Quick takes on Ema and other films

The Tragedy of Macbeth is a new adaptation of the classic Shakespeare play. It features an all-star cast led by Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand, and Joel Coen (the first time one of the Coen brothers has done a solo project without the other). I won’t rehash the Macbeth story, you’ve either heard it before or don’t care at this point. This version forgoes realism for a more dream-like approach. It is shot in stark black and white, with a cloudy atmosphere and stage-like scenes. The foreboding soundtrack enhances the dreamlike feeling, creating an almost nightmarish impression. Great atmosphere and great acting, so great movie, right? Wrong. I could not get into this one, and I know that leaves me in the minority, looking at the glowing reviews. I much preferred the realistic approach (Polanski’s version takes the cake in my book). 30 minutes in, I started looking at my watch. 50 minutes in, I started counting down to the end of the film. The ending is exciting enough, but doesn’t save the picture for my tastes. ★★

Les nôtres (Our Own) is a French Canadian film about a small community rocked by a teenage pregnancy. The small town of Sainte-Adeline is the kind of place where everyone knows everyone, and they are all a tight-nit group, especially after a warehouse disaster 5 years prior killed a handful of them. The popular mayor, Jean-Marc, has just unveiled a memorial park to those killed. Isabelle is one of the woman working in Jean-Marc’s office, and it is her daughter, Magalie, who becomes pregnant. Magalie, just 13 years old, refuses to name the father, but when the news spreads, which it does like wildfire in this small town, suspicion immediately falls on fellow teen Manuel. Manuel and his brother are adopted immigrants, children to none other than the popular mayor and his wife. But, known only to Magalie and the viewer, the father is actually the mayor himself. This is one of those films which, while good, had the potential to be great, but doesn’t quite pull it off. It touches on a lot of subjects, including predatory grooming, teen bullying, racism, etc, but doesn’t examine any of the topics closely enough, and nothing gets resolved by the end. That’s probably the director’s intent: that Magalie navigates all these problems her own way, but I wanted more. Émilie Bierre’s performance as Magalie is quite good though. ★★½

After my initial surprise that I’m Your Man is in German (I saw actor Dan Stevens and assumed English; who knew he was fluent in German too?!), I settled in to watch a “sci fi drama.” Alma is an archaeologist and long-time single woman who has devoted her life to her work. She doesn’t seem to need or desire a relationship, which makes it all the more surprising that she has agreed to personally review an android romantic partner for 3 weeks. She’s been nudged by her boss, who is on the ethics committee tasked with the job of determining if the robots should be given human rights. Alma wants no part of it, but knows her boss can open up funding for her projects, so she has agreed. Her 3 week companion is named Thomas, and he has been programed and built to be her ideal man. Initially Alma wants nothing to do with him, leaving him alone for hours on end while she works or does errands, but over time, she does begin to open up to him. The movie is light on the sci-fi and heavy on the rom-com, with humor provided by Tom’s deadpan delivery of uncomfortable and ill-timed questions and observations. I didn’t laugh for a long time in this movie (we’ve all seen movies about humanoid robots saying the wrong thing at the wrong time for comedic effect; that schtick’s been done a million times), but like Alma, I grew to like Tom over time and warmed up to him. The movie is much less about Tom and his rights, which are hardly mentioned after the introduction, and more about Alma coming to terms with her chosen loneliness. Decent enough flick, but not all that memorable once the credits roll. ★★½

I’m not sure what I was expecting from Bergman Island, but it certainly wasn’t what I got. The plot is simple: a married couple, each a filmmaker, goes to Fårö, the island inhabited by the great filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, and also the location where he shot some of his most famous films. As in real life, the old Bergman properties are vacation destinations for writers, artists, and directors, who go for the peaceful environment and the hope that some lasting influence of Bergman’s greatness may seep from the very stones. Tony is a celebrated writer/director and is quickly churning out his latest screenplay, but his wife Chris has hit serious writer’s block, and is struggling for a conclusion to her latest idea. While Tony enjoys the touristy aspects of the island, Chris wanders off for more of self-guided walking tour, meeting local inhabitants and other artist types who have come to the island seeking a muse. As the film progresses, reality and fantasy collide, as Chris shares her idea and we get a film-within-a-film. Unfortunately the whole thing is pretty boring. The movie can’t decide if it wants to pander to Bergman fans, sharing little tidbits of knowledge about his life and career, or break down even basic knowledge of his films for the uninitiated. I’ve seen nearly 40 Bergman films, and picked up on just about every reference they dropped, but a lot of it just comes off as pretentious pseudo intellectual fluff. And there is zero resolution to either story, for both Tony and Chris or for the characters in Chris’s story. ★½

After so many middling movies today, I was hoping Ema would send me off with something better. Ultimately not so, but at least it is more exciting. The rare film out of Chile, this movie focuses on married couple Ema and her older husband Gaston. Ema is a popular dancer and the lead in choreographer Gaston’s troupe, but on a personal level, the two have perhaps the most toxic relationship I’ve ever seen. They can’t have a conversation without it resorting to terrible insults; Gaston in particular tries to think of the most vile things he can say to hurt Ema, and he has ample ammunition. The couple had adopted a 10-year-old named Polo, because Ema had always wanted a child but Gaston proved sterile. But Polo, either a bad kid or a product of bad fostering before coming to the new family, was a problem child and did a terrible thing: setting fire to Ema’s sister’s hair and burning her face. Gaston convinced Ema to give Polo back to the adoption agency, but now relishes in reminding her that she failed Polo and will never be a mother now. Riddled with guilt, Ema has a plan. She learns who has adopted Polo now, and sets out to bring down the new parents. She separately goes to each, and begins a sexual affair with each of them, both the husband and the wife. How it all plays out is grotesquely brilliant. The sex scenes are definitely NSFW, but it is hard to argue that it isn’t an arresting film. Ema is a women willing to do anything it takes to get to Polo again, and she’ll hurt anyone in her way. The film oozes sex, pain, heartache, and, if you’re lucky, redemption. ★★★

• TV series currently watching: Star Wars Rebels (season 2)
• Book currently reading: Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Weis & Hickman