Category Archives: Film/TV

Film/TV

Thoughts on – Notebook on Cities and Clothes (1989) by Wim Wenders

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I was recently listening to the MUBI podcast when I came across an interesting name, Wim Wenders. Little did I know, I had saved his “Paris, Texas” (1984) on my MUBI watchlist. During the podcast, the interviewer referenced a documentary that Wenders had made on Yohji Yamamoto which I immediately made note of. I knew little of Yohji Yamamoto’s work bar his adidas sub-label, Y-3. Wanting to learn more about the fashion designer, I found his documentary available on YouTube (although you can watch it for free via Vimeo).

The documentary was unlike any other I’d seen before, with a small digital screen playing while Wenders would simultaneously travel whichever City he was in. Two scenes stood out to me; 1 – the scene in which Yohji is adding his signature to the store sign outside his first shop, and two – the part where he is flicking through a book full of images of people from what seems like the 40s.  This quote also stood out to me:

“Form and material, same old dilemma, same ritual as any other craft. Stand back, look, approach again, grasp, feel, hesitate, then sudden activity and then another long pause. After a while I began to see a certain paradox in Yohji’s work, what he creates is necessarily ephemeral. Victim to the immediate and voracious consumption which is the rule of his game. After all, fashion is about here and now. It only deals with today, never yesterday. By the same token, Yohji was inspired by the photographs of another time and by the work clothes of an era when people lived by a different rhythm and when work had a different sense of dignity. So it seemed to me Yohji expressed himself in two languages simultaneously; he played two instruments at the same time. The fluid and the solid. The fleeting and the permanent. The fugitive and the stable.” – Wim Wenders narration [20:15-21:15].

The scene at around 105 minutes also echoes this idea, as Yohji is fascinated by the people captured in the book. The quote taps into many themes, such as authenticity and ever-increasing cycles of fashion, both of which are more relevant than ever today. Given the documentary was recorded and released in 1989, it acts as another reminder of the power of nostalgia. As part of the Zillenial tribe who laments the simpler childhood days of the ‘90s, I didn’t realise it was the same for every other generation who were stuck romancing the past.

The people in the photos were born in a time when people were more present. People played less of a character as their circle of inspiration was smaller, the world felt smaller. Labour and goods wasn’t as frequently exported so the clothes of people reflected the hands-on nature of their role. The digital world was yet to exist so reality was very much in the here and now, playing out right in front of you, therefore you had to be dressed accordingly.

Clothing and textiles were nation or even state/county-based, therefore quality and function were that much better. These were clothes that would be lived in for years, also had to put up with the climate and ongoing hardships. Yohji understands this much better than most. This intimate level of knowledge can be seen throughout the entirety of his work.

Yohji eloquently summarises this when flicking through the book, “Men Of The Twentieth Century” by August Sander, “I’m especially curious about their faces, because of their career, life, business. They have exactly the right faces for that I think. I’m admiring their faces and clothing. For example, when I look at people on the street in a modern city, sometimes I can’t understand which profession they join in, they all look the same for me. But in this time, people looked like their profession and their background, their faces are their name card. Their clothes are very representative of their business and lives, so firstly I look at their faces and then imagine their profession.”

For perhaps the first time in centuries,there exists a gap between our identity and our work. This gap has only gotten wider since the documentary first aired, with the likelihood of it only expanding further. I recommend giving the documentary a watch, which you can do so here.

Film/TV

I Wish (2011) – A Film Review

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This film took me back to my childhood in a massive way. The carefree attitudes, the swimming lessons, discussing how the leftover crisp packet crumbs are the best bits. Luckily, that’s not all my childhood consisted of, had it been I’d probably be an Olympic-level swimmer with a Walkers deal … which upon reflection doesn’t sound all that bad.

I am currently making more of an effort to watch Japanese and South Korean cinema. To be honest, I’m trying to watch more films in general. My best year for Film was 2017 when I was in my second year of University. I’d often receive and be given recommendations from a friend at film school, discussing genre-bending pieces like Ben Wheatley’s A Field in England thanks to a recommendation from the king of film criticism, Mark Kermode.

Of course with Japanese and Korean cinema, the settings are based in places I know little of, which was part of the charm surrounding I Wish (2011),a film directed by Kore-eda Hirokazu. There was something tangible captured in its 128-minute runtime, I myself felt part of this group of friends, feeling somewhat exhausted after watching them traipse up the long and winding hill to school. My journey was slightly easier, consisting of an hour-long bus journey where the sweltering Indonesian weather was only made bearable by the occasional gust of wind from the bus window.

Swimming was an enjoyable part of twelve-year-old Koichi’s day, a subject he’d discuss over the phone with his brother Ryunosuke in great detail. The film was so brimming with a childhood innocence that even when Koichi’s friend revealed his recently dead pet dog was in his backpack, it was endearing and not completely horrifying. There’s obviously more context, yet it proves how focused Hirokazu’s direction was throughout the process, flipping this horror-esque trope on its head. I was totally invested in this journey, eager to watch these brothers reunite amidst the complications of their parent’s divorce.

As a backdrop, Japan plays a huge role in the film, with its many cultural colloquialisms seeping onto the screen. A huge volcano would linger in the background as Koichi would walk to school, its towering presence over Kagoshima a factor that the residents would simply have to put up with. One can only imagine how terrifying that would be as a child, a cultural separation that the director was tasked with communicating to the Western audience.

One of the mothers works behind a bar, serving drinks to elderly gentlemen while reflecting on her failed dream of becoming an actor. Consequently, she projects this onto her daughter, doubting her drive and ability to shine against the blinding lights of Tokyo. As with many of the character arcs, Hirokazu amends this by giving her a real moment in the spotlight, when the consequences are high and the group of friends trailing behind need her to pull through. Even as a child, these little wins go on to have big effects.

There was another scene in which the boys are trying to raise money for what appears to be a cross-country train journey, yet could easily have been a normal commute for your city worker. Events are exaggerated in our youth and the director manages to translate this successfully through his writing. Each of the toys sells for 5000 Yen, with the game shop worker observing them with his intricate figurine-based knowledge. This reminded me of many trades that took place in my childhood, and one in particular which involved me swapping a set of Pokémon cards for a three-headed Japanese dragon. I’d later go on to find out that the dragon was called Ghidorah, a monster of cultural significance in Japanese lore and frequently referred to by the late rapper, MF DOOM. Even the snacks they would eat and drink would take me back to the days of sipping Pocari Sweat in the humidity of the Indonesian summer.

I enjoyed this film a lot. With buckets of heart and spoonful’s of charm, this should definitely be a watch for anyone who has lost their inner child along the way. If you’ve got MUBI then I highly recommend giving it a watch!

Film/TV

Park Chan-wook – Time means nothing

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Last night I watched Park Chan-wook’s The Handmaiden (2016), a film packed with the Director’s narrative style. My thirst (pun intended) for Korean storytelling still lingered, remembering I’d seen his short film crop up on MUBI, I swiftly hit play. Park Chan-wook’s short film, titled Judgement (1999), was based on the 1995 collapse of the Sampoong Department store, a catastrophe that saw many people swoop in to claim Government pay-outs. The film was perfectly named and explored the theme of judgment from almost every angle imaginable. The Morgue worker’s character was so fully developed within the 26-minute run time, proving the director does not need a 2-hour-plus in order to tell a story. Even characters who had only been referred to through memories seemed to roam the physical space of the morgue’s back room, a further implication of the brilliant script. As the cameramen are shoved out of the room, Chan-wook shows us the behind-the-scenes results of the Sampoong Department store, where family secrets are no longer buried. Judgement is more than worth your time and goes to show exactly how much the short film medium can achieve.

Luckily for you, it’s available to watch on YouTube, so if you’ve got a spare 30 minutes or need some thought-provoking material, this should be on your list.

Film/TV

Koyaanisqatsi : Life Out of Balance

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I really didn’t know what to expect when I queued Francis Ford Coppola’s Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance last Sunday evening. About ten minutes in I thought, “guess we’re in for a 2001: A Space Odyssey type of intro”, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. Thirty minutes later and the held, visual shots that coincided with the music kept going. At that point, I assumed this was it in terms of its narrative. I was right. Whilst at first I was a bit annoyed, wanting to watch a film with more let alone any dialogue, seemed like a small ask. Especially when I was trying to eat my Sunday Lunch leftovers (the roast potatoes were great thanks for asking). At around the thirty-five-minute mark I was left at a crossroads. Do I turn this off and opt for something less involved? I only spent a pound on the two DVD collection from the charity shop so all-in-all it wasn’t too much of a loss. However, Francis Ford Coppola was a household name and any future conversation involving him could have been jeopardised by the fact that I gave up on one of his films less than halfway through. Weighing my options, I decided to persist. In hindsight I made the right decision. Whilst the film can come across as pretentious, this will only occur if you do not surrender yourself to it. I went in extremely blind having briefly read the blurb on the back of the case when I first purchased it but had since forgotten the premise. I truly did not know what to expect. The first of the collection was called “Life Out of Balance”. A fitting title.

I recently finished Yvonne Chouinard’s Let My People Go Surfing which I quite enjoyed in a shockingly, interesting way. I feel like the film could go hand-in-hand with this book. I can imagine the author and owner of Patagonia reading excerpts of his book along to this film and it would work marvellously. I feel like the film began to influence me once I decided to surrender myself to it as a work of art, which this film is undoubtably so. To call this anything other than art would not do it justice.

Once the human built and City scape elements of the film came in, that is when I started to become transfixed with what I was watching. The city shots reminded me of the ones used in the original Bladerunner (1969). Thanks to Corridor Digital’s great behind the scenes look into the film making process, I was aware that those shots were achieved using miniatures and model-sized lights blinking away. This made me think of the way cities are designed and inspired more so by circuitry rather than nature. You could easily have mistaken several held shots of a city for a motherboard. One moment I loved was of a glass windowed building from ground level that reflected the blue sky above. At first I thought, “what a great image”. Yet it was only seconds later that I realised that it is not the building that is beautiful, but the sky itself. Buildings will never achieve the ability to mesmerise like nature does, the best it can do is mimic the natural beauty surrounding it.

The last few months I also have understood how much processed foods we as people consume. After recently having the chance to experience being close to nature, eating organic food and soaking in the power of the sun, I appreciate this film’s message a lot more. The numerous shots of factory-made goods were just another reminder of how detached we are from the food chain process. This film came out in the 80s which was a decade that saw leaps and bounds in the consumption of electronic items. It was also the decade in which we started to become aware of the effect humans were having on the planet. The News was covered with the idea of having a hole in the Ozone Layer, caused greatly by chemicals used in beauty products at the time.

My favourite shot in the entire film was right of the end. I had spent the last 20 minutes being almost hypnotised by the sped-up shots and score. I was yanked out of this trance when I thought I was watching Interstellar, an absolute favourite of mine. I have no doubt that Nolan has watched this and taken huge inspiration from this portion. In fact, Koyaanisqatsi itself deals with a deteriorating world that is implied if we do not change our course. The last minute or so, we see the remains of an exploded Space Rocket spin violently back to Earth. In this instance it is slowed down so we can see it spinning, flames lashing out of it. Similar to the floating plastic bag scene from American Beauty, it was arresting. I watched the flames roar and then tame themselves, switching between the two every few seconds. “Was this a looped shot” I began to wonder, almost forgetting that this object was hurtling towards earth. I was so entrapped. This last image was one that really summed up the films message. Whilst alluring, this fiery mess was racing towards its destruction.

I look forward to seeing the second film, Powaqqatsi: Life in Transformation. If there is anything that could convince me that we are living in a simulation it is this, so let’s hope the next one has a slightly more positive outlook!

Film/TV

Unbreakable (2000) Film Review

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Unbreakable

USA 2000 102 mins col

d M. Night Shyamalan

w M. Night Shyamalan

c Eduardo Serra

Security Guard David Dunn (Bruce Willis) survives a terrible train crash only to find himself living his mundane life once again. With his marriage on the rocks and his job not providing him with any satisfaction, he finds himself truly lost. That is until comic book-obsessed Elijah Price (Samuel L Jackson), contacts him with the idea that he is in fact as unnormal as they come. Surviving a succession of major catastrophes has deemed David an anomaly, the type of person Elijah has been looking for all his life. Not willing to give up, Elijah persists in convincing David that he possesses a God-given strength, unlike the weakness that defines his frail body. With David continuously doubting himself, how can he be a hero if the villain is equally as non-existence. Before all the glitz and glamor of the Marvel Movies, this is truly a superhero movie that is grounded in the real world.

Film/TV

Top Boy Season 4 Review

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This season of Top Boy seemed to pop out of nowhere. One second, I noticed some YouTube related content pop up and next thing you know, I had friends asking what I thought of the season. “What Season?” I replied.

Another step, another move in the right direction from the Top Boy cast. I ended up binging the season within the space of two days. A common thing for a lot of Netflix users, but something that has been a lot less common for me as of late. Either way I ended up finishing the eight-part series as if it were a feature length film. This was partly due to the gripping story but also the all-round powerhouse performances. Gauging the online reaction, I think it’s clear that Jaq played by Jasmine Jobson, was a clear fan favourite. Her ability to humanise an outwardly tough character whilst balancing an extreme sense of vulnerability, was something that had everyone routing for her. This is true for the rest of the characters as well.

Top Boy Season 4 – Jaq

Whilst in my mind I thought, “what possible other narratives could they explore when it comes to gang life in London?”, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Season 3 had been a whirlwind. There was a lot of action and tense moments, and understandably so. Season 3 had been a return for the series after almost 6 years, so there needed to be a big flash and bang to reign in an entirely new audience on Netflix. Not to say that there weren’t beautiful, introspective moments in between the action. Kano’s performance as Sully had stuck with me since. The train scene where he’s left at rock bottom, questioning life, is some of the best acting I’ve ever witnessed. A powerful non-verbal performance. In a lot of ways, it was almost a first Season. Introducing a near-entirely new cast in an enticing way, had left little room for fleshing out these characters.

Season 4 on the other hand, seemed slower in pace and in a good way. Don’t get me wrong, there was still plenty of shootouts and violence to have you at the edge of your seats. There was just a lot more time spent humanising the characters. Dushane seemed to be going through his trial-by-fire that Sully did in the last season, with a lot more of his vulnerabilities and weaknesses out on display. As for his partner Shelley, played by Little Simz, cracks in her morally perfect character were explored which only made her more likable. The producers seemed to focus on balance, with the ‘good’ revealing a darker past and the ‘bad’ having to deal with their comeuppance. Lauryn, Jaq’s troublesome sister who I forgot about from season 3, was utilised in such a clever way. What I thought was the end of her story, brought in a whole new element of problems into this season, true to her past ways.

Top Boy Season 4 – Lauryn

Jamie, played by Michael Ward, had another top tier performance. I certainly feel like he was a fan favourite from Season 3, having won the hearts of many of the female audience. His character had gone through one of the hardest and complicated journeys this time around. Each episode had a set of tough scenarios for him to deal with, but unlike previous issues, these couldn’t be solved by the gun. His business trip to Morocco was a beautiful way in which the producers were able to explore the problems of “Hood Mentality”. When in a car ride with Moroccan business partner, Jamie looks out to people on the beach and says, “this shit’s like movies”. A bit of a meta moment, yet one that reminds the audience that, the World that existed to Jamie was confined to the streets of London.

Given the bigger budget for this season, we finally got to see the Global dynamic of the drugs trade. We were longer wondering, “where does this food come from” because we were finally taken there. Granted, Season 3 did explore this as well, through its Jamaican storyline but it was different. In Jamaica, Dushane only spent a small portion there and had family ties there.  However, this time our three main characters all went abroad, the foreign settings used as way to explore how they react when they are out of their depth. A ‘fish out of water’ type of scenario.   

Whilst the series did reflect a more global scale, it also did well to introduce a more varied UK demographic, one that’s truer of today’s scene. With a huge growth and presence of Northern artists in the music industry, we finally got a proper reflection of UK that isn’t just London. There was a slight connection to Manchester in Season 3, with two younger characters doing County Lines and getting the train up North. Yet in Season 4, we had a full feature of Liverpudlian Arms Dealers mixed into the cast. With the City’s rich history of the Weapons and Drugs trade, it was only a matter of time before they made a crossover into the hostile world of London-based Top Boy. I think the Liverpool dynamic was a very welcomed story line, with Curtis and his sister being two vile characters that always did well to gauge a reaction out of me. As far as that story goes, I don’t think it’s the last we’ve heard of the Liverpudlian gang.

Top Boy Cast

Top Boy Season 4 added another notch to its belt, a world that was made more real and consequently, one which I care about even more. I hugely enjoyed the experience and don my hats off to the producers and cast for doing such an excellent job. I look forward to returning to the world of Top Boy and am eager for what Season 5 will have to offer, even if I have to wait another 3 years.

Check out The Guardian’s Review of Top Boy here!

Film/TV

The Beauty in Enduring Love’s Opening

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I recently picked up several DVD’s from a charity shop for a pound each. One of these were Enduring Love (2004), a film I had never heard of before until the moment I picked it up. Seeing pre – Bond era Daniel Craig on the front cover, I was intrigued. That intrigue was further added to by the large Red Hot balloon on which normally signifies a family friendly element to the piece of art, yet with an R-rated 18 at the bottom corner, this could not be the case.

This film has without a doubt, one of the most edge of your seat openings I have experienced. Greeted by the peaceful English countryside, I relaxed into the warmth of my sofa. “Two people having a picknick” I thought, my body sunk even further into the soft cushions. Yet in less than two minutes, the entrance of our intriguing red hot air balloon decides to take centre stage, a sense of unease crashing along behind it. Gone were the extensive shots of landscape and the gentle pace of Joe (Daniel Craig’s character) trying to open up an expensive bottle of champagne. Now came a entourage of quick cuts, close ups and shaky handheld shots which undoubtably switched up the tone. A succession of characters we weren’t familiar with then come running into frame (literally), all trying to prevent this wrecking ball of a hot air balloon from taking flight. They successfully stop it moving till what seems like a godly presence in the form of a badly timed gust of winds sends the balloon soaring upwards again. It is at this point we as the audience expect the danger to continue, which it does, yet in a way which I did not expect.

Four men, one of which is main character Joe, hangs onto the four corners of the Air balloon basket, the Dad dangling off on the rope. The roaring fire of the Balloon quiets down and makes way for the score to kick softly ebb into the film. The heavy breathing of one of the men accompanies the violins and harps. We see Joe slowly hanging in the air, he wears the face of a man who has just discovered something. Lost in the moment, he gives into his sense of feeling brought on by the weightlessness of flight. He feels like he has just discovered a superpower, yet acknowledges the increasing sense of vulnerability, between himself and his fall. The Director’s powerful metaphor for love. Or what I can only imagine love to feel like.

The man who fell was not lost, yet so assured in his thoughts that given the choice, he would have never let go.

All four men eventually let go, falling to the floor with a heavy landing. They are safe. Grounded, they stand up, looking at the hot air balloon float further off into the distance. The farther of the boy clings on. His love for his son an unfamiliar feeling to the four men who watch from the ground. At first, I thought the reason they all stood still watching because they did not know how to help the situation. Upon further thought however, I realised I was wrong. The men, joined by Joe’s partner who comes back on screen, are lost in the beauty of what they are witnessing. They watch the unfaltering love between a farther and son. A love so pure that it leads to death. The Director choses to highlight the beauty of a man hanging onto the last seconds of his life rather than the overwhelming sense of fear that the audience is expected to experience. This narrative is owed largely to Jeremy Sam’s who composed the score and did an excellent job capturing the duality between sadness and beauty. The man who fell was not lost, yet so assured in his thoughts that given the choice, he would have never let go.

The films opening conjures up so many emotions within the space of five minutes that one simply cannot forget it. Whenever I look at a hot air balloon I will recognise the presence of beauty and danger, something which seems to be underappreciated in our everyday life.

I would very much encourage that you go watch this film. As of the time of this writing it is available to stream on Netflix.