SED Artist

Hi ! I am currently in Vietnam, it’s only been a few days, but the process to get here was a long one. Liv and I got a 26 hour long bus from Vientiane, Laos’ capital, to Hanoi. In my few days of being here, I haven’t come up with anything negative to say about it. A lot of positives of course, but I have yet to truly experience and notice something that I absolutely felt the need to come on here and talk about. I do however have a strong desire to share with my friends my opinions about films I have recently watched.

Cinema is one of those arts that if people let me get into it, I could talk about with them for hours; books of course are the same, and within no time at all, you’re probably going to find yourself reading the same thing but about my recents reads.

I have an extending list of films and series to watch, currently standing at a whopping 217 suggestions, which I am of course gradually ticking off (although that is far harder than it might seem).

Recently I have realised how interesting it can be to dig a little deeper into a film once you’ve finished watching it. Finding videos on YouTube explaining symbolism and hidden meaning behind the directors choices can actually be incredibly valuable and add so much to a film which you may not have initially clicked with. This happened to me when I watched saltburn, which I don’t have tremendously great thing to say about. When I watched a YouTube video on it afterwards, I could really see how close to a masterpiece of almost was. So much about it was clever, subtle, hinting a further depth which could only be considered with afterthought, linking in intrinsic meaning to what one might have assumed was an insignificant detail.

Of course this is not the case with most films, some of them are works of art which cannot even be beautified in its aftermath. With this in mind, I’d like to talk about five recent films I have watched in the last two months. I will start with Saltburn, then Banshees of Inisherin, moving on to The Squid and the Whale, then Society of the Snow, and finishing with Oppenheimer.

By the way, I am no film expert, I cannot act I cannot direct I know very little about the efforts that go into the making of the movie. This is simply the opinion of someone who greatly enjoys films, appreciates detail but also the bigger picture, and love chatting about how I felt during and after watching something.

Saltburn

Inertia. That’s one of the words I would use when talking about this film. Interestingly, and contrary to what I’ve see of public opinion, I found it predictable and I wasn’t enticed by the storytelling at all. I ashamedly admit this because I think that the ideas where there, as were the many signs and symboles which were dotted throughout the film (like the Minotaur or the wings and horns or the Harry Potter books…). I felt either horridly uncomfortable or waiting for the next uncomfortable thing to happen, which was for me the main curiosity of the entire thing, just waiting for something to happen, and found myself disappointed when what followed was neither crazy nor interesting and was simply cringe worthy. I’m being slightly harsh, and I do think this might be because of the extent to which the media worshipped it. I expected something utterly jaw dropping and miraculous but it was not that. The video I watched afterwards about the foreshadowing, symbolism and links to Greek mythology was way more interesting, and I wish these had been centrifugal aspects of this almost good creation.
Also, little afterthought, I think that saltburn is one of those films which is more enjoyable to talk about and think about in retrospect rather than actually watching it

Banshees of Inisherin

Reviewed this on letterbox, and gave it 3 stars and 3/4. I’m taking away the 1/4 of the 4th star mainly because it was really slow and actually hurt my feelings throughout the entire thing, which is also the reason why I think it was such a clever film. The directing was genius and, contrary to saltburn, although it was slow, many things did actually happen. This reminds me of French cinematography where, although things are slow, they’re really intensely emotional and very focused on the characters feelings and personalities. I think this is possibly the hardest thing to achieve in filmmaking, because of the fear of making something boring and too extensively complicated. Genuinely such a clever film, made me feel true compassion for every character, I felt like I lived every person’s story individually and I think it broke my heart.

The Squid and the Whale

Firstly I have to say, what great acting !!

How disturbingly human this is.

How hard for a mother to be so disgustingly treated by her eldest son.

How cruel for a father to impose his opinion so harsh and so skewered on his children.

I hate it

But also

Very raw.

Uncomfortably emotional.

Fascinating, the parallel yet opposing links between the two brothers. The mother in one the father in the other. The different grasp in hand shakes and the depth of their meaning.

What an insufferable weight to see one another in your own children and perceive the nastiness of one’s own scorn in their paroles and habits.

The cashew… a clear sign of his parents lack of awareness. Subtly sad.

Phenomenal part with the shrink, where he speaks solely of his mum. What a terrible beautiful tragedy to go through, to love and hate your mother in such a way. Isn’t that the true tragedy in life, to hate the one who loves you most ?

Society of the Snow

On a similar note to the squid and the whale here, how disturbingly human. It may not have helped that I watched these back to back on my 26 hour journey on a bus, but god did they make me feel trapped in what it is to be human and be so helpless in the face of disaster. Whether that be a plane crash or divorce. I did have to pause this film a multitude of times throughout, because who can truly stomach something so terrifying in one gulp. Although I’m sure we’ve all had horrifying nightmares about being in a plane crash, I don’t think that bit was the most nauseating part. The narration of an individual in a group setting really pulled you into the situation, making the possibility of finding yourself in their position seem all too real. By the end of the film, I felt like I was one of them and had been a part of all their endeavours, losing sight of what it means to be human, and blurring the lines between survival and sin. What a horrible line to find yourself having to smudge.

Oppenheimer (spoiler alert ‼️)

Watched this on the plane journey over to Singapour and was utterly grasped by the acting, the story, the charisma and curiosities of this film. Cillian Murphy was perfect for the role, beautifully embodying the doubts and genius that come with being such an intelligent scientist who, just like anyone else, is navigating his place in the world and amongst the people around him during the soul crushing truths of World War II. I have to say also that Emily Blunt absolutely killed her role as his wife, one specific moment springing to mind when she finds him devastated by the death of Jean (his ex-lover) where she ruthlessly abandons him in his pain. The Einstein story in this all was tremendously clever and beautifully navigated concerning the communist revolts. I loved the smaller stories contained within this larger one, and thought the ending was immaculate. Christopher Nolan really cleaned up every little crumb he’d scattered throughout. Loved it !

So these are my five completely amateur, poorly excecuted and probbaly utterly false reviews of films I have watched recently. Keeping in mind these are my own opinions of each film, and I did choose to watch these and spend time writing about them afterwards so they must have sparked something, which is always a good thing. I could also eventually change my mind about some of the things I said here, so don’t take me too seriously.

This blog was slightly off track I guess, although I didn’t really define a track, and I am definitely going to fluctuating between topics, so feel free to ignore whichever ones you hate the look of. Might do a book one soon. And a photo one.

Thanks for your attention guys xx