Columbus (2017)

Slow isn't the right word to describe it. It's deliberate. First-time director Kogonada has such a firm control. His style resembles Yasujiro Ozu. His very still camera and low angles is almost unsettling. Every single shot is beautiful. There are frames within frames, a brilliant use of doorways and mirrors. The acting is impassioned yet quiet. The dialogue is intelligent yet natural, subtle yet brilliant. It is important that the director is Asian, as the subtlety is handled carefully in a way that an American probably could not fathom. The themes are very thoughtful and poignant--what is the role of architecture, how do we process grief, and what do we owe ourselves? The chemistry between John Cho and Haley Lu Richardson is gorgeous. 

John Cho is finally given an role worthy of his ability. He's actually a great actor. He gives Asians a good look.  Kogonada defies stereotypes, and in fact reverses them. The Korean Jin encourages Casey to follow her dreams, a uniquely American value. While American Casey fulfills her familial duty to look after her mother, a more Confucian value that Jin struggles with. Now, I'm not entirely sure what happens in the movie. Even with all the dialogue, there is lots left unsaid. It leaves some ambiguity in which we're left to interpret the silences. At the end of the film, Casey goes off to school. But Jin stays put. Jin's story line doesn't really advance over the course of the movie, and yet his character has developed immensely. I don't quite know what to make of that but I don't think that's written so easily.   

Cafe Society (2016)

Café Society is a return to form for Woody Allen after some not-so-great movies in the last few years. It was actually quite reminiscent of some of his earlier work, relying on the same themes and characterizations and brilliant use of his beloved jazz that brought him fame. I could not help but see a little of Woody Allen in Jesse Eisenberg as Bobby. Eisenberg really embodies the neurotic, quirky, fast-talking, exasperated, sarcastic characters that Allen used to write for himself. This was especially apparent in the scene with Parker Posey in which he has an awkward encounter with a hooker. He says everything he's thinking as it comes to him in his high-level lightning-fast thought process. Allen holds nothing back in his dialogue.

All the acting was actually quite memorable for the right reasons, including all of Bobby's very-Jewish family back in the Bronx and a surprisingly adept Steve Carrell playing far away from his iconic character on the office. But of course, Allen is known for his female characters and Kristen Stewart is just superb. In her very first scene, she has just a couple lines of dialogue, but she has this afternoon glow (and smile to match) about her that radiates and holds your attention. And this lighting effect recurs several times for Stewart's character. There are some really great shots in Central Park that are made whole with this effect. She shows so much depth in her facial expressions and delivery that it makes me wonder if I have overlooked her work in the past (though on second thought I don't think there is any redemption for Twilight). She nails both the plain but charming secretary and the elegant society woman.

As for the story, it has been incorrectly marketed as a story about old Hollywood, but I think a majority of the film actually took place in Allen's beloved New York (it is even sort of anti-Hollywood). He doesn't use the words "café society" until Bobby returns to the east coast. In fact, for the first half of the film it seemed as though Bobby would stay in the middle class and not rise to the upper intellectual class that Allen typically writes about.  I think it is Allen narrating the film as well, though I wasn't entirely sure. Much of the plot is actually told to the audience through the narration instead of shown, which is a stylistic choice that works in well-written comedy. Like a classic Woody Allen plot, there is an impossible love triangle. It is delightful and fun. Have we seen it before? Yes, but it is good to see the master of romantic comedy returning to what he does so well.

Now, we're rubbing shoulders with this high society. We walked down the red carpet that the cast did and into the palace at the 11pm screening at Cannes. That was an experience in itself.