🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿
|
🎙️ EPISODE 564: 09.28.22
Haven't watched a movie that's left me so flummoxed in a long while. So I have to give it credit for that. My first reaction was that it was impenetrably French, but I can't describe it like that, lest I fall trap to the stock anti-hipster sentiment that seems to be the overwhelming party line in terms of criticism. Can't take the easy way out with this one even if it seems to be begging the viewer to do so. The description — "Paris, one morning. A group of young people from different backgrounds. They launch into a strange ballet in the metro tunnels and the city's streets. They seem to follow a plan. Their gestures are precise, almost dangerous. They converge towards the same point, a department store, at the moment it is about to shut. Night begins." — feels like a put-on, obviously, but that's nothing compared to the actual movie.
|
The film itself is nice looking, very much so actually. Aesthetically it's on point, from how the explosions and other acts of terror are rendered to the "so bright, they're numbing" interiors of the department store which houses much of the action. All the alien-like mannequins and the arranging of barbie dolls for no reason and the little kid wearing the gold mask (etc etc) give the film VIBES but I'm not sure it's anything more than that. It surely wants (and definitely thinks!) it has substance, but I'm not sure there's a whole lot here. And much of that has to do with its lack of character development, but I'm starting to think that was the point entirely.
In the middle act, the characters are flushed out a bit more; doing this after the inciting incident works counter to one's typical expectations, which is an interesting mode. The department store setting itself is so on the nose it hurts, though. Capitalism = bad!!! And — for the record — I couldn't agree more. But goddam it, a little nuance for chrissakes. It got better (in its own way) as it moved along. There was maybe ⅜th of an idea here, but the major flaw I keep coming back to is the plain fact that these characters are not just unlikeable (duh, they're supposed to be) but also — more importantly — completely uninteresting. I couldn't care less about any of them. And while, I suppose, I could be convinced that this was ALSO THE POINT, it doesn't solve the immediate issue of "Am I enjoying Movie X or not?" It's nihilistic not only in theory and theme, but in practice.
Nocturama is a 2016 thriller film written and directed by Bertrand Bonello. It was released in France on 31 August 2016, and in the US by Grasshopper Film on 11 August 2017. It tells the story of a group of young, multiracial radicals committing a series of terrorist attacks in Paris. It was released on July 8, 2016 .
0 comments:
Post a Comment