Thief's Monthly Movie Loot - 2021 Edition

There comes a time when the young must step away from the shadows of their parents, and try to make it on their own alone in new environments and against new challenges for them. It is normal, and expected, for them to struggle and stumble from time to time. The above quote is the advice that a parent gives his daughter at some point during the course of this film, somehow sure that his daughter will take the advice to heart, learn from the mistakes of others, and find a solution for her struggles. Whether it's the general woes of academic life, the struggles of growing up, the insecurities of discovering your own sexuality, or the realization that you're a cannibal.

Raw follows Justine (Garance Marillier), a young woman just starting at veterinary school who finds herself in the above situation. As she stumbles and tries to find her way through academic life and a days-long hazing ritual for new students, she is led through by her older sister Alexia (Ella Rumpf) who torments her, but at the same time tries to help her "survive". When Justine, a lifelong vegetarian, tastes raw meat for the first time as part of one of the hazing rituals, she starts developing a crave for flesh which she can't control, and to which she doesn't seem to find a solution.

Despite its horror leanings, Raw is, at its core, a coming-of-age film. We see Justine finding her way out of her new surroundings in college, while also discovering things like alcohol, drugs, sex, and her own cannibalistic nature, pretty much at the same time. Marillier does a great job of showing the mixture of emotions that seem to be going through her mind as her character tries to find solutions to all of the issues that her young life seem to be throwing at her.

And speaking of things "thrown at her", there's not a shortage of icky stuff here; from blood or raw kidneys to, umm, hairballs or severed fingers. This all contributes to an air of fetidness that permeates through the film. Director Julia Ducournau succeeds in creating a constantly uneasy and unsettling atmosphere; one that's full of things that are strange, foreign, and unexpected to our main character. It's just a matter of time until she either snaps against the pressure, or you know, finds a solution.

Grade:

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Being in prison is probably not an easy feat. You lose your freedom, your family, your individuality, and in many cases, your life. I can only assume that it's even harder when the reasons that take you to jail are not necessarily because you committed a crime, but because you were fighting for what you thought was right at one point. How much would you fight to regain your freedom?

Pacto de Fuga is set in the late 1980s during the rule of dictator Augusto Pinochet in Chile. When a group of members of a rebel group make a failed attempt against the leader, they all end up in prison and some of them in death row. As a result, they staged a daring escape against all odds.

The film focuses primarily on two prisoners: León Vargas (Benjamín Vicuña) and Rafael Jiménez (Roberto Farías), both of which are reeling in from different types of loss in the aftermath of the attempt. There are a handful of other prisoners that are given certain prominence, but the film does a decent job handling all, but keeping the focus on the planning of the jailbreak.

Albala's direction is pretty good, with some nice camera handling and neat tricks. The performances are spotty and the script obviously tries to create some drama, not always succeeding. Some of the performances of the main antagonists, especially the district attorney that is determined to keep the people in jail is very over the top and hammy, but in some ways it works.

The film is also plagued by numerous "prison movie" clichés. Still, despite some flaws, Albala succeeds in creating tension through several setpieces, and making us care about the lead characters. Pacto de Fuga might not be an innovative film, but it's still a competently crafted one that sheds light on a noteworthy event in the history of Chile.

Grade:

Chess is described as a game of strategy. One that requires patience and long-term "planning" as each player positions their pieces strategically to achieve the final goal. Because of this, a lot of people find it tough to learn or follow, or consider it unrewarding because of its "long-term" focus. When amateur filmmaker and aspiring street artist Thierry Guetta compares life to a game of chess after admitting he doesn't know how to play it, well, that probably gives you an idea of his general approach to his work.

Exit Through the Gift Shop chronicles the evolution and rise of Guetta from French immigrant and small businessman to street art sensation. Directed by mysterious street artist Banksy, you can see Guetta bounce and stumble from "passion" to "obsession", and viceversa. From his obsession with carrying a camera and filming everything and his subsequent venture into the world of street art, to his obsession with meeting Banksy and his eventual desire to become a street artist himself.

This is a captivating documentary that captures the essence of what could be a madman or a genius, or both. Banksy presents both sides to Guetta's personality, starting with the way he earned the respect of street artists around the world by joining them in nocturnal escapades and daring stunts. But halfway through, he shifts to show a more worrying side of Guetta, a side that's probably more obsessed with an endgame, whatever that is, than with the craft itself.

Guetta is a captivating figure himself precisely because you can't really figure him out. At some point, some of the interviewees argue that he has possible mental issues, all while we see people from all walks of life pay thousands and millions of dollars for his stuff. As we see his crazed rise to fame, which some think disregards what street art means and stands for, another interviewer wonders "who the joke's on" or even "if there is a joke".

Ultimately, Exit Through the Gift Shop is a documentary about a man who I might say doesn't know what he's doing, but is still bold enough to play the game in order to do *something*. He might not know how to play chess, but he's still moving his pieces, hoping that they land in the right place. And as far as he's concerned, so far they have.

Grade:

Great documentary.

I've seen some discussion on whether this film is a real documentary or if it's actually a mockumentary, but whether the events in the doc are genuine or not isn't of much concern to me, because both alternatives would lead to compelling results. In fact, if this film is a mockumentary, you could then read Mr. Brainwash as an alter ego of Banksy.

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IMDb
Letterboxd

I agree.

Here's my September:

A film with a title that starts with the letters Q or R: Rome, Open City (1945) Top-notch war drama. The Nazis had barely left before they started making movies about how awful they were. I approve!

A film from the Criterion Collection whose number includes the #9 (i.e. 18, 480, 812): Inside Llewyn Davis (2017) (#794) Saving the cat is a time-honored screenwriter cliche, so naturaly the Coens built a movie around that. Or if you believe them, they added the cat because the movie needed a plot. (Although, accidentally stealing a cat isn't really a plot, is it?) There's some fine music in here, too. Oh, and the film is hechshered kosher for Passover, in case you were wondering.

A sci-fi film: Blade Runner 2049 (2017) Not a necessary film, but it looks great and I appreciated the reflection of some of our ****tier social values back at us. Jared Leto has never been more tolerable.

A film from Chile (Independence Day, September 18): Too Late to Die Young (2018) A coming-of-age story set in an artists' commune in late-'80s/early '90s Chile (roughly the period of transition from Pinochet's dictatorship to early democracy). Politics stay in the background, but it's easy to see the potential allegories in the bittersweet story of a girl approaching adulthood, with its mixed joys and sorrows.

A film featuring Native American characters (Native American Day, September 24): The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open (2019) I've said before that one of the rewards of this challenge is discovering films I would have been unlikely to seek on my own, and here's a good example of that. Made in Canada and starring two indigenous women, this emotionally fraught story of two women whose paths cross after a domestic violence incident is simple in plot but complex in its portrayal of these women's lives. There are no easy answers here. After a brief introduction, the movie plays out in real time, meaning you sometimes have to sit with these women through laundry cycles and traffic lights, watching them wait, feeling the discomfort and awkwardness of in-between moments. Highly recommended, on Netflix.

A film with a punctuation symbol in its title (National Punctuation Day, September 24): Bill & Ted Face the Music (2020) In spite of being a teen (and theoretically in the meaty part of the target audience) when the original Bill & Ted came out, I was never a big fan. It was mostly harmless (some jokes have aged poorly) but it was a little too stupid and a little too thinly developed for me even then. But I actually like this one a bit more, for some reason. It's nothing ground-breaking, to be sure, and it is also pretty stupid, as it really should be. But it's also totally sincere, and pretty kind, and watching it felt warm and pleasant, like seeing an old friend who's turned into a nice, mellow dad.

Nice! A couple there I've been meaning to check out (Rome, Open City, Bill and Ted Face the Music, and Inside Llewyn Davies), one that I've been meaning to rewatch (Blade Runner 2049), and the other two which I haven't heard of, but that seem quite interesting. I'll add those to my watchlist.

It was a good month! Bill & Ted is the "least" among them, but still fun, especially for fans of the first two movies.

Too Late Too Die Young is solid and has a pleasantly dreamy quality (although maybe that's just because I watched it late at night). That one is on Criterion.

But I am mostly pushing The Body Remembers... because it's the kind of film that gets underseen and it deserves a look. I only found it by googling for films with Native Americans.

Here is my final tally for SEPTEMBER 2021:

A film with the number 9 (Nine, Ninth, etc.) in its title: The Ninth Configuration
A film with a title that starts with the letters Q or R: Raw
A film from the Criterion Collection whose number includes the #9 (i.e. 19, 592, 903): Black Narcissus (#93)
A film from the 1990s: The Double Life of Veronique
A sci-fi film: The Incredible Shrinking Man
A film with the word "Fall" in its title: The Falling
A film from Noah Baumbach (born September 3): The Squid and the Whale
A film from Chile (Independence Day, September 18): Pacto de Fuga
A film featuring Native American characters (Native American Day, September 24): Wind River
A film with a punctuation symbol in its title (National Punctuation Day, September 24): Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Freebies: Grizzly Man, Vernon, Florida, Exit Through the Gift Shop



A lot of really good and great watches here. I think the one that impressed me most was Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, but that run I had (courtesy of the PR HOF4) with The Incredible Shrinking Man, The Double Life of Veronique, and Black Narcissus was really strong. And then there's also Raw, which also left an impression.

The worst first-time watch would be The Falling, which was an interesting watch, but ultimately fell too scattered and too all over the place.

Here are the criteria for OCTOBER 2021:

A film with the number 10 (Ten, Tenth, etc.) in its title
A film with a title that starts with the letters S or T:
A film from the Criterion Collection whose number includes the #10 (i.e. 10, 102, 810):
A film from the 2000s:
A thriller film:
A film about a virus (Virus Appreciation Day, October 3):
A film where a prominent character wears a hat (Mad Hatter Day, October 6):
A film with the word “Fire” in its title (Fire Prevention Day, October 9):
A film from Guillermo del Toro (born October 9):
A film from Austria (Austria National Day, October 26):

I have already plans for most of these, but I'm always open for suggestions.

For any "looter" here, Episode 46 of The Movie Loot just dropped. I talk about the best films I saw in September as well as some brief reviews of everything else I saw.

Thief's Monthly Movie Loot 46 - The September Loot

You can also find us on Apple Podcasts, and although it hasn't populated yet, on Spotify, Google Podcasts, and most other podcasting platforms.

I haven't seen it so I can't vouch for its quality, but Angst on the Criterion Channel is from Austria, and under 80 minutes.

I've seen Angst. Hard watch, but worth it if you can stomach it.

Noted, thanks. I guess it’s either this or Haneke for me. What is with Austrians and their gut-churning cinema?

That's the chance we take every time we wake up. We make plans and try to stick by them, but only one minor deviation can result in unexpected, or even catastrophic outcomes, and alter the course of our day dramatically. A beautiful day turned into misery. That is the situation in which the characters of this Ingmar Bergman's film find themselves.

Set in medieval Sweden, The Virgin Spring starts with Karin (Birgitta Pettersson), a young woman sent to take candles into church by her parents, Töre and Märeta (Max Von Sydow and Birgitta Valberg). But when their day turns to misery, they have to think about their response against those that caused it.

This is my 6th Bergman film, and I have to say that each film of his is a revelation in many ways. Be it for the mind-boggling and emotionally charged depth of Persona, or the striking use of colors and sounds in Cries and Whispers, or even the sexy but fun simplicity of Smiles of the Summer Night. The Virgin Spring goes for a more straightforward, raw approach, but without losing that emotional anchor of his other films.

With this film, Bergman extends one of his main themes, which is the questioning of God's purposes in the things that happen to us, and end our days in misery. But on his way to that questioning, he walks us through a valley of dread and death. It is a bit of a tough watch, as things unravel, but Bergman keeps us focused on our main characters: Töre and Märeta, and how they think, rethink, and think again of their reactions to tragedy.

All of the performances are great, with Von Sydow and Valberg having the meatier roles; but Pettersson does a pretty good job of transmitting the innocence and naïvete of a young woman starting a beautiful day, not knowing the misery that awaits her. But even though he may question, Bergman manages to reassure us that the misery and tragedy can recede, and make way for another beautiful day.

Grade:

Out of curiosity, which Bergman films have you seen so far?

My ranking...

1. Persona
2. The Virgin Spring
3. Shame
4. Cries and Whispers
5. Smiles of a Summer Night
6. The Seventh Seal

That's the same order I'd give to the Bergmans I've seen too (although that only includes Persona & Seventh Seal, and there'd be a pretty big gap in-between them anyway).

Whoops, forgot to reply. Here's how I would rank his films:

1. Persona
2. Fanny and Alexander
3. Wild Strawberries
4. Hour of the Wolf
5. Shame
6. Cries and Whispers
7. Scenes From a Marriage
8. The Passion of Anna
9. Winter Light
10. The Virgin Spring
11. Through a Glass Darkly
12. Smiles of a Summer Night
13. The Seventh Seal

I still have a couple of big ones to tackle (most notably Fanny and Alexander and Wild Strawberries), but I'm so pleased with the last ones I've seen.