but shown: using facial expressions, voices, picture and music - and A24 is a master at that.
Overall : 11/10
Hirayama cleans public toilets in Tokyo, lives his life in simplicity and daily tranquility.
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Perfect Days is an Oscar nominated movie made by German director Wim Wenders, starring the brilliant Kōji Yakusho.
This movie is hard to find the words for. It is a masterpiece that is strong enough in picture and acting for it to not need too much conversation. Even the film’s website is an artwork by itself (linked in the title).
In my personal opinion, it’s much harder to capture beauty than suffering, let alone in such a gentle and subtle way. Mr. Wenders manages to capture so much of it, that I was practically watching the film in tears. This story touches you deeply, leaving you longing for the ability to appreciate the simplest things, the same things, day after day.
You find yourself respecting - and even being envious of - a man, who, according to western societal standards, is unsuccessful, being “just a toilet cleaner in Tokyo”.
Yet, his eyes are glowing as he finds satisfaction in his life, every part of it, in spite of it being simple and being based mostly on repetition.
The message is very clear and perfectly delivered - we are valuing the wrong things in our lives.
Overall : 11/10
The commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss, and his wife Hedwig, strive to build a dream life for their family in a house and garden next to the camp.
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A highly absurd and tense creation by Jonathan Glazer, with incredible acting by Sandra Hüller, playing the wife of the commandant of Auschwitz, played by Christian Friedel.
The movie follows the life of this young family living right next to the concentration camp, where the husband goes to “work” every morning while the wife turns their house into a dream home. The film operates with disturbing contrasts: a blooming garden and ripening fruit trees next to the barbed wire fence, squeaking and laughing of children over the last breaths of the dying, the smell of fresh breakfast and coffee while chimneys spit out black smoke in the background…
The female lead brilliantly captures the head of the household, looking out for her family, trying to fulfill her own dreams in this insane environment, treating the tragedy next door with complete and utter ignorance. The commandant, praised for coming up with ideas on making the camp more effective, ends up showing an unexpected little sign of humanity.
To me, the movie captures selfishness, ignorance and aggression - in a way where we've all felt and seen these things in ourselves.
Plot : 8/10
Picture : 8/10
Acting : 10/10
Message : 10/10
Overall : 8/10