May 2024

News From Home (1976)

New York has never looked more monolithic than in News From Home. The trains clatter, the buildings loom ominously and the people are seriously walkin' ere: Chantal Akerman nails the loneliness of inhabiting a new, unfamiliar environment, and whilst Jeanne Dielman utilised a sense of claustrophobic isolation to explore the horror of robotic routine, News From Home alternatively explores the vastness of a cityscape's exterior to evoke alienation and the unknown. The interspersed voice-over letters from Akerman's mother provide a comforting reprieve from the sensory chaos, and even when the racketing cacophony often renders them inaudible, a maternal love is still omnipresent.

If you're intimidated by the 4 hour behemoth that is Jeanne Dielman, this is certainly a lighter, more placid gateway to Akerman. I hope she realised the influence and power her films held.

Furiosa (2024)

How do you top one of the greatest blockbusters ever made? Short answer: you don't, unfortunately.

It's somewhat of a shame that Furiosa is inevitably cursed to occupy the shadow of the almighty Mad Max: Fury Road. There's no flame-thrower guitar in sight here, and in its place, methodical world building and quieter moments of character study. The more restrained tone succeeds in showcasing Miller's second to none levels of detail and atmosphere, but as the exposition rolled and Chris Hemsworth continued to (admittedly, very entertainingly) 'Aussie' it up, I couldn't help but yearn for that confident simplicity of its predecessor. The visceral pace of Max's Keaton-esque visual storytelling scorches past 'Furiosa's' more contemplative swades, and whilst it's certainly an impressive feat, sometimes the stripped-down roars of an army of engines speaks so much more than a 2.5 hour origin story.

Yi Yi (2000) (Rewatch)

From when I write this, I rewatched Yi Yi yesterday, and I'm still trying to compose myself and steady my still fluttering insides and trembling giddiness. I enjoyed the film fine enough when I watched it two years ago but no. I was wrong. I was an idiot: Yi Yi is one of the best films ever made.

I think Bill Burr described Goodfellas as every scene being equivalent to a brilliant final joke in a stand up set - that's how I feel about Yi Yi: every scene is the BEST scene. It's a series of unbelievable closers and it manages to keep it up for three hours; it's absolute magic.

Edward Yang just says "look at this": delicately woven moments of sentience that intertwine, intersect and co-exist in a backdrop of the impending passing of a loved one. Needless to say, I personally felt this on a whole different level from initial viewing. I'm still grieving every day, but I could feel my heart literally swell as the trifecta of NJ, Ting-Ting and Yang- Yang navigate this dream-like emotional limbo in a search for understanding: it's all they can do at that stage, and it felt eerily, yet so comfortingly familiar. The patriarch clings to the past, whilst the children embrace the future. Moments of kindness, sadness, fear and hilarity all passively emerge, like an entire generational lineage, an entire life's odyssey painted on screen without the characters realising- we only see those moments as special when they're gone. Goddamn that's a movie. One of the finest in fact.