nachtturne Reviews

Submarine (2010)

Coming-Of-Age Is Different In Britain

[7/10 · 12 February 2018]

I was looking for movies capturing the nostalgic aspect of teenager movies, when a friend of mine recommended me Submarine. While I didn't quite find what I was looking for, Submarine prove itself to be a very enjoyable movie.

The story follows the teenager Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts), a british high schooler, who set two objectives to achieve: firstly, to lose his virginity, and secondly, to fix his parents deadbedroom-syndrome and with it, their marriage. While the plot itself is very similar of those teenager movies Hollywood turns out twice of thrice a year, Submarine puts the trope in a very British frame. The analytic monologues of Oliver, the light, humour-infused surrealism, and the creative camera work really separates this movie from its peers.

I found the acting a bit ambivalent. Yasmin Paige (Jordana) was outstanding in my opinion, she aced all the different attitudes of her character: Jordanas spleen and edge was just as authentic as her smiling and actually having fun, or caring deeply for her mother. Craig Roberts appealed to me aswell, Olivers monotonous or rather apathetic mood was very well played (especially the awkward smiles and angsty body language). The excellent chemistry of the two leads resulted in a very honest and lifelike portrayal of early teenage relationships, with all the cosmetics (e.g. the preconceptions about love, relationship roles and small mind games) on-point. However, the other characters, including Olivers parents and Graham, were forgettable in my opinion - their attitudes came off as boring. I felt like it was the main reason the marriage plotline was a bit stale for me.

Submarine could have been one of my favorite movies, had I seen it in my teenage years; as an adult, it is still a very entertaining and refreshing take on the coming-of-age genre.

The Collector (1967)

Bernean Mind Games Perfectly Captured

[8/10 · 7 February 2018]

A fine piece of the French art cinema, La collectionneuse tells a story of three individuals (Adrien, Haydee and Daniel) locked together in their common friends weekend house at the French Riviera. While Adriens and Daniels purpose is simply but strictly doing the capital Nothing, Haydee lives quite a bohemian life, going out and changing partners every night. At first, the boys don't care about Haydee, except finding her an annoyance, but shortly they include her in their inner circle. Soon the drama begins: Haydee tries her best to seduce Adrien, who is knowingly resisting her, fearing that she just want to add him to her collection of trophies, which would be shameful. At the same time however, Adrien lusts after the girl. A set of mind games unfold, with the two people pushing and pulling eachother, waiting for their prey to show its weak spot, so they can emerge victoriously in the end.

The movie was very entertaining; I'm not sure if I ever saw such honest sexual chemistry on screen before. And not just that: all the characters work very well with eachother in every sequence. The actors are great, the writing is smart and sharp (with a deal of great one-liners), although sometimes the plot felt a bit dragged. The camera work is incredibly well done, especially for a '60s movie. Despite the tense nature of the main subject (how a relationship forms between two people), the movie feels very light - I guess it has to do with the characters "I dont give a damn"-mentality, which was well shown through their actions. The reason I'm giving 8 stars: while the movie was very entertaining, I don't feel like it had any real impact on me. I don't believe it should have, though.

Overall, La Collectionneuse is an excellent movie to watch with that Art Student girl you've been chatting with on Tinder for three days now.

5 Centimeters per Second (2007)

5 Times Overdramatized

[6/10 · 5 February 2018]

5 Centimeters Per Second contains three short stories, connected by the main character and his childhood love-interest, essentially following their grow up. As many others already marked, the animation is simply gorgeous, and I can't add any more to this - Makoto Shinkai is indubitably one of the greatest animation geniuses of all time.

While the visuals are superb, the plot is mediocre at best. I'm an otherwise emotionally sturdy, level-headed guy, but I'm also an absolute sucker for romantic tragedys. This stuff - even the cheesier ones - can make my eyes wet like putting my head in a bucket full of red onion. With 5CPS however, my eyes remained dry and my heart remained... err... unbroken?

Each sequence is overshadowed by the immense despair of Takaki, longing for his never-fulfilled love to Akari. In the first episode, Cherryblossoms, it works well: my suspense built with Takakis during the train scene, and I felt soooo relieved when Akari was still at the station. It was sweet. During the sad goodbye, I was sure they were going to meet again, and that we're going towards a happy end. The second sequence then broke this expectation of mine. Instead of searching ways to stay in contact, Takaki goes full hopeless, writing emo messages to himself, while completely ignoring Sumida, a girl who fell in love with him. I GET THE VERY BLATANT MESSAGE, MR. SHINKAI! But come on: Takaki were in his 17-18's at the time. When did Takaki and Akari stopped sending mails to eachother? Why didn't they change numbers? And if Takaki was so goddamn in love, couldn't he visit Akari... like in the summer? If their love was truly impossible to be fulfilled, then this desperation of Takaki were justified. But I feel like it wasnt, and otherwise real and deep emotions regarding love felt like teenage angst and self-pitying. This organically carried on to the third sequence. Thats where realism finally kicked in: while Takaki was still deep in depression, Akari lived her life on, getting engaged and stuff. And when they met again at the intersection, I was so glad Takaki didn't run after Akari, but let her go - the only sensible thing he had done since sequence one.

Overall it's a good one-hour movie, and a must-see for the visuals. The plot however is very lacking in some aspects, making very hard to live up to the emotions 5CPS intended to induce.

Ocean Waves (1993 TV Movie)

An atmospherical contemplation of things long forgotten

[8/10 · 2 February 2018]

What a forgotten Ghibli masterpiece! I'm glad that I accidentally stumbled upon it. Someone else beat me to it in the review section twelve years ago, but I gotta emphasize: this movie is as authentic as it gets. The characters behave very realistically, they feel much more humane than those in similar slice-of-life movies. Because of this, you can relate to all the characters, their actions, their motives, and the story will get you involved in no time. Just don't expect any out-of-the-place action or sensationalism - the movie maintains a very relaxed pace, with everything in order, every slight movement feeling natural.

This movie is a hour-and-a-quarter long contemplation, a travel into the past - just like the main character, you will catch yourself wondering about loves, friends and memories long gone. But you might just find redemption at the end of the road, and the end of the movie.

Its seldom I get the bittersweet butterfly of nostalgia growing in my stomach; last time the Miyazaki-classic "Only Yesterday" were able to achieve it. The two movies share a common feel and theme (great reunions, evaluating your roots, and a change of life), and while I think "Only Yesterday" somewhat works better, "Ocean Waves" is an otherwise unrivaled choice for gloomy Sunday afternoon homecinema.