By Roger Costa
MY SUNSHINE
There’s a different sparkle in Takuya’s eyes as he deeply observes a girl beautifully spinning on the ice rink. The pre-teen Hockey player is hypnotized by what he sees, in this case Sakura, the aspiring and talented athlete who’s getting ready for a tournament. One can easily identify such feelings as first love.
Extracting poetry and romanticism from every frame, painting the screen with angelical bright lights, enhancing its beauty through yellowish and pink wintrix landscapes, writer/director Hiroshi Okuyama’s sophomore project announces him as an authentic arthouse auteur. His deeply sensitive, observational and patient aesthetics are unique and evoke the purest in narrative storytelling. His camera simply follows the characters with empathy and humanism, allowing them to reveal themselves and their feelings.
As the kids form a team, they also form a special, subtly romantic bond, promptly providing that sense of speeding heart and cold chills that only love can. Their mentor, the openly gay and once prodigy and star of ice-skating Arakawa, does his best to improve the kids’ talents, and sees the occasion as an opportunity to evaluate his own romantic relationship. Discrimination is also subject to the story, and director Okuyama treats the issue with sensitive eyes: Takuya finds support at home whether to change his sports or not; meanwhile, Sakura, blinded by jealousy and insecurity, confronts the situation in order to preserve her status.
Supported by the brilliant cast delivering naturally spontaneous and captivating performances, the film reaches a state of perfection in its glorious ice-skating moments, inviting for a reflection on the essentials and truthfulness of love. The same goes to the feel-good moments, mostly during their rehearsals, which is the foundation of their love, and an outdoor scene where they all dance together to “Goin Out of My Head” by the Zombies- it is modest and enchanting.
A gorgeously shot, deeply delicate, and gentle coming of age that reveals the authenticity of an emerging auteur. Impossible not to fall in love with it.
(Film Movement. 9/19. Quad Cinema NYC. Director in attendance at select screenings).
MEGADOC
Francis Ford Coppola is among the greatest filmmakers in the world and one who doesn’t care about taking risks. His latest project, “Megalopolis” was a massive flop, a divisive visionary epic that practically left him broke. But never disrespected. With a legacy that includes some of the finest American classics, Coppola is a passionate filmmaker who will always be revered, even when his works don’t really reflect that. As he was preparing and eventually filming “Megalopolis”, director Mike Figgis was brought in to document the process and the result is actually fascinating. It is better than the film itself, and while digesting this documentary, the viewer is invited to reconsider the film, detailing its hardworking process and the grandeur of its imagery and settings.
Figgis goes around the sets, the parking lots and behind-the-scenes, collecting hard truths from the cast and creative minds on how they feel about the pressure and pleasures of the process, as well as capturing the simmering reactions during the personal conflicts between the director and out-of-control actor Shia Labeouf, and other creative disputes such as with Aubrey Plaza and Jon Voight. Other highlights include testimonies from George Lucas, who firmly defends Coppola and his creative processes, Dustin Hoffman in a rare appearance, and the late Eleanor Coppola, wife and producer of his films- she died at 87 during the making of this.
Intriguing, raw and immersive, this is a testament to Coppola’s motivational passion for cinema, his influential force and all the obstacles that come along with any cinematic production.
(Utopia Films. 9/17. Angelika Film Center. Director in person at select screenings).
A NICE JEWISH BOY
A delightful and heartwarming existential urban comedy, this modern mother-son relationship tale pays homage to Chaplin featuring an eccentric goofy young character in search of identity and belonging. That’s Michael Zindel as the protagonist Bellisha, giving a touching and hilarious performance.
An award-winning writer (he co-wrote the extraordinary Cannes-Palm D’or winner “Deephan” by Audiard and the Matt Damon-starrer spy-thriller “Stillwater”), Noé Debré makes his directorial feature debut with this refreshing story abut humanitarian values, principles and the importance of maintaining traditions alive.
Through the connection between wanderer son and ailing mother setting themselves to move out of the crowded gentrified Paris neighborhood, the director crafts a subtle statement on xenophobia and the conflicts of race and culture among Jews and Arabs in France. Many Jewish businesses are moving out and even the last synagogue has shut their doors. The area is rapidly changing, and other cultures keep on arriving. Bellisha maintains a secret affair with an Arabic woman, while having to deal with his mother’s insecurities about the the presence of Arabs in the region. As he struggles to obtain a certificate to prove he’s Jewish he becomes notorious in the neighborhood, gaining everyone’s respect and willingness to help him to connect with his roots and identity. Bellisha does that so he can take care of his mother and protect her; he doesn’t have any specific goals other than meeting his girl and performing weird rap songs on his cell phones; he constantly lies to his mother, only because he believes in such stories, creating a parallel universe where he is safer and unknown. It’s his personal way of alienating and dealing with the changes, both around his neighborhood, his religion and in his family environment.
Accurately funny and tapping on timely sociocultural issues without judgmentalism, it’s a highly entertaining and magical slapstick neurotic comedy.
(Film Movement Watch At Home. Available starting 9/19. Go to https://filmmovement.com/a-nice-jewish-boy for details).
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