By Roger Costa
GENESIS
After being asked by her boyfriend to allow themselves into an open-relationship status, Charlotte walks away to cry her disappointment out. In an attempt to consummate his deeply profound desire for his best friend, Guillaume runs away to cry his pain out. Canadian contemporary auteur Philippe Lesage returns with this fascinating, moving, poetical look at youngsters seeking identity, love, meaning and inspiration in Quebec. He follows the romantic encounters of these two siblings as they explore their coming-of-age experiences dealing with different aspects of enthusiasm, aspiration and heartache. Guillaume is a popular figure in school, surrounded by admirers, which include his teachers, and his best friend. He keeps his desire in secret, until one night, after many drinks, he makes a move, and rejected tries to justify his feelings. Charlotte is a fragile figure, someone who needs attention and shelter, and whose ambiguity leads her to many romantic adventures in search of her soulmate. Director Lesage observes their activities and expectations with candid, compassionate realism and lyricism. Actor Théodore Pellerin gives a knockout performance as the intellectual Guillaume, building up a direct connection with the audience, in the role that earned him the respectable Best Actor award at Montréal Festival of New Cinema, while Lesage scored the Best Film Award. Brilliantly structured as a poem to free-spirit youth, revolutionary aspirations and self-understanding, Lesage confirms himself as a master of storytelling, an original auteur of emotional clashes. An alluring meditation on first love, it’s undoubtedly among this year’s most insightful films. (Film Movement. 8/23. Film at Lincoln Center.)
VITA & VIRGINIA
Seductive and intense, Chanya Button’s sophomore feature explores the passionate lesbian affair between a writer/socialite and the literary icon Virginia Woolf. Gemma Arteton and Elizabeth Debicki give powerful, heartfelt performances, respectively as the intellectual girlfriends with a secret. Gemma presents the intensity of her character with elegance, a separated woman, caring for her boys, in conflict with her mother and the prejudices in society for being a female writer; Elizabeth beautifully carries the magnetic, melancholic and mysterious inner emotions of her character, a young overwhelmed author, inspiring and influencing art and behavior around her. They meet at a costume party and develop an intense friendship, leading to an inevitable attraction and sensitive romance. Director Button shares the script credits with Golden Globe actress nominee Eileen Atkins, adapted from her play, and based on the love letters exchanged by the pair. The period-set recreation of the 1920’s is fabulous, vivid and gorgeously shot, while the music by British award-winning composer Isobel Waller-Bridge energizes the narrative, giving it a sense of modernity. Isabella Rossellini is magnificent as Vita’s mother, a powerful presence with a sharp tongue. Provocative and meticulously crafted, it’s a masterly conceived queer drama. (IFC Films. 8/23. Quad Cinemas.)
GIVE ME LIBERTY
One of the most celebrated comedies at both Sundance and Cannes, writer-director Kirill Mikhanovsky’s follow-up to his debut “Sonhos de Peixe” is a crowd-pleasing refreshing surprise that originally addresses stirring social issues. A co-writer for the Brazilian hit “Gabriel and the Mountain”, Mikhanovsky’s aesthetic is a brilliant force in movement. Structured as a fast-paced road movie, an eccentric and euphoric dark comedy, it follows the adventurous daily activity of a medical van driver who transports disabled people, including elderly folks, mentally and physically impaired. A representation on the lack of opportunities for youngsters in current America, he struggles with financials, cares for his out-of-control grandfather, deals with a boss who’s willing to fire him, and smartly resolves the obstacles popping-up along the way. The van is packed with people going to a funeral, as well as others with doctors appointments or errands, such as Tracy, an activist who inspires and helps others with severe disabilities. In her first role for cinema, Lauren “Lolo” Spencer gives a breakthrough performance, a definitive scene-stealer who grabs the audience’s heart and attention with her determination for righteousness and her strong leading voice. It won’t be a surprise if she gets awards-recognition for this important, powerful supporting role. Her relationship to her family and her perspectives on life are relevant, truthful characterizations of social, racial conflicts and family bond. Blending documentary, dramatization and fiction, superbly shot with fast, inventive angles, and marvelously edited, it’s a lovely canvas of a Russian community living in Milwaukee, and a triumphant statement on human compassion and equality. (Music Box Films. 8/23 IFC Center NYC. 8/30 Laemmle Monica Film Center, Playhouse 7 and Town Center, Los Angeles.)
Comments