films – Ripple Effects

‘Materialists’ is a film Jane Austen would like

Marketed as a romantic comedy, Materialists, Celine Song’s (Past Lives, 2023) second film defies categorization. Released by A24 just in time to greet summer viewers, the film isn’t quite like your traditional rom-coms. There are no LOL moments, but there’s humour throughout that elicits knowing chuckles. No slapstick acts, but movement made by the actors are often subtle but notable.

The opening scene is a fitting prelude. A caveman courting his sweetheart, slipping onto her finger a ring made from the delicate stem of a tiny flower. Right after that, a stark change of scenery with a busy New York streetscape accompanied by the beat of Cat Power’s ‘Manhattan’, and the title credits begin to flash on screen. Tale as old as time… from prehistoric to modern day.

We see Lucy (Dakota Johnson) walk on in New York City with perky confidence, a successful matchmaker who has seen nine pairs of her clients tie the knot, so far. Lucy exudes such upbeat positivity that she can stop a man on the street and ask outright if he’s single, then hands him her business card. She possesses ‘an eagle eye for chemistry’, an expert in linking her clients by checking all the boxes for the right match: looks, age, height, weight, family background, education, income. Like transactions in the financial market, in Lucy’s business, people are the commodity, numbers on a spreadsheet. Materialistic measures reign supreme in a dating service.

The satirical vibe is obvious. Isn’t that a modern-day parallel of Jane Austen’s time, where successful matrimony is dependent on financial compatibility. Pride and Prejudice (1813) is a prime example. Such is the view held by Mr. Darcy at first, and the reason why Lady Catherine de Bourgh is so furious when she sees an inferior nobody dares to compete with her own daughter. As for Mrs. Bennet, marrying up for money is what she dreams of for her five daughters. Only the heroic Elizabeth Bennet is brave enough to challenge the social norm and insists on her own criterion for marriage: love.

Soon after the opening of Materialists, we come to the inciting incident. In her client’s wedding banquet Lucy meets Harry (Pedro Pascal), the brother of the groom. He checks every box: handsome, dripping rich, living in a $12 million Manhattan suite, 6 ft. tall, working in a family-owned private equity firm (is it still considered ‘work’?) a perfect 10 as a potential client. But Harry is not interested in Lucy as a matchmaker, but a date.

As fate has it, in that same event, Lucy’s ex, John (Chris Evans), reappears in her life as a catering waiter. John is a struggling actor, trying to make ends meet, still sharing an apartment with roommates. Past memories flood back to them. Here we see a relational triangle similar to Song’s debut work, Past Lives. Thus kicks off the storyline, who does Lucy choose? A question as old as time. And for Lucy, the modern-day career woman who handles transactions that deal with external measures only, does love have a place?

Song writes about what she knows, as Past Lives is autobiographical, Materialists is, interestingly, based on her stint as a matchmaker in NYC some years ago. As a director whose debut film was nominated for two Oscars, Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay, Song has proven herself to be a versatile filmmaker who can break out of the indie mode into the limelight of popular features.

The camera is a definite asset. Cinematographer Shabier Kirchner used 35mm film to shoot, bringing out cinematic aesthetics of old. Most notable is his camera work, many shots letting a still camera capture the nuances of two characters facing each other talking, maintaining a slower pace to allow the characters, and the viewers, to soak up the atmosphere and the deeper meaning of the conversations, an obvious digression from the breezy, traditional rom-coms.

When viewers drop their own preconception of the actors’ previous roles, Evans as Captain America, Johnson her Fifty Shades sequences, and Pascal the apocalyptic survivor, the trio works well each in their own way. But the one that deserves mention is the supporting actress Zoe Winters who plays Sophie. The twists and turns of the storyline switch the second half of the movie to a different drive, one that feels like a suspense drama, and Winters delivers with heart-stirring effects.

My main issue with the movie, however, is probably related to Song being such a brilliant wordsmith in creating dialogues. In writing and especially now in a visual medium, the ‘show not tell’ axiom is all the more crucial. This is even more true when the subject matter is love. Other than hearing the word uttered, the film isn’t convincing enough to show the presence of that affective bond of passion which is so crucial in the ultimate outcome. ‘Love is a mystery,’ Song has said in her interviews. Such a mystery through the ages needs to be represented on screen by actions instead of just being mouthed in words.

Nevertheless, overall, Song needs to be congratulated on transitioning from the indie to the mainstream arena with popular stars, and helming a production with her own style of cinematic artistry.

So what if Materialists doesn’t fit the mold of a rom-com? Why need to box it into a genre? As the opening credits state, and it’s a good description: ‘A Celine Song Film’. Let it be its own genre, the writer-director is in a class of her own. A very pleasant movie not just for the summer season, and one I’m sure Jane Austen herself would like to watch.

~ ~ ~ Ripples

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Click here to read my Ripple Review of Past Lives

2025 is a Year of Anniversaries

250^th Birth Anniversary of Jane Austen (December 16)

It’s a great loss that Jane died so young, at 41, from a painful illness. The legacy of her six completed novels continue to thrive today. Movie adaptations are still being made, most notable is the upcoming new version of Pride and Prejudice with Emma Corrin as Lizzy, Jack Lowden as Mr. Darcy, and Olivia Colman as Mrs. Bennet. But we will never forget that iconic wet shirt scene of Colin Firth diving into the pond way back in 1995, thirty years ago.

30^th Anniversary* of Jane Austen Screen Adaptations:

Pride and Prejudice Austenmania was ignited with this six-part BBC TV series. Andrew Davis’ screenplay brings Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle together as the pivotal pair. To many, myself included, the definitive version of all the adaptations; yes, my prejudice here.

Sense and Sensibility That same year, 1995, we saw the breakout work of Taiwanese American director Ang Lee, proving his versatility, with Emma Thompson basking in the limelight receiving her Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar.

Persuasion While not as popular as Pride and Prejudice, a novel that shows a more mature writer showing her own sense of wisdom in handling love and life. Ciaran Hinds is an impressive Captain Wentworth.

Clueless One of the first modern renditions of Austen novels. Here’s an American teenager playing Emma in her high school. What follows are numerous contemporary parallels of Austen’s works, like Bridget Jones’s Diary, and across cultures, Bride and Prejudice, From Prada to Nada.

*Jane Austen’s House in Chawton is celebrating the 30^th Anniversary of these adaptations with their own special AUSTENMANIA! events.

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100^th Anniversary of the publication of some modern classics, books and poems* Listing a few here:

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

One of my all-time favourite books. Filmmaker Baz Luhrmann highlights all the zeitgeist of the jazz age, the wild parties, and the gaudy excess but fails to bring out the deep character of the man behind those façade, a romantic hanging on hope and seeing every obstacle as a green light. My Ripple Review here.

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

This is one example that the movie adaptation is as good as or even surpasses the book, for it shows more than words can tell. While I admire Woolf’s stream of consciousness, both in expression and withholding, director Steven Daldry’s multi-faceted depiction of Clarissa’s internal world projected into the psyche of two other women is exceptional. David Hare’s screenplay adapting Michael Cunningham’s The Hours is an exemplary transposition of literature onto the screen. And watching Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman and Julianne Moore in one film is sure worth one’s ticket, or time.

The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham

Somerset Maugham is one of those writers who take you to places but still remain intact with his characters, the backdrop of foreign lands are merely that, backdrop, while the characters lead the story. I’ve seen the movie adaptation, and in my Ripple review I had written this: “Transforming great lines from a book into equally inspiring visual story-telling is an arduous task, and it’s something that mere beautiful cinematography cannot suffice.”

Carry On, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse

The third of Wodehouse’s 20 Jeeves and Wooster books. Jeeves is a marvellous invention, a character that reminds me of Mr. Carson of Downton Abbey. There are lots of LOL moments. He’s like a Swiss army knife, a tool of multiple usages. Wodehouse makes him more than utilitarian though. In the interactions between employer and butler, the joke always falls on the former. And that’s the fun of it.

No More Parades by Ford Madox Ford

No More Parades is the second book in the Parade’s End tetralogy by Ford Madox Ford (1873-1939) Set in the time of WWI, where poetry was written in the trenches. In its core a love story movingly depicted in the BBC five-episode TV series (2012), one of the most understated and neglected productions. A young Benedict Cumberbatch and Rebecca Hall are the mismatched couple, but it’s the pristine Adelaide Clemens that shines as idealistic suffragette Valentine.

The Hollow Men by T. S. Eliot

‘The Hollow Men’ is the title poem of this collection of poetry by Eliot, astute critic of his times. “We are the hollow men/we are the stuffed men/Leaning together/Headpiece filled with straw.” Alas, a look at our world today one would find how after one hundred years, Eliot’s critique of his society still stands.

*The popular ‘Year Reading Club’ on Kaggsy’s and Simon’s book blogs are featuring the 1925 Club reading event this October, where we read books published in 1925 and share our thoughts in our blogs.

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50^th Anniversary of some iconic movies:

Where were you in 1975? Watched any of these movies in the theatre?

Jaws dir. by Stephen Spielberg

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest dir. by Miles Forman

The Man Who Would be King dir. by John Houston

Monty Python and the Holy Grail dir. by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones

Dog Day Afternoon dir. by Sidney Lumet

Barry Lyndon dir. by Stanley Kubrick

The Return of the Pink Panther dir. by Blake Edwards

Three Days of the Condor by Sydney Pollack

Farewell, My Lovely dir. by Dick Richards

Funny Lady dir. by Herbert Ross

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Not born yet? How about 1985?

40th Anniversary of:

The Breakfast Club dir. by John Hughes

Back to the Future dir. by Robert Zemeckis

The Color Purple dir. by Stephen Spielberg

A Room with a View dir. by James Ivory

Out of Africa dir. by Sydney Pollack

The Purple Rose of Cairo dir. by Woody Allen

Vagabond dir. by Agnès Varda

Witness dir. by Peter Weir

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Numerous posts on Jane Austen, as well as movies and books mentioned in the above lists are posted here at Ripple Effects. Seek them out using the Search feature on the top of the left sidebar.

Heading to Cannes… in my mind

I’m watching closely the Cannes Film Festival taking place right now. While my tour is virtual and imaginary, I look forward to TIFF in September when I go to Toronto, as some of these Cannes selections might reprise there.

So, if I were in Cannes now, this would be my list of films to watch (links for related films in the list below are to my Ripple reviews):

TÔI YAMANAMINO HIKARI (A PALE VIEW OF HILLS) directed by Ishikawa Kei

The English translation quickly draws me in: A PALE VIEW OF HILLS is the first novel (1982) by Nobel Laureate Kazuo Ishiguro. An introspection of a Japanese woman living alone in England, spanning decades of life from post-WWII Japan to her resettling in a foreign country. Past memories intermingle with present day reality. Ishiguro is adroit in psychological narratives. I’m curious to see if the film lives up to his credit. Time to reread.

ELEANOR THE GREAT directed by Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut. Eleanor moves to New York City at age 90 for a fresh start and befriends a 19-year-old student. What an idea: A fresh start at 90. Even more amazing in real life, for 95 year-old June Squibb could well be the oldest actor still working, and just recently acclaimed for her performance in Thelma (2025). For those with a longer memory, Squibb was an Oscar nominee for best supporting actress playing Kate Grant in Alexander Payne’s Nebraska (2013).

THE MASTERMIND directed by Kelly Reichardt

Kelly Reichardt is one of my all-time favourite directors. A look back at her works Wendy and Lucy (2008), Certain Women (2016), First Cow (2019), has piqued my curiosity in how she’d handle this art heist movie, Reichardt’s sensitive rendering of a more popular themed, mainstream subject. And the cast here is a huge attraction: Gaby Hoffman (Field of Dreams, 1989), Josh O’Connor (The Crown, 2020; Emma, 2020), and John Magaro (First Cow, 2019; Past Lives, 2023).

Nouvelle Vague (NEW WAVE) directed by Richard Linklater

I was captivated by Linklater’s Before trilogy back in the days… Before Sunrise (1995), Before Sunset (2004), and Before Midnight (2013). But he’d shown his versatility by other more subsequent titles such as Boyhood (2014), and Hit Man (2023). Now in 2025, he dives into the French New Waves, his first French language film, creating a making-of feature in black and white to chronicle the shooting of Jean-Luc Godard’s classic Breathless (À Bout De Souffle), which premiered at Cannes in 1960. I anticipate an articulate and adroit handling of this homage to the French cinematic legacy.

VIE PRIVEE (A PRIVATE LIFE) directed by Rebecca Zlotowski

We know Jodie Foster can speak French, but can she master the language in a full feature film showcased in Cannes, France. I sure hope so because the audience there can be very direct and umm… expressive in showing their love or disapproval. Foster plays a renowned psychiatrist investigating the death of one of her patients. The French cast includes Mathieu Amalric (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, 2007; The Grand Budapest Hotel, 2014) and Virginie Efira (2023 César Awards Best Actress winner for Revoir Paris)

Sentimental Value directed by Joachim Trier

Four years after The Worst Person in the World with which his star Renate Reinsve won Best Actress at Cannes and Trier went on to be nominated at the Oscars for his screenplay and his film representing Norway for Best International Feature Film, now director and star reunite to bring us a story exploring family, memories, and the power of art. Cast includes Stellan Skarsgard and Elle Fanning.

Left-Handed Girl directed by Shi-Ching Tsou

What attracts me to this film, first is the title, then is the face of the little girl. What’s more intriguing is that Tsou’s directorial debut is produced, edited and co-written by Sean Baker, the US director who won the Palme d’Or last year with Anora, a feature that later went on to win five Oscars. The Left-handed Girl follows a single mother and her two daughters striving to adapt to a new environment in bustling Taipei as they open a stall at a night market.

Renoir directed by Chie Hayakawa

Hayakawa’s first feature film Plan 75 (2022) premiered at Cannes and won the Golden Camera award. It was Japan’s official entry to the Best International Feature Film at the Oscars in 2023. Renoir is Hayakawa’s second film, a coming-of-age story of a sensitive eleven year-old girl growing up in 1980’s Tokyo, living with a stressed-out mother and a terminally ill father. Cast includes Hirokazu Koreeda’s favourite actor Lily Franky (2018 Palme d’Or winner Shoplifters, Like Father, Like Son, 2013)

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‘His Three Daughters’ is a Rare Gem

In the midst of spectacles and action thrillers coming out nowadays, it’s refreshing to see a quiet gem has arrived on Netflix. His Three Daughters focuses on a topic common in real life and in movies, siblings coming back to their ailing parents’ home to prepare for their final parting. Maybe to offset such a heavy subject matter some of these movies are handled in a comedic or even farcical way, This is Where I Leave You (2014) and August: Osage County (2013) come to mind. In contrast, writer director Azazel Jacobs in His Three Daughters (2023) confronts the subject in a realistic and mindful way, eliciting from his three main actors honest and powerful performance. Jacobs is apt too in infusing witty dialogues and subtle humour. What a gratifying turn from his previous film French Exit (2020).

Under one roof in their father’s NYC apartment, three estranged sisters learn to live with each other once again. Carrie Coon (The Gilded Age) is the eldest daughter Katie, the take-charge type, from cooking, dealing with palliative nurses, getting a DNR (do-not-resuscitate) form signed by the father before he slips away, to writing his obituary while micro managing her teenage daughter at home in Brooklyn. Her intolerance of her stepsister Rachel (Natasha Lyonne, Orange is the New Black) who smokes weed and bets on sport games constitutes the main conflict in the sibling relationships. Trying to mediate between the two is Christina (Elizabeth Olsen, Sorry for your Loss) who is always reconciliatory. She’s preoccupied with her young daughter and husband at home far away across the country.

As for the father, he remains unseen behind closed or slightly opened door in his bedroom, his presence only denoted by the rhythmic beeping of the monitor to which he’s hooked up. Such concealing allows the viewers to focus on the trio, for what’s equally pressing is the rebuilding of sisterhood and the way to move forward after their father is gone. Dying relationships among the living are crying out to be heard and reconciled.

Rachel has been living in the apartment with their father all along, while the other two sisters just recently arrive to take care of things at this final stage of their father’s life. New house rules are set up. A pivotal scene comes when Rachel’s friend Benjy (Jovan Adepo) confronts the other two sisters as he points out the reality of their family dynamics. A new perspective begins to sink in as they come to realize their own shortfalls, a reality check that doesn’t go down easy for anyone.

In this chamber piece rich in dialogues, Coon, Lyonne, and Olsen are impeccable in displaying the raw and honest emotions of sibling love, hate, overt and hidden sentiments they hold against each other. But the overall mood is not all serious and somber. There’s underlying humour throughout, especially the opening scene, which reminds me of early Woody Allen works. Music is minimal to amplify the conversations, silence to enhance tension and ambivalence. Despite being shot inside an apartment with minimal exterior scenes, the camera is effective in conveying suspense, loss, and love.

As for the twist towards the end, it’s open to interpretations; however, it does seem incongruent with the earlier part. To avoid spoilers, I won’t be discussing it here. No matter, it’s the process reaching to the end that’s what the film so powerfully depicts. I hope to see more of this kind of cinematic gems to appear in theatres and on streaming platforms.

~ ~ ~ 1/2 Ripples

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Related posts on Ripple Effects:

August: Osage County, Play and Movie Review

The Savages, with Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney

Book to Screen in Development 2024 and Beyond

Last post I listed some adaptations from books to the big and small screens coming out this fall in the festival circuit or via streaming platforms. Here are more titles currently in development or in production.

James (2024) by Percival Everett

Stephen Spielberg executive producer, in pre-production, to be directed by Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit, 2019) James is Percival Everett’s re-imagination of The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of escaped slave Jim. Currently, the highly acclaimed novel is long-listed for this year’s Booker Prize. Short list will come out Sept. 16 and James is expected to be on there. This is the second movie adaptation of Everett’s novels. After the success last year of his Erasure being turned into the Oscar winning American Fiction–for Best Adapted Screenplay–James is a highly anticipated encore.

Hamnet (2020) by Maggie O’Farrell

Another one on Stephen Spielberg’s list as producer, now in production. The adaptation of O’Farrell’s novel is directed by Nomadland’s Oscar winning Chloé Zhao, with a talented British cast: Jessie Buckley, Emily Watson, Paul Mescal, and Joe Alwyn. The book is a fictional account of Shakespeare and his wife’s loving relationship with their son Hamnet and their coping with his tragic death at the age of eleven. Zhao’s previous films (before Marvel’s The Eternals) are nuanced and soulful cinematic works. I look forward to her helming this adaptation about love and grief.

Knife: Meditations after an Attempted Murder (2024) by Salman Rushdie

Rushdie’s personal account of the traumatic, life altering event of being stabbed multiple times while on stage in upstate New York, August 2022, and his slow and painful recuperation. Ironically, he was speaking on the topic of keeping writers safe. His memoir will be adapted to the screen by the Oscar winning documentarian Alex Gibney. I’ve given this book 4 stars on Goodreads, was totally riveted by Rushdie’s writing. Hope Gibney’s is an effective documentation and a cautionary testimonial to safeguard artists from harm.

The Chronicles of Narnia (1950’s) by C. S. Lewis

After crashing the glass ceiling, catapulting Barbie to a record $1.4 billion box office sale by a sole woman director, Greta Gerwig is tasked to write and helm at least two of C. S. Lewis’s beloved children series as Netflix films. In a BBC interview, Gerwig said: “I’m slightly in the place of terror because I really do have such reverence for Narnia… I’m intimidated by doing this. It’s something that feels like a worthy thing to be intimidated by.” Let’s hope her fear is a driving force to push her towards excellence in adapting this meaningful book series.

Crying in H Mart (2021) by Michelle Zauner

Poignant memoir of Zauner’s, singer songwriter of the band Japanese Breakfast, about her rediscovery of her Korean heritage and reestablishing a deeper mother-daughter relationship through food and cooking… alas, after her mother’s terminal cancer diagnosis. As an Asian American, her father is Caucasian of Jewish heritage, Zauner’s book is a new and significant voice. She is writing the script herself, Will Sharpe (The White Lotus) directing. Zauner will create the soundtrack with her group Japanese Breakfast. The memoir is an American Book Award winner (2022) and the 2021 Goodreads Choice Award for Memoir & Autobiography, 55 weeks in the NYT Bestseller list.

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow (2022) by Gabrielle Zevin

Here’s another contemporary, literary voice from a biracial American writer. Like H Mart author Zauner, Zevin’s father is of Jewish and mother Korean heritage. Its title alluding to Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow is a unique and original story about self, love, and video games. Goodreads Choice Awards in Fiction (2022) and top book of the year on numerous lists, and one of my best reads last year. Excited to find out that Paramount Pictures had acquired the film rights even before the book was published, and recently learned that Siân Heder, the Oscar winning director of CODA (2021), has signed on to direct.

The Woman in Cabin 10 (2016) by Ruth Ware

Ruth Ware’s popular suspense thriller takes place on a cruise ship, with British star Keira Knightley on board as a journalist who is the only eyewitness to a murder. The Netflix movie will be directed by Simon Stone (The Dig, 2021). Other Ruth Ware books on the drawing board for adaptation are The Turn of the Key and The It Girl. No further info on these.

Run Rose Run (2022) by Dolly Parton and James Patterson

Dolly Parton and country music fans take note, the legendary singer’s dip into the literary ink pot with her first fiction, a thriller she co-wrote with James Patterson, is to be adapted onto screen. The NYT bestseller about a young singer songwriter on the rise and on the run will be produced by Reese Witherspoon.

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Do you have any books you’d like to see adapted to a movie or TV series?

From Book to Screen 2024 Fall

Late August kicks off the annual film festival season, and come September, arrays of new offerings on streaming platforms. I haven’t done actual research, but just a feeling that nowadays, more and more movies are adapted from printed sources. The following is a list of upcoming books adapted to full features in theatres, or TV movies and series for streaming:

Conclave by Robert Harris (2016)

International Premiere at TIFF in September, in theatres November. Directed by Edward Berger (2023 Oscar winner All Quiet on the Western Front) with a stellar cast led by Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, and John Lithgow. Peter Straughan (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, 2011) adapts from Harris’s novel revealing the dark secrets and intrigues in the intense proceedings in electing a new Pope.

The Critic or Curtain Call (2015) by Anthony Quinn

Had its world premiere at TIFF last year and slowly trickling to theatres this September. Directed by Anand Tucker (Girl with a Pearl Earring, 2003) with an exciting British cast with Ian McKellen as the eponymous, acerbic critic, his power and influence affecting many. Co-stars include Lesley Manville, Gemma Arterton, Mark Strong, Romola Gerai, Ben Barnes.

The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth (1971)

10 episodes on Peacock, remake of the iconic 70’s movie. Political thriller recounting the plot to assassinate French President Charles de Gaulle after he signed the treaty leading to Algeria’s independence. In this new version, Eddie Redmayne is the assassin Jackal.

Disclaimer by Renée Knight (2015)

Oscar winning director Alfonso Cuarón (Roma, 2018) helms a stellar cast including Cate Blanchett, Lesley Manville, Kevin Kline, Sacha Baron Cohen, Kodi Smit-McPhee. A mini-series where Blanchett plays a TV documentary journalist who exposes dark secrets of others is threatened with the revealing of her own past. Canadian premiere at TIFF in September, mini series on Apple TV+

Here, graphic novel (2014) by on Richard McGuire

McGuire’s works are multi-faceted and highly acclaimed, as permanent collections at MoMA, The Morgan Library and others, print form in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Le Monde… Can a movie version do justice to this multi-talented artist? The team that made the eras-spanning Forrest Gump (1994), director Robert Zemeckis, screenwriter Eric Roth, star Tom Hanks and Robin Wright re-unite to bring us Here. Interesting addition to the cast that I look forward to is Michelle Dockery. In theatre come November.

Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu

The National Book Award winning novel of 2022, a genre defying writing that fuses a novel and a screenplay. The story of a young Chinese American actor struggling to escape stereotypical roles in Hollywood. Stand-up comedian and actor Jimmy O. Yang (Crazy Rich Asians, 2018) stars. 10 episodes on Hulu.

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (2019)

New York Film Festival’s (Sept. 27 – Oct. 14) opening film. The winner of the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is adapted into film with the title slightly changed to Nickel Boys. Friendship between two Black teenagers in the notorious reform institution, the Dozier School for Boys in Jim Crow-era Florida sustains the two of them during their harrowing residency.

The Outrun by Amy Liptrot (2016)

Liptrot’s award winning memoir of her troubled past is adapted to the screen and directed by Nora Fingscheidt (The Unforgivable, 2021) starring Saoirse Ronan. From wild living and alcoholic ruin in London, Liptrot rehabilitates herself as she seeks the sanctuary of nature and her childhood home in Orkney off the northeastern coast of Scotland.

The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand (2018)

A Nantucket-set wedding disrupted by a murder which makes everyone a suspect. Goodreads declares Hilderbrand “the queen of the summer beach read.” Nicole Kidman, Live Schreiber, Dakota Fanning anchor the Netflix mini-series coming out in September.

The Return based on The Odyssey by Homer (ca. 8^th– 7^th C. BC)

World premiere at TIFF, in theatres December. Ralph Fiennes as Odysseus, returning home to Ithaca after the Trojan War and misadventures twenty years later to find his kingdom changed. Juliette Binoche is the patient wife Penelope, trying to buy time to wait for his return and at the same time warding off unruly suitors. Son Telemachus (Charlie Plummer) not so patient.

Wicked by Gregory Maguire (1995)

Based on the musical, which in turn adapted from the book by L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900), this new rendition as a movie is directed by Jon M. Chu (In the Heights, 2021; Crazy Rich Asians, 2018) Cynthia Erivo (Harriet, 2019) and Jonathan Bailey (Bridgerton, 2020-2024) star.

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More to come…

My TIFF 2024 Selections

Another year of not heading to TIFF (Sept. 5 – 15), but I still like to browse online their lineups and imagine myself being there. Fond memories gush out… immersing in the festivities in the pedestrian only King Street, traffic blocked off for the occasion; watching films at TIFF Lightbox and browsing the gift shop there; serendipitous sightings of admirable characters such as top critic Justin Chang; lining up to get Roger Ebert to sign a copy of his book Life Itself, and catching a glimpse of Jessica Chastain at the historic Elgin Theatre. I won’t forget the adrenalin-kicking rush back to the press room blocks away after watching a film to write down my impression before darting out for another screening.

For 2024, here’s my watch list if I were there. The title is linked to TIFF’s webpage on the film:

Daniela Forever World Premiere. A Spain and Belgium co-production directed by Nacho Vigalondo starring Henry Golding. Since his breakout role as Nick Young in Crazy Rich Asians (2018), Malaysian born Golding had shown his versatility in starkly different genres, from crime action comedy The Gentlemen (2019) to Jane Austen’s Persuasion (2022). The synopsis of Daniela Forever makes me think of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), where science and love intersect.

Oh Canada North American Premiere, starring Richard Gere re-teaming with his American Gigolo (1980) director Paul Schrader after 44 years. Schrader’s most well known work probably is his screenplay for Scorsese’s Taxi Driver, but his Transcendental Style in Film is one of the books I found most helpful for me in appreciating film art. Here Gere plays a Vietnam War draft dodger recounting his life decades later.

The Friend International Premiere, directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel (What Maisie Knew, 2012) dramedy for dog lovers, starring Bill Murray and Naomi Watts. Adaptation of the 2018 National Book Award winning novel by Sigrid Nunez.

The Room Next Door North American Premiere directed by acclaimed Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, his first English-language feature with Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton.

We Live in Time World Premiere directed by John Crowley (Brooklyn, 2015) with Oscar nominees Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield in a romantic drama.

By the Stream North American Premiere, prolific South Korean director Hong Sangsoo’s newest with his muse Kim Minhee.

Measures for a Funeral World Premiere, Canadian director Sofia Bohdanowicz tells the story of a young academic researching the early 20th-century Canadian violinist Kathleen Parlow while escaping the grasp of a domineering musician mother. Reading the synopsis makes me think of Ingmar Bergman’s Autumn Sonata.

Daughter’s Daughter World Premiere, executive produced by international film legend Sylvia Chang and Taiwanese New Wave auteur Hou Hsiao-hsien. Chang stars in this moral tale with a very original story idea about a mother having had to make decision regarding her deceased daughter’s legacy.

In Conversation With… Cate Blanchett Special talks in these events take the star from their pedestal to a down-to-earth level, often letting them present themselves as artists and very human. In the past, I’d attended “In Conversation With Juliette Binoche,” still remembers how casually she dressed and personal she was.

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Prime Time where new TV series are introduced. Prominent film directors and actors have flocked to the small screens in recent years, levelling the playing field for film and TV, blurring the lines between the big screen and home entertainment. Here are some upcoming series for streaming. I’ll be interested to watch these:

Alfonso Cuarón’s Disclaimer –– Oscar winning director Cuarón (Roma, 2019) is producer with a cast including Cate Blanchett, Lesley Manville, Kevin Kline, Sacha Baron Cohen, Kodi Smit-McPhee. A mini-series where Blanchett plays a TV documentary journalist revealing the dark side of major institutions.

Others series include Thomas Alfredson’s (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, 2011) Faithless, Thomas Vinterberg’s (Oscar nominee for Another Round, 2021) Families Like Ours, and Joe Wright’s (Darkest Hour, 2018; Atonement, 2008) M. Son of the Century.

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TIFF 2023 Lineups and my TBW List

While Barbenheimer is dominating the box office, a phenomenon that coins a new word in our vernacular thanks to the simultaneous release of the two movies Barbie and Oppenheimer, my attention, however, is drawn to the lineups in the film festivals beginning the end of August with Venice and then the Toronto International Film Festival in September. All others follow in the fall.

I won’t be heading to TIFF this year but I do have a To Be Watched list after browsing through their lineups if any of these films ever show up in my city or for streaming. Do watch for these titles, as I’m sure you’d find some that pique your interest… and might show up in the Awards Seasons later this year. Here’s my list:

NYAD
International Premiere. True story of Diana Nyad, at age 64, became the first person to swim 110 miles from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage. Starring Jodie Foster and Annette Bening, directed by the Oscar winning husband and wife adventure team Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (Free Solo, 2019). Now, you might ask … who’s playing the swimmer Nyad?

Anatomy of a Fall
Winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes this year, a French film directed by Justine Triet and starring German actress Sandra Hüller. A man is found dead and his wife is put on trial for his murder while their visually impaired son faces a moral dilemma as the sole witness. Sounds most intriguing. Other than Cannes, the film has also won the Audience Award at the Sydney Film Festival.

In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon
World Premiere. Documentary following America’s music icon Paul Simon into the studio making his new album Seven Psalms while looking back on his six-decade career from Sounds of Silence to Graceland.

North Star
World Premiere. Directorial debut of veteran British star Kristin Scott Thomas (The English Patient, 1996) A family drama about three sisters returning home for the third wedding of their twice-widowed mother. The past and the future converge as mother and daughters reunite with some unexpected guests. Could be autobiographical.

The Critic
World Premiere. Adaptation of the 2015 novel Curtain Call by Anthony Quinn. A mystery thriller storyline driven by ambitions and deceits in the theatre world. Directed by Anand Tucker (Girl with a Pearl Earring, 2003) with a wonderful UK cast including Lesley Manville, Gemma Arterton, Mark Strong, Ben Barnes, Romola Garai, and Ian McKellen.

Monster
The North American Premiere of acclaimed Japanese auteur Hirokazu Koreeda, who is a master of family drama such as Shoplifters (2018), Our Little Sister (2015), and Like Father, Like Son (2013) From TIFF’s webpage, Monster is “a delicate story of love and humanity, a moral tale about school bullying, scored by the late Ryuichi Sakamoto.”

Wildcat
Ethan Hawkes explores the life and art of writer Flannery O’Connor and featuring his daughter Maya Hawks as the titular character. Laura Linney in supporting role.

The Zone of Interest
Adaptation of Martin Amis’s 2015 Walter Scott Prize winning novel directed by Jonathan Glazer. Premiered at Cannes in May, garnering the Grand Prix and the FIPRESCI Prize. The story is a macabre juxtaposition of horror and a love affair between a Nazi officer the wife of the commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Maestro
I placed it last on this list because it’s not at TIFF but in Venice, just a week before TIFF kicks off. The Maestro refers to the American legendary composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein, played by Bradley Cooper. The story explores his complex relationship with his wife Felicia, played by Carey Mulligan. High on my anticipation list. Bradley Cooper directs his second musician-based feature after A Star is Born (2018)

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Women Direct Films 2022

Director Jane Campion and cinematographer Ari Wegner on the set of
*The Power of the Dog* (Source: Netflix)

Last year on this day, March 8, I listed films directed by women in recent years. A month later, Chloe Zhao became the second woman in the 93 year history of the Oscars to win Best Director with Nomadland. And this year, in the upcoming 94^th Academy Awards on March 27, two of the ten Best Picture nominees are directed by women, Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog and Sian Heder’s CODA.

This may look bright and hopefully the trend will hold. After all, women first directed films in 1896! I wrote about that in my March 8 post last year. However, the latest data aren’t that promising. According to the Celluloid Ceiling Report (Figure 2) published in January 2022, the percentage of women directors working on the top 100 films decreased from a record high of 16% in 2020 to 12% in 2021.

For this March 8, 2022, here’s a new list of some upcoming movies directed by women. There are, needless to say, many more women working behind the scenes as film editors, script writers, cinematographers, production designers, sound professionals, costume and makeup artists, composers, casting directors, producers… all striving to break through the celluloid ceiling.

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Aline directed by Valérie Lemercier, a fictionalized biopic of Céline Dion.

Where the Crawdads Sing directed by Olivia Newman, adaptation of the popular novel by Delia Owens.

Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Dream, A Song a documentary co-directed by Dayna Goldfine

She Said directed by Maria Schrader, based on the book that chronicles the fall of Harvey Weinstein and the rise of a movement. Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan star.

Barbie directed by Greta Gerwig, the cast that brings a doll to life includes Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, Simu Liu.

Turning Red directed by Domee Shi, whose animated short Bao won her an Oscar in 2019. Sandra Oh, Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell lend their voice and talents.

Don’t Worry Darling directed by Olivia Wilde, who has been called ‘a modern-day renaissance woman’. Attractive cast includes Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Chris Pine, Gemma Chan.

I Wanna Dance With Somebody directed by Kasi Lemmons, acclaimed director of Harriet (2019) turns her attention to depict the life of Whitney Houston.

The Stars at Noon directed by Claire Denis, who just won the Silver Berlin Bear for Best Director at Berlinale 2022. Adaptation of the 1986 novel by Denis Johnson.

Catherine, Called Birdy directed by Lena Dunham, based on the children’s novel by Karen Cushman, on the adventures of a 14 year-old girl in medieval England.

The Mother directed by Niki Caro, who has helmed an interesting variety of works like Mulan (2020), The Zookeeper’s Wife (2017), Whale Rider (2002). An action thriller, The Mother stars Jennifer Lopez and Joseph Fiennes.

Lady Chatterley’s Lover directed by Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre, adaptation of D. H. Lawrence’s classic novel.

Persuasion directed by Carrie Cracknell. Another Jane Austen classic to be transposed onto screen coming out this year.

Rosaline directed by Karen Maine. A comedic take on Romeo and Juliet from the POV of Rosaline Capulet, Juliet’s cousin and Romeo’s first love.

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Film Festivals 2021 Virtual Visit

Due to the pandemic, I haven’t attended a film festival in-person for two years. I miss the atmosphere of being in the midst of activities, the excitement of rushing across downtown Toronto in between screenings, dashing back to the pressroom to write up a timely review, and watching three to four films a day.

Here’s an imaginary list of films I would have watched if I were at TIFF and NYFF in Lincoln Center this September/October. Now, I’ll just have to wait patiently for them to trickle down to our local theatres or the streaming platforms.

Belfast

Directed by Kenneth Branagh, TIFF 2021 People’s Choice Award Winner, and historically, that means a path leading to next year’s Oscars Best Picture race. A semi-autobiographical narrative of a nine-year-old boy in 1969 Belfast, and as they say, the rest is history. Stars Judi Dench, Ciarán Hinds… that’s enough for me.

Bergman Island

High on my list of films to watch when it becomes available to the general viewers. French director Mia Hansen-Løve builds her story on Swedish Fårö Island where director Ingmar Bergman lived and made many of his films. A parallel story of a filmmaker couple heading there for retreat and inspiration interfacing with their film characters, blurring fantasy and reality.

The Power of the Dog

Directed by Jane Campion, who just won Best Director with this work at Venice FF. In an interview, Campion pointed out that she got the title from Psalm 22:20, and that Benedict Cumberbatch was spot-on in his portrayal of a Montana rancher. Kirsten Dunst co-stars. Based on the novel by Thomas Savage. TIFF 2021 People’s Choice Award runner-up.

All my Puny Sorrows

The first of Miriam Toews’ eight novels to be adapted to screen. Toews’ writing describes the conflicts and struggles growing up in her Canadian Mennonite community. Curious to see how Toronto director Michael McGowan deals with the internal world of the characters.

The French Dispatch

I won’t miss a Wes Anderson film. Always quirky and colourful, with creative set design and the usual gang is always entertaining, even though the story might not make much sense. Here they are, the usual suspects plus a few more: Bill Murray, Saoirse Ronan, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand, Timothée Chalamet, Elizabeth Moss, Adrian Brody, Edward Norton, Willem Dafoe, Owen Wilson…

I’m Your Man

Directed by Maria Schrader and based on a short story by German writer Emma Braslavsky. A humanoid cyborg is created to match all your needs, conscious and subconscious. Scientist Alma Felser (Maren Eggert) is skeptical, but when she meets her ‘man’, played by Dan Stevens (far from Downton), will she change her mind? A sci-fi rom-com with Stevens speaking fluent German in the whole film. Curious?

The Humans

From stage to screen, playwright director Stephen Karam adapts his Tony Award-winning play. Here’s TIFF artistic director Cameron Bailey’s succinct intro: “the Blake family disagrees on everything from religion to politics to the value of work, but each understands that their differences make them stronger, and their joys and sorrows are more meaningful for being shared.” Amy Schumer, Beanie Feldstein and Oscar noms Richard Jenkins, Steven Yeun and June Squibb star.

The Lost Daughter

Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut, adapting Elena Ferrante’s novel of the same name. Gyllenhaal has already garnered a Best Screenplay at Venice FF this year. While the setting may be on a beach during a vacation, the relational conflicts of characters are what make me so eager to see how the talented cast deliver: Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Peter Sarsgaard, just to name a few.

Spencer

After S4 of The Crown, a Diana musical and a Diana feature on Netflix, isn’t it time for a hiatus about Diana, Princess of Wales? Nope. Especially when it’s Kristen Stewart playing her, and the title Spencer could well define what the film might focus on, her identity as herself. Directed by Chilean director Pablo Larraín who brought us Jackie in 2016.

The Tragedy of Macbeth

From a van dweller in Nomadland with which she won her third Oscar Best Actress award, Frances McDormand turns into Lady Macbeth here, partner in crime, or rather instigator, with Denzel Washington as the ambitious Scottish lord. Her real life hubby Joel Coen directs this newest, classy looking b/w interpretation of the Bard’s masterpiece.

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Cannes Film Festival 2021, July 6-17

The pandemic has made armchair travellers of us. As many countries are still keeping Covid restrictions intact, some requiring quarantine for international arrivals, the best way to travel, at least for now, could well be sticking to your imaginary itinerary.

For the highly motivated, the prestigious Cannes Film Festival will resume July 6-17 this year, after a cancelled 2020 event. For filmmakers, this is good news, Cannes is bursting with films that have accumulated since 2019. So, put on your running shoes and head to the Promenade de la Croisette (photo above, source: Wikipedia Commons) and walk up the red carpet at the Palais des Festivals. After Covid, I’m sure the Cannes gate keepers will loosen up a bit with the high-heel code. Instead, Covid measures will be in place.

Saftey protocols include face coverings, social distancing, showing of full vaccination, if unable to provide, there’ll be Covid tests onsite. And, according to Reuters, while there will be ‘no kissing at the top of the red carpet’, festival director Thierry Fremaux said restrictions should not be too onerous.

Imagine you’re at the Palais des Festivals, the venue of the Cannes Film Festival, here’s what you’ll see…

Jodie Foster will kick off the 74^th Festival de Cannes as the special guest of the Opening Ceremony. Foster first stepped on the red carpet at Cannes in 1976 when she was only 13 years old as the film she was in won the Palme d’Or, that’s Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver. This time, she will be awarded an honorary Palme d’Or.

You might also catch a glimpse of the jury president Spike Lee on the Croisette. Other celebs sightings could well be the stars in the official selections. The following are the ones I anticipate watching (For the full list, click here to the Cannes website)

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In Competition:

Annette (France) – Opening Film, Leos Carax directs Marion Cotillard, Adam Driver

Bergman Island (France) – Mia Hansen-Løve directs Mia Wasikowska, Tim Roth

Drive My Car (Japan) – Ryûsuke Hamaguchi directs Hidetoshi Nishijima, Masaki Okada

Flag Day (USA) – Sean Penn directs Katheryn Winnick, Josh Brolin, Sean Penn

Memoria (Thailand) – Apichatpong Weerasethakul directs Tilda Swinton, Daniel Giménez-Cacho

The French Dispatch (USA) – Wes Anderson directs Timothée Chalamet, Elizabeth Moss, Frances McDormand and all the Wes Anderson usuals

A Hero (Iran) – Asghar Farhadi directs Amir Jadidi, Mohsen Tanabandeh

Un Certain Regard:

Blue Bayou (USA) – Justin Chon directs Justin Chon, Alicia Vikander

After Yang (USA) – Kogonada directs Colin Farrell, Jodie Turner-Smith

Cannes Premiere:

In Front of Your Face (Korea) – Hong Sang-Soo directs

Mothering Sunday – Eva Husson directs Olivia Colman, Colin Firth, Josh O’Connor

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‘Minari’: The Little Seed that Could

Minari is a semi-autobiographical narrative based on director Lee Isaac Chung’s childhood experience. It tells the story of a Korean immigrant father striving to succeed in America while his wife strains to keep their family together. In the midst of the struggle for a better life, two children watch and learn and grow.

Chung’s counterpart in the movie, seven-year-old David (Alan Kim), follows his parents Jacob Yi (Steven Yeun) and Monica (Yeri Han), together with his older sister Anne (Noel Kate Cho), to relocate from California to rural Arkansas in the 1980’s. Driven by the ambition to be successful, especially in the eyes of his children, Jacob has purchased 50 acres of land to start a farm growing Korean produce. With the influx of Korean immigrants coming into the country during that time, Jacob sees a wealth of opportunity.

MINARI_00195_R Alan S. Kim, Steven Yeun Director Lee Isaac Chung Credit: Melissa Lukenbaugh/A24

Jacob and Monica still hold a day job at a hatchery doing chicken sexing, separating the male chicks from the female, but Jacob sees no future in the routine work. The farm is his dream. In the sexing process, the male chicks are discarded, for they don’t taste as good and can’t lay eggs. A ready object lesson for him to teach his young son: be useful. And when he digs a well, he dismisses the dowsing method offered to him. “Koreans use their heads,” he tells David.

Monica, however, sees a very different picture. The dream home in the country for Jacob is for her, realistically, a trailer on wheels held up by cinder blocks. Water is from a well which later is drained dry to the crops. There’s no community nearby. Her main concern is living far from a hospital as David has a life-threatening heart murmur. “Don’t forget to keep praying,” she tells David. The couple’s opposing views lead to frequent conflicts in front of the children.

The tipping point comes when Monica’s mother is recruited to help with the kids. Arriving from Korea, Grandma Soonja (Youn Yuh-jung) brings with her Korean spices and rarity not found in America, as well as Korean songs, memory of courtship that has long been buried by her daughter and son-in-law.

For David, Grandma is far from what he has expected. She is a raucous card player, swears, doesn’t cook or bake, uses half his room and, aggravating his annoyance, snores. The interplay between grandma and grandson make up some light-hearted scenes which elicit from Kim performance in his natural poise alongside the veteran, seasoned Youn. The key element in their eventual bonding is love. Kudos to Chung for his screenplay and directing.

MINARI_02405_R Alan S. Kim Director Lee Isaac Chung Credit: Josh Ethan Johnson

Another supporting role that has added spice to the film is Paul (Will Patton), a practical farm help to Jacob. A devout Pentecostal, Paul’s eccentricity is a laughing stock even with church kids. Jacob does not subscribe to his beliefs. Admirably, the two can still work in harmony.

Premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and winning both its Audience Award and the Grand Jury Prize, Minari has come a long way this past year garnering accolades. The film is now an Oscar nominee in six categories including Best Picture, Best Director and Original Screenplay for Chung. Yeun becomes the first actor of Asian descent to be nominated for Best Actor. Youn gets a nod for Best Supporting Actress and composer Emile Mosseri for Best Original Score.

Compared to his acclaimed debut feature Munyurangabo (2007), an arthouse, experimental film about two youths in post-genocide Rwanda, Minari is a conventional take on a personal, family story. The storytelling is linear and captured in realism, as we follow the Yi family’s first arrival to rural Arkansas and the daily struggles as an immigrant, farm family. The film’s subject matter and Chung’s handling is deceivingly simple.

Thanks to the eponymous vegetable, the minari, Lee transfers the specific to a wider scope in different layers. Minari is a Korean watercress that grows hardily in wet soil. Grandma has brought some minari seeds with her from Korea and sows them beside the creek near their home. As days go by, the plants thrive on their own, an apt metaphor for the resilience and adaptability of immigrants taking roots in a new soil.

In contrast to a grim lesson of discarding the male chicks at the hatchery David learns from his father, the minari along the creek is a visual reminder of being alive and useful. Grandma sings its praises, for the versatile vegetable can be put in kimchi, stew, and soup, and used as medicine when sick. “Minari, Wonderful.” Grandma and David burst out in an impromptu song. A delightful scene is captured by the camera. As the wind blows, the plants bow as if acknowledging their praises. A moment of magical realism.

As time goes by, the minari plants thrive, and David’s heart condition has improved on its own such that surgery is no longer needed. In the climactic scene and its fallout, a contrast is particularly notable. Jacob sweats and labors on his crops which can be gone in an instant, but the minari grows naturally in the wild and David’s illness healed, pointing to a harvest of transcending grace that is beyond human efforts. The denouement is a gratifying close to a chapter of childhood memory.

~ ~ ~ 1/2 Ripples

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I thank Asian American Press for allowing me to post my review here in full.