MOVIES: New works from Mike Leigh and Steven Soderbergh, plus others that startle or delight
The others take you curling, hummingbird watching, sensing colors or to a very dark place
The Academy Award nominations are in and several delight me. The record number (for non-English language films) for Emilia Perez, the inclusion of Nickel Boys, Anora, Dune Part Two and A Complete Unknown among the Best Picture contenders. I'm Still Here hasn't been here yet but is also up there. Flow is an animation contender and has a good chance among some very strong competitors.Â
And I'm very happy that Sugarcane, about a residential school in BC is a nominated documentary. I've pointed to it several times. It’s up against others that I’ve rated very highly: No Other Land, Soundtrack for a Coup d'Etat and Porcelain War.Â
The awards date is March 2 and I review one more contender today, among these:Â
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Hard Truths: 4 ½ stars
Presence: 2 ½Â
Curl Power: 3 ½Â
The Colors Within: 3 ½Â
The Girl With The Needle: 4
Every Little Thing: 5Â
HARD TRUTHS: Mike Leigh's first film in 6 years brings back the star of his best known work (Secrets and Lies) from 26 years ago for a powerful acting performance and a full picture of a strong character. Marianne Jean-Baptiste playing the vituperative Pansy doesn't originally seem sympathetic. She's angry and will yell at even the smallest comment that offends her. Or she's quick with a snap putdown as when she's blamed for taking too long in a grocery store line. There's humor in that scene though and you gradually feel the same about her other outbursts because she's got a sharp wit.Â
It just takes a while to figure out what causes her anger. That's never stated outright but there are hints for you to interpret when she talks about herself. That's a sign of the craft and subtlety in Mike Leigh's script, although you get plenty of noise too. She argues with her husband and son, for instance. She's fierce pointing out what's wrong with society, even the world.Â
Courtesy of Mongrel MediaTalk is calmer with her sister (Michele Austin) who does her hair at a salon. They accept each other and, incidentally, the two actors were in Secrets a Lies together, playing best friends. This film has that same kind of ambience, real people portrayed authentically. It also features a stand-out acting turn in one particular scene as Pansy goes from laughing to crying most convincingly. (In theaters) 4½ out of 5  Â
PRESENCE: Steven Soderbergh keeps retiring and coming back. This, his latest, is, according to him, prompted by a personal experience--seeing somebody in his house who wasn't there. That ghostly sensation is not uncommon among people freshly moved into an old house and certainly not uncommon in scary movies. This one brings all the usual elements but not the creepy scares you'd want. It does have a novel approach; it tells the story from what looks to be the ghost's point of view. It just doesn't do enough with it.Â
Courtesy of Elevation PicturesA family buys the house (which we first see as a walk-through by something). Mom (Lucy Liu) says the location is perfect to get her son (Eddy Maday) into a prefrred school. Dad (Chris Sullivan) agrees and disregards the feelings of his daughter (Callina Liang) who is worried. She senses there's a presence because books and objects move, doors open or close by themselves, even shelves collapse. "She's here," she insists. "Nadia is here." She being a friend who recently died. A psychic ghost hunter is brought around and senses that something bad happened here. The son brings home a friend who is attracted to the daughter. Altogether this is a tale of a family with difficulties and not so much about ghostly happenings. Its ending is inconclusive. (In theaters) 2 ½ out of 5Â
CURL POWER: Friendship is also a major theme in this genial sports film set in the arcane-to-some world of curling. And in teenagehood. Being mutually supportive is a top requirement for the five teen girls on this team and that strength is brought out nicely by Vancouver-based Josephine Anderson. She's made women's stories something of a specialty in her documentaries and finds this one in nearby Maple Ridge.Â
Courtesy of Route 504PRThese girls want to win the BC and then the National Championships. They're coached by the mothers of two of them, women who had curled at the Olympics. That gives them a lot to match up to and also expert help. We follow their progress. Â
Just as important is the progress they're making in growing up and facing real-life drama. Ashley notes that "life happens so fast." (Her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer). Amy feels bad at being a teenager: "not really knowing what to do with my life." Savannah says "I wish I could be like I am on the ice, in real life." They stick together in what one calls "an unbreakable bond" but also accept that "maybe it won't be that forever." And there's more: authentic musings about maturity, staying positive, depression. Real teenage feelings well expressed. (In a few theaters in BC, Ontario, Alberta and Quebec) 3½ out of 5 Â
THE COLORS WITHIN: Here's an animated film without the frantic action most of these movies carry these days. This one, from Japan, is relaxed and warm-hearted, focused on friendship and connection. Even religion, although the director, Naoko Yamada, says she didn't make that a main point. It just happens there are many Catholic schools in Japan, she says, and that added a realistic element as a teen girl learns to by-pass some of the strict rules.
Part of the film's posterShe and two others love music, form a band and eventually perform at the school. Watch the nuns dance. There's a complex story to get us there and a psychological phenomenon in which perceptions from one sense affect another. In this case teen Totsuko perceives people's emotions by the colors she sees them emitting. It seems to start after she's bonked in the face during a game of dodgeball. She feels connected to Kimi, the girl who threw the ball, searches for her when she drops out of school and finds her working in a bookstore but also playing guitar and writing songs. A friend of hers, Rui, is also into music. They form the band and grow up a bit. Kimi hasn't told her parents why she's not at school anymore; Rui hasn't told his dad he doesn't want to be a doctor. With the help of a friendly nun, Totsuko overcomes feelings of guilt from her church. It's a sweet film done in simple but beautiful animation.(In theaters) 3 ½ out of 5Â
THE GIRL WITH THE NEEDLE: "Extraordinary" trumpets a quote on the film's poster. I agree but be careful. This film is grim and harrowing, not a horror film but close. I notice the director, Magnus von Horn, cited the 1948 film of Oliver Twist as an inspiration. It starts Dickensian alright, but goes much much darker and you're bound to be deeply chilled. It is based on a real case that happened in Denmark over a hundred years ago. The film is entirely in black and white to set the tone and the time.
A young woman in a workshop sewing army uniforms is seduced by her boss, becomes pregnant and is fired. Karoline, played by Vic Carmen Sonne, can't pay her rent, wouldn't be able to care for a baby and hears of a savior: a woman who finds foster families for unwanted children. What kind of people? Good people with status, doctors, officials, people who can afford to raise a child. How wonderful. Well, it turns out not wonderful at all. I'd spoil it by telling you how or even what the needle has to do with it.Â
Dagmar, the woman, is played with steely purpose by Trine Dyrholm. Karoline accepts her invitation to serve as a wet nurse for babies that come through. And there's more: her husband returns from war with a badly disfigured face. Intensity and grimness just keep piling on. They're meant to illuminate women's difficult lives back then and, hard as the film is to watch, it does its work very effectively. It has an Oscar nomination for its screenplay. (Streaming on MUBI) 4 out of 5Â
EVERY LITTLE THING: Need something optimistic and cheerful? And who doesn't right now? This little film will delight you but you'll have to watch out for it. It's already been through select theaters, is still in two, and is bound to reappear. The little thing is the hummingbird, which many people attract to their backyard with those brightly colored feeders. In Los Angeles, writer Terry Masear provides rehab for them. People phone her up to tell her about injured birds they've found and she treats them until they're well again. We see a lot of that as she cares for (and talks to) birds she's named Charlie, Cactus, Larry Bird, Raisin and others.Â
Courtesy of Kino LorberIn narration she tells us about each one, Jimmy, for instance who she says is a maniac, or the couple who are clearly falling in love. And she has lots if information about the species in general. Hummingbirds seem so sweet but they become warriors. They're very territorial and fight each other often. They'll kill any one they don't like.Â
Watch her pick them up, or get one to sit on a stick she's holding--a magic wand she calls it--and urge him to jump to another stick; a prelude to daring to fly again. We see a lot of her rehab work and get her philosophy: their tribulations are a series of metaphores for what we people go through. And this important thought: we too are part of nature. Stop thinking we're above it. You'll feel good watching this film. (In theaters: Windsor and one last chance in Vancouver, Tuesday afternoon at the VIFF Center. Toronto and other cities pending)Â 5 out of 5Â
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