monk_venkman

Given the talk on this film, I really wasn't expecting much. And after watching it, I can safely say, that I will never trust the opinions of others again. Unlike my opinion, which you should all listen to! The complaints from people who say it's too slow moving, have obviously never treated themselves to some of the better films from Leigh or Jarmusch. I can imagine what they'd think of Stranger than paradise. These types of movie goers should be ignored at all costs. These ADD movie watchers are the reason films like Breakdown have to turn into a Rambo movie somewhere in the middle. Because studios are afraid these cinematic sugar addicts will never follow a film not layered in one liners, cool dialogue, and fast action.

Directed by Bruno Dumont, Palms moves along not so much in a slow and uneventful manner, as rather in a real life, non Hollywood fashion we all move in. Especially when we find ourselves in a small and hot desert town, as this couple does.

David (David Wissak) and Katia (Yekaterina Golubeva) are out in the California desert to find a setting for a photo shoot for David, an independent photographer. It's great that there are no distractions from the two main characters. No lights or heavy traffic, or friends stopping by for coffee. These two are as passionate as they are unstable in their relationship. They regularly shift back and forth between controlled arguing and uncontrolled sexual release. All of which is magnified by the heat and isolation of their surroundings.

What I love about this film is that I can't remember a single line from it. Just as I can't remember most conversations overheard in everyday life. They talk about the same mundane things we all do, while having the same petty arguments most in relationships have as well.

I know that hardly sounds like great movie viewing, but don't worry, that's not the entire film. Nor is it what makes this film brilliant. What makes it brilliant is how it uses the seemingly uneventful as it's base, while building upwards from that with a constant undertone of tension and dysfunction that shifts back and forth between blunt and subtle.

This is not a fun movie to watch. But it is one that I will never forget.

Noi is the directorial debut of Dagur Kari, and a damn good one at that. He creates a world of his own, or rather a world of Noi's own, that separates this film from other indies you might have seen with similar plot lines. That plot is as follows, Noi is an above average teen (student wise) living in below average circumstances. His father is a here today gone tomorrow drunk, that obviously loves his son, and tries to be there for him. His mom is a loving but slightly odd woman who tries to keep Noi on track, at least with her unconventional way of sometimes waking him up for school. Which Noi has no interest in. School that is. You really get a dolphin in a fish tank feeling the more you watch Noi go through his daily activities, or more accurately, lack there of.

And that's where Iris (Elin Hansdottir) comes in. She gives Noi something to look forward to for the first time in a long time. Will she provide the motivation he's been looking for? Will their attempts to flee that little frozen abyss prove successful? Only time will tell.