Redemption is a Bloody Sport
Thoughts on Corsage, Master Gardener and Triangle of Sadness from Day 1 of #NYFF60. Spoiler free, of course.
The fuck around and find out era is upon us. Aren't we all so deeply aware of it - look around no matter where you live in the world, from the bubbles of manicured utopias to the crumbling and shaking grounds of war zones - this is an era of reckoning, rebuilding and if we are lucky enough - Redemption.
That's the theme I felt while watching the first 3 films at New York Film Festival this year - it's 60th iteration.
This feeling set in when we were told by a show runner to put on our masks because 'Some people are still sick'. The simplest reason I have heard for acting in interest of the collective as opposed to the hyper atomized societies that we live in.
Corsage - A period piece set in 19th century Europe, focusing on a year in the life of Empress Elisabeth of Austria played by Vicky Krieps. She was born to play this role, further confirmed by the fact that she had pitched the idea to make this film to director Marie Kreutzer.
The central and pretty obvious metaphor of Corsage is in the title. The french word for corset and its ever tightening grips on the protagonist as she tries to break free of these bonds - thrust open her by societal norms, which feel quite contemporary in their depiction. This is made clear in the very first scene where she is trying to hold her breath in a bathtub while 2 handmaidens stand there terrified of her oddities. From there on - we are in for a beautifully crafted ride of this stiffing life of an Empress presiding over a crumbling empire but more importantly of her own sanity. It's a lesson from history and yet it touches on the themes of loneliness, aging, repression and the interplay between boundaries we are told to follow and the ones we all want to trespass. It's a film about a woman misbehaving on purpose - so as the defy the iron clad corset of behavior as expected from a royal. As my dear friend, Theo suggested - this film reminded him of Spencer and I can see why.
There is an incredible line from the journal of her key confidante - which tells the audience what it feels like to be of a singular mind and nature in a world which constantly tells you to comply. A feeling many of us can relate with - I know, I did.
The music and production choices are extremely inspired - as they don't stick to the norms, a fitting homage to the central theme of the film. We have a haunting song from 2011 which is such a smart companion in the character building of the Empress. To compliment that we have fashion which is clearly not from the 18th century - further emphasizing the vision of the director that we are looking back in time and yet very much entrenched in contemporary themes and struggles.
I can't share anything more - but if you do watch it, watch it for Vicky, watch it for the masterful dance between the implied tension of the central characters in contrast with the reckless release of the choices of the Empress. It begs the question - if history does rhyme, how do we redeem ourselves by escaping the corset of our contemporary and yet timeliness chains.
Next we had Master Gardener. A soft end to Paul Schrader's trilogy about men with troubled pasts who are trying to redeem themselves in a proverbial second act of their lives.
Let's start by stating my obvious bias - I absolutely loved First Reformed and The Card Counter. Hence my expectations were both high and at the same time measured - because I knew he would be playing with the same template. This was obvious in the very first scene - where we see Narvel Roth (played by Joel Edgerton), a master gardener, sitting in a sparse room and writing in his journal. An extremely familiar motif - and Schrader stans know exactly what to expect - except we have some unexpected surprises along the way.
Signourney Weaver as Mrs Haverhill steals every scene she is in - to no one's surprise. Quintessa Swindell as Maya does justice to the role, although the rawness of a newish actor shows - unless that was by design.
The occupational metaphor of using one's profession as a mask continues - as confirmed by Schrader in the Q&A that followed - although, we are left wanting for more, something I never felt in the previous two films. Technically there is nothing to gloat about - except for that one dashing moment of magical realism, which we have become familiar with in his work.
Master Gardener is a familiar story from the Schraderverse, which does touch on some very important themes of racism, forgiveness and redemption. Unfortunately without the necessary context of his work, the film asks too much of its audience to look away from. We are told to forgive but we are never given a strong enough reason as to why. Yes we absolutely need more stories of compassion - it would be serve us better if they were told with the same compassion as they expect from the audience.
Watch it for Schrader and his singular voice - who is a living embodiment of burning brighter as one ages. I wish to see more of him and hopefully the next one will feel more complete than this one. (I feel terrible saying this about a living legend like Schrader - honestly he gets to do whatever he wants - I am just a lifelong movie nerd trying to bridge the gap between his vision and what audiences expect)
To conclude the triple feature from Day 1 at NYFF, we had Triangle of Sadness.
Ruben Östlund's satirical tale about the rich, beautiful and vapid set on a uber luxury cruise ship got him his second consecutive Palme d'Or. A rare and extremely impressive feat - although I am still trying to understand why.
Satire shines when it is subtle. When hit with a sledgehammer, we enter slapstick territory - which is a familiar trope from Ruben, but wish he had departed from it ever so slightly. This movie does an extremely good job at pointing out the glaring blind spots of our monoculture of living for the gram, the troubling relationship between power and beauty and the oh so obvious banter between a Socialist American and a Capitalist Russian. Yes we get the juxtaposition - it just doesn't feel as smart as it appears to be. Or maybe I am the pretentious one here - quite possible. On that note lemme add - there are some moments of absolute genius and brilliance through out the film. The second act might be one of the greatest sequences from this year - and there are parts of the third act which are wickedly sharp and funny. My favorite moment of the entire day of movie indulgence was when in a particular scene New Noise by Refused comes up. A song from a Swedish hardcore punk band with the lines
It's here for us to admire if we can afford the beauty of it
If we can afford the luxury of turning our heads if we can
Adjust that 1000 dollar smile and behold the creation of man
Great words won't cover ugly actions
Good frames won't save bad paintings!
Now that is fucking genius.
Yet there is the quite literal toilet humor which seems too heavy handed - unless again that's exactly what they were going for. I mean we do live in an era where Tiger King was the number 1 show in the US in the first week of a once in a century global pandemic and at the time this essay was being written - an insultingly grotesque show about a serial killer from the 80s is the number 1 show. Maybe Ruben is going for that - to shake us out of our numbness and apathy by 'selling us shit'.
We admire Master Gardener more when we look at Schrader's entire body of work. Conversely with Triangle of Sadness - some of the set pieces are genuine masterstrokes but as a whole it fails to live up to its predecessors. The runtime of 2 hours and 20 minutes does not help - as some sequences feel quite unnecessary and bloated.
The french title for this film is Sans Filtre - literally translating to Without Filter. Again I am just a humble movie nerd - but if I could call Ruben - all I would ask him to change is the title. Without Filter is more fitting of what he is trying to say as opposed to an obscure term from the modeling world.
The characters might be unredeemable, but the audience deserves to be treated with more respect than what they are watching on the screen.
If you do watch it - watch it in a theater. Laughing hysterically at the rich and beautiful just doesn't feel as good from the couch. Pick an AMC maybe as schadenfreude does feel special in a place like that.