The latest film releases include Drive-Away Dolls, About Dry Grasses, Perfect Days, and Io Capitano. Weighing in are Alonso Duralde and Dave White, film critics and co-hosts of the movie podcast Linoleum Knife.
Drive-Away Dolls
Ethan Coen, of the Coen brothers, directed this comedy-thriller. Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan play best friends who embark on a road trip that turns awry. The cast also includes Colman Domingo, Matt Damon, Pedro Pascal, and Miley Cyrus.
Duralde: “The comedy dies quickly. You can tell early on something is off. … Whoever cut the trailer for this film should get an award because the trailer makes this movie seem like a lot of fun. The film itself does not deliver that fun, unfortunately.”
White: “This film has a relationship to queerness … and though one of its screenwriters identifies as such, this film's relationship to queerness feels in its execution somewhat off. … And that's not nearly as important even to a queer viewer like myself than the fact that it didn't make me laugh.”
About Dry Grasses
This three-hour epic has been described as Chekhovian. It’s about a teacher reassigned to work in a remote Anatolian village after being accused of abusing a student.
White: “It's got multiple characters, details, digressions, lengthy philosophical discussions about making one's place in the world, and how to do it without losing your soul. But that is all lost on the main character, played by Deniz Celiloglu, a character named Samet. He is an extremely difficult man to like. He's petty and condescending. He's vindictive. He's duplicitous. He's a jerk who seems to be unable to stop himself from being a jerk. Now, do you want to spend that much time with this person who's a jerk? You do. Because it does not build to a specific climax, that leaves you feeling like you spent time learning more about humanity — with a warning of how not to be. I cannot recommend this film highly enough.”
Duralde: “It does feel like you are curled up with a really fascinating novel. This movie needs that time, needs that space to breathe and give you incident, but also character and conversation. It touches on politics, not in a specific way, but just in the idea of engagement with the world — are you going to be somebody who sits around and complains about things? Or do you believe in your power as an individual to make a change in the world?”
Perfect Days
This Oscar nominee for Best International Feature Film follows a toilet cleaner — named Hirayama — in Tokyo who finds joy in his cassette tapes, nature, and spontaneous relationships. Its star, Koji Yakusho, won Best Actor at Cannes.
Duralde: “Perfect Days is very much about the quotidian: people's daily lives, the small moments. It's never about these big, giant, dramatic turns. And so, we see Hirayama get up every day and look up at the sky every morning with a sense of joy and fulfillment that I could certainly never pull off in the morning. … This film is about the joy and the fulfillment of labor. But in a subtextual way, it's also about [how] those labors need to be compensated. We live in a country now where so many people have full-time jobs, and that's not enough to pay for housing and food and the basic necessities. And here you have a character who works hard, finds fulfillment in that work, but also has time off. [He] can recharge his batteries by pursuing his hobbies, can eat out, and interact with friends. And so the movie gives you this beautiful totality of a life, a simply led life, but one that is no less fulfilling for it.”
White: “It's about finding contentment, even in the midst of maybe difficult circumstances or difficult people around you. Those things will always be in your life. But barring extreme circumstances or crushing poverty, there's a certain amount of choose-your-own adventure in the world, and you learn what you want from it, even if it includes a bit of hiding out from too much interaction with other people, like this character, and you focus on what brings you a sense of peace.”
Io Capitano
This Oscar nominee for Best International Feature follows two Senegalese refugees, Seydou and Moussa, on their journey to reach Europe. It’s based on the real-life experiences of African migrants.
White: “This is a harrowing film. And it is, at times, difficult to watch. … The script is based on real stories from migrants and refugees who've traveled from Africa to Europe and the brutality that they have faced on that path. Now in spite of its occasional detours into fantasy, dream-like sequences, and in spite of the fact that I said it is a difficult film to watch, a lot of the most horrific details were left out. Director Matteo Garrone has talked about wanting to make sure that it didn't go unseen, and if that stuff had been in there, it may have been too much to take.”
Duralde: “This is not entirely the same refugee narrative that you might know from other films. Seydou and Moussa are not forced out of Senegal because of war or starvation. Seydou’s mother wants him to stay. There are opportunities for them to stay, but they think that there's more opportunity, better opportunity to support their families, if they go to Italy. And it climaxes in a harrowing crossing of the Mediterranean that finds notes of humanity and inspiration amidst a terrifying voyage.”