THOUGHTS ON “Undine"

Think German Little Mermaid, but depressing…which I guess is redundant. In a gross over- simplification, undines are creatures connected to water. Think nymphs, mermaids, your classic “Lady of Lake” and what have you. In Christian Petzold’s Undine, our undine is…Undine, played by Paula Beer. Beer is a historian who gives speeches on the urban development of modern-day Berlin. We meet her as she is being dumped by her boyfriend. He tells her about the other woman in his life. She ends the conversation by saying if he leaves her… she will have to kill him. You know… the usual.

Now I could spend this review taking the time to and bring everyone up to speed on the myths and legends behind undines, but I’m not sure if that would help. Because you see, there are not a lot of overt connections to water nymph myths. We see her at her job, giving a tour and a speech about how Berlin’s urban layout has come to be. Beer returns to cafe where she left her boyfriend, to hopefully patch things up, but he’s gone. She runs into the accident prone, but lovable, Christoph, played by Franz Rogowski. Their meeting does involve some supernatural elements, and a breaking of a large aquarium, and they come out the other side as new lovers. And for awhile, the movie takes a break from the whole “undine” of it all.

This movie feels likes it wants to be all about Beer’s and Rogowski’s new relationship, because that’s where this movie works the best. The water nymph subplot isn’t bad, it just adds context to choices. “Why did X or Y happen?”, cause she is part fish lady. Its most “interesting” parts end up being my least favorite part.

It would probably help if I was super into nautical themed love lore, but I’m not, so admittedly some of it will got over my head. However, seeing Undine and Christoph explore each other’s lives, hearing Undine’s speeches about Berlin’s physical history, and watching people take trains everywhere, was honestly enjoyable. I just can’t shake the feeling that you can see what the pitch was, “Let’s do a movie about a young romance, but here’s the twist… she is an undine and if her lover cheats on her, he dies!”

Again, if you’re super familiar with the mythology, you’re probably rolling your eyes at my review, and thinking that the “modernization of an undine story is really clever.”

With all that said, I could have used more undine shenanigans. If The Shape of Water is on one side of the sea creature lover movie scale, Undine is on the opposite side. The “subtle, quiet, let’s learn about why Berlin’s city center is where its at” side. Does that make it a good movie? I did get to add a new animal into a my “Great Modern Animal Movies” with Big Gunther. He joins the ranks of Black Phillip from The V V itch, and the cat from Gone Girl…so there’s that.

Undine is available on Apple TV, Google Play, and Prime Video.

THEDRILLMAG: THOUGHTS ON “MINARI”

Connection is at the heart of any good piece of art, movies, music, etc. Jacob Yi’s (Steven Yuen) desire of making a dream come true in Arkansas, to dealing with family expectations, to seeing a grandmother’s declining health. This movie was so specific to the events of my current life, that it is eerie. But, at the same time, it is foreign.

I’m lucky enough to have all four of my grandparents still around. Even though all four of them are in their 80s, and have various health issues associated with old age, I’ve gotten to spend a lot of time with them. (Even though they would say it was not enough time). I’ve known them all my life and fortunately I have never had to meet them as a stranger. Still, trying to figure them out, and connecting with them, is a common journey. Knowing someone who is at both times familiar and foreign. 

I’ve experienced my parents dealing with their parents as they age in a parallel way. “That’s not how she used to feel about X” and “10 years ago they would have never had done X”, are common phrases they say about their parents. Not only with the normal struggles of the aging process, but especially when older loved ones have brushes of extreme memory loss. What was familiar is now changed. 

This dichotomy of familiar and foreign is complicated again towards the end of MINARI when Yuh-Jung Youn suffers a stroke and simple motor functions become a struggle for her. David (Alan Kim) now must relearn who his grandmother is. 

There’s a lot of ticking clocks in MINARI. From David’s heart condition, to Monica (Yeri Han) wanting to move to a city, to Jacob’s dream for his family. In the end, MINARI doesn’t really finish any of the conversations it starts.  Jacob loses his crops he was going to sell to the Korean grocery store. Soon-ja is still suffering from the effects of her stroke. But it does have some answers. David’s heart condition is getting better. That things might be up in the air now, but the future looks bright. That the Yi family might find a new cash crop from an “old world” plant.

Also…more Steven Yuen in my life please. His movie career, post The Walking Dead, gets me excited. Seeing him get meaningful roles is like seeing a high school friend get recognized for their hard work. I will alway have a smile on my face when I see him in a role. (Hello new Jordan Peele movie)

Though to me, the moments between Alan Kim and Yuh-Jung Youn are the best, and where this movie’s ethos hits. This argument between what’s expected, what’s wanted, and what’s best, is what drives this movie. What’s also working for this film is it’s plot. For most “character study” movies, they’re usually lacking in a plot that drives the story. With MINARI the questions of, will the farm work, will Jacob and Monica’s marriage survive, will grandson accept his grandmother, all help in keeping me more engaged than other similar movies. 

This movie is both lean and full of meaty scenes. Every family member contributes to struggle of the new vs old. Even Noel Cho, who maybe gets the least amount of solo screen time in the movie, gets great moments of playing a unique role. A daughter and sister who knows of both lives. Of Korea, the family’s former life in California, and they compare to life in Arkansas.

Though not as flashy as other Oscars nominated films this year, it’s probably one of the more “true” ones.

MINARI is available for for VOD on AppleTV, Google Play, and Amazon Prime.

THEDRILLMAG: Thoughts on “Judas and the Black Messiah”

In the Fall of 1919, and only about two hours from my hometown, about 100 Black sharecroppers died by the hands of roaming white mobs. The Elaine Massacre, named after the town the killings started in, took place over the course of a few days, and only ended once Federal troops were brought into the county. 

What started the fighting? A gathering of Black sharecroppers had met in a church, to discuss unionizing. Landowners at the time disenfranchised the farmers who worked their land. Giving the workers terrible settlements, many of the sharecroppers were illiterate, and could not effectively advocate for themselves. The meeting was guarded by armed men, due to earlier violence in the South. Shots rang out when two white men, and one Black man, arrived at the church. No one knows who shot first but news spread of a “Black insurrection”.

The following days led to the deaths of hundreds of Black farmers, because they wanting better working conditions. Their story is tragically similar to Shaka King’s JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH.

Fred Hampton, played by Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out, Queen & Slim, Widows), is the leader of the Chicago chapter of the Black Panther Party. Advocating for a revolution among poor people, particularly of Chicago’s Black residences. Both tragedies focus on the desire of poor people, Black Americans, to get rights that have been cheated from them. Both also have a “Judas” figure. In the events of Elaine, Arkansas, a Black man had been with the two white men that approached the church. This Black man then races to Helena to inform officials about the shooting. This leads to armed white mobs descending on the area, who then randomly attacked and killed Black people. 

I wonder about that man that raced to Helena in the same way I wonder about Bill O’Neal, played by LaKeith Stanfield, (Knives Out, Uncut Gems, Sorry To Bother You). He continues to give the FBI information about Hampton, even after he sees the BPP programs like free breakfasts and the planned community medical assistance.  The Black man that raced to Helena did not kill those Black farmers, much the same way O’Neal did not pull the trigger that ends Hampton’s life. They are this match, that’s thrown into a kindling box, set up by white people in power, to keep things in a status quo that favors them.

Both Kaluuya and Stanfield are giving great performances. Story-wise, I would have loved to get more thoughts from Stanfield’s character. We don’t get a lot of O’Neal’s interworking. All we know is that after an interview of him comes out in the 90’s…he kills himself. Knowing what he thought of himself and where we stood on things, during the actions of the plot, would have been so insightful. He does give us some insight in that “fatal” interview. He was doing what he could to survive. Leading us to conclude that our system is set up in such a way so that it was easier for O’Neal to be a “Judas”, then it was for him to believe that Hampton’s vision was…achievable. 

I learned about the Elaine Massacre, embarrassingly, recently. I think a lot of times, I as a white person have to take into account the fact these stories tell of struggles I know nothing about. From a narrative perspective, the Judas character is appalling. But from a real life – white person in America – focus, the appalling thing should be on the two white mob that attacked Elaine. Or on the FBI that hounded the BPP. Why were they scared, in the words of Martin Sheen’s Hoover, of their “daughter bringing home a Black man?” Why are they still scared?

A tree was planted as a memorial in Elaine on April, 2019. That tree was cut down in August. The Elaine Massacre Memorial was unveiled days later.

JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH is available now on HBO Max.

TheDrillMag: Thoughts on “Nomadland”

I have a fear that’s been in my conscience as of late. Maybe “fear” is too dramatic of a word, but it’s definitely an image that has been stuck in my mind, and it’s this:  Dying alone in the town of Kennett, Missouri.

There’s nothing wrong with Kennett, people live there, people work there, people make a life there, in fact Sheryl Crow is from there. But when I think of what would happen if I suddenly became poor, I think of small mobile homes. Unfair I know, but it’s what my mind thinks of. I usually picture these towns in a place like Kennett. Small, boring, and unimportant. That picture of Kennett is exactly what the city of Empire, Nevada looks like. Francis McDormand revisits the town she left at the end of the film, after living a year of the Nomad life…and it’s as if someone plucked this sensational version of Kennett from my mind, and dropped it in Nevada, but I am getting ahead of myself.

Nomadland from director Chloé Zhao (Songs My Brother Taught Me, The Rider, Marvel’s Eternals) follows Fern and her journey after her late husband’s factory shuts down and the town that supported it, is deserted. Fern, played by Frances McDormand, then lives out of a van in order to follow seasonal jobs around. The first being an Amazon factory worker during the Christmas shopping surge.

McDormand has to be one of the most “real” actors, working right now. Every performance of her’s exudes a kind of onscreen strength that seems to come from the struggles of living a real life. Placing her in the middle of real-life Nomads only adds to this. In fact, Bob Well, who is a real-life Nomad, has an incredibly moving speech towards the end of the film. Though not a professional actor himself, it comes across as a speech he’s had to tell before. Maybe to people interested in the Nomad life, but more likely to himself. It is refreshing, however, to have an earnest performance from David Strathairn. His and McDormand’s back and forth is a welcomed lifeline, not only to Fern’s journey, but to the viewer. We get to see what a settled down life would look like. We get to imagine a “better future”. We even get to see what Fern would be like if she planted new roots, raising a family. But she doesn’t want that, and we know it. Her leaving is predictable but still heartbreaking.

Her Sister in the film accuses Fern of always being a nomad at heart, that she was always the wonderer. This might be an easy way to describe her, but I think something deeper is happening. The film opens and closes with Fern dealing with her late husband’s belongings. She only begins her Nomad life after her husband’s death and the loss of her house. Painting her as someone who was destined to be on the road cheapens how important her love for her husband is, the joy she has for her former Empire, and her own personal purpose in life. She even talks about the view from her back porch and Empire in romantic terms. It doesn’t sound like someone who was needing an excuse to hit the road. It sounds like someone who lost her way of life. She would have stayed in Empire if it were possible, but humans are so adaptable in the face of adversity.

This film follows people in incredibly trying circumstances, who also have an aversion to staying in one location for too long. Most people would be like Fern’s sister. Willing to offer a hand, but not truly understanding the system that forces people into the Nomadland. We read stories of people donating to a GoFundMe to pay for some stranger’s medical bills. You could walk away thinking “Human-beings are so adaptable.” But I would argue that a different reaction should come first. One of anger. Anger that our system allows for that kind of struggle, that our way of life doesn’t work like Bob Wells’s Rubber Tramp Rendezvous. That helping people “who need it, right now” isn’t the priority. 

The final scenes, of Fern walking through the town of Empire, is what I picture as the worst case scenario for my life, which I guess says something about my worries. Anyway, add Chloé Zhao to your list of auteur directors to watch, give Frances McDormand the Oscar, and eat the rich.

You can watch NOMADLAND on Hulu, February 19th, as well as iTunes and Amazon.

TENET: Time Inversion in the Year Time Stopped

2020 was a weird year. The fact that I’m writing about a September released movie that most people only just now watched. The fact time has lost meaning with Stay-at-home orders. The fact that the news seems to repeat. There’s a lot going on, a lot that went on. So I hope you don’t mind reading about a three month old movie.

My favorite Nolan “original” films are Memento, Dunkirk, and The Prestige. I loved Memento, it’s new way of telling it’s story. Dunkirk’s editing, the manipulation of time. The Prestige’s prestige-ness. But in a way, all of his films are like this. But these three, to me, have something different in them. Characters and relationships I care about. Nolan doesn't always pull of this trick.

His, non-IP, films have alway seem to use with deeper plot gimmicks to get people interested in coming into the theaters . Inception and Interstellar both throw you into a world that doesn’t work in the way you’re used to. Dream heists and worm holes, can bog down. Not deep in the, “I’m taking a physics course, and can’t understand this”, but in the “We’re spending too much time on these bullet points” or a “In the weeds” kind of way. A false complexity that can pull me out.

His three films I first mentioned, mess with the way information is conveyed as well, but they more smoothly make it clear that the real power of the plot is relationships. Either a wife in Memento, one’s homeland in Dunkirk, or a daughter in Prestige. Both in Inception and Interstellar, the relationships seem like an after thought.

Tenet, on the other hand, does something different. There’s no real effort to try to make any of the relationships matter, and I think this is to the benefit of the film. At many times the film throws science and terminology at you, then asks you not to worry about it. We don’t have time to. The same with relationships. Human connection? A daughter needing her father’s love? A marriage that ended tragically? We don’t have time! There’s a backwards Russian running around! Instead of stopping the plot to talk both science and a failed marriage, we just hang out in inversion land. There’s an attempt made. You could say Elizabeth Debicki’s journey to escape from her husband, who is an incredibly patient bad guy, is the emotional tissue. You could say the heart of the plot is Pattinson and Washington’s *spoiler* future friendship. Either way, the film doesn’t stop as abruptly.

Over the past few weeks, Nolan has declared the decision of Warner Brothers to release their 2021 films date-in-date to theaters and HBO Max, due to *gestures to world*, is a terrible fate to cinema. Putting the pros and cons of that decision aside, Nolan made a comment that he has a soft spot for the Fast and Furious franchise.

His storytelling choices seem to match that soft spot. Both F&F and Nolan’s films rely on the spectacle of the theater. Both have fairly large set pieces. Both try to slap “family comes first” at the end of the film to land the plot in a heartwarming place. I find that Fast and Furious is at it’s weakest when “Love is the Answer” comes into play. Nolan is hit or miss with the trope. Tenet doesn't try to make this point, and it’s stronger for it. If the theater experience is going to survive, it will probably be on the backs of spectacle movies. If all his attempts are more like Tenet, I’ll be along for the ride. At least PVOD for awhile.