Café Society

Café Society is fun, romantic, and surprisingly smart, with a lot more going for it than it might seem. As we get a glimpse into contrasting scenes of New York and Hollywood during a rich and vibrant time in America's history, we begin to see the mentalities of the esteemed and the successful, and begin to realise there is perhaps this side to all of us. Employing a colourful and exciting aesthetic and a rich and genuine cast, Woody Allen achieves an interesting and engaging movie with a lot to think about.

Set in the mid 1930s, Café Society follows Bobby Dorfman (Jesse Eisenberg) as he decides to leave his quaint life in the Bronx behind and move to Hollywood to make a name for himself. Bobby hooks up with his uncle Phil (Steve Carrell), a highly successful film agent, who helps him get a start in the industry. Bobby quickly falls for the charming Vonnie (Kristen Stewart), Phil's surprisingly grounded secretary, however complications force the two apart. Bobby returns to New York to run a night club with his gangster brother Ben (Corey Stoll), before his life gets shaken up once again as Vonnie re-enters the picture.

The writing is surprisingly clever, with an easily missed message smartly woven into the changes experienced by the characters. While the end of the movie may ultimately leave audiences wondering if it was nothing more than a comfortable romance flick, the changes experienced by the characters throughout the film suggest otherwise. As Bobby remarks to Vonnie how she has fallen into the glitz and glamour lifestyle she had once loathed, we can't help but realise the same of Bobby himself, who perhaps only became this way through the bitter lessons learnt during his time in Hollywood. Needless to say, there is much to think about in the film's true meaning, and Woody Allen crafts these complicated pictures of society masterfully.

Performances are impressive across the board. Jesse Eisenberg employs a mix of his trademark awkwardness (The Social Network, Zombieland) as well as his surprisingly enjoyable and just as recognisable charismatic character (Now You See Me) to create an enjoyable dynamic to the character of Bobby. Likewise, Kristen Stewart proves she has matured much from her Twilight days to deliver a charming and enjoyably complex performance as Vonnie. Cafe Society features an impressive supporting cast, with particular mentions to Parker Posey who continues to raise the question of why she isn't in more A-List movies.

When it boils down to it, however, this movie isn't perfect. While Woody Allen's narration is ultimately enjoyable, it is perhaps unnecessary in telling a story which easily tells itself, and the constant jumps between the two different sides of America can be a bit jarring at times. This being said, the upbeat jazz soundtrack helps draw the viewer into the rich context of the film, easily supported by the constant name-dropping to 1930s Hollywood celebrities such as Fred Astaire and Joan Crawford. While it is often easy for intended immersion such as this to feel forced, Café Society does it with ease.

If you like complicated romance, you will enjoy this movie. If you like jazz and the 30s, you will enjoy this movie. If you like impressive portrayals of socially unsure and evolving characters, you will definitely enjoy this movie. And if you've ever seen a Woody Allen film and liked it, you will enjoy this movie. 

Clouds of Sils Maria

Olivier Assayas is a highly intelligent filmmaker, and often draws on his roots as a critic for Cahiers du Cinéma in his highly structured stories. His latest film, Clouds of Sils Maria stars Juliette Binoche and Kristen Stewart.

Maria Enders (Juliette Binoche) is a successful actor, who began her career in the play Maloja Snake by Wilhelm Melchior. Enders and Melchior have a difficult past relationship and as Enders is travelling to Zurich to accept an award on his behalf, she hears the troubling news that he has passed away. Maria has a loyal assistant, Valentine (Kristen Stewart), and the two are very close; she helps Maria with the news. Soon Maria is offered a role in the latest version of the play, however she'll be playing an older woman.

This is a very French film. It revels in the revival of an artistic era that doesn't necessarily exist any more, subtly poking fun at the ways of Hollywood, superhero movies and celebrity gossip. These are starkly contrasted against the passion that the characters put into the play; in trying to understand the production's characters with long conversations detailing their various attributes. One of the key elements of Clouds of Sils Maria is the relationship between Maria and Valentine, and more specifically, how this is played on when they do the script read-throughs. These scenes are sometimes a bit tedious and difficult to follow - as the lines between the play's characters and the two women are quite blurred - but they are managed with a lot of finesse from Binoche and Stewart. There's certainly an element of art imitating life in the film; between the play, the film and also real life. However there are certain details that are not followed through, which at times can be slightly confusing. For instance, I would have liked to understand a bit more about what Maria thought of her past career. She's constantly focusing on her previous role in the play but doesn't really vocalise any of her other roles. 

Clouds of Sils Maria has a very dislocated structure, with scenes fading in and out with little to no actual transitions. It's a stylised choice and I understand the reasoning behind it but I'm not sure how effective it really is, at times it's certainly distracting. The grief that Maria feels at the playwrights passing (they had a very personal relationship) and the way that she deals with it through the reboot of the play, was one interesting element of the story that they probably could have brought out a bit more. However the subtlety in character development is certainly indicative of the intelligent writing behind Assayas's script. The mountainous backdrop almost becomes another character in Clouds of Sils Maria, it has an importance in contextualising the story and makes for some incredibly beautiful shots - particularly a time-lapse sequence where the fog rolls in - however I think they may have overindulged in the scenery just a little too much.

Clouds of Sils Maria is lead by two outstanding performances from Binoche and Stewart. Juliette Binoche is a veteran actress, and is just as talented here. She brings depth and no doubt, personal experiences to Maria, who is a much more memorable character than Dina in Words and Pictures, the last major role that I saw her in. Kristen Stewart, who many people like to mock for her seemingly expressionless delivery - I actually think she's had some great performances - really shines here. Her understated mode of acting works well for Valentine, whose calm and collected manner perfectly dichotomises Maria's emotional and vibrant personality. Maria and Valentine are two very memorable characters, an absolute requirement for this complex story to work.

Clouds of Sils Maria is a well-written and intelligent movie, with plenty of inspiration from French New Wave films. The palatable story is sometimes difficult to follow and won't necessarily please everybody, but the two leading ladies sustain the interest throughout. However I do feel like it's been written for critics, and I don't know how I feel about that narrowing down of audience.

Still Alice

Still Alice is a modern drama focused on Alice Howland (Julianne Moore), a renowned and successful linguistics professor. She lives comfortably in New York with her scientist husband John (Alec Baldwin), though she is often visited by her three grown children, Anna (Kate Bosworth), Tom (Hunter Parrish), and Lydia (Kristen Stewart) who resides in LA. Shortly after her 50th birthday Alice is startled as she begins to gradually lose words and other important details from her life, prompting her to visit a neurologist. She is soon diagnosed with early on-set Alzheimer's and begins to lose her ability to communicate and be herself as her family watches on.

Directors Wash Westmoreland and Richard Glatzer are clearly comfortable with their partnership as Still Alice is their fifth collaboration, and certainly their largest. There are three main filming styles that govern the film and govern it well. There is the keenly framed, tripod-mounted shooting style that dominates the film as it is representative of the lucid Alice and the world of those around her. In direct and simple contrast is the hand-held and/or focus-heavy shooting of the afflicted Alice. Here, Alice is often shot in close or medium with the world around her being heavily blurred, and often she will only enter frame after a momentary delay, as though she is a stranger. The final style is reserved for flashbacks to her childhood, and these appear to be (as far as I am aware) shot on Super 8mm. These are grainy and vibrantly coloured moments that stand out distinctively from the rest of the film. The score is often centred around a piano and its cautiously slow tones too often feel like the blank spots of Alice's mental state.

In many ways Still Alice is not at all surprising to those with even the most cursory knowledge of either Alzheimer's or Julianne Moore's acting ability, but the extent of both of these is. Alzheimer's is notoriously devastating and Moore famously talented, but the totality of both of these realities is confronting. At first Alice carries herself with the signature confidence, self-awareness and casual poise that's indicative of the inspired decision to cast Julianne Moore, but as her disease takes hold and tightens its grip on her, Alice becomes more (or perhaps less) than forgetful. Her posture slackens, her articulation suffers and so does her ability to focus, as stated earlier Moore's totality in this character's situation is moving and talented. Moore's performance, and the film by extension, treat Alzheimer's without reverence, hate or kid gloves. As Alice herself states in a captivating speech at the end of the second act, "I am not suffering, I am struggling." The supporting cast consisting primarily of Baldwin, Stewart and Parrish as Alice's family struggle alongside. Baldwin especially impresses quietly with his devastation and helplessness apparent in the bevy of short glances he gives Alice's way as she forgets to be who she is. In many ways the woman he loves is dying before his eyes and Baldwin's reaction as John are simply crushing. Within Alice's family there are brimming grievances, but overall no great dramas and barely a classic dinnertime feud, though perhaps because the narrative is so focused on Alice these would become intrusive. Either way, the film's steadfast perspective of Alice is more than enough.

Still Alice doesn't have a clear ending, but rather the closing titles appear and close the audience's perspective on her life, mirroring the effect of the disease. This is a film carried on Moore's capable shoulders, that appropriately and maturely examines a complex familial scenario. Absolutely a must for those in the mood to learn and cry.