NASTY BABY **
After investigating social and family issues with stories set throughout his native Chile, director Sebastián Silva transports his eccentric language to America where he seems a bit dislocated. Silva has an incredible ability for whatever is irreverent and subversive, creating witty sarcasm out of modern depictions of sex, drugs, politics, neurosis and family values. The situations in his films emerge as funny and touching, while the confusion is set, there’s also a point of reflection. In American soil though, Silva demonstrates the same talent, but somehow he’s devoured by his instincts, or influences, causing the film to reach its ruins. The director kicks off the film introducing amazingly irreverent folks, grabbing the spectator’s attention with an interesting take on hipster style; Silva plays an artist living in Brooklyn, who’s struggling to bring out two babies to the world: his latest art project, which is a video installation where adults behave awkwardly as new-born babies; and also, he and his boyfriend are dealing with the anxiety of the failed attempts of his friend to become impregnated with one of their sperms. The whole situation and the process of both goals envisioned by Silva, and the troubles they get themselves into are hilarious, especially with the some weird personalities around, such as a creepy gay neighbor walking his dog out of nowhere, another neighbor who’s demented and aggressive placing a big threat in Silva’s attempts to rest and produce, and the charming and complex nurse played by Kristen Wigg, also stressed out because her eggs aren’t working out a baby either. Everything is fine, the narrative is clever and the storyline and connections feel very tender, but then, an unexpected act of desperation, an awful twist creates a sense of deceit and out of control behavior, distorting the ideals of the characters he presented so affectingly. For that reason the film loses its artistic appeal with an unnecessary demonstration of despair. It just didn’t fit to the initial idea and with names such as Pablo Larraín and Christine Vachon among the producers, it shouldn’t be hard to pick whose decision was that to end, and ruin, such a funny project. In the other hand, it feels like a metaphor, as Silva is “being born” somewhere else.
DVD: AMOUR FOU
Inspired by a real story, Jessica Hausner’s dark and melancholic comedy centers on the morbid ideas of a poet in search of a soulmate, someone who’d give up on all and would plan to die next to him. After being rejected by his first interest, he persuades a married woman and will try hard to convince her of joining him in death. Strangely paced with a gothic aesthetic, the film is an intriguing deadly comedy with exceptional performances and delightful cynicism. (On DVD by Film Movement)
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