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You Won't Be Alone (2022)
Wonderfully refreshing, but the execution didn't quite connect for me personally.
I've been sitting with this film for a few days and I thoroughly enjoyed the refreshing nature to which this film explored its concept and themes. The plot was unique, I enjoyed most of the horror elements and equally enjoyed how it delved into the nature of humankind - issues with lost childhood, sex politics and abandonment/loneliness.
And yet (sorry couldn't help myself), something greater in its execution was lost on me. I felt myself connecting with a lot that the film had to present but when the credits rolled I felt that it lacked so much.
The repetitious merry go round style of a few minutes of visual montage following our lead character learning and wandering, then cutting to a few minutes of visual montage of the same nature but insert monologue and the same repeated piano score, felt rather mind numbing.. I love visually driven films but after a while this cookie cutter pattern became ever so frustrating. A fantastic passage in the film is when it breaks off into the backstory of another character, presented in the form of an old woman telling a story. This broke the monotony of the films structure but also was a genuinely effective and emotionally touching moment.
Which brings me to another thing that didn't quite connect with me, the characters..
Aside from the above mentioned passage of the film, I didn't feel emotionally invested in any of the characters. Although a lot was happening with our main character at no point did I feel a real sense of fear or anguish for their situation, nor at the end of the film was I really caring for events happening to them.
The cinematography had some stunning scenes but the camerawork felt unnecessarily busy at a lot of points. There were many sequences that could have been more steady and focused on our characters that would have worked with the meditative style of the film, but instead opted for shaky handheld shots with quick cut edits that took me out of the experience.
SPOILERS: In terms of the realm of rules which this film establishes, the witches need blood to survive. But our main character is rarely ever partaking in this? I feel her form would change due to not having enough blood because at the early stages of the film the old maid witch makes it abundantly clear that they need blood to survive. Maybe for many this is a small thing but when a film creates rules you would think that they would abide by them and it seems ridiculous to empathise all this at the beginning for it to not materialise into the rest of the film.
Also when they take the form of a person/animal they have to insert their organs into themselves and once they abandon this form they must take out these organs, they show them removing organs when they are the form of other humans but I found myself silently laughing at thinking of how they do this when they are animals (which they never show onscreen), it was an amusing thing to think about.
Anyway I would still recommend this film to anyone who is interested in it, I still think there were plenty of great moments throughout and lots of originality.
Personally it just didn't connect, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't connect with you!
Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House of Fun (2020)
Mark wore shoes too much..
Hello, my only critique is that Mark wore lots of shoes. Otherwise very fun 👍
Meteorlar (2017)
Atmospheric and unconventional
There is very little context given to this films glimpse into the lockdown of a south eastern turkish village.
But what is presented is an incredibly ambient and poetic documentary linking tragic events ( including direct interviews with the people suffering in the village) with beautiful landscapes and an otherworldly display of a meteor shower.
Broken into separate parts; this is an incredibly unconventional and refreshing approach to this subject matter and cinema in general. This is also filmed in a monochrome tone (apologies I'm unsure of the specifics) so even the shots of the surrounding landscapes and dilapidated city seem alien and unusually breathtaking.
Throughout there are a lot of scenes that are incredibly shaky and unfocused.. Although I'll admit there were times this was irritating, I felt for the majority of the film it gave it added to it's strange tone and atmosphere and in some cases elevated the scenes.
I would certainly recommend this movie to anyone searching for a niche documentary or unique brand of cinema.
In My Blood It Runs (2019)
Watch. This. Film.
A must watch for any and every Australian. A beautiful and heartbreaking glimpse into indigenous life, through the eyes a young boy navigating his way through a landscape that belongs to his people, but faced against a system that doesn't care or respect this.
In Fabric (2018)
Unique Brand of Style, Humour and Charm
This film has a brilliant absurdity that is extremely rare to find in todays climate of cinema. It never takes itself too seriously with the comedy gestating between subtle peculiarities and blatantly ridiculous, but throughout it carries an abundance of strong and well ranged performances from the cast.
The plot is like a bad Stephen King novel, but it holds within it a charming tone and a nod to early horror classics. What I cherish most about this film is it's editing, both with the camerawork and sound (many times in the theatre I was glancing around trying to find who was talking in the cinema - when in fact it was coming from the film), the originality in the cinematography and editing is absolutely phenomenal - with quick cuts of imagery scattered throughout the film and some breathtaking scenes and sequences too.
If you are searching for a strange and eccentric cinematic experience this film is perfect, as long as you surrender yourself to all it's quirks and qualities.