52 Films by Women: 'Lolo' by Julie Delpy

Entry #3 in 52 Films by Women. See all related posts by clicking here.

Lolo, the latest directorial effort from Julie Delpy, makes good on a lot of the comedic promise of the writer-director-actor's previous works, particularly the savvy culture-clash/relationship study 2 Days in Paris. Which is to say her gifts for conceptual and scene-level discernment often avoid an impulse towards the hackneyed tropes that have become mainstays in the genres she explores, even in the flawed but intriguing stranger-than-fiction account of Elizabeth Báthory's fall from royalty power in The Countess.  Lolo is reliable and entertaining in this regard, sparing none of the characters or relationships from displaying bitterness, anger, or pettiness while emerging as the lightest film to come from Delpy's filmography so far. In other ways, Lolo occasionally suffers from the sense that too little from the writing or scenario is able to conjure a specific idea about the characters or relationships that's worth savoring. I laughed a great deal, especially any scene that involves an exchange between Delpy and Karin Viard, who ingeniously refer to each other as clitoral and vaginal, respectively, but as the push-and-pull between the two loves of Delpy's character (her sweetly gullable boyfriend and her wicked, unambitious son) begins to get more complicated the movie finds itself hitting more broad strokes when it should be getting tighter. One can almost envision a dynamite comedy pilot with 30+ minutes shaved off (with a snappy opening credits sequence to boot!) that could lead to richer rewards with a season's worth of material to expand on the central dynamics, but as it stands Lolo is modestly satisfying and attains an effervescent quality that doesn't betray its dark take on the romantic comedy.

52 Films by Women: 'Things to Come' by Mia Hansen-Løve

Entry #2 in 52 Films by Women. See all related posts by clicking here.

Separation. Aging. Disappointment. Self-liberation. Whether through a dizzying upheaval of cherished (but not overly cherished) memories and connections or an intellectual conversation with oneself that compromise our own ways of living, there are means -- at once familiar and alien -- by which these dilemmas pull us to the physical and emotional spaces of existential longing and deeper scrutinization of our purported freedoms therein. What, if anything, do our convictions and ideologies entail in regards to the choices we make or the forms of adjustment and coping in the face of inescapable adversity. I like to hope I can have an inkling of the wisdom in my own life by the time I'm 30 that Mia Hansen-Løve's movies exude with such unfussy ease and affection. She gives her viewers so much: the organic intricacy of her scripts; the disarming balance of philosophical coolness and radicalism; the economical radiance of energy through editing; the tough, non-pandering questions about the choices we make, the memories we love and the ideals we champion, and the messiness that ensues in our attempts to entangle them. It's here in her latest film Things to Come where Hansen-Løve has the good sense to reject the idea that these questions can be boiled down to any sort of simple resolve, devising a multi-layered prism of ironies and ambiguities to inform character as opposed to mechanical catharsis. Doing near-career-best work, Isabelle Huppert renders the internal conflict of Nathalie with a remarkable specificity of humor, intelligence, and exasperation that undercuts the deliberately opaque intonations of her character. Scenes involving engagements with Nathalie's husband, mother, children, protege, cat, and students exhibit Huppert's unsung gifts for scene-level collaboration with cast members, which is utterly vital for the undercurrents of feeling in her characterization. Her connections to each fulfill Nathalie in different ways while constantly altering her perceptions and ours in equal measure. With Eden focusing on the sprawling group portrait of EDM musicians and Goodbye, First Love operating as a showcase for then-breakthrough actress Lola Creton, Things to Come not only proves Hansen-Løve's adeptness at exploring a variety of different characters and lifestyles with equal insight, but also shines a light on her abilities as an Actor's Director, delivering wholeheartedly as a bracing star vehicle for one of the biggest French screen legends of our time. Anxious to see who she works with next and to explore her earlier works!

52 Films by Women: 'Chevalier' by Athina Rachel Tsangari

Entry #1 in 52 Films by Women. See all related posts by clicking here.

Would that men put half as much effort towards social justice and humanitarian causes than they do their own macho posturing and dick-measuring contests one can imagine the things that could get done. Athina Rachel Tsangari's Chevalier is another mirthful, singular dissection of human behavior to add to the impressive slate of films to come from the Greek New Wave, including her richly unusual previous effort, Attenberg. Stepping away from the curiosities and disassociation of young womanhood that framed her last feature, Tsangari's third film displays the same deadpan-surrealist commitment as she delves into the vulgarities and competitiveness of the male id, and the result is equally clever and insightful in a way that's unique to itself. The ensemble of men work hard to sell the tone and individual interiority/exteriority of the characters, providing comedy and surprising honesty to their insecurities and vanity. If I have one little quibble it's that Tsangari begins to run low on genuine surprises by the time the first hour is up, with the bonds and relationships of the sextet feeling pretty boiled-down by that point when more layers should be revealing themselves. Still, the feel for weirdness and haughty interaction she arranges keeps the experience well-rounded and proves once again that the smartest and most innovative stories about men often come from women.