Palo Alto

After having a little wander around the internet, I realised that Palo Alto has come under a lot of criticism, mainly for its somewhat vapid depiction of teenagers and its drifting plot. I, however, think that's the charm. The teenagers in the film are exactly that: people crossing the unstable and aimless bridge bridge between childhood and being a young adult; experiencing their first everything and allowing themselves to be consumed by the most seemingly unimportant aspects of their lives. The weightless plot furthers this idea and captures that sense of how significant moments and significant people float out of the teenagers' lives as quietly as as quickly as they float in. Maybe the adults behind Palo Alto's criticisms are simply writing with a strong, jealous sense of nostalgia for those long-lost years.

Palo Alto is based on a collection of short stories written by James Franco and is centred around 4 specific characters and the way in which their lives interweave. The first is April - she is an introverted character with a distant and detached family, a somewhat poetic smoking habit and an inappropriate relationship with her soccer coach (Franco) borne out of her distinct lack of attention and established worth elsewhere in her life. She is also incredibly set apart from her friends because of their destructive and competitive attempts at friendship. Next comes Teddy, the similarly introverted love interest of April with an unfortunate tendency to release his emotions through alcohol, drugs and wild mistakes, despite his caring nature. Teddy's closest friend is the unstable and unpredictable Fred. Fred is an incredibly interesting character because he seems to have a series of layers in his personality. The brash and careless yet fun layer, the violent, cruel sad and manipulative layer beneath that and, finally, the rarely-seen layer of sadness and fear. There is someone like Fred in every friendship group you might come across. The fourth character is the less featured Emily who is disregarded and abandoned throughout the whole film by many characters due to her sexual reputation but pensive shots give the insight into her loneliness and sadness.



Whilst Palo Alto's ending is stunning in every sense of the word and there are some really thought-provoking parallels in the film, I'd have to say that my favourite part is the 10 minute long party scene close to the start. It kick-starts through Palo Alto's fog and it makes use of a really dreamy and surreal soundtrack. The first shots in the part are of April's "friends" playing 'never have I ever', where they all find distorted pleasure in embarrassing each other through a series of incredibly specific 'never have I evers'. April is physically and emotionally distant from them and can be seen wandering through the party aimlessly with a slight air of boredom and discontent. She sits next to Teddy, who lights a cigarette for her, whilst Fred is sprawled on the floor drinking out of a vase. Despite Fred's melodramatic disapproval of April's company, the three decide to leave the party for a while in such a way that furthers the "outsider" focus of the film, screaming out that teen angst/not like other teenagers attitude. It is a wonderful blend of both 'absorbing' and 'cliche'.

The three run past the game of 'never have I ever' as our 4th character, Emily, claims 'I've never been in love'. Using a lampshade as a megaphone, yet speaking calmly, Fred responds to her statement with 'I think that's bullshit', before the three continue to run past in a lethargic yet fleeting movement. They run outside, laughing, as Fred yells 'I stole your lampshade'.
They run through faint rain in slow motion and Teddy reaches out to take April's hand in a moment that really drives their fluctuating love forward. Passing time in a graveyard and carving hearts into trees, the three of them smoke and exchange vaguely painful overly-profound comments whilst the party begins to become out of control. When they finally return, the film's soundtrack kicks in even more and consumes the on-screen action whilst the three are instantly separated from the moment they walk through the door. From this point onwards, cue a series of preoccupied and subtly anguished gazes from April and Teddy as they watch each other find drunken comfort in other people and cue Fred hinting at his hidden emotional depth as he sings and plays the piano. A lovely little detail in the film is the nameless teenage boy leaning at the bottom of the staircase in a heavy, drunken mess. The entire party scene is thoughtful and explorative, very pitiful and all so consuming.

The film is incredibly interesting in many other ways, especially with such a controversial and inappropriate relationship between April and the soccer coach and the way her character has an emphasised air of youth around him. April's superficial and insecure friends are another point of interest, as well as her preoccupied mother and Fred's father's ambiguous sexuality and inappropriate actions. As well as having so many aspects that can be explored deeply, the film's cinematography is beautiful and surreal and it really mirrors the narrative.
Palo Alto is a striking film, but not one for people who are bored easily because the empty, lethargic and aimless atmosphere of Palo Alto is its beauty.

God Help The Girl - response

God Help The Girl is a musical that came to my attention because Stuart Murdoch, of Belle & Sebastian, wrote and directed it. Belle & Sebastian are labelled as an indie-pop band and the indie-pop influences and twists are constant throughout this quirky musical.

I may or may not have watched this film three times within 24 hours... It's not unusual for me to rewatch films regularly, but there was just something very captivating about God Help The Girl - like a certain feeling of mystery that left me wanting to explore the film a little bit more.

God Help The Girl has moments of comedy and is generally very charming but, unbeknownst to me initially, it's actually quite dark and heavy in subject matter. Eve, the protagonist, suffers from anorexia but also has a vaguely nonchalant love for singing. The film drifts with Eve as she meets fellow musicians and good friends, James and Cassie. There is a love interest, of course, but it has a subtle and indirect focus and Eve is torn between her awkward friend James and her German "dream boy" (I'll Have To Dance With Cassie).

At first, God Help The Girl's musical numbers and voiceover effects perplexed me but I've grown to love them and see how they add to the charm. The voiceover effects also echo that of radio presenters which is a nice little music-related decoration to the film. God Help The Girl also has a certain retro feel to it through the cinematography and some of the outfits to the point where the time period is still irrelevant and ambiguous even when technology from this decade features in the scene.

All in all, God Help The Girl is a charming, quirky little musical film and definitely worth a watch - but it deserves two or three in order to really appreciate it!

Chungking Express (1994) - response

Chungking Express is a very interesting film to watch in regards to style, although I found it slightly difficult to follow at times (mainly during the first narrative). That being said, each character in the film is so complex and is explored in such depth that it makes a really intriguing watch.
I feel that there's a definite similarity between the first cop (cop 223) and the character of Oliver Tate from Submarine. They both have a certain way of being quite melodramatic and poetic and this actually reinforced the slightly more pathetic characteristics of cop 223. Leading on from this, the gender representation in Chungking Express was interesting - whilst the male characters had a tendency to be quite weak and submissive, the female characters assumed a lot more strength and conviction.
Chungking Express can be applauded for how well it creates a sense of a really claustrophobic urban environment and the focus on the characters' solitude highlights the loneliness and isolation that can occur in bustling cities.

Short Term 12

Short Term 12 is one of the best movies I've seen in a long time and it's right up there (although not quite overtaking) Boyhood, which I got the opportunity to watch earlier this year.
Short Term 12 is about a young woman working in a home for troubled teenagers, the characters that she meets and her own battles that she has to face after having masked them for a very long time. Brie Larson, who plays the protagonist (Grace), seemed vaguely familiar to me so I looked her up and I was stunned to discover that she played Envy Adams in Scott Pilgrim Vs The World - her acting is incredible and I wouldn't have ever guessed that Grace and Envy were played by the same actress.

What struck me about this film is how beautiful all the interactions between the characters are but how these interactions lure you into a false sense of security which is then completely disrupted by sudden heart-wrenching action (I won't go into detail because this is definitely something you should watch for yourself). Another great detail of the film is how it comes full circle, with parallels between the first scene and the last scene that complete the movie and make a point of how life and relationships between people progress.

The trailer includes some wonderful quotes that sum up the film better than I ever could:

'A roller coaster of emotion... both heartwarming and heartrending at once.' - The Playlist
'Brie Larson is a quiet revelation. The same could be said of the film itself.' - film.com
'The whole thing just feels perfect... a shining example of what cinema is all about' - slashfilm

This film is definitely worth a watch or two - for its subtle humour, moving narrative, stunning cinematography, incredible script and captivating characters.

Breathless (1960) / A Bout De Souffle - film response

Whilst Breathless didn't appeal to me very much in terms of the plot or style of the film, I could really appreciate some of its aspects...

The unusual editing in the film really interested me and was definitely one of the features that kept me pulled in. It felt quite refreshing to see slightly surreal continuity and editing in such an old film and it helped to revamp it a little.
The main characters were both rather unlikeable, in my opinion, but they both also contributed a great deal to the film in terms of style and a certain smoothness and suaveness. Their calm looks, sunglasses and cigarettes all helped to create their flawless and composed characters.

 There was definitely a strong undercurrent of issues around America and France and the strong differences/controversy between them. Many of the film's lines talked about the difference between American girls and French girls and comparisons between the cultures were frequent.

Breathless (or A Bout De Souffle) was definitely an interesting and worthwhile watch but I can't say that I would rush to watch it again any time soon.

Begin Again

I went to see Begin Again with a few people from the film studies class. It was very empty in the screen and the cinema and the cinema experience was generally nice, except the lights came on during the end of the film rather than after it finished (but oh well).
The film felt perfect in length, and actually a little short compared to the last few films I've watched in the cinema.

Begin Again was very sweet - with a few moments of comedy and drama, it was just a happy film. I thought the idea of recording their own album in various places around New York City was lovely and the characters all had such interesting depth to them. I was concerned there would be too much focus and plot dependency on the ex-boyfriend-turned-pop-legend, but I was pleasantly surprised. The focus was instead put into the character of Violet, the daughter of Dan who I had no idea would be a character in the film.
All the musicians felt very authentic and friendly and the film, although not one of my favourites, was very enjoyable and just nice to watch.
This hasn't been a very coherent response but the film was a real gem and had some absolutely beautiful moments so it is well worth watching it (and Keira Knightley can sing pretty well).

Boyhood (spoilers)

Boyhood was an absolutely incredible film: a fantastic script, amazing cinematography, lovely soundtrack - the whole works.

People often say that they're "transported" into a film and I've never felt so completely involved in the lives of a set of characters. When I watch a film, particularly in a cinema, I tend to get a little distracted and reflect on my life. This barely happened when I watched Boyhood (which is a good thing).

There were some very interesting themes being discussed in the movie, such as domestic violence, alcohol addiction, as well as just the process of growing up.
I also thought that the "everyday" content of the script was great - the comedy all came from everyday situations rather than it being planned out and forced.

The shifts in time were so subtle and it was great to see how these individuals changed over the years, mainly in their appearance but also in the way they behaved.
I liked how the jump between the years would leave the audience to fill in the gaps. Whilst the film was almost 3 hours long, it felt like a great length. In fact, I was a little bit disappointed when it ended - not because I wanted to know what happened next, but because I had been in the middle of the characters' lives for 2 hours and 40 minutes and then suddenly I wasn't.
I kept wondering how they were going to end the film, and I was relieved to find that they didn't seize any of the opportunities to end it softly after cliche scene. Instead, the ending was very reflective (yet humorous) but so abrupt and perfect ... plus, the credits featured one of my favourite songs by Arcade Fire.
I knew Arcade Fire's track (Deep Blue) would be in the film after reading an article about the soundtrack, and I thought the lyrics suited the idea of the film well. I was pleasantly surprised to find that another Arcade Fire song was featured in the middle of the film.

I think my favourite scene had to be the one where Mason travels to his university and stops off along the way to put petrol in his car and take photos of some of the amazing surroundings, all to the music of Hero by Family Of The Year.