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Film Comment Selects (February 17th - 27th)




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      Our Sunhi, directed by Hong Sang-Soo, is yet another of his very talky, character-driven films with a minimalist plot. It centers around Sunhi (Jung Yumi), a former film school student who visits her school to get a letter of recommendation from her professor. She ends up in a romantic love triangle between him, her ex-boyfriend, and a film director. Sang-Soo moves the film along at a leisurely pace and, admittedly, it takes a while for it to get interesting because the first act is quite lengthy. You might find yourself wondering what the film is actually about, but as it progresses, its point as well as its conflicts become clearer. There are also a few pockets of depth and gentle comic relief, so patient viewers will be rewarded.



      One of the most unique and bold films of the series is Fat Shaker which will surely be divisive given it seemingly anarchic, formless plot about an obese father and his son who team up to extort money from young woman, but their illegal scheme as well as their father-son relationship evolve after they meet a mysterious woman who enters their lives. Writer/director Mohammad Shirvani takes risks even during the opening scene that's quite grotesque and icky much like many other images you'll see later on. Many of those images, though, will be hard to forget despite how ugly and bizarre they are. There's plenty of symbolisms some of which are perplexing like a turkey that shows up inside the father's house. You've probably never seen a movie like this one before, so good luck comparing this to any other film. It's the kind of film that must be experienced to be truly understood; describing it wouldn't do it any justice.



      In Bernardo Bertolucci's new film, Me and You a 14-year-old boy, Lorenzo (Jacopo Olmo Antinori), isolated himself for one week in the basement of his mother's apartment while his mother believes that he's on a skiing trip with his school's skiing trip. Just when he thinks that he'll be all alone, his heroin-addicted older half-sister, Olivia (Tea Falco), arrives to seek refuge in the basement as well. Not a lot really happens throughout the film and there are a few boring stretches, but the cinematography looks great and Antinori and Falco, in there feature film debut, both give very natural performances. At times, Me and You resembles a play and it probably would have worked better as one. It's interesting to observe how Lorenzo evolves by the end with the weekend even if it's very slightly---in other words, there's some form of a character arc to be found here. The final scene is quite emotionally resonant with great music and, when Bertolucci breaks the fourth wall just before the end credits roll, it's perhaps a nod to The 400 Blows.
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