Movie Reviews

Considered both a religious allegory, and a moving coming of age drama, French director Robert Bresson’s masterful Au Hassard Balthazar (1966) is a story that unhurriedly builds to its poignant conclusion—one that is as poetic as it is imbued with symbolic meaning. The titular character is a donkey whose trials and tribulations are depicted from the beginning of his life, when he is born to a family in provincial France, to when he frees himself from the bondage of humans. The donkey’s life is one governed by chance, and mostly shown in unsentimental terms as Balthazar travels from one owner to another. An early scene in the film shows children baptizing the animal, giving critics plenty of reason to suggest that Bresson sees in the suffering, dignified animal, a spiritual quality—a symbol for humanity trapped in a world of chaos, inhumanity and imperfection. Like many of his films before and after, Bresson often cast untrained actors as a way of shrinking the influence of performative mannerisms, giving his films an austere, naturalistic look and feel. Bresson’s exploration of the themes of redemption, compassion and grace, through the eyes of an animal, may leave some audiences sapped, but the art house connoisseur will want to seek out this highly influential film. – Submitted by Ryan

Gage

The Banshees of Inisherin

It’s 1923 and while Free State forces clash with the Irish Republican Army on the mainland, life on the fictional western Irish island of Inisherin moves at a very different pace. Pádraic (Colin Farrell) is a milk farmer and a man of habit, which involves calling on his old friend Colm (Brendan Gleeson) every day at about 2pm for a pint at the pub. Pádraic’s routine is thwarted when Colm brusquely informs him that he finds him dull and no longer wishes to see or speak to him – so much so that Colm threatens to cut off one of his own fingers for each attempt on tion. Pádraic responds with a degree of understandable incredulity while Colm focuses on nonchalantly completing the composition of a violin piece. When Pádraic presses him to reconsider, we find out that his threat is anything but hyperbolic. Farrell and Gleeson have undeniable chemistry in general, but in the hands of director Martin McDonagh, it becomes impossible to imagine casting anyone else. Filmed principally on Inishmore and Achill Island, the bucolic landscape intertwines beautifully with the bleak prospects of the island’s residents, serving to bring ever more into focus both the humor and despair at the film’s core. – Submitted by Patrick Jouppi

The Velvet Underground

Todd Haynes’ documentary on The Velvet Underground is at its best in its opening hour, which provides an overview of the New York avant-garde art scene in the 1960’s while exploring the formation of the group. Already immersed in that scene as a classically trained violist and keyboardist, Welsh transplant and founding member John Cale (interviewed extensively) makes his mark performing pieces by John Cage and collaborating with La Monte Young. These avant-garde tendencies meet Lou Reed’s brutally honest rock and roll heart head-on when the Velvet Underground is formed in 1965. Reed’s voiceovers join Cale’s remembrances (along with drummer Maureen Tucker’s, and other members of Andy Warhol’s Factory scene) to illuminate the push and pull dynamic of a rock band with an avantgarde bent, unexplored on record at the time the VU connects with Warhol (who adds vocalist Nico to the band), leading to the release of their now-legendary 1st LP. The artifice of the scene is in sharp contrast to the emotional wallop the VU could produce on stage and vinyl. The short shrift given to the post-Cale VU lineup leaves this documentary with a dispassionate tone. The Velvet Underground is most enlightening for the uninitiated, who should give their original recordings a listen for best effect. – Submitted by Karl

Knack

Reviews submitted by Ryan Gage. These great titles and others are available at the Kalamazoo Public Library.