nlambrianou

This is a brilliant, if modest, ensemble piece, carried along by brilliant performances, a simple and concise script and frankly stunning cinematography (both the director and cinematographer appear to have done very little work before, which is extra impressive). It navigates some big human emotions (desire, identity, ambition) with a clever and minimal storyline and some interspersed animations (these felt a little disconnected stylistically at first, but overall I felt they worked well). But it was the sheer cinematic skill that got me hooked - beautiful imagery, a great soundtrack and an ability to convey intimate moments and sensuality without resorting to cliché.

I sort of understand why many people don't like this. It is slow and absurd (but no more so than a Batman or Marvel film) and a lot of it depends on a sort of engagement with acting and the visual experience which is not mediated by spectacle or the usual viewer manipulation. Shooting on film makes an important difference I think - not only to the look of it (the colours are amazing, the choices of textures, subtly unnerving angles etc) but also perhaps in the way that space and movement are captured. There is something about how film captures matter and bodies and faces in space and time which is noticeably different to digital.

One gets the feeling that every directorial choice made here is beautifully done. The acting is often on the edge of uncomfortable theatricality (I think they were trying to do this with Disclaimer but it didn't work there) but just amazing too on a technical level. The colour palette - from clothes to the different spaces - is chosen with a painter's eye for contrasts and complementarity. I even kept looking at the hair cuts - the way the hair related to the ears (perhaps the stars of the show?) was something I have never had a director make me focus on before.

This reminded me of those surreal half forgotten one off TV dramas of the 1970s. Dramatic ideas and intentions just slightly too ambitious for TV, slightly pretentious, slightly Brechtian, but utterly hypnotic and confident too. Can't wait to see more from this director.