Lukas Dhont (Girl) returns with his sophomore feature Close, a story about two young boys whose close friendship gets conflicted by toxic masculinity. In both films, Dhont has a particular gift for exuding emotional clarity within his characters. The vibes are instantaneous, the rapport between the actors is present and open. However, it’s in his script that affects my conflicting attitude towards his work.
First, Dhont always uses ploys to illicit a reaction or emotion. But the way he uses…
Panah Panahi (the son of the jailed filmmaker Jafar Panahi) renders a marvelous film debut Hit the Road that follows a mysterious road-trip of an eccentric family in the valleys of northwestern Iran. If the senior Panahi is more confrontational in his cinematic sensibilities, his son is more on the lines of ambiguity—in the same vein of let’s say Abbas Kiarostami. Here, we never know where they’re heading or to the reason of their pursuit. But as we move along,…
Damien Chazelle's smashing, adrenaline-fueled, electrifying drama is bloody exhilarating to watch as it is uncomfortably compelling. Chazelle is surely one of the up and coming directors we need to watch out for. His youthful, energetic, intense direction is felt on screen and it's mind-blowing. The film follows a young jazz drummer and his quest to be the best among the rest in a prestigious music conservatory.
This film reminds me of Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler, and Black Swan, as their…
Pixar has always been consistent in their endless fixations on human behavior, emotions, and life as a whole. Their recent output Soul is probably the studio’s most mature and frankly, adult-fared film that explores death and existentialism at its core. How do you explain death and the fullness of life to an eight-year-old? Directed by Pete Docter and Kemp Powers, the film does a resounding undertaking of being risky and insightful, but in the end something’s quite glaringly missing. Soul…
