A Film a Week - Sugarland

 previously published on Cineuropa

Will romance save us? Or is it dead, and are we living in a “post-romance world”? That is the question that young, up-and-coming Austrian filmmaker Isabella Brunäcker asks in her feature debut, Sugarland. Its world premiere has just taken place at the Diagonale, while its universal topic might make it a reasonably good fit for an international tour of small festivals.

Iga (Jana McKinnon, of The Trouble with Being Born fame) drives a car alone down the highways of Europe, taking the occasional break to smoke a cigarette at a petrol station. On one such occasion, Ethan (Bill Caple, glimpsed in The Buckingham Murders) asks her for a lighter, only to go even further and ask for a ride. Reluctant to have company in the car at first, Iga eventually offers to drive him to the next stop on the way.

They bond over the music they listen to and start opening up to each other: Iga admits that she is not dropping the car off for a friend, but driving all the way to Scotland to see her ex-boyfriend and bring him the stuff he left behind in Vienna after they broke up, while Ethan says he is coming back early from a party trip to Italy with his friends, subsequently admitting that he is trying to find himself and attempting to make some money in order to go back to studies that he abandoned earlier.

The “next stop” keeps getting postponed. It seems that there is some chemistry between them, but no one has enough determination to take one final step. Or is it all just the random stuff people tell each other to kill time while travelling together? Anyhow, a turn of events just before they board a ferry to cross the English Channel will expose the truth about them, their vulnerabilities and their position in life.

Brunäcker fights an uphill battle initially, given that the whole first half of the film is virtually devoid of a plot and serves only as exposition for the third-act developments. Sure, the filmmaker has to start slowly, but the whole setup where we have two ordinary people in an ordinary and very static situation proves to be a huge obstacle, if not a burden. There are films that subvert viewers’ expectations, but Sugarland is not Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise, even though Brunäcker tries to channel that kind of energy, and the two leads draw inspiration from Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, too. However, the setting of a city to walk and talk in proves to be far more interesting than one of motorways and motels. Once the plot kicks in, though, Sugarland becomes a way smoother watch that eloquently checks the boxes of contemporary young people’s anxieties.

The filmmaker eventually answers the questions from the first paragraph – not directly, but with a hint that has been with us right from the start. Sugarland was filmed on 16 mm stock by cinematographer Matthias Helldoppler, which seems quite romantic in today’s digital age. More than this, it creates a sense of natural warmth, even if the weather is misty, the landscapes are grey and mundane, and the characters try to keep each other at a safe distance in order to prevent themselves from falling in love and getting heartbroken too quickly. The romance of film tape might not be able to save the world, but it could just save cinema and a movie like Sugarland.

A Film a Week - Revelations / Gyesirok

 previously published on Asian Movie Pulse

Yeon Sang-ho first established himself as, potentially, the next big thing in animation with his debut- and sophomore features “The Fake” (2013) and “Seoul Station” (2016). With the latter’s live-action sequel, “Train to Busan” (2016), he nominated himself for the title of the new Korean master of genre filmmaking. However, the trilogy’s ending, “Peninsula” (2020) was underwhelming, to put it mildly, even for the COVID-era standards, while two more two more of his flicks, the superhero action comedy “Psychokinesis” (2018) and the Netflix-produced SF-action movie “Jung-E” (2023) were mere passable efforts.

The energetic filmmaker then turned to work on a couple of TV series, but now he is back to the big screens, conditionally, with “Revelations”, an adaptation of his own web comic. Conditionally because “Revelations” is a Netflix piece with no theatre- or festival screening intended, despite the backing from the powerhouse genre auteur Alfonso Cuarron who assumed the role of the executive producer here. Also, this is a step away from Yeon’s general habitat of genre spectacles and towards the psychological realism within the framework of a grim thriller revolving around a child molester / serial killer and a pastor and a police detective who try to catch him.

First we meet the pastor Min-chan (Ryu Jun-yeol, glimpsed in Hun Jang’s “A Taxi Driver”), a devout man of faith who has to face a double trouble in his earthly life. He has to deal with his wife’s infidelity, and also with a threat of a mega-church being built in his area of work by his former mentor’s son. When his encounter with a recently released sex offender Kwon (Shin Min-jae, re-uniting with Yeon after “Jung-E”) coincides with his son going missing for a while, he sets on catching and punishing him. Even when the son reappears, Min-chan is sure that Kwon is guilty of something and has religious visions as a “proof”.

On the other hand, Kwon is also pursued by the police detective Yeon-hee (Shin Hyeon-bin, lately mostly active on television) who also has a score to settle with him. Namely, he abducted and murdered her sister in the past, so the detective wants to bring him to justice. It might go against the idea that a police officer must not be personally involved with the case in order to close it efficiently and justly, but here it is taken as a “booster” for Yeon-hee’s motivation, which is further enhanced with wobbly flashbacks and visions of her sister.

If “Revelations” were more toned-down, psychologically dense drama about the characters’ motivations and convictions, it would probably be a better movie of a character study sort. The actors’ efforts go into that direction and Ryu Jun-yeol is the particularly good and convincing here. The actor’s ability to switch his presence from well-meaning to menacing perfectly matches the traits of the character he plays.

However, Yeon aims for a classical thriller here, so he puts an accent on the “race against time” trope. Unfortunately, it never gets a firm grip on the viewers and the reasons for that are several. Firstly, he does not vary his visual style enough, so Yeon-hee’s flashbacks are the only step away from the quasi-matter-of-factly realism that dominates the film’s atmosphere. Not even Min-chan’s visions get a special treatment. Secondly, it is obvious that the film was constructed for small screens, so the absence of the “movie magic” is felt, sometimes painfully. And finally, the only flourish present throughout the movie is the choral score by Kim Dong-wook and Alan Tyler that quickly becomes repetitive and tiresome in promising something Yeon does not want or does not how to deliver: an examination of the characters’ convictions, religious or otherwise.

Therefore, “Revelations” becomes and stays a generic “Netflix-and-chill” experience: watchable, but forgetable. It is so low-engaging that it will depart the viewers’ thoughts and memory way quicker than it entered them.

Novocaine

 kritika objavljena u dodatku Objektiv dnevnog lista Pobjeda

CIPA je redak nasledni poremećaj u nervnom sistemu koji rezultira time da oboleli ne oseća bol, razliku između toplog i hladnog ili pritisak. U teoriji to zvuči superherojski kul, a u određenim tipovima filmova, od treš-akcija do superherojskih spektakala, to bi moglo da znači uštedu na karakterizaciji lika. U praksi, međutim, otpornost na bol, vrućinu, mraz i pritisak ne znači da vas to nešto, od visoke temperature, preko zarđalog eksera na koji ste nagazili, ekstremne akrobacije koja je pošla po zlu ili ormara koji vam je pao na leđa neće ozbiljno povrediti i ubiti, samo toga nećete biti svesni.

U toj poziciji je junak naše priče, odnosno filma Novocaine Dena Berka i Roberta Olsena („home invasion“ horor-trileri Body iz 2015. i Villains iz 2019. godine). On, Nejtan Kejn (Džek Kvejd, sin Denisov), naizgled je smotani i preterano oprezni zamenik menadžera poslovnice lokalne banke u San Diegu. Naš Nejt ima alarm podešen na svaka tri sata da mu bešika ne bi eksplodirala (jer nije svestan da mu se ide u klozet), ne jede čvrstu hranu da ne bi sam sebi slučajno odgrizao jezik, sa svima je ljubazan, ali se baš i ne druži uživo, već to čini na internetu sa svojim „partnerom za igrice“ Roskom (Džejkob Batalon).

Takav, jadan i kukavan, zaljubljen je u svoju novu koleginicu Šeri (Ember Midtander, kći glumca Dejvida i kasting-agentice Anđelik), pa prihvata njen poziv na ručak kao izvinjenje nakon što ga ona zalije vrelom kafom. Pauza za ručak će se završiti njenim pozivom na nalaženje na izložbi u gradu, što će se pretvoriti u izlazak i mogući početak romanse. Uostalom i vreme je takvo, zimsko-praznično (iako se to ne vidi jer... San Diego) i inherentno romantično.

Već sledećeg dana ta romansa nailazi na iskušenje. Trojica kriminalaca maskiranih u Deda-Mrazove predvođenih Sajmonom (Rej Nikolskon, sin Džekov) upadaju u banku s namerom da je opljačkaju. Stari šef Najdžel (Kreg Džekson) biva ubijen jer odbija da im otvori sef, a Šeri postaje njihov talac, pa preko nje vrše pritisak na Nejta koji popušta i pušta ih da ukradu šta su naumili.

Ali kada je oni zadrže sa sobom i za bekstvo, prethodno ubivši nekoliko policajaca koji su slabo opremljeni došli na intervenciju, Nejt, takav fini i pristojan, kreće u poteru za njima. Njegove „superherojske“ moći možda jesu ograničene, ali on makar može podneti solidnu količinu batina i povreda pre nego što „preda meč“. Njemu za petama su i dvoje detektiva (Met Volš i Beti Gejbrijel) koji pretpostavljaju da je on umešan u pljačku.

Samom činjenicom da imamo tri pljačkaša, naša očekivanja su da ćemo dobiti barem tri obračuna, makar po logici kompjuterskih igrica i generičkih akcionih filmova. Dobićemo ih još i više, a akcija koju imamo prilike da gledamo je dovoljno maštovito osmišljena, garnirana s malo uvrnutog crnog humora koji se poigrava s našim očekivanjima, te solidno začinjena praktičnim efektima maske koji su solidno grozni.

Tu se Kvejd pokazuje kao izvrstan glumački izbor. Sposoban da istovremeno kanališe smetenost pristojnog čoveka zatečenog situacijom u kojoj se nikada pre nije našao, pa nam je simpatičan. Takođe, njegov lik ima ugao da se, takav pristojan, serijski taba s likovima koji, za razliku od njega, zapravo znaju da se biju, ali ne znaju njegovu tajnu koju će dovitljivo upotrebljavati protiv njih.

Kvejd funkcioniše i u paru s Ember Midtander u uvodnom delu koji ide šinom romantične komedije. Njih dvoje imaju neku opipljivu hemiju na ekranu koja možda nije dovoljna za kompletnu motivaciju njegove jurnjave, ali makar može unekoliko zabašuriti činjenicu da nam scenarista Lars Džejkobson nije baš sakrio veliki preokret koji bi kasnije, kao, morao da nas iznenadi.

Od ostatka glumačke postave, Rej Nikolson „žvaće“ i pride „mljacka“ svog karikaturalno nasilnog negativca, Gart Kolins je impresivna pojava u jednoj sceni tuče u skrivenom studiju za tetoviranje, Džejkob Batalon unosi malo komične relaksacije kasnije u filmu, a Beti Gejbrijel i Met Volš unose savršeno odmereno komičnu notu pandura kojima je ničim izazvano izbio haos na poslu. Čini se da se svi navedeni, ali i ostali glumci u sporednim, pa čak i epizodnim ulogama, fino i funkcionalno zabavljaju s materijalom koji imaju.

S druge strane, treba biti svestan da je Novocaine film od jednog štosa i, ma koliko se scenarista i režiserski dvojac s tim štosom poigravali i varirali ga, on će se pre kraja filma potrošiti i postati repetitivan. Baš kao što će nam isprva simpatični smetenjak postati dosadan ako ne prestane da bude smetenjak. Takođe, čini se da ni ta praznična komponenta filma nije dovoljno utkana u tkivo filma, pa je zbog toga možda i završio u distribuciji u ovom neatraktivnom terminu.

Problemi su prisutni i na nivou režije pojedinačnih akcionih scena, naročito onih s tučom. Jedna u „preperskoj“ kući punoj improvizovanih zamki je izuzetak, makar u smislu pripreme koja igra i protagonistino i na naše iznenađenje. Ostale se, što se tiče zanatske izvedbe, drže oprobanih američkih recepata drmusave kamere, bliskih planova i silnih montažnih rezova čime možda Berk i Olsen skrivaju da ih nisu baš osmislili u smislu „koreografije“.

Na kraju, Novocaine postaje i ostaje relativno gledljiva „limunada“ za konzumaciju i brzi zaborav jer zapravo ne donosi ništa tako novo. Kao takav, više liči na nešto za beskonačnu rotaciju na kablovskim kanalima nego na bioskopski hit.