ARTS: FILM 21
THE FOUNDER October 2021
Review: Annette DEVESH SOOD | CONTENT WRITER
A
nnette is frustrating. From Leos Carax, a director whose career has seen overwhelming critical acclaim, Annette tells the story of Henry (Adam Driver), a stand-up comedian, and Anne (Marion Cotillard), an opera singer, who have a child named Annette, who is a puppet. Presented as a musical with songs from Sparks, whose story was recently told in the Edgar Wright documentary, ‘The Sparks Brothers’, with all singing reportedly being completed live. Having not seen any trailers, I didn't quite know what I was in for. Consequently, when walking out of this film, I was in agony. While there are so many beautiful, creative ideas, wonderful songs, stunning costumes, incredible camera work, and terrific performances, it is stitched together in a story that does out-stay it’s welcome. As expected, Driver and Cotillard are terrific; the first scene with them is electric, with a deafening silence telling everything about the relationship. The songs are shockingly catchy, with the opening song ‘So May We Start’ and ‘We Love Each Other So Much’ being amongst my favourites of the year. The cinematography is spectacular and helped elevate certain ideas and concepts within the story. In his first scene, Driver is portrayed as a dark, shadowy figure, with his cigarette providing the only light. This is followed by one of my favourite moments with him putting out a cigarette before slamming a banana peel on the top, showing the unhealthy, broken nature of this man. I’d also credit this film for having the first successful use of non-glasses 3D, in a scene where Driver is standing before an audience, and smoke engulfs his presence. Finally, the puppetry must also be applauded. Representing the struggles of growing up in the public consciousness, a scene with Annette singing while levitating is mesmerising, yet tragic. Yet, with all this praise, the final product never fully comes together. While many of the ideas and concepts are terrific, the story ultimately deals with masculine greed and power in a typical fashion. There are also injections of the modern world that felt unnecessary; from paparazzi photos for a terribly fake news channel, to a bizarre ‘Me Too’ song, which ultimately turns out to be a dream, and hence, has no real place in the story. Furthermore, the movie, which starts by asking for ‘your complete attention’ really outstays it’s welcome; with a running time of about 140 minutes, it feels like it could easily be cut down. When the movie premiered at Cannes, reactions were mixed; I had hoped that it would be a matter of taste. I watched Annette in a theatre with only 3 people who were dead silent throughout, meaning I was able to come to a judgement with no distractions. Thus, while there is so much good in this film, the problems are within the fundamental storytelling elements. Yet, I am glad that I saw it, the film does deserve a lot of credit and should be seen by everyone, if only once.
Birds of Paradise and the New Face of Teen Film MATILDE GUNCAVDI GUIMARAES | CONTENT WRITER
G
aining large notoriety in the early 80s, the teen genre has been wildly popular since, ranging from classics like The Breakfast Club to Netflix’s recent trilogy addition To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. It’s fair to say that most of said films have maintained a very basic and similar format and formula in order to appeal to a mainstream audience. However, in recent years there has been a slight shift in filmmaking style as well as subject matter, mostly aided by the ever-growing popularity of production company, A24. This ‘new wave’ of teen cantered media is exciting, fresh, and unique. It takes inspiration from experimental, independent, and avantgarde cinema, often emphasising the importance of aesthetics. Take Euphoria for example, the show gained immense popularity for its use of highly stylised elements from lighting to costume, as well as its exploration of complex subject matters. Amazon Prime’s latest release is yet another example of this new generation of teen films. Based on A.K. Small’s Y.A. novel Bright Burning Stars, Birds of Paradise is a drama following two friends as they compete for a place at the Paris Opera Ballet. At surface, it is a story we’ve seen countless times (prompting various comparisons to Black Swan); however, the film is filled with countless twists that will keep you on the edge of your seat all throughout. Additionally, it has various surrealist-like sequences featuring some incredible choreography and a lot of glitter. If that’s not enough to convince you to give Birds of Paradise a go, the narrative aspects of this film are equally as interesting and original. It is a highly ambiguous film, both morally and in regard to the ‘truth’. The viewer is constantly repositioned in regard to character point of view and plays on the viewer’s expectations of the sub-genre. We assume from the start that newcomer Kate (Diana Silvers) will struggle to fit in, whilst Marine (Kristine Froseth) is set up as a mean girl haunted by her past. In turn, this is completely subverted, Kate turns out to be the most ruthless of any of the students going to extreme extents to win whilst audiences feel sorry for Marine. I truly fell in love with this film. It doesn’t try to ‘dumb-down’ the art of cinema in order to appeal to the mainstream and because of that some incredible cinematography is produced. If this is the direction that Amazon Prime and Amazon Studios is going, I am very excited what’s in store for them.
Source: IMDb
