axapvov

Excellent tearjerker, presented in episodes of one life (Suzanne's, duh) in the course of many years, from childhood to motherhood, etc... What makes the film special is how wisely those episodes are chosen, exposing a great deal of information in a very effective way for each case, and this is sustained throughout the entire runtime, right until the end. It is effective as we learn both what is shown and what underlies it, with precise cinematic language, and the accumulated emotional charge is never excessive, there is no fanfare but a gentle, deep and steady melancholy. I was engaged and this 90s minutes telling of half a life passed me by like a teary breeze, every scene matters. Researching Adèle Haenel's filmography is a great idea, highly recommended, she doesn't do bad films.

Interesting faux-documentary style to reflect on death and generational ennui. The main issue I have is the character of Joachim, he's the worst. Fortunately, he's not the protagonist, but he got on my nerves... Is he meant to represent his generation? Are we really so narcissistic and naive? Adèle Haenel guides us as much as the characters. She carries a plot that really asks the audience to hold on, until she manages a beautiful monologue before a satisfying climax.

It's an interesting film to talk about, with seemingly empty scenes carrying a lot of subtext, but I still found it oddly executed.

Affleck/Damon do their own "Ford vs. Ferrari" here, using sports epics to resell the American dream, the notion that "talent finds a way", always with great melancholy because all these stories belong to the past. A love letter to good ol' business done right more than to basketball, even if there's some honest maintenance of the Jordan myth. It gets sentimental, but it's a solid script overall, sport is nothing without its stories, just as a shoe is just a shoe... There's a lot of great dialogue, especially from Matt Damon and Viola Davis, who plays Jordan's mother with honour, paying respect to all black mothers. Having Chris Tucker was a cool choice, Bateman is always pretty good and I'm glad Matthew Maher is becoming sort of a thing.

Pretty good recreation of the 80s, especially the colour palette and sets, which are presented in detail just when it matters, showing machinery, marketing images, archive footage... and always making sure we understand what people believed back then. Sometimes they might try to cram too much information in, but they do it as appreciated nods to the audience. Nothing much to say, they got the formula right, this guys are smart. Everyone loves to reminize that special time, it was fun to watch, probably one of the best films of its kind, but it's a short-lived type of film, basically a glorified tv-movie.