By Roger Costa
FOXTROT
A man, whose son has been sent to the war zone, knows exactly what to expect when he opens the door to a couple of military officers, bringing inevitably tragic announcements. The father stands firm to the circumstances, as he must support his devastated wife and other family members. As he hides his own pain and sorrow, he is perplexed by the way everyone approaches him seeking to console rivers of tears. The out-of-control situation around his house, the so-soon arrangements for the funeral, and the lack of a body, which he urgently demands to see, make things even hotter, as he starts to defy and doubt the authorities’ procedures on the fatal case. The camera cuts to the desert, where a group of soldiers watch over the border, but mostly they spend time exploring their musical talents, and other intellect skills. Among them there’s the son, whom everyone believes had died. The confusion becomes known back in the city, as the father revolts against the system and starts an inquiry about the destructive errors of war. Following his highly awarded “Lebanon”, Israeli director Samuel Maoz’s sophomore feature observes this situation with dark comic insights (the reaction of the father as he shelters family members; kids dancing and just being themselves despite the conflict zone), paving terrain for something more exciting and shocking developing on the second part, when they eventually start a process to bring the soldier back home. From there, Maoz impressively conducts his anti-war material with unflinching perspectives on the real tragic events that follow. Israel’s official entry for the Oscars, a multiple winner at the Israeli Film Academy, including Film, Director and Actor, and awarded the Silver Lion in Venice, “Foxtrot” is a richly anxious, complex, suspenseful and satirical look at the consequences of modern war. (A Sony Pictures Classics Release. Now playing at The Quad Cinema.)
WONDER WHEEL
Woody Allen continues his ups-and-downs artistic phase, and this time around he gets stuck in between with a tragic melodrama set against the sunny noisy beach of Coney Island. There we learn of an overwhelmed former actress working as a waitress and dealing with a tumultuous second marriage; Kate Winslet embodies the director’s euphoric eccentricity with marvelous perfectionism, a woman who just needs to get out of her current situation. When her unwanted daughter-in-law shows up running away from her gangster husband from Hoboken, she finds a chance to turn things different, as she starts an affair with the life-guard played by a delightful sarcastic Justin Timberlake, who narrates most of the story. Shot in glorious extravagant saturated colors by Vittorio Storaro capturing the frenzy of the amusement area in the 1950’s, and filled with irreverent humor provided by unusual funny characters, such as the young son who’s obsessed with setting things on fire, and the pair of hustlers seeking the runaway bride, the film obviously reflects a careless direction by Allen, who conceived one of his most insignificant projects, yet worth seeing as a coherent debauchery about dreams, loyalty and desire. (An Amazon Films Release. Now Playing at Lincoln Plaza Cinemas)
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