Meewella | Critic

According to P

Tag: Michael Stuhlbarg

QuickView: Call Me By Your Name (2017)

“The meaning of the river flowing is not that all things are changing so that we cannot encounter them twice, but that some things stay the same only by changing.”

Oliver

What better description of adolescence, and of those who enter our lives for a time? Call Me By Your Name, adapted from André Aciman’s novel, is a beguiling romance set against the idle heat of a summer in 1980s Italy. The film’s most striking feature is its confident control over pacing to match its narrative, with some scenes drifting lazily as a summer afternoon whilst others lurch forward suddenly as clumsy youthful affection often does. Timothée Chalamet is captivating as Elio, wordlessly depicting both his yearning and his confusion. Elio’s parents are aware of what is occurring but take a largely passive role. And yet, the inevitable experience of heartbreak is all the more profound for his father’s words of support.

9/10

QuickView: Pawn Sacrifice (2014)

“Chess is basically a search for truth, right? So, I’m searching for the truth.”

Bobby Fischer

It is infinitely harder to translate a cerebral face-off to film than a physical one. The advantage to Bobby Fischer as a subject is that man’s personality and paranoia provide energy in between bouts. He is contradictory in nature, by turns self-assured and cowardly, single-minded and constantly distracted. Zwick’s film largely glosses over his worst traits, whilst not trusting the viewer enough to slow the pace sufficiently to allow games to breathe (the camera is instead as distracted as Fischer). Often it is through the eyes of Liev Schrieber as his rival Spassky that we find more nuanced understanding of Fischer. This is a film that will mean far more to those who lived through — or are at least familiar with — the Cold War, else the idea of geopolitical ramifications (on which the film frequently relies for its stakes) being attached to a game of chess seems a quaint curiosity. Merely relying on newsreels and mentions of White House attention fails to communicate how this became perceived as a battle of ideology.

6/10

QuickView: The Shape of Water (2017)

“When he looks at me, the way he looks at me. He does not know what I lack or how I am incomplete. He sees me for what I am, as I am.”

Elsa Esposito

What if Guillermo del Toro made a Jean-Pierre Jeunet film? There is a surprisingly whimsical tone as we are introduced to the life of mute Elisa and the idiosyncrasies of her few friends. This merges with del Toro’s signature eye for detail in fantasy creatures when she discovers the amphibian man imprisoned at the lab in which she works (it is a big year for the underappreciated Doug Jones between this role and Saru, the best character in Star Trek: Discovery). The bond between the two forms the core of the film, surrounded by a series of strong supporting performances. Drawing together disparate aspects of drama, fantasy, a heist, romance and espionage, this is a stunning, unusual piece of filmmaking that is more than the sum of its parts and lingers long afterward.

9/10

"A film is a petrified fountain of thought."

(CC) BY-NC 2003-2023 Priyan Meewella

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