By Roger Costa
A SKIN SO SOFT
Prolific Canadian filmmaker Denis Côté’s intimate and inclusive portrait of several bodybuilders facing a new challenge is an alarming account on willpower, addiction and ambition. As they prepare for their latest competition, the cameras follow them practicing at the gym, discussing emotional matters with family members, struggling with their couches, their loneliness and anxiety, capturing revelatory moments of their unique condition, their capability and limits. A highly-praised selection at Locarno, AFI Fest and NY Film Festival, Côté composes these stories with a wonderful sense of familiarity, offering an insightful look at these, often misunderstood, athletes. (Breaking Glass Pictures. 7/6. Anthology Film Archives.)
CUSTODY
After getting an Oscar nod for his Short Film debut “Just Before Losing Everything”, Xavier Legrand returns with his first feature film, a disturbingly convincing and intense drama looking at a problematic separation and how it affects the children. Consumed by jealousy and uneasiness, the aggressive father tries in vain to reconcile, getting out of control and putting everyone at edgy circumstances, as he and his ex battle in court, and outside, for the boy’s care. Thrilling and shocking, Legrand crafts the material with impressive mastery, no wonder he took the Silver Lion Best Director Prize at Venice Film Festival. It also delivers poignant performances from the ensemble cast, though young actor Thomas Gioria (in his first role ever!) steals the scene, as the center of the story, a conductor for heartbreaking expressions of uncertainty and abandon. (Kino Lorber. 6/29. IFC Center.)
THE CAKEMAKER
As he is just preparing for another round of producing in the kitchen, he’s surprised by her sudden approach, caress and manifestation of desire; he tries to resist his own nature, and through unconventional discomforts, takes her embraced in his arms. This pure, unexpected moment occurs when the widow Israeli employer reveals to her new German pastry-chef about her mixed-up feelings without using words, just such a passionate act. The circumstance is so natural, though shocking in the film’s context, as a third person is part of the experience without being present anymore. After his lover dies, Thomas, a renowned cakemaker in Berlin, goes to Israel trying to understand the mysterious death and connects to the wife, which leads them to an unusual affair, structured on the basis of each one’s shattered emotions, longing, and grieving. Though Oran is not among them anymore, he feels very present in every frame, giving the narrative elements of a tragic, impossible love triangle. First-time director Ofir Raul Graizer conceives an impressive and intense drama about ambiguous love and loss, brilliantly composed and observed from both perspectives (the gay lover and the wife), and the result is formidable, something only a master of emotions is capable of. Sensual, charming and heartwarming, it’s definitely one of this year’s best. (Strand Releasing. 6/29. Quad Cinema and Landmark 57.)
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