POMO

I would have expected a sophisticated social satire from the South Korean envoy to the Oscars, especially now, just a few years after the brilliant Parasite. But Concrete Utopia is merely a technically polished post-apocalyptic genre movie with ordinary conflicts between the characters and a kitschy ending that tries for straightforward feeling without first building relationship emotions. It surely works as a blockbuster for the masses, as actor Byung-hun Lee is already a major-league crowd-puller, but the film is rather only for Asian audiences. [Sitges Film Festival]

A dialogue-based exploration of a woman’s complicated sexuality through flashbacks to her youth, childhood, relationship with her father, etc. Though this is an interesting subject for viewers, it is conveyed in a banal and overly safe manner reminiscent of a family film, without any creative artistic investment. The only part of the film that isn’t hackneyed in cinematic terms is the depiction of the first signs of sexual development in childhood. [Cannes FF]

Killers of the Flower Moon is another flawlessly staged Scorsese retro movie with anti-heroes rotten with corruption and deceitfulness that penetrates to the marrow. And the tragedy of the victims, filmed with Scorsese’s typical emotional distance. That is, with the exception of the main character, an Indian woman for whom annihilation isn’t a matter of a brief scene involving a bullet to the head. It is necessary here to have a liking for Marty’s uncompromising narrative style, with which I have always had a bit of a problem. Robert De Niro immensely enjoys playing another manipulative godfather, this time with the face of a kind uncle. DiCaprio entertainingly varies all of his acting trademarks in his portrayal of the ragged halfwit with a negatively curved mouth. And Brendan Fraser shines in his very small role. In her minimalist performance with a spellbinding gaze, Lily Gladstone is fragile, devoted and trusting. The brutally long runtime supports the absolute complexity of this epic film’s plot, but it also increases the number of characters and events happening around them, in which I got a bit lost in the end. The rhythmically monotonous but – thanks to the incessant pulsating music – vivid and ominously escalating narrative of a depressing injustice is invigorated by the appearance of the novice FBI agents with their professional methodicalness. Criminal gangs of deviants were not accustomed to being confronted with such tactics at that time. There is a nice surprise cameo in the solemnly edited epilogue. Oscar nominations are just a matter of time. [Cannes FF]

A DreamWorks/Universal cinema release at the same level of quality as a below-average Netflix B-movie. The film starts promisingly with nice production design and the well-rendered and well-lighted gloomy interiors of the ship. Dracula’s first appearance and the atmospheric murders of the initial victims are spectacular. However, the film starts to fall apart in the second half, as the escalating tension is replaced by badly edited dramatic scenes, the nice CGI is supplanted by tacky dawn combustion and, thanks to the hopelessly deteriorating screenplay, the characters lose the contours of meaning that they possessed at the beginning. The self-assured Van Helsing-esque epilogue is then nothing more than laughable.

I didn't really expect to like this, so it was an even more pleasant surprise. The plot formula is clichéd, but it’s dressed up with a lot of imaginative and likably playful details, including dialogue devices showing that the movie’s creators are more clever than is usually the case with such farces. This will turn out to be a successful franchise if it keeps the quality at this level.

The Pope’s Exorcist starts out entertainingly with the character of an unconventional, rebellious priest interestingly portrayed by the great Russell Crow. And then it is all the more unentertaining due to its impetuous piling up of genre clichés in the final third, which is more ridiculous than scary or in any way impressive. The film’s best scene, with which the still watchable and still developing part of the storyline culminates, is somewhere around the midpoint. A mainstream movie powered by a stellar cast, but in the context of the genre, it’s a total fiasco in comparison with some cinematic delights that don’t even make it into local theaters (X, Pearl).

Based on the promo photos, A Whole Life appears to be just another bit of romantic alpine kitsch. In reality, however, it is the nicest film about life in the mountains, as well as life in general, to come out in recent years. It also offers the nicest alpine panoramas to be seen in a feature film in recent years. The choice of locations and the filmed details (the bus ride) bear witness to the director’s relationship to the mountains and will elicit a feeling of déjà vu in some viewers – we will repeatedly go back to it for the magical fragments in the subconscious perception of the high mountain landscape, where we will find peace of mind. The characters are perfectly formed and stage actor Stefan Gorski does a flawless job of portraying the protagonist. The heart of the film is the scene in which he leads his fiancée to a mountain cabin and shows and explains to her why he has settled there. Another attractive theme of the film consists in the building of the first cable cars and the electrification of the mountain villages – and the fatal injuries that occurred during the particularly hard physical work – associated with it. Great, constantly “floating” camerawork and music that is always perfectly appropriate. And that epilogue...

At the beginning, you think that this two-and-a-half-hour “meditative” film perhaps wants – with a hint of an attempt at tearing down the viewer’s expectations – to let the viewer feel the miserable existence of the poor Indians on their spiritually withering reservation. But it doesn’t do that. Rather, it is absolutely incapable of filling those long and, in the context of the whole, needless scenes with anything meaningful or interesting. And it wants to torture even the most patient viewer to death. Some existential thought eventually springs from it, but it comes only from the action that happens in scenes that would make up a half-hour short. And the presence of Viggo Mortensen and Chiara Mastroianni constitutes fraud! [Cannes FF]

The opening quarter-hour is a masterclass in introducing the central characters and their inner pain, conflicts and life motivations. This is particularly true of the character of Enzo Ferrari, industrialist and engineer, a man of iron and principle with a tattered family life. Adam Driver was born to play this role, and the film’s energy and tone come more from him than from the cars. Daniel Pemberton’s emotionally rich and energetic music, supplemented with vocals in places, give the film spirit. The retro stylisation of both the settings and the other characters is great, and each of the supporting actors has the necessary personality. The apt lines of dialogue make clear both the mortal danger of the race drivers’ passion and the difficult position of Ferrari and his company in the given industry – responsibility for lives not only in the quest for prestige, but also in the principle activity of maintaining the company’s business.

Firebrand is engaging and not boring, as it makes the viewer curious as to how it will turn out. Alicia Vikander is delightfully fragile and bold at the same time, while Jude Law is amply loathsome. However, the central conflict between the two characters alone is not powerful enough to make this narratively simple two-hour feature a distinctive and memorable historical drama. [Karlovy Vary International Film Festival]