Review: Suspiria

For quite some time, I have been aware of the 1977 original by Dario Argento. But it wasn't until last year when I heard that it was being re-made by director Luca Guadagnino who was at the helm of the brilliant Call Me By Your Name.

That obviously prompted to check out Argento's version to see what's what. I felt the story to be pretty solid and the look of it to be very stylish with many intense imagery. While I think the story never felt totally fulfilled, I remained excited as I know Guadagnino has a style that I feel can make this memorable viewing.

Was it memorable? Definitely. However, like the original, there were still aspects missing for it to be the total package that I feel this story could be.
From the beginning, I could tell the production was of the highest quality. The image looked gorgeous, I was enjoying many of the performances both from its dialogue and from its psychical aspects and throughout I was seeing many evocative images and scenes with disturbing results.
However, the story was losing me. While it may have added a somewhat unnecessary sub-plot, it managed to further lose its way with the story.
It starts off well with laying the foundations and the at-time graphic imagery really helped the narrative move along. But the longer it went, the weirder it got and more the story was losing me. In the end, I was just appreciating its style more than anything else.

Other positives I wanted to mention were the performances and dance sequences. It was great seeing Dakota Johnson continuing to do well after the Fifty Shades trilogy. First Bad Times At The El Royale, and now this. Her performance was pretty solid on the whole and her physicality she put in was terrific to see.
Another strong performance worth mentioning is Tilda Swinton, who as usual can do no-wrong. That sense of mystery she gave to her character really made her very watchable. Plus, it turns out Swinton played two other characters. I wasn't surprised with one, but the other totally fooled me and I reckon everyone else.
I also have to mention the efforts of Mia Goth, especially in the final act. Her physical side of her acting contributed beautifully to the ending.

As for the dance sequences. They are totally worth checking out. With the added camerawork, editing and production design, these moments during the film were pretty atmospheric, evocative and unsettling at times.

I think in the end we have a clear case of style over substance. Thankfully, I'm partial to fair amount of that. But with my excitement being pretty high for this, I did end up being disappointed with this.
Technically, it's terrific. The cinematography and editing made for quite the atmosphere for the majority of the film.
But I think the just-over 2hrs 30mins duration emphasized the narrative problems it had and forced me to downgrade my enjoyment of it.

I think if we had the story structure of the original and the look, style and performances of this one, we may have the film I am still waiting for.

Rating: 7/10

Review: The Favourite

Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos has become quite the favourite with indie fans. While his tone may be dark and strange, the end result has been especially impactful and effective over the last few years with The Lobster and The Killing Of A Sacred Deer.

For me, I might not have given an exceptional rating to any of his films yet, I always find any of his new releases a treat as it always stays in my mind much longer any common blockbuster.

With this latest project, in terms of the level of hype, marketing and high calibre cast, this is easily Lanthimos' biggest film that will see many general cinema-goers see one of his films for the first time.

It doesn't take too long when watching this to realise the high-quality craft in so many aspects. From the on-point period set locations, to the outlandish costumes and the almost 'candid camera' style of camerawork with its fish-eye lenses.
But most importantly, the story sets itself up nicely in the opening act. Then once we see the intentions of our main characters, we just sit back and enjoy numerous attempts of betrayal, obsession and basically a classic cat-and-mouse type story structure with some dark humor to mix it up.
The way it ends may disappoint mainstream viewers. But I think if your a fan of films of Paul Thomas Anderson, I felt this to be a similar type of ending you would normally associate with that particular directors films.

As we've all been hearing, it is all about the performances of Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz. You would be absolutely right. They are all on their A-game and their chemistry together is completely engaged and exciting to see develop throughout. Colman continues to do no wrong and for me is one of the strongest acting talents anywhere in the world right now. Her historical character is not well known and her performance certainly gives quite the insight on how this former British monarchy figure behaved and lived.
I was intrigued to see how Stone would do as Lanthimos story-telling style does not seem the type I would associate with the American actor. But she embraced beautifully and the content she was given really made it an essential ingredient and was integral in many memorable set-pieces.
While the buzz seems to be more towards Colman and Stone, I honestly felt Weisz stole the show for me. The rich content and story-arch she was given and the execution of several scenes was done brilliantly and for me made her the most memorable aspect from an acting side.
Another performance that I don't feel is getting enough credit is that of an almost unrecognisable Nicholas Hoult. You can tell from his opening line, that he totally got the tone Lanthimos was going for and his performance was gradually enhanced and was a nice surprise.

No real negatives to speak of. As mentioned before, I haven't rated Lanthimos highly yet. But I feel the strength of this story has made this his most accessible film to date.
The pay-off may not have been particularly strong and could lose many viewers interest by it. But for me, it still felt pretty impactful and poignant enough for me to see this as truly one of the best from 2018 and well deserving of its buzz in the major awards.

The performances are terrific, it looks great, the location choices become a character in itself and I almost forgot to mention the score that at times was scary and very atmospheric.
If you enjoyed this as much as I did, then it would be interesting to see what you make Lanthimos' previous work as they are much more genre-concentrated.

Rating: 8/10