ocupadoemnascer Reviews

La Chimera (2023)

Two hours lost in a world of poetry

[8/10 · 19 December 2023]

Poetry is the first word that comes to mind when trying to describe that movie. Alice Rorhwacher depicts a world where past and present are interwoven. A forgotten rural Italy, haunted by the remnants of Antiquity. The movie is full of symbols, and the boundaries between past and present, life and death, reality and fantasy are constantly blurred.

The main character, Arthur, is marked by grief, and hides his pain among a band of gentle thieves. All around him, there is misery but also resilience, joy, survival. In this picaresque landscape, Arthur seems to be the only character inhabited by tragedy.

Rorhwacher has the power to evoke emotions that are hard to describe. I left the theater in a contemplative state and I've been thinking about the movie a lot since then. Only good movies can do that.

Fallen Leaves (2023)

A movie that left me full of joy

[9/10 · 8 October 2023]

Fallen Leaves is a rather short movie but very dense in content. The acting, the dialogues, the sets are austere, which can feel unattractive for many people used to the usual bombardment of images. But this minimalistic direction leaves an immense space for emotions.

The characters have precarious lives. They are confronted daily with the pains and the hardships of the working-classes: bad bosses, poverty, unemployment, addiction. On this background of darkness, the movie manages to remain light and even funny. Life feels fragile and yet, the characters also find solidarity, hope, and love. That might be the political and poetic meaning of this movie.

I left the theater full of joy and with a smile on my face.

Memoria (I) (2021)

Sensual and contemplative

[9/10 · 18 November 2021]

Memoria is a very delicate movie. It walks you through a landscape of sounds and colors, with Tilda Swinton as your gentle guide. The use of sound is fascinating. Sound takes a central place in the movie, which is very unusual. It makes you want to pause and listen. The photography is also gorgeous, full of lush greenery. Go enjoy the experience, savor it.

Annette (2021)

A disturbing perspective on domestic violence

[5/10 · 28 July 2021]

As others have said, the movie is well made, the set design is beautiful, the acting is generally convincing. The music is quite boring which is problematic for a musical.

Another of the movie's problems is that it tries to pack so much in two hours and a half. The story simply goes too fast and lacks in sophistication.

But my main issue with the movie is the almost romanticization of domestic violence. Emotional abuse and domestic violence are the main themes of the movie. It is clearly anxiety-inducing, especially for victims of such abuses, but it is made worse as the main character gets away with a lot. I suspect this is another bad case of male gaze.

Overall, it made the movie a very unpleasant experience.

Midsommar (2019)

Extremely boring and without substance

[2/10 · 20 August 2019]

This is one of the most boring movies I have seen in a long time. One one side, a group of extremely stereotyped American students. On the other side, a sort of utopian fascist society. It could be interesting but none of the actors have any depth in their acting. The movie is painful to watch as the camera is frequently moving without purpose. And then, it is an endless series of scenes more ridiculous than the other. I was frankly laughing at some point as every scene seemed predictable to me, even though they were purposefully meant to be weird. The gore scenes frankly do not add much to the movie. The final shot is the only interesting thing in that movie as it adds a depth to one of the main characters but these five seconds are not going to save the two hours and a half that I spent watching this. Do not waste your money.