The Hater [2020] ★★½
This polish thriller currently streaming on Netflix juggles a lot of ideas at once, and at 135 minutes, it can be a bit too much, but it’s not a complete waste. In fact, it’s still entirely watchable, thanks to a solid performance by Maciej Musialowski, who plays a young man trying to find a purpose in life after being dismissed from university for plagiarizing a paper. He becomes involved with extremists on the net, who vow to get rid of anyone trying to ruin Europe and its values. Meanwhile, his infatuation with a young lady turns into obsession, which leads to a series of unpredictable events. Like I said, there’s a lot to digest here, and it’s not always coherent or even intriguing enough, but solid performances and some truly well-directed sequences make “The Hater” worth checking out.
“Roma” doesn’t look or feel like any other movie I’ve seen in 2018, and not just because it was shot in black and white. It has a distinct atmosphere, and that’s obvious from the very first shot. Director Alfonso Cuarón transports us back to his childhood neighborhood in Mexico City. The year is 1970 and we’re watching life unfold before our eyes as he recreates every single detail of his family home. The mother struggles to raise all 4 of her children when the father walks away one day. The story is mostly told from the point of view of a domestic worker called Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio) who witnessed everything and played a huge role in raising the kids while dealing with problems of her own. It’s an intimate piece for sure, and Cuarón poured his heart into it by writing, editing, directing and producing the film. There are moments where I expected something huge to take place. That’s what might have happened in a mainstream Hollywood film perhaps, but Cuarón isn’t interested in that. He wants to explore the “ordinary” drama of everyday life: the trials of being a parent, the obstacles domestic workers face, the joy of childhood. The arc of the story is ambitious, and it only sinks in when the movie ends and you realize how much life can change in less than a year. It helps that the film is beautifully shot. It also helps that all the actors are up to the task. My only complaint is that I felt detached from the story at times and I wish I felt more emotions in key moments. I know that “Roma” has been praised through the roof and is basically a shoe-in to win an Oscar for Best Foreign language movie. And there’s no doubt in my mind that the film is simply beautiful to look at. But you should know straight away that it moves at a leisurely pace, which means it won’t appeal to every moviegoer. But if you’re a cinema student or a movie buff or perhaps a fan of Alfonso Cuarón’s work, from “Children of Men” to “Gravity”, then consider “Roma” a must-see.
A police officer in Cairo talking and investigating a murder like a character out of a 1940’s film noir starring Humphrey Bogart. It’s a daring move, but a damn good one, so it should be on your list of movies to see before the year is over. A spoof would have been enough for writer/director Tarek Saleh. Instead, he dives deep into the film noir genre, shaping his characters with grit and panache. Fares Fares is terrific as police office Noreddin, who is assigned to investigate the murder of a famous singer at the Nile Hilton hotel, just weeks before the 2011 Egyptian revolution. In true film noir fashion, the trail eventually leads to a web of deceit and danger. Kudos to director Tarek Saleh for keeping us guessing at every turn. And kudos to cinematographer Pierre Aim (who worked on “La Haine” back in 1995), who gives the movie a seductive atmosphere of danger, especially as it takes place on the eve of the Egyptian revolution. “The Nile Hilton Incident” truly is a film noir for our time.
Roberto Rossellini’s “Germany Year Zero” is a frightening portrait of post-WWII Berlin, from the point of view of 12-year-old Edmund, who lives with his family in terrible conditions. The war may have ended, Hitler’s third Reich has fallen, but Berlin has never been more miserable. Edmund’s only concern is to provide food for his bedridden father, while his brother, a former Nazi soldier, must live in hiding or handle the consequences. Rossellini, famous for his War trilogy, which featured “Rome Open City”, “Paisan” and “Germany Year Zero”, wanted to show a nation in ruins, and to say that he has succeeded would be an understatement. This is a haunting piece of work, beautifully shot, masterfully directed, and featuring a superior performance by young Edmund Meschke. I absolutely recommend it.
People always mention “Metropolis” and “M” when they talk about German filmmaker Fritz Lang. While they’re both terrific, I personally vouch for “The Testament of Dr. Mabuse”, one of the best movies of the early talkies. Made in 1933, at a time when Nazism was on the rise, “Dr. Mabuse” was banned in Germany by Nazi propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels and was not shown to the public until 1951. When it opens, we learn that there’s a new crime wave in Berlin and it’s up to inspector Lohmann (from “M”) to investigate. All clues lead to Dr. Mabuse, a crazy scientist who’s been in a mental hospital for a decade. How is it possible? That’s the question that eats at you as “Dr. Mabuse” holds you in its grip for two hours. It’s obvious that Lang is giving a sermon about the consequences of a Nazi-infested Germany. In the words of Mabuse himself: “When humanity, subjugated by the terror of crime, has been driven insane by fear and horror, and when chaos has become supreme law, then the time will have come for the empire of crime”. Lang squeezes us without mercy in a rollercoaster of tension and suspense, but only to force us to look at the bigger picture. In a post-9/11 world, “The Testament of Dr. Mabuse” couldn’t be more relevant. It’s a timeless masterpiece.
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