Relevance of Socialism a Century Before

Her Socialist Smile (2020) - Gianvito

Helen Keller, who was blind and deaf but overcame her disabilities and became a renowned women's rights activist and socialist is the subject of John Gianvito's documentary, Her Socialist Smile.  She made her first public speech more than a century ago and have written numerous books and her words are as relevant and powerful as back in 1916.

She became aware of economic disparities causing preventable diseases - such as blindness, and radicalized. Reading Marx and other philosophers, she decided that capitalism is the source of these inequalities and became an activist, opposing American involvement in WW1 under president Woodrow Wilson. She travelled the world advocating her pacifist stance and against militarism. She was disillusioned by the left's infighting and sympathized with syndicalists who sought action, such as IWW by general strike. 

Through series of fires - including one in 9/11/2001, destroyed much of Keller's records and archival materials.

So how do you make a film about a woman who was blind and deaf? Gianvito resort to a narrator Carolyn Forché reading some of the texts in a sound studio and use nature footage around Keller's childhood home in Alabama as well as some archival footage of her. The rest is her white texts in black screen with no sound. I understand it is important to read her texts on screen and Gianvito graciously grants enough time for us to read it. But it is a lot of texts. I mean A LOT. 

There are some graceful moments visually. Some of the close ups of nature accompanying the narration is beautiful and gets its sensory message across. But better alternative will be getting a copy of her book Out of the Dark and go out to a field and read it.

Approximation

Peppermint Frappé (1967) - Saura

Geraldine Chaplin plays double roles in Carlos Saura's deliciously perverse Peppermint Frappé. A repressed radiologist Julián (José Luis López Vázquez) zooms in on his childhood friend Pedro's young coquettish young blonde wife Elena (Chaplin). Convinced that they've met before, Julián can't help but obsessing over flirtatious and outgoing Elena.

While Elena's teasing continues, Julián moves in on his introverted brunette assistant Ana (also played by Chaplin). It is precisely because Ana's resemblance to Elena that Julián seduces her, to approximate her to his sexual obsession.

Dedicated to his idol Buñuel, the film's surrealism and Catholicism's grip on Spain, satire on bourgeoisie are all on display: Pedro and Julián grew up in a health retreat run by Julián's aunt who was a nun. They kept themselves busy by looking through the keyholes to satiate their raging hormones. It was Pedro who was always a dominant one. Driving a sports car with young blonde wife, Pedro still dominates square and meek Julián to this day. What's worse, Elena, a teaser with a mean streak, relentlessly plays with Julián's emotions and plays pranks on him with Pedro. Something's gotta give.

Peppermint Frappé closely resembles Vertigo in its sexual obsession and perverted desire of replacing unattainable with its approximation. A woman's identity is something Buñuel also plays with in his last film That Obscure Object of Desire which would make a fine triple feature.

Chaplin is quite enchanting in playing the double role. I might have to binge on some more Saura/Chaplin combo.

Your Wedding, My Funeral

 An Autumn Afternoon (1962) - Ozu

From a pure aesthetic point of view, with symetry of the frames in both interior and exterior sets, boring but exact shot/reverse shot in dialogue scenes, perfunctory movement and gestures of actors, An Autumn Afternoon is not disimilar from Jacques Tati films. But just as with all Ozu films, it's about changing times and its effects on family - mutual guilt, regret, loneliness, nostalgia, melancholy. Also it's a good reflection of the recently minted materialist society - industrial factories with smoke stacks, golf clubs, designer handbags, household gizmos. And they all but overshadow real human emotions. Its that none-emotiveness, holding-backness and the boomer humor leaves a bad taste in my mouth. An Autumn Afternoon is supposed to be wise and poignant observation on fleeting human life, like all Yasujiro Ozu films are. And in a way it is. An old salary man is afraid of losing his daughter by marrying her off. She is 24 and not getting any younger. If he does, he will be alone and lonely. She doesn't say anything out of duty as a daugther because father knows best. The film is way too geriatric for me to appreciate it more.

Someone once mention that if the cinema survives for ways in the future and got discovered in some sort of archeological digs by our descendents or aliens from outerworld discovered it in a cosmic dust, without recognizing its language, what the future men or aliens will get out of it is perfunctory human activities - walking, in transit (car, train etc) and eating & drinking. If they dug up and saw An Autumn Afternoon, what they will mostly see is men eating and drinking, a lot. I mean, the amount of drinking scene in this movie far surpasses any Hong Sangsoo movie I've seen. It's too bad that Ozu had no interest in actually showing what they are eating. I'd like to have known that.

Hyper Sensory World

The Reason I Jump (2020) - Rothwell

Autism is not a dirty word anymore. We all know someone in our lives who are deemed autistic. But even though our society may have gotten better at treating people on the spectrum over the years (relatively speaking of course), our understanding of how a person with autism views the world has been rudimentary at best. It wasn't until 2013, when, a then 13-year old autistic Japanese boy named Higashida Naoki wrote a memoir called The Reason I Jump and British author David Mitchell (Cloud Atlas) translated the book with his wife into English, the whole world, for the very first time, had a chance to get a glimpse of how people on the spectrum perceive the world. The book has been a revelation for many, and helped thousands of anxious parents who for years had to cope with having autistic children without much guidance on the subject. Then again, it was those parents - their persistence, dedication and unconditional love that made this breakthrough possible; for it was Naoki's mother who devised a handmade Japanese alphabet grid so her non-verbal son could finally express himself in words and eventually write the book. I read his memoir a long while ago and it was truly an eye-opening experience.

The Reason I Jump is loosely adapted by documentarian Jerry Rothwell. With jumbled home movie footage and recent events with the help of immaculate sound design by Nick Ryan, the film succeeds in presenting the world of autism as an audiovisual sensory experience. As Naoki explains in his words (in voice over narration by Jordan O'Donegan)that he, as an autistic person, experiences time differently - not in linear fashion, but in spurts: what he experienced when he was little can be present right next to what happened two minutes ago- with all the emotions he felt then come rushing in with it. This explains autistic people's seemingly abnormal behavior - sudden outbursts of shouts, anger or laughter or unexpectedly stopping in their tracks, as if lost in their own worlds. The film also does a fine job of zooming in and superimposing images, approximating how an autistic person concentrates on details of an object and gradually figure out what he/she is seeing in front of them. Obsession, repetition and attachment to an object are also the signs of being on the spectrum, as they give them a sense of security in ever-changing surroundings.

The film start with a cute, button-nosed Japanese boy (Jim Fujiwara) wondering around the woods. With the whimpering noise he makes here and there, you can tell he is autistic. It seems that everything he sees, hears and feels is new and wondrous experience for him. He and the narrator in Naoki's words are coherent threads that guide us through the film.

We are introduced to five of those on the spectrum - Amrit in India, Joss in England, Ben and Emma in the US and Jestina in Sierra Leone. We also meet their parents who care for them. Amrit, although non-verbal, creates colorful, beautiful figure paintings from her surroundings and on her way to have her first gallery exhibition. With Joss, we get to see the progression of an autistic child growing into a man with uncertain future and their devout parents struggling with the fact. Ben and Emma are childhood friends and, unbeknownst each other's parents, have been communicating non-verbally for years and planning their future together. Jestina and her parents, struggling in a society where people with autism were considered possessed by demons and social stigma is stronger, help find a community and finally establish a school for autistic children.

The film acknowledges the horrendous social stigma associated with having an autism and doesn't disguise our atrocious past in treating autistics as subhuman by playing the audio clips of eugenicists and 1938 Nazi propaganda where they advocated for ending those 'invalids'' miserable existence. There are many heartbreaking moments but one of the most searing one is Jeremy, Joss's dad talking about his son's future and breaks down contemplating what's going to happen to his son when he is not around to take care of him anymore. And I am pretty sure that's the worries of thousands of parents who have kids who are on the spectrum.

Produced by Jeremy Dear and Stevie Lee, two of the parents of the autistic children in the film, The Reason I Jump is also a tribute to those parents who give unconditional love and care. The film asks for understanding and, above all, patience by showing how autistic people perceive the world. But perhaps the most moving part of the film is when Naoki says in the narration at the end that if he could get a chance to do it all over again, he wouldn't change a thing. The point being that Naoki and countless others experience the world differently, even better way than we 'normal people' do - a hyper sensory world we can only approximate on film.

The Reason I Jump opens virtually on Friday 1/8 nationwide. Please visit Kino Lorber website for more info.

Torching the Traditional Motherhood

Ema (2019) - Larrain

Ema (Mariana Di Girólamo) is in any way a mom material. She is first seen torching the traffic signal in the middle of the night in the Chilean city of Valparaiso with her flame thrower. This sleek platinum blonde beauty is a dancer in a group who dances street dance known as Reggaeton. She is in divorce proceedings from Gaston (Gael Gacia Bernal), a choreographer of the group, 12 year her senior and a foreigner. She also maintains numerous amorous relations within her team, mostly comprised of female persuasion. 

Ema-Gaston backstory is that Gaston can't conceive a child. So they adopted 12 year old Colombian boy. But when things got tough and the boy tried to burn down the house and half of Ema's sister's face (got that tendency from mom obv), they gave up the boy and sent him back to the system. The rest of the movie is Ema trying to get the boy back by manipulating her way into the boy's new adopted parents' lives.

It's fun, horny movie that torches the traditional notion of motherhood into oblivion. 

Last October, Chile overwhelmingly voted (78 percent!) to rewrite their constitution which was written in the military dictatorial years of Pinochet which was supported by American government of course. Argentina just voted to legalize abortion. Seeing yesterday's shenanigans at our nation's capitol where Trumpers stormed the halls of our House chambers and reading the reactions to it online, one thing that struck me is that we as a society failed miserably for our next generation. No one under 40 will ever trust our government ever again to do anything right.  In this context, Ema is as much of a rebuke of the old generation than anything else. Who are we to judge what's amoral or what is a right thing to do? Burn the shit down!

Energetic with fuck-all attitude, Ema is a new breed of filmmaking that signals the arrival of the next generation who are more empowered and care-free, as if saying "whether we like it or not, the future is ours." I tend to agree.

Shanghai Surprise

Shanghai Express (1932) - Sternberg Joseph Sternberg's portrayal of 1930s China is that of a Westerner's exotic dream of what the East is supposed to be like - full of danger and intrigue filled with beautiful, dangerous dames while everyone speaks perfect English. Shanghai Express is a visual feast made up of long tracking shots, expressive dissolves, gorgeous shadow play and most of all, its luminous star, Marlene Dietrich's stunning wardrobe changes.

Shanghai express's plot contains lost loves between a British officer Harvey (Donald Brook) and a courtesan known as Shanghai Lily (Dietrich) as they embark on a train ride from Peiping (Beijing) to Shanghai. Then there is a rogue element in Chang (Warner Oland in ridiculous 'oriental' makeup- raised eyebrows and three point mustache that looks like a Halloween gag costume for racists) who feigns to be a passenger but a revolutionary sleazebag who masterminds the train jacking and taking hostage of Harvey in exchange for his second-hand man who got captured by Chinese gov't troops earlier. Chang also threatens to keep Lily as his concubine and after her rejection, turns to Hu Fei (Anna May Wong), Lily's chamber-mate, and rapes her. The siege ends in Lily sacrificing herself - to stay with Chang to release Harvey without Harvey knowing it. After Hu Fei kills Chang and everyone gets released, Harvey, thinking that Lily chose the captor for her own volition makes the rest of the train ride a very uncomfortable one.

Silly plot aside, Shanghai Express is all light and shadows and how to light its star as beautiful as possible. And Dietrich is as always, stunning. Wong also shines as knife wielding dangerous beauty without backstory. It would have been great if there were a Hu Fei spinoff. Will investigate Wong's filmography in the future.

Bad Moon Rising

Lúa vermella/Red Moon Tide (2020) - Lois Patiño In a coastal fishing village in Gallicia is experiencing another ocean related tragedy; Rubio, a fisherman who is known for retrieving dead bodies of shipwreck victims so the mourning villagers can have closures, became the victim himself of the tumultuous waves off the coast when his ship sank. His body might never be found. The local legend dictates that there is a monster living in the dark sea, awakened by the devil moon. Three ancient witches come in to town, to take its villagers who seem to be immobilized by grief on the spot where they stand by shrouding them over with white clothes making them a literal ghosts statues, while under red moon. And that's the gist of the story in Lúa Vermella.

Like Oliver Laxe's Fire Will Come, Patiño makes full use of Galicia's rustic natural beauty and its real inhabitants to tell a tale steeped in legends and its surroundings. His images are out of this world though. I've seen his short Fajr before, shot in Morrocan desert morphed with shadowy cloaked figures. Lúa vermella goes several steps further. I mean, those mindboggling transition shots alone makes it a worthwhile viewing.