25 years since the release of Riget II that ended with a conclusion that were left with more questions than answers into the fates of many of its characters. It was an ending that was widely considered unsatisfying and for the longest time, it looked like there were going to be unanswered since several actors from the first two mini-series have died. Death is a prominent theme in the third and final part of the mini-series yet it takes place 25 years after what happened as it revolves around a sleepwalker in Karen (Bodil Jorgensen) who is watching the finale of Riget II as she wakes up from her sleep as she walks into the Kingdom as she is given a mission to finish what Mrs. Drusse was trying to uncover. Like the two mini-series before, each episode opens with images of people washing clothes onto a swamp known as bleach pools is where the Kingdom would be built and it would end with Lars von Trier talking to the audience about what had happened on the episode as well as telling the audience to take the good with the evil. This time around, von trier only appears behind the curtains as a way to hide his current-self due to his Parkinson’s diagnosis with only his shoes appearing.
The teleplay by von Trier and Niels Vorsel does keep the same narrative structure like in the miniseries before except there’s a lot more chaos around from within as well as this conflict between the Swedes and the Danes with several Swedes working in a hospital as they all have to try and hide their identities with many of them converging into a group meeting known as Swedes Anonymous. There are five episodes in this season instead of four in the two previous seasons though each episode has a cold open with the first one entitled Halmar having Karen watching Riget II on DVD as the season has a lot of mentions and references to the previous show with complaints over its lack of realism and how they blame von Trier for ruining the hospital’s reputation. Several characters from the previous seasons such as Jorgen “Hook” Krogshoj (Soren Pilmark), Judith Petersen (Brigitte Raaberg), Rigmor Mortensen (Ghita Norby), Morten “Mogge” Moesgaard (Peter Mygind, Little/Big Brother (Udo Kier), Mona (Laura Christensen), the secretary Fru Svendsen (Birthe Neumann), Director Bob (Henning Jensen), and Camilla (Solbjorg Hojfeldt) do return as it play into their own fates and what had happened to them. Yet, von Trier and Vorsel chooses to focus on not just the new characters but also this growing chaos within the hospital that is coming out during the Christmas holidays.
In Halmar Stig Helmer Jr. (Mikael Persbrandt) arrives to the Kingdom from Sweden to oversee and observe the hospital’s operations if it lives up to standards similar to Sweden as he tries to not cause or bring trouble. Instead, he learns that Danes have managed to live up to standards but also with ideas that are confusing as its manager Pontopidan (Lars Mikkelsen) is trying to avoid conflict and chaos while also dealing with insomnia and the presence of Mortensen who annoys him whenever they meet in the elevator. Among the main people in the staff that Helmer has to deal with is the irritable Filip Naver (Nikolaj Lie Kaas), Mogge, and the Swedish nurse Anna (Tuva Novotny) whom he would be attracted to yet she would sue him for sexual harassment in the second episode entitled The Congress Dances where the two both go to the Swedish lawyer (Alexander Skarsgard) who does his practice in a bathroom like his father did before him in the second season where Helmer learns about his father upon meeting Mortensen. That episode revolves around a conference focusing on pain hosted by Pontopidan while Karen is aided by the attendant Balder (Nicolas Bro) to become a patient in the neurosurgery ward where she meets the nurse Camilla who is haunted by the presence of an evil figure who has arrived in the Grand Duc (Willem Dafoe) who learns what Karen is trying to do.
The third episode Big Brother relates to the character and his whereabouts along with the whereabouts of Mona and the remains of Mrs. Drusse at swamp underneath the hospital as Karen realizes her mission as they find Judith Petersen who is given a chance to redeem herself. Even as she would also get the antidote that Helmer’s father had to get Hook out of his cruel state as he had been banished from the hospital due to what happened at the end of the second season. Helmer meanwhile gets the ire of Naver following a surgery where it was performed on Karen instead of a different patient as Helmer endured an act of humiliation because of Denmark’s strange approach to justice that forces him to get revenge for himself and his father upon learning what happened to his father. The fourth episode Barbarossa is about Helmer’s plan for revenge with help from Anna, the computer technician/hacker Kalle (Ida Engvall) and the kitchen worker Bosse (David Dencik) in committing acts of terrorism through small means. Having saved Big Brother during a massive heart surgery, Judith reunites with her son while Karen brings in a box of blocks for Mona who finishes her message that unveils a massively shocking revelation for Helmer.
Its finale entitled Exodus is the culmination of everything as Helmer’s plan to take over failed due to this revelation with Anna being punished and humiliated forcing the two to quit the Kingdom. Even as Karen and Balder deal with their doppelgangers with Hook’s help in his own quest for redemption as they make some discoveries about the location of the Kingdom just as the Grand Duc does whatever he can to stop them. Even as chaos looms all over the hospital as the Grand Duc awaits the arrival of his master. It all plays into this event for the entire series as its ending is pure von Trier not just in this idea of death but also a cruel fate for a key character of the entire series.
The direction of von Trier is definitely stylish though it opens in a letterboxed presentation with full colors where Karen watches Riget II at home complaining about its ending only to later wake up and arrive at the Kingdom where the aspect ratio changes to a 1:66:1 aspect ratio with sepia-drenched colors to return to the look of the entire series. The direction, with additional work by Christian E. Christiansen, is presented with a lot of hand-held cameras with some slanted camera angles but also some unique tracking shots with its emphasis on wide shots to get a scope of the hospital as a whole along with shots of the locations with the bridge that borders Denmark and Sweden. There are also medium shots and close-ups that do play into von Trier’s vision including the scenes that mirror moments from the previous seasons including two characters in the dishwashers in the midget-like male dishwasher (Jesper Sorensen) and a female robotic arm (voice of Jasmine Junker) who both serve as a Greek chorus of sorts as, like their predecessors, are the smartest people in the entire building.
The direction also has von Trier play into many things that relates to the miniseries and himself such as a scene of Anna trying to seduce Helmer only to later sue him for sexual harassment in The Congress Dances as well as a humiliating event in the elevator in Barbarossa where Anna jumps over the sight of a snake with her pants falling down and Helmer catching her with many believing Helmer is raping her. It plays into many of von Trier’s own accusations in sexual harassment as Helmer is someone that doesn’t want to offend any woman or do the wrong thing but is often put in compromising situations that doesn’t make himself any better as he turns to the Swedish attorney as it is told with a lot of humor. The series has von Trier continuing many gags as it relates to director Bob trying to play Solitaire on his computer while dealing with warts, wasteful liquids, and issues with another hospital in Copenhagen that has a proton accelerator.
By the time it reaches the finale, there are these elements that doesn’t just play into Sweden’s issues with Denmark as it plays into this sense of superiority from the former towards the latter but also the fact that the latter have a weird idea of justice and such where those who are punished are put into the stocks and get kicked in the ass. It would add to not just Helmer’s hatred of the Danes as he would say the words that his father often said at the end of every episode from the past but he would gain an ally in Anna who too would be humiliated by the Danes. It all plays into locations where von Trier would use it for this major climatic moment but there are a lot of things as it relates to the hospital’s origins with the Grand Duc wanting to destroy all no matter who it is. All of which has him awaiting the arrival of his master who does unveil himself as it has this dark sense of humor while its final shot post-credit is also a form of humor as it plays into everything that had happened. Overall, von Trier crafts a fucking insane, horrifying, disgusting, and hilarious TV mini-series about a hospital where a lot of bad shit goes on with an old woman trying to uncover its mystery as well as deal with some bad people.
Cinematographer Manuel Alberto Claro does brilliant work with the miniseries’ cinematography from the usage of stylish lights and colors for the first episode’s cold open to the sepia-drenched look of the entire series with its emphasis on available light including for many of the scenes set at night. Editors Olivier Bugge Coutte, Jacob Secher, Schulsinger, and My Thordal do excellent work with the editing with its usage of straight cuts, some jump-cuts to play into some of the chases and other bits that add style to the entire miniseries. Production designer Simone Grau Roney and art director Cecilia Hellner do amazing work with the look of the interiors as well as the designs of some of the new places such as the corridors that lead to the swamp and the rooms/offices of the doctors. Costume designer Manon Rasmussen does nice work with the look of the costumes from the refined look of Helmer to the more casual look of everyone else in the miniseries that also include Santa hats.
Prosthetics and makeup effects designer Love Larson does nice work with the look of a few characters with Big Brother being the most notable as well a few mysterious characters including the design of a discovery that Kalle and Balder found. The visual effects by Laurent Ravicini and Peter Hjorth is terrific as it play into some of the supernatural elements including the scenes in the swamp. Sound designer Eddie Simonsen does superb work with the sound as it play into the atmosphere of the locations and in the rooms as well as the sounds of ghosts and natural disasters that would occur throughout the miniseries. The miniseries’ music consists of score pieces from the previous series by Joachim Holbek including its main theme as it also include some classical pieces and contemporary music with some of it played on location as well as a score piece performed by Eduard Artmeyev as a homage to the film Solaris.
The miniseries’ ensemble cast is great as it feature some notable small roles and guest appearances from Solbjorg Hojfeldt as the nurse Camilla who is haunted by words relating to the Grand Duc, Jesper Sorensen and Jasmine Junker as the dishwaters who serve as the Greek chorus for the series, David Dencik as a kitchen worker who is part of the Swedes Anonymous group, Peter Mygind as Morten “Mogge” Moesgaard as a doctor who works in the hospital though there’s questions about his fate at the end of the second miniseries, Soren Pilmark as Jorgen “Hook” Krogshoj who has been banished from the main hospital grounds as he’s been grouchy and disdainful until an anecdote brought him back to his old self as he would help Karen and Balder, Brigitte Raaberg as Judith Petersen as a former neurosurgeon turned cardiologist who laments over the loss of her son until she gets a chance to redeem herself and reunite with him, Ghita Norby as Helmer Sr.’s widow Rigmor Mortensen as a former doctor who annoys Pontopidan in the elevators while being amputated as she meets Helmer about his father, Birthe Neumann as the secretary Fru Svendsen who tries to keep things in bay as she endures the chaos that is going on, and Laura Christensen as a brain-damaged patient of Helmer Sr. in Mona who is in a swamp as she is eager to finish her message about Helmer Sr.
Henning Jensen is terrific as director Bob who deals with a lot of things as he hopes to be better than a rival hospital while trying to master Solitaire despite some difficulty. Udo Kier is superb as Big Brother as Judith’s deformed son who has been drowning on his tears as he is dying while he also copes with the terror in the hospital as it relates to where it was built. Alexander Skarsgard is fantastic in his small role as the Swedish attorney as he takes over his father’s practice by doing things in a bathroom as he deals with his clients but also his disdain for the Danes. Ida Engvall is excellent as the Swedish computer technician/hacker Kalle who also harbors disdain towards the Danes but is also someone who can get things done while Nikolaj Lie Kaas is hilarious as the irritable Naver as a surgeon who is often annoyed and lashes out while he also does something disgusting with his eye that disgusts people. Lars Mikkelsen is brilliant as Pontopidan as the hospital floor manager who deals with insomnia as he loves to sleep on a bag of peas while also coping with a lot of the chaos where he prefers not to be confrontational.
Willem Dafoe is incredible as the Grand Duc as this mysterious evil figure who is an agent of chaos as he does what he can to stop Karen while creating doppelgangers of her and Balder as a way to stop them with Dafoe also speaking Danish throughout the series. Tuva Novotny is great as Anna as a Swedish nurse who hides her background as she tries to seduce Helmer but through awkward means as she would sue him and such only to get into trouble of her own as well as trying to hold on to her pants. Mikael Persbrandt is phenomenal as Stig Helmer Jr. as a renowned Swedish surgeon who arrives in Denmark only to deal with a lot of things that upset him as he learns more about his father and why his father hates the Danes where he brings a lot of wit to his performance. Nicolas Bro is sensational as Balder as an attendant, who is called Bulder by many in reference to the character from the series, who helps Karen with her quest while dealing with the chaos at the hospital despite some of his clumsiness and such. Finally, there’s Bodil Jorgensen in a tremendous performance as Karen as a sleepwalker who also has a personality in which she speaks in another voice where she goes to the hospital to finish Mrs. Drusse’s mission where she learns about the hospital as well as the evil forces in the hope she can save it despite the many obstacles she goes through.
Riget: Exodus is an outstanding TV miniseries from Lars von Trier. Featuring a great cast, eerie visuals, a great mixture of suspense and dark humor, and giving audiences of the previous miniseries a fitting conclusion. It is a miniseries that doesn’t just play into the world of terror, hospital dramas, and other weird shit but it also a miniseries that all play into the world of death and the inevitable as it relates to death. If this miniseries is to become Lars von Trier’s final project due to his Parkinson’s disease, then what a way to go out. In the end, Riget: Exodus is a magnificent TV miniseries from Lars von Trier.
Lars von Trier Films: The Element of Crime - Epidemic - Medea (1988 TV film) - Europa - The Kingdom - Breaking the Waves - The Kingdom II - Dogme #2: Idioterne - Dancer in the Dark - Dogville - The Five Obstructions - Manderlay - The Boss of It All - Antichrist - Dimension (2010 short) - Melancholia - Nymphomaniac - The House That Jack Built - (Etudes)
Related: Favorite Films #3: Breaking the Waves - The Auteurs #7: Lars von Trier
© thevoid99 2023
Two decades after the death of son during World War I, the film follows a man who drunkenly creates a wooden boy to cope with his loss as it comes to life where the boy struggles with not just winning his father’s approval but also what it means to live. It is a film that takes the premise of the story of a man who creates a puppet who turns into a boy as it is set in Fascist Italy at a time when conformity and playing to certain rules are in tow which is something that a puppet with no strings is trying to deal with as well as the idea of love and what it means to exist. The film’s screenplay by Guillermo del Toro and Patrick McHale is told largely by a cricket in Sebastian J. Cricket (Ewan McGregor) about the titular character (Gregory Mann) and how he had been created by this lonely carpenter in Geppetto (David Bradley) after having lost his son Carlo (Gregory Mann) during an aerial bombing in World War I as he had been ravaged by grief until he cuts down a tree where Cricket was living and turned it into a puppet. It is then where a fairy in the Wood Sprite (Tilda Swinton) would cast a spell for the puppet to come to life while asking Cricket to watch over and guide him.
While Geppetto’s initial encounter with Pinocchio has him confused and frightened as does Pinocchio’s appearance at the town’s local church. Geppetto does what he can to steer Pinocchio the right way but also him wanting to be like Carlo yet there is also pressure from the Podesta (Ron Perlman) who wants Geppetto to ensure that Pinocchio becomes part of the Italian Royal Army upon a major discovery they would have much to Geppetto’s horror. Even as Pinocchio would encounter the failing circus ringmaster Volpe (Christoph Waltz) who would get Pinocchio to sign a contract that would keep him out of the eye of the Podesta but also keep Pinocchio performing in order to keep Geppetto out of debt. It all plays into Pinocchio’s development and his conversations with Cricket as it has him thinking about not just wanting to live but also to find his own voice as he watches the abuse that Volpe has on his longtime assistant monkey Spazzatura (Cate Blanchett) as well as a closer look into the world of Fascist Italy upon being watched by the Podesta at youth training camp.
The direction of del Toro and Mark Gustafson is astonishing in its overall presentation due to the attention to detail that both men put into its look as it is created on studio locations in Portland, Oregon and Guadalajara, Mexico. With Gustafson and his team of animators doing much of the stop-motion work with production designers Guy Davis and Curt Enderle, with set decorators Jesse Gregg, Gillian Hunt, Samantha Levy, Molly Light, Laura Savage, and Zach Sheehan plus art directors Andy Berry, Karla Castaneda, Robert DeSue, and Juan J. Medina, helping to create much of the backdrops in the look of the forests and woods in such grand detail. Even with Davis also creating some of the creatures including Cricket, Spazzatura, and the sea monster for the film’s climax, there is a look that is del Toro in terms of its approach to death as well as horror with the former involving a sequence in which Pinocchio meets a death fairy (Tilda Swinton) in a surrealistic presentation of the afterlife. Since the film is also based on the illustrations of Gris Grimly, del Toro and Gustafson maintain this look that quite wobbly in its presentation as there is a realism to the animation as well as a physicality in how they take this story and set it into a world where there are elements of politics and existentialism in the mix.
Even in a scene where Pinocchio asks his father why people don’t like him but love this model of the crucifixion as it is among these things that Pinocchio would go into. The compositions that del Toro and Gustafson create add to the drama that Pinocchio goes through in the wide and medium shots in a location or in one of Pinocchio’s stage performances as well as close-ups that play into the characters as they cope with whatever situation they’re in. Notably in the climax as it plays into Pinocchio and Geppetto dealing with a sea monster as all of the lessons that Pinocchio would learn allows him to deal with the situations as well as an understanding of both life and death. Overall, del Toro and Gustafson craft an exquisitely moving and ravishing film about a wooden boy who comes to life and learns about existence and identity during the era of Fascist Italy.
Cinematographer Frank Passingham does incredible work with the cinematography as it helps the look of the film give it a sense of physicality in the lighting while helping to set mood to help bring more texture to the production design. Editors Ken Schretzmann and Holly Klein do amazing work with the editing as it is largely straightforward to play into some of the musical numbers but also in some of the dramatic and terrifying moments with its rhythmic cuts. Visual effects supervisors Cameron Carson and Aaron Weintraub do excellent work with the visual effects as it is mainly set dressing for some scenes involving war and fire as it help broaden the visuals. Sound designer Scott Martin Gershin does brilliant work with the sound in the way certain objects sound as well as the way an instrument sounds on a location or how bombs sound from afar. The film’s music by Alexandre Desplat is phenomenal with its rich orchestral score that has elements of lush strings and orchestral pianos themes along with some offbeat percussive-based themes while the soundtrack also feature original songs written by Desplat along with lyrics by del Toro, McHale, and Roeben Katz that add to the drama and humorous moments in the film that are sung by its cast.
The casting by Mary Hidalgo is great as it feature some notable small voice roles from Tom Kenny in a trio of voice performances as a sea captain, a right-hand for Mussolini, and the Italian Fascist leader Benito Mussolini as well as Tim Blake Nelson as a quartet of black rabbits, John Turturro as a doctor in the small town Geppetto lives in, Burn Gorman as the local priest, Finn Wolfhard as the son of the Podesta in Candlewick who at first bullies Pinocchio only to befriend him late in the film, and Cate Blanchett in a superb voice cameo as Volpe’s monkey assistant Spazzatura who talks through puppets where Blanchett brings unique voices as a monkey who is jealous of Pinocchio only to realize the good in Pinocchio. Tilda Swinton is fantastic in a dual voice role as the magical fairy known as the Wood Sprite and her sister known as Death where Swinton brings different tones to the two characters as they lament on the ideas of both life and death. Ron Perlman is excellent as the Podesta as a Fascist government official who sees Pinocchio at first as a freak only to see that he could become a symbol for the government in their rise while trying to raise his son as a perfect soldier for Fascist Italy.
Christoph Waltz is brilliant as Volpe as a former aristocrat-turned circus ringmaster who sees Pinocchio as a way to get him back into aristocracy as well as a chance to get in the good graces of Mussolini as he brings a charm to this evil character. Ewan McGregor is amazing as Sebastian J. Cricket as the film’s narrator and conscience-of-sorts who tries to steer Pinocchio onto the right path while dealing with being squished and such as well as trying to do what he can where he laments over his role. David Bradley is incredible as Geppetto as a woodcarver/carpenter who laments over the loss of his son as well as dealing with Pinocchio as he is someone ravaged by grief while trying to understand the many flaws of Pinocchio while trying to go on a search for him when Pinocchio joins the circus. Finally, there’s Gregory Mann in a sensational voice performance in the dual role of Carlo and the titular character as he brings an exuberance and innocence to the former as well as an energy into the latter as well as this vulnerability of someone who is just trying to understand the ideas of life and death where Mann brings a lot of life into both of these roles.
Pinocchio is a tremendous film from Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson. Featuring a great ensemble cast, gorgeous visuals, ravishing art direction, its story of existentialism and identity, amazing character/creature designs, and Alexandre Desplat’s enchanting music score. It is a film that takes a tale told many times but bring something new to it and set it during a tumultuous time in world history as it help play into a wooden boy trying to find himself as well as a physicality that gives the film an edge in its stop-motion animation presentation. In the end, Pinocchio is a magnificent film from Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson.
Guillermo del Toro Films: Cronos - Mimic - The Devil's Backbone - Blade II - Hellboy - Pan's Labyrinth - Hellboy II: The Golden Army - Pacific Rim - Crimson Peak - The Shape of Water - Nightmare Alley (2021 film)
Related: (Pinocchio (1940 film)) - The Auteurs #10: Guillermo del Toro
© thevoid99 2023
For the first week of Thursday Movie Picks hosted by Wanderer of Wandering Through the Shelves, we go into the subject of 2022 film releases as 2022 was a crazy year. A year that saw some big films but also events that didn’t live up to the hype and films that just fucking sucked. Here are my three picks for 2022 film releases that I hope to never fucking see:
1. Ambulance
2. The Bubble
3. Morbius
© thevoid99 2023
The film is based on four different segments involving a French theatre troupe who decide to make a film in Sarajevo during the Bosnian War of the mid-1990s in the hope it would bring peace only for a few of the actors to be captured. It is a film that doesn’t have much of a plot as it often features dialogue relating to the ideas of cinema and art during wartime and how they hope it can help people. The narrative is broken down to four chapters as the first revolves around this theatre troupe coming together about taking part of a project by this aging filmmaker as the second chapter have the group and filmmaker arriving in Bosnia yet the latter chooses to abandon them where they get a closer look at the chaos of war. The third segment revolves around the filmmaker on a beachside area making his film while it would play into the reality of what modern audiences want instead of the film they’re presenting with its fourth and final segment being a concert in which a young man dresses up like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Jean-Luc Godard’s direction is largely straightforward in terms of his compositions as it is shot largely on locations in Switzerland and France with the latter for scenes on the beach as it plays into Europe emerging into the 21st Century with war still ongoing in Bosnia. While it is presented in a 1:66:1 aspect ratio to get a look into some of the locations in some of its wide and medium shots, Godard does maintain a simplicity in his presentation while adding elements of absurdity as it relates to the story. Even as it also play into discussions of literature as well as these scenes of these young actors walking through Bosnia as they get captured where they see the action of Serbian military officials. Also serving as editor, Godard keeps much of the editing straightforward with a few dissolves and fade-to-black for stylistic reasons as it play into the drama but also this air of discussion into the role art has in the world as well as how it would respond during wartime. Even as the film’s final segment is about the futility of art and its place in the world despite changing times and chaotic events in the world. Overall, Godard crafts an unconventional yet engaging film about a filmmaker and actors trying to stage a project in Sarajevo during the Bosnian War.
Cinematographers Katell Dijan, Jean-Pierre Fedrizzi, and Christophe Pollock do amazing work with the film’s cinematography with its usage of vibrant colors in many of the film’s exteriors as well as some natural lighting for some of the daytime interior/exterior settings including its final segment. Production designer Ivan Niclass does excellent work with the look of home office of the filmmaker as well as some of the hotel suites that the filmmaker’s entourage live in. Costume designers Marina Zuliani and Nadine Butin do fantastic work with the costumes ranging from some of the stylish clothing the actors were for the third segment as well as the clothes of the man playing Mozart. The sound work of Francois Musy, Jacques Descomps, and Olivier Burgaud is brilliant for the way mortar bombs, gunfire, and tanks sound from afar or up close as well as the way many of the natural sounds are presented on location. The film’s music soundtrack largely features stock music by Ketil Bjornstad, Jon Christensen, David Darling, Ben Harper, and Gyorgy Kurtag that play into some of the drama as much of its soundtrack features music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
The film’s wonderful cast feature some notable small roles from Michele Francini as the man funding the film, Sabine Bail as the financier’s girlfriend, Berangere Allaux as an actress appearing in the film, and Euryale Winter as a musician who dresses up like Mozart for a concerto. Ghalia Lacroix is fantastic as Jamilla as a maid for the filmmaker who joins the gang to act only to deal with the chaos of war as well as being an object of desire for the Serbian soldiers. Frederic Pierrot is excellent as Jerome as the director’s nephew who is also an actor as he also has some feelings for his cousin and co-star. Madeleine Assas is brilliant as the actress Camille who is also the filmmaker’s daughter as she deals with the chaos of war as she is an idealist hoping that this project would help stop the war. Finally, there’s Vicky Messica as the aging filmmaker as a man who wants to create a project as he deals with being in Bosnia as he later copes with the chaos around him as well as the troubling aspects of making a film that doesn’t have any commercial prospects.
For Ever Mozart is a remarkable film from Jean-Luc Godard. While it is a film that doesn’t have a strong plot in favor of being an experimental film with an unconventional narrative that is nonsensical at times. It is still a fascinating film that play into the idea of art trying to bring some escapism during a time of war. In the end, For Ever Mozart is a marvelous film from Jean-Luc Godard.
Jean-Luc Godard Films: All the Boys Are Called Patrick - Charlotte et son Jules - A Bout de Souffle - The Little Soldier - A Woman is a Woman - Vivre sa Vie - Les Carabiniers - Contempt - Bande a Parte - A Married Woman - Alphaville - Pierrot le fou - Masculin Feminin - Made in U.S.A. - Two or Three Things I Know About Her - La Chinoise – Weekend (1967 film) - Sympathy for the Devil (One Plus One) - (Joy of Learning) – (British Sounds) – Tout va Bien - (Letter to Jane) - (One A.M.) - (Number Two) - (Here and Elsewhere) - (Every Man for Himself) - (Passion) - (First Name: Carmen) - Hail, Mary - (Soft and Hard) - (Detective) - (King Lear (1987 film)) - (Keep Your Right Up) - (Nouvelle Vague) - (Allemagne 90 neuf zero) - (JLG/JLG - Self-Portrait in December) - (Historie(s) de Cinema) - (In Praise of Love) - (Notre musique) - (Film Socialisme) - (Adieu au Language) – (The Image Book)
© thevoid99 2023
Set during the 2020 pandemic, a tech billionaire invites his closest friends to his island for a getaway weekend to solve his own murder mystery with the renowned detective Benoit Blanc being a surprise guest where he realizes something is wrong. It is a film that explore the world of the rich in which five people who are either famous or are influential go to this Greek island to meet their friend to celebrate the launch of a new formula yet things don’t go well where everyone has a motive. Rian Johnson’s screenplay has an offbeat structure though much of its narrative is straightforward as it involves these five people who are all close friends with this tech billionaire in Miles Bron (Edward Norton) as they’ve all become successful because of him. Among those he invites are his head scientist Lionel Toussaint (Leslie Odom Jr.), the governor of Connecticut in Claire Debella (Kathryn Hahn), controversial fashion designer Birdie Jay (Kate Hudson), and men’s right influencer Duke Cody (Dave Bautista) while Jay brings her longtime assistant Peg (Jessica Henwick) and Cody brings his girlfriend Whiskey (Madelyn Cline).
Another invitation was sent to Bron’s former business partner in Alpha co-founder Cassandra “Andi” Brand (Janelle Monae) who reluctantly goes while an additional invitation was sent to Blanc where Bron has no clue who sent that invitation. The weekend getaway isn’t just a reunion between old friends who all met at a bar they used to hang out but also to announce the launch of a new alternative fuel that Bron wants to present to the world much to the concerns of both Toussaint and Debella believing that this fuel is dangerous. Johnson’s script doesn’t just play into this event where Bron is expected to be murdered only for the night to not go as planned. It’s also in the characters as Debella’s governor campaign was funded by Bron as she reluctantly allows him to create a factory for his new fuel while Toussaint is also someone who raises concerns about the fuel yet is forced to cover up for him to save his reputation. Jay is a politically-incorrect former model-turned-designer who is in trouble as she is being blackmailed to make a statement to save Bron while Cody is dealing with declining interest as he wants to be part of Bron’s new media outlet.
Then there’s Andi as she was the one introduced Bron to everyone and was the smartest person around until Bron became powerful and she was forced out of the company they created with Cody, Debella, Jay, and Toussaint testifying on his behalf to get Andi out. The script also play into this island that these people are in, that also has another guest in a slacker named Derol (Noah Segan) who just lazes around and doesn’t do anything, as it’s run by this alternative fuel that Bron believes will create good yet when a key character dies. Everything becomes questionable but also raises a lot of questions about why Bron wanted to be the victim in a play-murder mystery where nearly everyone on this island has a motive in wanting to kill him. Yet, it is Blanc that is trying to figure things out but there is questions into how he got an invitation that is revealed in the second half as it plays into more intrigue while raising the stakes into the suspense and drama itself.
Johnson’s direction is definitely stylish not just for its playful sense of intrigue but also setting it almost entirely in this Greek island as it is shot on location in the island of Septses in Greece with some interior scenes set in New York City shot on location in Belgrade. Yet, the film opens with Cody, Debella, Jay, and Toussaint each receiving a big box as they call each other that is revealed to be a mysterious series of mini-games that ultimately unveils this invitation. It then cuts to a scene of Andi in a garage with the box herself as she just smashes it with a hammer while Blanc’s first scene is him in a bathtub playing a game with some celebrities on his laptop is the moment he gets the mysterious invite. While a lot of Johnson’s compositions are straightforward with its approach to wide and medium shots to establish the locations but also in scenes that are showed from one perspective and then be shown in another perspective from another character that wasn’t shown onscreen.
Johnson also maintains attention to detail when it comes to close-ups or shots that was shown previously in a scene be shown again where it is all about the small details. Notably in some of the dialogue with Blanc being someone who is a lot smarter than people realize yet has his limits in serving justice since he’s out of his jurisdiction to do something because he’s in another country. Bron’s house itself is a character in the film where the centerpiece of it is the model of a large glass onion on top of the house while the dining room features the actual painting of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Mona Lisa that Bron had purchased from the Lourve. The house does play into this metaphor of the glass onion where there are many layers but the center of it is where the truth is held as it leads to this climax. Even as the many characters in the film are all guilty of something with some coming clean yet others are unwilling to come clean in order to save themselves as it play into people of wealth as they’re more concerned with maintaining their reputations and power instead of doing the right thing. Overall, Johnson crafts a rapturous and evocative film about a detective who is invited to an island for a murder mystery game only for things to go wrong with everyone being a suspect.
Cinematographer Steve Yedlin does amazing work with the film’s cinematography with its usage of colorful and natural lighting for many of the daytime exterior scenes along with some stylish lighting for the interior/exterior scenes at night. Editor Bob Ducsay does brilliant work with the editing with its emphasis on rhythmic cutting to play into the suspense as well as a few montages for some of the film’s humorous moments. Production designer Rick Heinrichs, with set decorator Elli Griff and supervising art director Andrew Bennett, does excellent work with the look of Bron’s lavish home including his glass onion office room with all of its gadgets and other aspects of the home itself. Costume designer Jenny Eagan does fantastic work with the costumes from the stylish look of Byrd and Andi as well as the more casual look of the other characters.
Hair/makeup designer Jeremy Woodhead does terrific work with the look of the characters in a flashback scene of how they met in the late 90s/early 2000s and they would look in the present. Special effects supervisor Paul Stephenson, along with visual effects supervisors Fabricio de Vasconcellos Baessa Antonio, Geoffrey Basquin, Sameer Malik, David Sadler-Coppard, Boyd Shermis, and Erik Winquist, does nice work with some of the visual effects relating to this hydrogen-based fuel substance as well as some elements of set dressing for some of the scenes in Greece. Sound designer Josh Gold and co-supervising sound editor Matthew Wood do superb work with the sound in the way a strange hourly dong sound appears as well as other elements of sound of how things sound from afar in a particular scene and how it would sound up close.
The film’s music by Nathan Johnson is incredible for its luscious music score that is filled with Eastern European-inspired orchestral arrangements with its strings, harpsichords, and bombastic percussions as it adds to the suspense and drama as it is a highlight of the film while music supervisor Julie Glaze Houlihan creates a soundtrack that features a couple of songs by David Bowie plus the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nat King Cole, Toots and the Maytals, and in the film’s closing credits is the where the film’s title comes from in a song by the Beatles.
The casting by Bret Howe and Mary Vernieu is wonderful as it feature some notable small roles from Dallas Roberts as Debella’s husband, Jackie Hoffman as Cody’s mother, Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the voice of Miles’ clock in the hourly dong, and Noah Segan as a slacker living in Miles’ home who doesn’t really do anything other than be a comic relief. Madelyn Cline is fantastic as Cody’s girlfriend Whiskey who seduces Miles for her own reasons while dealing with the chaos that is happening as she ponders about her time with Cody. Jessica Henwick is terrific as Jay’s assistant Peg who often has to clean her boss’s messes while also wondering the decisions that Jay often makes as she is sort of a conscious in the film. Dave Bautista is excellent as Duke Cody as a video-game Twitch streamer/men’s rights activist who is dealing with declining interest as he hopes to be part of Bron’s new media outlet but also carries some guilt as it relates to Andi. Kate Hudson is brilliant as Birdie Jay as a former-model-turned fashion designer who often says stupid and politically-incorrect things unaware of their meanings as she is dealing with her own scandals where she is being blackmailed by Bron knowing it will ruin her.
Kathryn Hahn is amazing as Governor Claire Debella of Connecticut who worries about Bron’s new idea knowing it will cause trouble but is forced to give in so that she can save her political career. Leslie Odom Jr. is superb as Lionel Toussaint as Bron’s head scientist who is aware of the dangers of this new creation that Bron is trying to push yet has to sit back and be quiet due to the fact that he also has a reputation to protect. Edward Norton is incredible as Miles Bron as a billionaire/tech mogul who has invited his friends to his island as he hopes to offer them a glimpse into the future into a new hydrogen-based alternative fuel believing it will help the world unaware of its dangers while is also arrogant in his beliefs and ideals that makes him a major target towards his old friends.
Janelle Monae is phenomenal as Cassandra “Andi” Brand as Bron’s former business partner who gets a reputation as she is often seen from afar and is quiet until when she decides to speak while Monae brings a lot of layers into her performance that is full of humor but also some depth into a woman who felt cheated as well as wanting some idea of justice. Finally, there’s Daniel Craig in a sensational performance as Benoit Blanc as the renowned detective who gets a mysterious invitation to Bron’s island while trying to uncover everything that is going on as he also has a lot of questions about everyone around him where Craig brings some humor as well as a lot of wit into his character that makes Craig a joy to watch while the scenes he has with Monae are also a joy in the way they help each other.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is a spectacular film from Rian Johnson that is headed by great performances from Daniel Craig and Janelle Monae. Along with its ensemble cast, gorgeous locations, its approach to suspense and drama, and an exhilaratingly rich music score by Nathan Johnson. It is a film that isn’t just full of excitement and thrills but also a film that explores a group of people on an island dealing with a murder mystery and much more with a detective trying to solve it and uncover some dark truths. In the end, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is a tremendous film from Rian Johnson.
Rian Johnson Films: Brick - The Brothers Bloom - Looper - Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi - Knives Out - (Knives Out 3)
© thevoid99 2023
Ever since he recorded a parody of the Knack’s My Sharona into My Bologna in late 1979 that eventually lead to a long-standing career as an artist of his own who is famous for music parodies as well as some unique originals and genre parodies. “Weird” Al Yankovic is a figure that is difficult to define when it comes to being the subject of a movie bio-pic as a parody trailer from 2010 showed exactly what might’ve been. However like all other movie bio-pics before him, Yankovic too would play into the many plot schematics that is expected where that person comes from humble beginnings, being rebellious, creating the first hit song, becoming famous, doing drugs, alienating those, crashing down to Earth, killing some people along the way, doing mountains of cocaine, sex scandals with farm animals, losing everything including the money, going home, and then make that great comeback album that unfortunately sucked ass. Actually, a lot that was mentioned didn’t exactly happened to Yankovic in real-life as he never drank, did drugs, doesn’t eat meat, doesn’t say profanity in his records, and never took himself seriously but he does have an addiction to dessert.
Since Yankovic’s life doesn’t play to those schematics, that doesn’t mean that he and co-writer Eric Appel would make Yankovic’s own life to play into those many clichés with lots of exaggerations and such where much of the film takes place from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s with lots of anachronisms, dramatic liberties, inaccuracies, and all sorts of ridiculous embellishments that somehow work. Even in Yankovic’s relationship with his parents Nick and Mary Yankovic (Toby Huss and Julianne Nicholson, respectively) is played into clichés with the young and teenage Yankovic (Richard Aaron Anderson and David Bloom, respectively) feeling like his parents don’t understand him though the reality was that Nick and Mary Yankovic were more than supportive as they would sometimes appear in Yankovic’s music videos and concerts to the delight of fans. Still, the script does play into the clichés where young Al tries to ponder his father’s hatred for the accordion and polka music where the latter of which is considered to be evil music where the teenage Yankovic was invited to a party unaware that it’s a secret polka party that is considered forbidden with the accordion also considered taboo. It is among these things that play into this surrealistic approach that Appel and Yankovic provide as well as the legendary story of Yankovic’s relationship with Madonna that supposedly never happened.
Appel’s direction is definitely stylized as it opens with Yankovic being sent to the emergency room where the ER doctor (Lin-Manuel Miranda) is about to declare Yankovic’s time of death until Yankovic gets up and asks the doctor for a piece of paper and a number 2 pencil. It then shifts to life of the young Yankovic trying listen to his favorite radio show hosted by Dr. Demento (Rainn Wilson) who would later become Yankovic’s mentor. Shot largely on location in Los Angeles with additional locations in Pompona and Tarzana, California, Appel does keep a lot of the compositions straightforward with some wide and medium shots to establish some of the locations with the latter playing into some of the drama as it relates to Yankovic and his parents but also some strange sequences of how Yankovic creates the song Eat It after eating guacamole laced with LSD. It is among these strange yet hilarious moments that Appel creates where nearly every scene is a play of every cliché expected in a bio-pic but also being aware of how ridiculous it is.
Appel also create scenes that does spoof other films but also real-life moments from stories of other real-life musicians add to the sense of absurdity. Even when Yankovic finds himself in the ire of legendary Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar (Arturo Castro) who felt rejected when Yankovic passed on doing a show for Escobar’s birthday. Though the reality was that Yankovic and Escobar never met, the idea that the latter would be a fan of the former is still hilarious as it plays up the tone of the film that also delves into stylish action moments inspired by films of the 80s. The film’s climax does play into this sense of redemption yet because this isn’t based on any form of fact or anything realistic. It still has this absurdity into what Yankovic endures but also getting some unlikely inspiration for his magnum opus in a song that would give him validation but also the ire of some. Overall, Appel crafts a monumentally idiotic, stupid, and ridiculous film that manages to fucking hilarious and so much more about the life of one of the Weird One.
Cinematographer Ross Riege does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography with its colorful look for the daytime exterior scenes along with stylish lights for the interiors at the Yankovic home and for some of other interior/exterior scenes at night. Editor Jamie Kennedy does excellent work with the editing as it has elements of style in a few montages as well as some of the absurdist-humor moments in the film. Production designer Dan Butts, with set decorator Laura Harper and art director Jack Carnevale, does amazing work with the look of some of the places including the first mansion that Yankovic have as well as the villa where Escobar lived in. Costume designer Wendy Benbrook does fantastic work with the costumes such as the many Hawaiian shirts that Yankovic wore as well a few costumes for some of his songs as well the clothes that Madonna wore during that time in the 80s as well as a look she would have in the many years to come.
Makeup artist K.T. Chandler does nice work with the look of the characters including some of the celebrities Yankovic meets as well as a look his mother would have late in the film that would inspire one of his great songs. Visual effects supervisors Charles H. Joslain, Joseph Sperber, and Izzy Traub do incredible work with some of the visual effects with the most notable moment is the acid trip sequence in all of its insanity. Sound designer Mike James Gallagher and sound editor Anthony Vanchure do superb work with the sound in the way music is presented on a radio as well as certain sound effects that would play into Yankovic’s music. Music by Leo Birenberg and Zach Robinson, with additional music by “Weird” Al Yankovic, is wonderful for its orchestral-based score that is a spoof of dramatic-based music scores with elements of bombastic arrangements and rock textures for some of the action and fight scenes while music supervisor Suzanne Coffman cultivates a soundtrack feature some of the comedy music of the 1960s and 1970s that would inspire Yankovic as well as the music of the times including some new music by Yankovic including a new song for the final credits.
The casting by Wendy O’Brien is great as it feature some notable small roles and appearances from Suzanne Krajewski-Yankovic as Tony Scotti’s wife in the European singer Sylvia Vartan, Michael McKean as a club MC, Dot-Marie Jones as a club goer who wants ice cream, Patton Oswalt as a heckler at the club, Josh Groban as a waiter an expensive restaurant, Seth Green as the voice of a radio dee-jay, Thomas Lennon as an accordion salesman who tells the young Yankovic that he’s going to get a lot of pussy through the accordion, Richard Aaron Anderson as the young Yankovic, David Bloom as the teenage Yankovic, and Lin-Manuel Miranda as the ER doctor who almost declares Yankovic dead. For the appearances in the party scene, the performances from Jack Black as famed radio dee-jay Wolfman Jack, Emo Philips as Salvador Dali, Conan O’Brien as Andy Warhol, Paul F. Tompkins as Gallagher, Demetri Martin as Tiny Tim, Nina West as Divine, Jorma Taccone as Pee-Wee Herman, Akiva Schaffer as Alice Cooper, and David Dastmalchian as Queen bassist John Deacon are a joy to watch as are some of the un-credited people who play other famous figures such as Elvira, Grace Jones, Devo, and David Bowie.
The performances of Tommy O’Brien, Jack Lancaster, and Spencer Treat Clark in their respective roles as Yankovic’s friends/bandmates in drummer Jon “Bermuda” Schwartz, guitarist Jim “Kimo” West, and bassist Steve Jay are terrific to watch as friends who support Yankovic but are troubled by his alcoholism while the duo of Will Forte and “Weird” Al Yankovic are fantastic in their respective roles of Ben and Tony Scotti as the men who would sign Yankovic with the former being completely dismissive of Yankovic’s talents. Quinta Brunson is excellent as Oprah Winfrey as the talk-show host who interviews Yankovic in his rise while her question about his parents would become a major plot-point while Arturo Castro is superb as the infamous Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar as a fan of Yankovic’s music until he gets pissed off that Yankovic turned out the invitation to celebrate his birthday. Toby Huss and Julianne Nicholson are brilliant in their respective roles as Yankovic’s parents in Nick and Mary Yankovic with the former being a man who hates polka and accordions with a lot of anger where Huss brings a lot of laughs as the angry disapproving father with a secret to hide while Nicholson plays it straight as someone who supports her son but hopes he doesn’t anger his father as she would later turn her frustrations into something that would inspire one of her son’s greatest songs.
Rainn Wilson is amazing as Doctor Demento as the famed comedy dee-jay who would discover Yankovic and become his mentor where he would guide him but also introduce him to drugs much to his regret as well as wanting to become a father figure to Yankovic. Evan Rachel Wood is phenomenal as Madonna as the famous pop singer who seduces Yankovic in the hope he would parody one of her songs so she can get a big sales bump as Wood captures the voice and look of Madonna pitch-perfectly as well as that personality of a woman who wants to rule the world as it is truly one of her finest performances ever. Finally, there’s Daniel Radcliffe in a tremendous performance “Weird” Al Yankovic as a young man that wanted to create music as Radcliffe brings that offbeat humor to the role while also displaying that angst as someone wanting to win his father’s approval as Radcliffe plays up the absurdity in a performance that is truly one of his best.
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is a sensational film from Eric Appel that features a great leading performance from Daniel Radcliffe as well as incredible supporting work from Rainn Wilson, Toby Huss, Julianne Nicholson, and Evan Rachel Wood. It is a film that refuses to take itself seriously or to be accurate in favor of just being ridiculous as well as make fun of many of the clichés expected in movie bio-pics. In the end, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is a phenomenal film from Eric Appel.
© thevoid99 2023
Here are the 2022 releases that I missed out on: Tar, The Banshees of Inersherin, Babylon, White Noise, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Avatar: The Way of Water, The Wonder, Kimi, All Quiet on the Western Front, Lady Chaterlee's Lover, Corsage, Sick of Myself, The Last Movie Stars, Lynch/Oz, Argentina 1985, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, Dead for a Dollar, See How They Run, Godland, The Inspection, EO, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, Other People's Children, Sidney, The Swimmers, Saint Omer, Emily, Wendell & Wild, No Bears, Master Gardener, The Menu, One Fine Morning, Rogue Agent, RRR, Women Talking, Chevalier, The Fablemans, The Whale, Not Okay, Honor Society, Babysitter, She Said, The Woman King, Prey, Broker, Aftersun, Joyland, Stars at Noon, Tori and Lokita, Three Thousand Years of Longing, Brother and Sister, Holy Spider, Armageddon Time, Men, Peter von Kant, X, Pearl, The Quiet Girl, Flux Gourmet, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, Nanny, The Watcher, Honk for Jesus, Save Your Soul, Resurrection, Breaking, Alice, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, The Eternal Daughter, Swallowed, Triangle of Sadness, Fire of Love, Turning Red, The Fallout and Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio.
Here are the best films of 2022 that I have seen so far:
1. Decision to Leave
Top 2022 TV Shows
1. Ms. Marvel
2. Wednesday
3. Andor
4. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law
5. Moon Knight
6. Obi-Wan Kenobi
7. I Am Groot
8. Assembled/Director by Night
9. Acapulco (season 2)
© thevoid99 2023
