Author: Cate Marquis

THE NORTHMAN – Review

Alexander Skarsgård stars as Amleth in director Robert Eggers’ Viking epic THE NORTHMAN, a Focus Features release. Credit: Aidan Monaghan / © 2022 Focus Features, LLC. Courtesy of Focus Features

For fans of both director Robert Eggers’ previous film, the historically-based thriller THE WITCH and the History channel’s TV series VIKINGS, Eggers has the perfect film. THE NORTHMAN is a Viking legend of revenge, a thriller packed with Eggers’ signature period-accurate details. While THE WITCH drew on tales of 17th century witch-hunt hysteria in New England, for thriller drama steeped in historically-accurate details, right down to the accents, THE NORTHMAN is a tale immersed the culture of 10th century Vikings, which also gets Eggers’ research-based treatment. THE NORTHMAN is based on the same Norse tale that Shakespeare used for Hamlet, but it departs significantly from the original legend of revenge, to blend in other Norse legends and aspects of Norse culture for another immersive thriller from Eggers.

THE NORTHMAN is about Vikings, so it is no surprise there will be blood, but there is much more in this tale of unrelenting vengeance. In the 10th century, Amleth (Alexander Skarsgard) is a Viking warrior who as the young prince of an island kingdom witnessed the murder of his father, King Aurvandil War-Raven (Ethan Hawke), by his father’s jealous brother Fjolnir (Claes Bang), then followed by the abduction of Amleth’s mother, Queen Gudrun (Nicole Kidman) by his uncle. A boy on the cusp of manhood, the frightened young Amleth (Oscar Novak) fled his homeland, lest he meet his father’s fate, while his uncle made himself king. Now grown, Amleth is part of a group of Vikings preying on Slavic peoples in the east, when he encounters a seeress (Bjork), who reminds the warrior about his boyhood oath: to avenge his father, rescue his mother, and kill his uncle. His homeland since has been were conquered by another Viking king and the uncle lives in exile in Iceland, with Amleth’s mother. Accompanied by a cunning Slavic woman named Olga (Anya Taylor-Joy), Amleth sets off to exact his long-delayed vengeance

The name Amleth easily changes to Hamlet by moving the letter at the end to the front. In fact, Hamlet follows the legend more closely than this tale, although both diverge from it, but writer/director Robert Eggers has more than the retelling of this one tale in mind.

This is Eggers’ third feature film, his follow up to THE LIGHTHOUSE, and this one reunited the director with both one of his stars from that film, Willem Dafoe (who here plays a wise fool/jester, who aids Amleth) and his star from THE WITCH, Anya Taylor-Joy. THE NORTHMAN shares Eggers’ devotion to well-researched historical realism with his other two films but is a bigger, wilder sort of tale. There is much more here about Viking culture, religion and family life, but vengeance and violence are aspects of Viking life and legends too. If you saw the “Vikings” series, some of this will be familiar but things are wilder in this film. THE NORTHMAN gives us a deadly soccer-like (or is it rugby?) game, Beserkers, and a final battle with naked warriors on a volcano.

But Eggers’ bigger goal with THE NORTHMAN is an adventure tale steeped in a more historically-accurate, immersive portrait of Viking culture than usual. was more interested in offering more than that tale. Eggers was after a more historically-accurate view of real Viking culture, beliefs and history, so his blended other legends and details into this script, which he co-wrote with Icelandic historian Sjon. Fans of the History channel series “Vikings” will recognize some elements of the story, but there is much more here, both in the history and the twisty story.

Since this film is inspired by an old Viking legend, THE NORTHMAN also fits in with a recent trend of re-telling old myths, along with the recent GREEN KNIGHT. Whether the people in Amleth’s story were real or not is lost to history, but it’s tale of revenge is a common theme in Viking tales.

The action and storytelling are highlighted with dramatic cinematography by Jarin Blaschke. Much of the story takes place in Iceland, and one could hardly ask for a more dramatic, breathtaking landscape. Eggers’ fills each scene with realistic details, meaning things are not prettied up, but his devotion to historical accuracy deepens scenes as well as adding the unexpected and fascinating. The tale is full of emotion and drama, and also unexpected curves, as Amleth’s path runs anything but straight. Elements of fantasy and Viking beliefs are blended in, including Valkyries and Valhalla, legendary swords and sorcery.

THE NORTHMAN is a wild, crazy, entertaining Viking legend-steeped hero’s tale, filled with violent fights and shocking plot twists, and featuring a sterling cast. If you love myths and history, and don’t object to tales of vengeance and bloody battles, Robert Eggers’ immersive Viking tale with an anthropology bent delivers the goods.

THE NORTHMAN opens in theaters on Friday, Apr. 22.

RATING: 3.5 out of 4 stars

FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE SECRETS OF DUMBLEDORE – Review

(L-R) JUDE LAW as Albus Dumbledore and EDDIE REDMAYNE as Newt Scamander in Warner Bros. Pictures’ fantasy adventure “FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE SECRETS OF DUMBLEDORE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright: © 2022 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved

The Harry Potter prequel fantasy series continues in FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE SECRETS OF DUMBLEDORE, with shy, magical-creatures zoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) and the younger Professor Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) in a political thriller plot as they try to prevent villainous wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Mads Mikkelson) from winning an election to lead the wizarding world, and start a war on Muggles, the non-magical humans.

This is the third movie in J.K. Rowlings’ Harry Potter prequel series, which started in the 1920s and is planned to continue into the 1940s. It is directed by David Yates from a script by J.K. Rowlings and Steve Kloves. The series has not really caught on like the original Hogwarts films but this installment is a notable improvement over the previous one, although it is less about the “fantastic beasts” in the title and the darker story may be over the head of younger fans.

In this third prequel, Johnny Depp has been replaced as Grindelwald by Mads Mikkelsen, who plays the villain with more chilling reserve. Professor Dumbledore (Law) and Newt Scamander (Redmayne) find themselves blocked in their efforts to stop Grindelwald (Mikkelsen) in his drive to take over the Wizard world, after Grindelwald captures a particular newborn magical creature. Part of the problem is a old magical spell that prevents either Dumbledore or Grindelwald from directly attacking each other. Dumbledore and Newt form a team to thwart Grindelwald’s plan, with an assortment of other wizards, including Newt’s diplomat brother Theseus (Callum Turner), Porpentina Goldstein (Katherine Waterson), Eulalie Hicks (Jessica Williams) as well as Newt’s Muggle friend, baker Jake Kowalski (Dan Fogler), to carry out a secret plan to prevent Grindelwald from being elected leader. Meanwhile, Grindelwald is running on a platform of Wizard supremacy over Muggles, backed with a growing group of supporters, as well as wizards Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller) and Queenie Goldstein, Jake’s old flame. There are a host of other characters on both sides, too numerous to name them all.

This film is more political spy thriller than a chase like the previous two. This sequel is set in 1937, and even partly in Berlin, and the Nazi references are strong here, with Grindelwald running for leader of the Wizards by asserting their supremacy over the non-magical ordinary humans. It is rather dark stuff for kids.

This third movie in the series seems an improvement over the second one particularly, with a more focused, coherent story. While those fantastic creatures Newt collects are still present, the creatures take more a backseat in this sequel. Instead, the story is really about the people and the intrigues in the political power struggle. Like the original Harry Potter films, the impressive, mostly British cast are a major asset.

The visual effects are dazzling and the fantasy landscapes are more impressive in this installment. The visuals create both really marvelous fantasy landscapes and detailed historical ones, with the period costumes and details as part of the appeal.

But it still seems a bit unclear who this series is aimed at. The creatures and the magical worlds draw in the younger audience but then the adventure story seems a bit too dark and grown-up. The original Harry Potter series solved this by being about children at a school for wizards, grounding it in childhood, even if they faced grave dangers, but this one, with adult characters, seems too grown-up for the younger audiences yet in some ways too kid-like for adults.

Still, the films provides entertainment with its dazzling visuals and the fine cast who revisit Harry Potter’s world with younger versions of some characters in that world. While the story may lose some younger audience members, they should still enjoy the movie’s comic moments and those little creatures, including one mischievous plant. The story is well-plotted and the Nazi references create an extra chill. There are plenty of intrigues, thriller close-calls, complicated relationships, secrets and surprises, and the final confrontation is thrilling as well as provides a clear, satisfying end. The story is both wrapped up well and leaves the door open for something more.

Fans of the first two FANTASTIC CREATURES movies should enjoy this one too, especially since the story is an improvement on the second one. But for fans who have been less taken with this series generally, this installment may not change many minds. Still, with its excellent cast and wonderful special effects, it delivers good popcorn fantasy entertainment.

FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE SECRETS OF DUMBLEDORE opens in theaters on Friday, Apr. 15.

RATING: 2 out of 4 stars

MOTHERING SUNDAY – Review

Odessa Young as Jane Fairchild, Josh O’Connor as Paul Sheringham in MOTHERING SUNDAY. Image by Jamie D. Ramsay (SASC). Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

What looks at first like period drama, a steamy “Downton Abbey,” set in England in the wake of World War I, morphs into something deeper and more far-reaching, as MOTHERING SUNDAY follows the changing life of a young maid, tracing the awful legacy of that devastating war and the transformations it wrought, and also depicting a literary awakening and three stages in an artist’s life.

MOTHERING SUNDAY starts out in1924 at a British country manor house on Mother’s Day, known there as Mothering Sunday, when aristocrats traditionally gave their servants the day off to visit their mothers. Young Jane Fairchild (Odessa Young) was raised in an orphanage so she has no mother to visit. However, she has other, secret plans, to visit her lover, Paul (Josh O’Connor, the young Prince Charles on “The Crown”), the son of aristocrat friends of her employers, kindly Mr. Niven (Colin Firth) and stern, unsmiling Mrs. Niven (Olivia Colman), who are joining Paul’s parents to picnic on the banks of the Thames along with another aristocratic couple whose daughter, Emma Hobday (Emma D’Arcy), is engaged to Paul.

But Paul is going to show up late, claiming he’s studying, although he’s really meeting Jane , his longtime lover, at his home, for a rare chance for them to enjoy a comfortable real bed. We get scenes of the maid and young aristocrat cavorting joyfully, with full frontal nudity by both Odessa Young and Josh O’Connor.

After her lover Paul departs, young Jane wanders, sans clothing, around the deserted mansion, as the film flashes back and forth in time. Also inter-cut are scenes with the aristocratic families picnicking on the banks of the Thames, the party that Paul is going to join.

The nudity is one of the things that lingers in the mind with this drama, along with its unusual non-linear structure. Despite the film’s unusual structure, we are never lost or unclear about where or when we are, a tribute to director Eva Husson’s skill. The film also impresses with its rich visual beauty and the gem-like performances explore the lasting impact of the particularly devastating WWI.

The flashbacks show Jane earlier in her long romance with Paul, as well as going about her work at the Nivens’ mansion or in conversation with another maid, who lost her fiance to the war. It jumps forward in time to scenes of her working in a bookstore and with a philosopher played by Sope Dirisu, who became her husband, and then Jane late in life as a famous writer, played by the legendary Glenda Jackson. It is a life of loss and triumph, from humble beginnings.

The class divide dooms Jane and Paul’s romance while Paul’s engagement is a more “suitable” marriage for both young people. But it is a prospect less wanted by either of the engaged young people than their parents, the reasons for which are eventually revealed.

This story does not remain the steamy period romance it appears to be at first, although we sense a sadness underneath from the start. We first meet Jane as a young maid, who was born the out-of-wedlock daughter of a maid, raised in an orphanage, and working as a servant in an aristocratic house and having an affair with a young aristocrat. It is not a life with great promise but in shifting times, Jane’s life takes her far from the manor house, through a number of changes as she becomes the famous writer she will be.

Director Eva Husson’s film, using a script by Alice Birch, departs from the original story by Graham Swift but in doing so, the film expands its scope include the bigger shifts in British society at the time, as well as the remarkable life of this woman.

The film is flooded with a deep visual beauty, particularly in the earliest part, thanks to Jamie Ramsay’s fine photography. The tragedy of the war, and other losses that follow, shape Jane’s life indirectly but while there is plenty of personal heartbreak and loss in this tale along with its triumphs.

The film sports an impressive cast of British greats, although many of them get only brief screen time. Still, they each deliver gem-like performances. Olivia Colman plays Clarrie Niven, the dour wife of Colin Firth’s sweet Mr. Niven, who we may dislike until the reason for her grimness, and other unspoken tensions, are revealed at the picnic in a heartbreaking scene. Firth, O’Connor, and Emma D’Arcy, as Paul’s fiancee, also give searing, heart-rending performances, but a standout is Sope Dirisu, as the man who opens to door to Jane’s literary awakening and adds another tragic note. These fine performances, however brief, powerfully help depict the devastating legacy of the war and the other experiences, good and painful, that shape the protagonist’s life and career as a writer.

It is better not to describe too much of the story, which risks spoilers, but the changes in this young woman’s life reflect the changes in British society after WWI, particularly shifts in the class system and the expanding opportunities for women. That war nearly wiped out a generation of young men, leaving parents bereft but also a generation of young women with no young men to marry, women who then had to consider how to make their own way in life, and maybe seek more. None of this is expressed directly, but indirectly it is reflected in the life of the woman we meet as a young maid who becomes a famous author, a transformation nearly inconceivable in an earlier era.

This fine drama has many rewards, and not just its evocative visual beauty, with director Eva Husson’s skillful storytelling and fine performances by a cast of British greats. MOTHERING SUNDAY opens in theaters on Friday, Apr. 8.

RATING: 3.5 out of 4 stars

EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE – Review

Michelle Yeoh in EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE. Photo Credit: Courtesy of A24

Michelle Yeoh gives a tour-de-force performance in the wildly creative EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE, as a weary middle-aged laundromat owner whose marriage is failing, business is being audited by the IRS and daughter is becoming estranged – and is the only person who can save the multiverse. The genre-bending, entertaining, crazy EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE actually is all about everything, as Mrs Wang (Yeoh) – Evelyn – confronts her life, choices and everything about life, as she bounces from alternate universe to alternate universe. Michelle Yeoh is the driving force behind this crazy, hard-to-categorize film that is part comedy, mind-bending sci-fi adventure, visual effects extravaganza, martial arts action-er, and family drama. Yeoh is its dazzling star, as this unlikely heroine.

Mrs. Wang’s (Yeoh) American dream hasn’t worked out. She had big dreams when she married Waymond Wang (Ke Huy Quan) against her parents wishes and ran off to America. Buying their own business, a laundromat, was supposed to be a ticket to prosperity. Now Mrs. Yang feels all the work falls on her, handling the business and the books while her silly, impractical husband pastes googly eyes on everything and her daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu) is often off with her non-Chinese girlfriend Becky (Tallie Medel). Mrs. Wang is preparing for a birthday party for her elderly, widowed, wheelchair-bound father Gong Gong (a wonderful James Hong), who lives with her but still scolds her about marrying against his wishes. On top of it all, Mrs. Wang has an appointment with stern IRS agent Deirdre Beaubeirdra (an unrecognizable Jamie Lee Curtis) who is auditing the Wangs’ business. On her way to the appointment, something very strange happens to Evelyn Wang: she is contacted by a visitor from a parallel universe, who begs for her help to save the multiverse. The visitor looks just like her husband but isn’t him, and hands her an earbud that is a way to blip between universes, where she has very different lives.

Sounds like a mental break, doesn’t it? And the fact that this movie does not start out in the realm of superheroes feeds that skeptical sensation, but it also actually adds to the intrigue of the story as we go down this rabbit hole. Much of the action takes place in the IRS office, in various universes, but Evelyn also gets to sample what her life would be like in other worlds, if she has followed another life path.

In one of the weirder universes, everyone has long fingers that look like hot dogs, and in another, Evelyn is a famous performer. There are common elements to the universes, like a Bollywood movie on the TV and a RATATOUILLE running joke, Evelyn’s life is very different, for better or worse. All the while, the threat to all existence is pressing in, a threat in the form of a bagel with everything – literally everything.

EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE feels somewhat like a cross between a Charlie Kaufman and a Jackie Chan film, with a lot of other things thrown in. This film asks some deep philosophical questions and puts us in a mind-twisting world, but also features comedy, marital arts, romance, and family drama, all with an unlikely heroine forced into a situation where she must do extraordinary things. This wild yet gripping tale, which is divided into three chapters, was directed and written by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, known collectively as the Daniels.

What pulls it all together is Michelle Yeoh’s remarkable performance. It is a rare thing to see a middle-aged ordinary woman at the center of a movie, but Yeoh makes the most of the opportunity to break preconceived ideas. At first, Evelyn Yang is angry and exhausted, frustrated with her life and full of regrets, yet seeing no way out. The visitor from the older world looks like her husband but is clearly not, an experience Evelyn finds disconcerting to say the least. In other universes, Evelyn has different skills and as she flips between them and battles adversaries, her confidence grows. It gives Yeoh a chance to play multiple roles at once and gives the audience the chance to see her display her famous physical skills.

Jamie Lee Curtis is hilarious as the stern IRS agent who becomes a murderous adversary in an alternate universe. She leads a pack of fighters are bent to preventing Evelyn from saving the multiverses and are allied with a shadowy villain called Jobu Tupaki. Later, we see another side to her because nothing and no one is simple in this film.

This wild tale is as visually dazzling as its gifted star Michelle Yeoh. Some of the worlds are as surreal and colorful as a vivid dream or crazy as an acid trip, and as detailed as Tibetan mandala. Flipping between worlds is handled brilliantly, spinning is around as Yeoh’s character is but landing us on our feet long enough to follow the action.

At once silly and serious, this film is endlessly inventive and creative. The visual effects are a delight, and often played with a tongue-in-cheek humor, but directors Kwan and Scheinert keep us from descending into confusion. The pacing is frenetic, and relentless, and dividing the tale into chapters gives the audience a brief moment to catch their collective breath. We never know what twist is headed our way, but it is a delightful wild ride.

The film is an impressive accomplishment but such an enjoyable film that some audiences may not quite realize that, because they are so swept up in its wild ride. This is the rare kind of film with the potential to wow both critics and audiences, at least for anyone with any taste for fantasy or science fiction at all.

EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE opens in theaters on Friday, Apr. 8.

RATING: 4 out of 4 stars

CODA – Review

Emilia Jones as Ruby in “CODA,” premiering globally on Apple TV+ on August 13, 2021. Photo courtesy of Apple TV+

CODA is writer/director Sian Heder’s charming coming of age comedy/drama about the daughter of a family of scrappy, independent fishermen, who all happen to be deaf except her. CODA means “child of deaf adults” but it also has a musical meaning, making it the perfect title for a film about a teen with a passion for singing, something her family neither hears nor comprehends.

With deaf actors in the roles of the girl’s brother and parents, including Oscar-winner Marlee Matlin as her feisty mother, and wonderful performances all around, writer/director Sian Heder’s often-funny, warm tale of a family, different from the ordinary and yet not, is sure to bring smiles and delight audiences.

CODA has been praised by deaf communities both for casting deaf actors in the roles and for its realistic depiction of a deaf family. The film won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, along with other awards, and is a true crowd-pleaser that also impresses with its authenticity. Shot on location in Gloucester, Massachusetts, it is an American remake of the 2014 French film LA FAMILLE BÉLIER with a strong, and surprisingly international, cast.

CODA certainly does feel authentic, but the film’s appeal goes beyond that, with its focus on believable family dynamics and distinctive personalities, where the parents’ deafness is just a part of the picture. CODA is, at its heart, a coming-of-age story more than anything, with a delightful performance by English actress Emilia Jones as a girl who loves her quirky family but has ambitions that are just different from family tradition.

Ruby Rossi (Emilia Jones) is a 17-year-old living in the coastal Massachusetts town of Gloucester, where she is the only hearing member of her fishing family. Every morning before school, Ruby joins her father Frank (Troy Kotsur) and older brother Leo (Daniel Durant) on their fishing boat. Having Ruby on the boat allows them to monitor the radio for alerts and communicate with hearing fisherman and those who buy the catch on the dock when they return. At home, her mother (Marlee Matlin) does the bookkeeping for the family business. At school, Ruby faces some bullying but having best friend Gertie (Canadian actress Amy Forsyth) to count on helps.

As the film works through the family dynamics, it also explores Ruby’s budding interest in singing when she impulsively signs up for choir. The choir teacher Bernardo Villalobos (Mexican actor/comedian Eugenio Derbez), also know as Mr. V, is a quirky character but despite Ruby’s shyness, he recognizes her talent. Mr. V suggests she apply to a music college in Boston, even offering to coach her for the audition. Suiting the interests of his students in this fishing village, he picks a classic pop ballad to prepare for Ruby’s audition. For the upcoming school concert, the teacher also pairs her with Miles (Irish actor/musician Ferdia Walsh-Peelo), a boy Ruby is interested in.

Ultimately, a crisis in the family business arises and Ruby is faced with a choice between her own ambitions and her family.

Writer/director Sian Heder hails from Massachusetts, although not from Gloucester, so she understands the strong family fishing tradition in this part of New England. The Rossi family has done this for generations, as dad Frank tells us, and they are counting on Ruby to help continue the family business, and even more so as the only hearing one in the family. That the rest of her family can’t hear the singing Ruby loves doing, just makes it all the more difficult for them to understand her passion.

In many ways, it is just like any family business, where a child develops an interest far outside its expectations and traditions. But Ruby’s ability to hear is a particularly useful skill for her deaf family, enabling them to keep more of their aloofness from the hearing community around them than they might otherwise. Her parents’ dependence on Ruby to do these things puts pressure on her and frustrates their son Leo, who reads lips, and wants to do more to help them deal with the hearing community the surrounds them.

While some elements of the story are familiar, the script handles them very well. But the real appeal of the film is its characters and the performances. All the actors are terrific, especially Emilia Jones as Ruby, who is a complete charmer, and completely believable, beaming with energy and high spirits, and bouncing back from set-backs with determination, despite her shyness and normal teen self-doubts. She is perfect in the ensemble scenes with the family, and both cute and self-possessed in the ones with love-interest Ferdia Walsh-Peelo as Miles.

The scenes with the family are delightful, as they joke and tease. The use of sign language and Ruby’s combination of signing and speaking is handled so well that we never are confused about what is going on, and the snappy banter and warm quirky family scenes move smoothly at a brisk but clear pace.

By casting deaf actors, the film goes a long way towards getting things right from the start. As her parents, Marlee Matlin and Troy Kotsur are perfectly cast as a couple, and completely delightful, funny and loving and with a nice together-we-can -do-anything feeling. As Ruby’s older brother, Daniel Durant is excellent as well, presenting his struggle to assert himself as an asset to the family and his own independence, while engaging in playful sibling teasing with his sister.

Some of the funniest, most appealing scenes are with this lively family. Humor dominates the family scenes, along with a sassy, thumbing-their-noses-at-the-world independence. The family scenes are the film’s highlights, and the ensemble acting is wonderful. Marlee Matlin, unsurprisingly, shines as the still-sexy mom and Troy is appealing as Ruby’s rebellious but loving dad. The sibling squabbling between Ruby and Leo is spot on as well.

Unlike some deaf families, the Rossis do not live in a community of deaf people but of hearing ones, and see their deaf friends infrequently. The family lives apart from the rest of the community, in an appealing kind of close-knit, defiant independence. Dad comes from a long line of New England fishermen, mom was a model in her youth, and despite years of marriage, they can’t keep their hands off each other. Although their older child Leo, played well by Daniel Durant, is also deaf, he reads lips and feels much more comfortable interacting with the hearing community than his parents do. He would like to have a more active role in helping them but they continually turn to their hearing daughter for that role, much to Leo’s frustration.

As the film works through the family dynamics, it also explores Ruby’s growing ambitions and passion for singing, and her budding romantic interest in Miles.

Ruby’s quirky music teacher Mr. V, provides a big dose of humor. Mr. V is a bit of a character as well as an immigrant, in a town that seems to have few of them, and Eugenio Derbez creates one of the film’s funniest, most memorable characters who as much as outsider as Ruby feels she is in her small town. His outsider status and his skill as a teacher help her see beyond the fishing boat and her life with her loving but inward-looking family.

There are a lot of parallels to the immigrant experience to Ruby’s “outsider” family in CODA. One can see echos of stories of second-generation children, who have a foot in both worlds, the “new” and the “old” with Ruby, among them that she says that when she started school, kids teased her for her “deaf accent,” referring to the distinctive speech style of deaf people who are taught to speak, a nice detail which reveals that her loving parents did their best for their hearing daughter by speaking to her.

Subtle insights like that are woven smoothly into Heder’s well-written script. Heder’s script is well-crafted, effective, warm and entertaining, the direction is seamless and skillful, and the characters are memorable, particularly Ruby and her charmingly quirky family.

CODA’s characters are so appealing in their feisty quirkiness and family warmth, that it is the kind of film you will want to revisit. The story is both universal and unique to these characters, and that is a combination that is hard to beat.

CODA, the winner of the 2022 Oscars for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay and with Troy Kotsur winning for Best Supporting Actor, re-opens Friday, April 1, at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinema and is streaming on Apple TV+.

RATING: 4 out of 4 stars

YOU WON’T BE ALONE – Review

Noomi Rapace stars as “Bosilka” in director Goran Stolevski’s YOU WON’T BE ALONE, a Focus Features release. Photo credit: Branko Starcevic / Focus Features

With a story built around witches, the East European-set YOU WON’T BE ALONE certainly starts out like a horror film set in a medieval-ish rural Eastern European world. The location brings to mind a host of classic horror films and legends, and the time period setting and other elements are reminiscent of 2015’s THE WITCH. But the film soon turns in a somewhat different direction, towards fairy-tale. The Brothers Grimm variety, not Disney.

If you’ll remember, those original tales are often dark and even horror-like but also have elements of kindness and hope along with the terror and gruesomeness, in their good versus evil struggles. The fairy tale/folk tale of YOU WON’T BE ALONE leans more into the human side of the story of its villain and its young heroine, and also has a feminist viewpoint, making this tale much more layered and complex. There is a reason behind the older witch’s unquenchable anger, which we learn mid-way through, but the young witch is not always good or kind either, like heroes and heroines in fairy tales sometimes can be.

The tale opens in a rural, medieval-ish Macedonia (although it is supposedly the 19th century), with a cat walking across a grass field. As the cat walks off screen, we hear a terrible cry, but then the cat walks back on screen. We follow the cat to a village, where a woman tending her baby, leaves briefly to shoo away mischievous playing neighboring children. Returning inside her home, she finds a strange, disfigured woman standing over her baby.

The woman is covered in scars from burns (in an impressive feat of make-up) yet she has a powerful presence about her. It is clear the mother recognizes her, and the terrified woman immediately begins to beg for the life of her child, telling the burnt woman (Anamaria Marinca, 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS) how sorry she is about what happened to her. Specifics are not spoken but we know immediately the strange woman was burned as a witch. The mother starts bargaining, telling the witch that “babies are such a bother” and saying she can raise her until she is sixteen and then bring her to the witch. “So you won’t be alone in your old age,” the desperate mother says. A bargain of sorts is stuck with the witch, but it is not what the mother hopes for, and the baby is both marked by the witch and struck mute.

The mother hides her child in a cave, where the girl grows up alone except for visits by her fearful mother. Despite the mother’s efforts, the witch still comes for her daughter Nevena (Sara Klimoska) when she turns 16, takes her away, and turns her into a witch like herself.

That has a familiar ring to it, doesn’t it? While there are elements of classic fairy-tales here, as well as mythology and folk tales, this engrossing tale also is full of twists we don’t see coming and deeper human meaning. The film’s Macedonian-Australian director/writer Goran Stolevski was inspired by the Macedonian folk tales he grew up with for his script, which also has something timeless to say. The film is an Australian production but it is in Macedonian with subtitles and was shot in Serbia. YOU WON’T BE ALONE is Goran Stolevski’s first feature film, and it is an impressive debut.

The witch that Anamaria Marinca plays with impressive power is known as Old Maid Maria and she is actually a mythical creature called a Wolf-Eateress, a combination witch, vampire, werewolf and skin-walker/zombie that stalks the countryside drinking the blood of peasants. Far from a mindless monster, Maria is a cunning, and angry, creature, more human than we expect, with a real, understandable reason for her rage. The witch is able to take the form of any person or animal but it must die for her to assume its form, leaving a bloody smear behind.

There are moments of blood and violence that the more-squeamish should be warned about but this film is also not typical horror film fare. This film is not non-stop horror action, and the scary or bloody moments are interspersed with long contemplative moments, as the young woman promised to the witch struggles to understand the world and herself. The story is steeped in elements of fairy-tale and folk tale but it all unfolds at a more contemplative pace that brings Terrence Malick’s films to mind, as do the scenes of fields of waving wheat and the stream-of-conscious voice-over by the mute main character. However, those dreamy sequences are punctuated by confrontations, dramatic twists and sometime bloody violence. Both Maria’s story and Nevena’s experiences with the rural folk, as the young witch adopts various people’s lives, have a feminist bent, focusing on the historic treatment of women, patriarchy, and witch-burning hysteria. It is a film that is hard to categorize but one that draws you in.

Shot on location in rural Serbia, the photography by cinematographer Matthew Chuang is lush and grounded in the natural, and the film’s contemplative tone is supported by a score that includes Macedonian folk tunes, gentle classical, and a couple of pieces by composer Arvo Part.

Anamaria Marinca’s Old Maid Maria is a cunning, angry being who wants to see everyone suffer, including her young charge. But she despairs of Sara Klimoska’s soft-hearted young Nevena, and the older witch is frustrated in her attempts to mold the gentle teen into a cold-hearted witch like herself. There is always tension and foreboding present in this film, and a longing by the girl, for a childhood and human life she missed out on, fueling a curiosity about the ordinary farm folk around her.

The young witch watches the older witch, her mentor/adopted mother, as she takes various forms and feeds on the villagers from time to time. When the young witch accidentally kills a young farm woman, Bosilka (Noomi Rapace, GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATOO), the young witch adopts her identity, by using what she has learned from the Wolf-Eateress, as a way to escape.

Nevena has an air of innocence as we see her move through various forms, with several actors, including Noomi Rapace, Carloto Cotta, Anastasija Karanovich and Alice Englert, playing the main character. In these forms, she tries out various roles in the human rural society, with indirect commentary on the structure of that society. Often the young witch’s lack of experience with normal human life leads to trouble and forces her to move on, but the changes are also her attempts to find her place in the world, to have the experience she needs to understand human life.

Details on the plot are likely to be spoilers but there are plenty of twists, just at a slower place than would be in a typical horror movie. The voice-over is philosophical more than something providing exposition for the story, which largely is told visually. That can make the film challenging at times, but director Goren Stolevski trusts the audience to look closely, think and figure things out, relying on the strong cast to convey any needed information.

Fortunately, the acting is consistently strong from all the cast, which adds greatly to a story that is more often told through what we see than what we hear.

The hard-to-categorize YOU WON’T BE ALONE isn’t for every audience, but for those approaching it with an opening mind, it has rewards as it makes its way through its deeply human folk tale.

YOU WON’T BE ALONE, in Macedonian with English subtitles, opens Friday, April 1, at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinema.

RATING: 3.5 out of 4 stars

WRITING WITH FIRE – Review

One of the Dalit women journalists of Khabar Lahariya (‘Waves of News’), India’s only women-led news outlet, reporting a story, in the Oscar-nominated documentary WRITING WITH FIRE. Courtesy of Music Box Films.

WRITING WITH FIRE, a nominee for this year’s Best Documentary Oscar, is about India’s only women-run newspaper, a news source that has gone in digital since its founding in 2002, and one that covers stories overlooked by other news outlets, particularly on abuse, rape and corruption, with hard-hitting reporting and high journalistic standards. That is astonishing enough but the fact that all the women are also Dalits, the cast formerly known as untouchables, makes this news source seem nearly miraculous. But this is not fiction: these hard-working female reporters are the real thing.

WRITING WITH FIRE is one of two documentaries this past year about small news outlets doing journalism right, covering stories larger outlets won’t cover and serving their community and its right to know. The other one, STORM LAKE, tells an admirable story about an award-winning small town newspaper in the American heartland that is doing everything right, in a way so many larger news outlets no longer are. There is something hopeful in having two such uplifting documentaries, about the triumph of the “little guy,” in a year dominated by so much grimness.

In many ways, filmmakers Rintu Thomas’ and Sushmit Ghosh’s documentary WRITING WITH FIRE is the more amazing story. In 2002, a group of women in India established a women-run newspaper, Khabar Lahariya (‘Waves of News’). That is astonishing enough in a country where men dominate the news industry, and much of life generally. More amazing is that this group of women were also Dalits, the people once called “untouchables” who exist beyond the lowest level of India’s caste system. No one expected their newspaper to survive, yet it did. It still remains the only women-run paper in India.

Documentarians Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh follow these women as they engage in a fearless kind of journalism, reporting abuses and corruption no one else covers. Led by journalist Meera Devi, they investigate and report, but also train and encourage other Dali women who want to join them in doing what journalism is supposed to do: speaking truth to power. And they do that while battling both sexism and caste discrimination every day.

The title refers to several things, including the fiery devotion these women have to the mission of their news outlet for truth-telling, and their determination to covering stories that are too hot, too incendiary, for most other Indian media outlets. Often these are issues of particularly concern to women or to Dalits generally, who face prejudice and often live at the lowest rung of the economic ladder. But the title might also refer to their fierce commitment to each other.

These women journalists are committed to reporting untold stories with courage, but the whole operation serves another purpose: to encourage women who otherwise have little power to take control of their lives. The news outlet welcomes any woman who wants to join their effort, training them in reporting and giving them educational and job skills they never had before. All the staff work as a team, with a commitment to uplifting and supporting women like themselves. At the time the documentary was shot, the news outlet was actively embracing new media, arming their female reporters with smartphones for their work, women who have never owned a cell phone and might have little formal education. And it is impressive what these women can achieve with those tools and that encouragement.

The documentary follows the women journalists as they report on a series of stories, including one of serial rapes that have been ignored by both other media and the police. By digging deep and by dogged persistence, the reporters force both other media to recognize the crime and authorities to address it. The film also follows several individual stories, including one new young recruit with no education who discovers a self-confidence and ability she didn’t know she had before. Another thread focuses on a young woman who becomes a star reporter, and with eyes newly opened to life’s possibilities, embarks on higher education. Watching Meera Devi’s devotion to high journalistic standards and to covering the stories others won’t, combined with her skill and warmth as a mentor, is truly inspiring. The women are not only hard working but joyful in their work and fellowship with each other.

If you need a dose of uplift, in the face of all the negative things happening in the world now, WRITING WITH FIRE delivers that, just as these female reporters deliver the news their community needs. WRITING WITH FIRE, in Hindi with English subtitles, debuts on VOD on all major digital platforms on Mar. 22, and will have its TV debut on PBS’s “Independent Lens” on Mar. 28.

RATING: 4 out of 4 stars

INFINITE STORM – Review

Naomi Watts in Bleecker Street’s INFINITE STORM Credit: Bleecker Street

It’s said truth is stranger than fiction, and one strange tale based on true facts inspired INFINITE STORM, a drama about a lone woman trying to rescue a stranded man in a snowstorm the wintry New Hampshire mountains.

Pam Bales (Naomi Watts), a fit woman in her 50s, is headed up into to the New Hampshire mountains to climb a peak, Mt. Washington, even though the forecast looks brutal for that November day. Stopping by a cafe to fill her thermos with hot cocoa before the climb, the cafe owner (Dennis O’Hare) tries to talk her out of it. But she is determined, reminding him it is a special date, an anniversary perhaps, although we sense it is not a happy one. A glimpse of a patch on her gear lets us know she is with a search-and-rescue operation, so she should know what she is doing.

When Pam arrives in the trail head parking lot, she notices another car in the lot and speaks briefly to a couple who are leaving but they don’t know to whom it belongs. The hike up the mountain is rugged but the weather is still clear, and as she ascends, she starts hearing odd sounds, which may be the other climber. She calls out but no one responds. Nearing the top, the predicted snowstorm blows in, but she struggles on until the weather becomes so savage that she decides to turn back. Then she sees the footprints – an inexperienced climber in tennis shoes, not even hiking boots.

She begins to track the footprints and, with the wind howling and sleet falling, she comes upon a young man (Billy Howle) seated on a rock, facing away from her. He is barely responsive, won’t even give his name. Pam’s training and experience kick in, and she tells him she is there to rescue him. As she sets about doing that, she decides to call him John until she knows his name.

Thus begins a harrowing true tale of wilderness rescue in a blinding snowstorm, made even more treacherous by the uncooperative, even bizarre, behavior of the man being rescued. It is not clear if he is coherent, or even that he wants to be saved, but at other times, he is panicked and frightened. That he is twice her size does not help. And there is a ticking-clock element too, as they must at least reach the tree line before dark to have any hope. No matter the risk to herself, she cannot leave him behind.

Based on a true story, Pam Bales battled both the elements and the uncooperative stranded man in this gripping wilderness adventure, and Naomi Watts does a fine job as this tough but caring woman, who persists despite her own pain, for the sake of this stranger. Pam keeps up a patter of encouragement as she works but it is generally a one-way conversation. The man being rescued says little, and Billy Howle as that stranger is very, well, strange, as the role demands. At times, “John” is child-like and crying, or passive, even nearly comatose, but other times he is defiant, heading off in the wrong direction. His actions endanger himself but her as well, as she cannot just abandon him. Yet his communication is often to tell her off or just howl with pain, as if she is the cause of it all. At times, his behavior is so odd that one might be tempted to think the whole thing is happening in Pam’s imagination, and that the stranger does not really even exist, which makes as much sense as anything. However, that this drama is based on a true story is a fact brings us back from that thought.

Shot in Eastern Europe, apparently Slovenia, the mountain vistas have a wild beauty as well as a frightening power which is shot in a dramatic style with de-saturated color by cinematographer Michal Englert. This tale is not just man-versus-nature, but about inner human struggles, man-versus-self. Some of what happens is twist of fate, much like Pam being on the mountain at the same time as the man, and sometimes those chance happenings are good but often they are not. Sometimes she makes choices that don’t make sense given her oddball charge and other times his actions are hard to comprehend. He seems to waiver between helpless and clumsy, and strong and agile, making more than his mental state a mystery.

The strangeness of the stranded man is part of why this rescue tale doesn’t quite follow the usual formula for this kind of man-against-nature drama, although in some ways it must. But there is also a philosophical bent to this tale, built around grappling with grief. Periodically, there are flashbacks to Pam playing with her two little girls, while we sense they are no longer part of her life. In pieces, we learn more about that story but the nameless man remains more opaque until we gain a little insight late in the film.

The rescue itself has a coda that helps bring everything into better focus. The drama has a contemplative message about grief and about how experiences and people can change the direction of one’s life. Those expecting this to be a straightforward simple adventure tale will get more than they bargained for.

INFINITE STORM opens Friday, March 25, at multiple theaters.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

THE OUTFIT – Review

Zoey Deutch (left) stars as “Mable” and Mark Rylance (right) stars as “Leonard” in director Graham Moore’s THE OUTFIT, a Focus Features release. Courtesy of Nick Wall / Focus Features

The stylish, entertaining, a bit bloody gangster thriller THE OUTFIT is tailor-made for it star, the gifted Mark Rylance, and showcase Rylance does, with a clever script and strong direction from Graham Moore, who won an Oscar for his script of THE IMITATION GAME. With a score by Alexandre Desplat, Graham Moore’s directorial debut is a modest little indie gem but one that delivers big, with a tense, twisty story and fine supporting cast, including London-trained, Nigerian-born Nikki Amuka-Bird as a rival gangster, and a thrilling performance by Mark Rylance.

Set in 1956 Chicago, the whole thing mostly takes place inside a modest shop, owned by Englishman Leonard Burling (Mark Rylance), a soft-spoken Saville Row-trained bespoke tailor, who runs the place with help from his shop assistant Mable (Zoey Deutch).

It quickly becomes clear that Leonard is allowing his shop to be used by a mob, led by boss Roy Boyle (Simon Russell Beale). as a drop spot for the gang. From time to time, Boyle gang members leave envelopes in a box at the back of the shop and once in awhile, they retrieve them. Some of the communications come from a shadowy higher-level organization known as the Outfit.

As the gangsters come and go, Leonard works at his craft, creating his suits for his clients. As he works, the film is narrated by the tailor, who talks about his craft as we watch him at work. Leonard tells us he is not just a tailor but a cutter, a higher level of skill in his profession. When anyone asks why such a skilled craftsman left Saville Row, Leonard quips “blue jeans.”

Rylance’s tailor is a quiet fellow, so reserved and deferential that he almost fades into the background, while the gangsters come and go. But this quiet routine is shattered one evening when a pair of Boyle gang members burst in. One of them has been shot, and the film takes a new turn.

The wounded man turns out to be Richie Boyle (Dylan O’Brien), the hot-headed young son of the mob’s boss Roy Boyle. With him is Francis (Johnny Flynn), a trusted associate that Roy had assigned to keep an eye on his son Richie. Fortunately, Richie isn’t seriously hurt but Francis is upset, not just that Richie got shot during a run-in with the rival LaFontaine gang. Francis is worried about evidence that a “rat” within the Boyle gang is working with the FBI. An audio tape has emerged as evidence, and Francis is frantic to find the traitor.

Usually Leonard steers clear of the gang’s business but Francis demands that the tailor stitch up young Richie’s wound, threatening him if he refuses. Leonard has no choice, but as the tailor recognizes the danger he is now in, Rylance’s character emerge from the shadows, and the actor takes the spotlight with bold energy.

Despite its closed-in setting, there is plenty of crime thriller tension, plot twists and a surprising amount of violence in THE OUTFIT. The story all takes place during one night, where various gangsters come and go, secrets are revealed and twists are everywhere. At first, Rylance’s Leonard is so timid that he nearly fades into the background, but once Francis threatens him, Rylance takes center stage, looking for a way to get out of his precarious situation.

Eventually the big boss turns up, along with his menacing bodyguard Monk (Alan Mehdizadeh). The rival gang’s leader Violet LaFontaine shows up in the third act, and Nikki Amuka-Bird briefly steals the show in that role. But Rylance quickly regains center stage and then holds it firmly as the story races to its conclusion.

There are twists and surprises enough to satisfy any crime tale fan, and a ticking clock urgency in this Hitchcockian thriller. There is an unexpected amount of violence and blood for a tale that plays out in a few rooms. That those rooms are small and cramped, gives the film an extra claustrophobic pressure-cooker vibe that works well for this potboiler. Although THE OUTFIT is set in Chicago, this British production was actually shot at a London theater, but stylish noir photography by Dick Pope creates the perfect framing.

Rylance did in-depth research for the role, which has the tailor using his particular skills in the course of staying alive. Rylance even wears a suit he made himself in the film.

THE OUTFIT is great fun, and a made-to-order showcase for the formidable talents of Mark Rylance. Not everything that happens makes complete sense but it is such great crime story fun that it doesn’t matter or detract from the thrills. THE OUTFIT fits the bill for crime tale entertainment, like one of British tailor’s suits.

THE OUTFIT opens Friday, March 18, at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinema.

RATING: 3.5 out of 4 stars

COMPARTMENT NO. 6 – Review

Seidi Haarla as Laura in the Finnish drama COMPARTMENT NO. 6. Photo credit Sami Kuokkanen/Aamu Film Company. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

Two strangers on a train, a young Finnish woman (Seidi Haarla) and a rough Russian miner (Yuriy Borisov), share a compartment on a two-day trip north from Moscow to the Arctic coast, in the surprising COMPARTMENT NO. 6. The trip is more than a physical journey, and this strangers on a train Finnish drama has won multiple well-deserved accolades since its release and is a leading contender for the Best International Film Oscar.

The film is set in Russia not long after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and although it is primarily drama, it has elements of humor and romance too. It actually starts, not on a train but at a party, in a spacious Moscow apartment, where a glittering mix of intellectuals and artsy types have gathered in bohemian hipness, led by charismatic hostess Irina (Dinara Drukarova), an academic at the Moscow university where Finnish student Laura (Seidi Haarla) is studying anthropology. Irina is also Laura’s lover, and the pair were supposed to embark on a trip to the Arctic together the next day, to see some ancient petroglyphs that Irina had been gushing about to Laura. At the last minute, something comes up and Irina can’t go, but she insists that Laura still go, alone.

COMPARTMENT NO. 6 is directed by Juho Kuosmanen, whose previous film THE HAPPIEST DAY IN THE LIFE OF OLLI MAKI blended drama, self-discovery, humor and romance is a decidedly unique but deeply human way. Some of those same elements are here as well, taking this new film to a deeper, more profound level than we at first expect.

The two-day train trip is more than a physical journey, but a kind of journey of self-discovery for the characters. Without Irina, Laura feels untethered from her life in Moscow and is forced to reflect on her life’s direction and choices, who she is and what she wants. But those contemplations are interrupted by the obnoxious person assigned to the same compartment, a talkative young miner who is also traveling to the Arctic coast for work.

Ljoha (Yuriy Borisov) is rude and crude, and starts off with asking Laura if she is a prostitute. Clueless about her revulsion and unapologetic, he proceeds to hit on her while calling her Estonian instead of Finnish. Laura rebuffs him sharply, and with confident style, but she still retreats to the dining car for the rest of the day. When she asks the woman in charge of the train compartments to move her to another berth, the conductor refuses, claiming there is no room and cooling saying, with perfect Soviet bureaucratic indifference, “what did you expect.” Well, not that.

Laura is sharp-witted and able to stand up for herself but it hardly makes for pleasant traveling. She is relieved when a woman with a baby is also assigned to the compartment and later a young Finnish musician but neither stay long. Meanwhile, Ljoha keeps up his attempts to win over Laura, efforts that begin to hint at something more beneath the crude surface.

Over the course of the journey, both actors peel away layers of their characters. Although the whole story takes place on this journey, we are not always on the train and Laura has a surprising number of adventures and revelations along the way.

During the course of the trip, it becomes clear that Irina was more sending Laura away than it had seemed at first to the Finnish student, and Laura has to process that fact. Laura is completely enamored of Irina’s sparkling intellectual life, a life she really wants to possess. She wants to be Irina as much or more than she wants her as a lover.

The writing and acting are superb, with plentiful twists and nice performances by Seidi Haarla and Yuriy Borisov, as their characters travel on their differing internal journeys and shared train-bound one. Creative photography by Jani-Petteri Passi, who also shot the fine multi-part HBO historical drama “Chernobyl” as well as the director’s previous film, brings a touch of mystery and the magical to the train trip, and provides support for the strong script and performances. The trip finds the travelers in an unexpected place in life when they arrive at their Arctic destination, and the film wrapped up in a poignant yet satisfying place for audiences.

COMPARTMENT NO. 6, in Russian and Finnish with English subtitles, opens Friday, March 18, at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinema.

RATING: 4 out of 4 stars