“In Front Of Your Face”
Entering a period of close to comedic self-flagellation since 2014’s playful yet profound “Hill of Freedom,” South Korean auteur Hong Sangsoo remains perhaps the most consistent master of domestic realism on the planet. “In Front Of Your Face”—Hong’s first movie in some time not starring muse/partner Kim Min-hee—sounds like a natural successor to both “The Woman Who Ran” and “Hotel by the River” following a pair of sisters chatting in parks and a high rise apartment. Shot during the pandemic, anxiety over a viral outbreak, and a humbling fear of the future form the story’s frame. Despite a production period wrought by confinement, “In Front Of Your Face” “is one of [Hong’s] most open films of late, poignant in its use of a simple structure to touch on the eminently difficult question of how to live happily between past, present, and future.” Review by Elena Lazic [A]
“Memoria”
In his first film shot outside Thailand, slow cinema artist Apichatpong Weerasethakul can now add a Cannes Jury Prize to his Palme d’Or mantle. Teaming with the incomparable Tilda Swinton, “Memoria” follows a British botanist living in Columbia, determined to track down the origin of a gargantuan, metallic booming sound, one only she can hear, Swinton’s character starting to question whether her condition is even a medical one. Diving into strange, almost magical realist territory, “[“Memoria’s”] long, unchanging scenes can be punishing tests of attrition… But for the viewers who stay, Weerasethakul delivers an experience that is meditative and existentially transcendent, a long, hard look at the scope of human life and its place on a global timeline.” Review by Caroline Tsai [A-]
“Petrov’s Flu”
Adapted from Alexey Salnikov’s novel “The Petrovs In And Around the Flu,”—which according to our review: “you will absolutely feel like you have read cover to cover by the time the movie ends”—director Kirill Serebrennikov has crafted a hallucinatory narrative experience, capturing the booze-drowned winter cold of post-Soviet Russia caught in the throes of a mass epidemic. Likely not intended for the casual cinephile, “Petrov’s Flu” is an extraordinarily layered moviemaking vision full of laboriously long takes. “A feverish delirium of a film that rollicks through an apocalyptically bleak Yekaterinburg New Years’ Eve as though strapped to an out-of-control hospital gurney… Serebrennikov weaves queasily into diseased reality and out of splintered memory, colliding bravura filmmaking with theatrical staging and an almost old-fashioned literary vibe.”- Review by Jessica Kiang [B+/A-]
“Prayers for the Stolen”
Salvadoran-born Mexican filmmaker Tatiana Huezo, known primarily for powerful documentaries such as “Tempestad”—which follows a pair of women’s experiences dealing with human trafficking—makes her feature debut with “Prayers for the Stolen” (“Noche de Fuego”), a coming of age film on Mexico’s narcotics wars, based on author Jennifer Clement’s novel. Possibly one of the lesser reported on films of the festival, Huezo’s deeply assured work is one to keep an eye on: “A magnificently lucid portrait of girlhood under siege, the film is a slice of life portrayal accentuated with unassuming visual poetry” creating a cogent snapshot reflecting on how “Violence itself is never frontal but a looming force that underscores every scene” – Review by Carlos Aguilar [A]
“Red Rocket”
No stranger to tackling the taboo topic of sex work with raw empathy, Sean Baker’s “Red Rocket” is another look at the struggles of working-class America – a world in which the art of hustling is an essential act of survival. Starring Simon Rex as ‘suitcase pimp’ Mickey Saber—a man who shares his god-given gift with one Dirk Diggler—a former adult film star who now falls asleep on the bus. Crashing on his family’s couch, Mickey soon becomes infatuated with a donut shop (Baker sure likes those) employee named Strawberry (Suzanna Son), bearing the perfect porn industry name already. Courting the underage girl for her future OnlyFans potential, Mickey grows a tad overbearing in suggesting a career path. Specifically set in 2016, Trump commentary consistently plays out in “Red Rocket’s” backdrop, somewhat surprisingly, ‘[it] may be Baker’s most political film to date. If you care to take it there, of course.” Review by Gregory Ellwood [B+]
