The Broken Circle Breakdown (2012)

Directed by: Felix Van Groeningen
Country: Belgium / Netherlands

Review: A couple pursues balance on their relationship after the death of their little daughter due to cancer, mixing tears of joy and sadness in a dramatic story containing a rich musical side. The same hippie mood and Ruben Impens' cinematography, are the noticeable common aspects with “The Misfortunates”, Van Groeningen’s previous film, but here we are dealing with a much more intimate and sensitive matter. Even using a non-linear structure, we can divide this story in two different parts. In the first one, we get to know Didier, a bluegrass musician, his tattooed wife Elise, who owns a tattoo-parlor and also sings in the band, and their cancerous six year-old daughter Maybelle. This part is all about hope, the ups and downs related to Maybelle’s sickness, and a dive in the couple’s past. The second part is associated with the pain that remained after the child’s death, depression, and the ways found to deal with extreme suffering. The bluegrass music works as a vehicle of expressing feelings, enhancing the circumstantial happiness or sadness. At the same time that the film tries to avoid sentimental manipulation, it leaves a sensation of familiarity, with its faith issues, and shattered American dreams. The ending keeps up the intensity: sadness, depth, but also beauty.

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After Lucia (2012)

Directed by: Michel Franco
Country: Mexico / France

Review: “After Lucia” is an atmospheric drama that will not leave you indifferent. After his wife Lucia has died in a car accident, Roberto and his 17 year-old daughter Alejandra, decide to move from Puerto Vallarta to Mexico City in an attempt to rebuild their lives. Once they arrive, Roberto, visibly depressed, shows incapacity to work properly, while Alejandra seems to start getting along with her new friends at school, being invited to parties where drugs, alcohol, and sex, are pretty common. In one of those parties she has a sexual adventure with Jose who used his mobile phone to record everything. The posterior publication of that video on the Internet, makes Alejandra a victim of her colleagues’ atrocities, transforming her life forever. One or two aspects could have been improved, like Roberto showing some more impatience or concern after Alejandra’s disappearance, but Franco’s discernment and self-confident direction along with the absence of emotional tricks, made the tension grow consistently as the film approaches to the disturbing finale. The spontaneous acting from the cast in general also gave credibility to a story that guaranteed my complete involvement. Presenting a strong conception and execution, “After Lucia” exposes the horrors of bullying, the inconvenience of technology, and the blindness of revenge, all in the same package.

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Starlet (2012)

Directed by: Sean Baker
Country: USA

Review: Set in the urbanized area of San Fernando Valley in LA, “Starlet” tells the story of an improbable friendship between Jane, a 21 year-old porn actress, and Sadie, an octogenarian widow who lives alone. The two women met for the first time at Sadie’s yard sale, where Jane bought an old thermos that she was planning to use as a vase. But for her surprise, she found that the thermos contained ten thousand dollars. Intrigued about this fact, feeling guilty, and fed up of getting high with her immature housemates, she will try to get closer to this solitary woman and know more about her life. The film was named after Jane’s dog Starlet, which has a great influence in capital situations along the story. There’s two distinct sides here: a sweet side that depicts the flourishing friendship and growing dependence between the women, and a rough side, with hardcore sex images, drug consumption, and a sense of aimless and meanness from Jane’s supposed friends. Regardless of some predictable occurrences (especially those involving the dog), and a friendship whose evolvement seems more hypothetical than real, “Starlet” could keep up a decent tone thanks to the good performances, suitable direction, and avoidance of sentimental maneuvers. Even with some sad revelations, the ending left much space for hope, prefiguring a better life for both ladies. Sean Baker’s fourth feature film, satisfies without exceed expectations.

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Dollhouse (2012)

Directed by: Kirsten Sheridan
Country: Ireland

Review: “Dollhouse” provides an odd cinematic experience, being the third feature film from Kirsten Sheridan, daughter of the famous Irish film director Jim Sheridan (“In America”, “In The Name Of The Father”, “My Left Foot”) who appears here as executive producer. The plot, not so crafted as it should have been, follows a bunch of wild teenagers who break into an empty house in Dublin. The kids start a strange party of drugs, alcohol, and vandalism, showing dangerous behaviors. At some point, we get to know that the house belongs to one of the intruders, but many questions are kept unanswered. The tense moments created with the unexpected arrival of a neighbor, soon fall in a sort of adventure without orientation. I cannot say this is a bad movie, but I can say this is a weak story. The sequence of images often gives the sensation of paranoia or disorientation, while the music was another strong aspect, with a variety of styles being used such as classical, rock, or techno, depending of the circumstances and the desired mood. “Dollhouse” has the visual side as main strength, creating enough tension to depict a lost generation, but its limited story, inexact narrative, vague characters, and lack of a concrete orientation, thwarted its plans to be more successful.

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The Dynamiter (2012)

Directed by: Matthew Gordon
Country: USA

Review: In this low-key indie drama, debutant filmmaker Matthew Gordon depicts the troubles of 14-year-old Robbie Kendrick, who leads a wandering life in Glen Allan, Mississippi. Robbie misses his absent mother who has left for California, doesn’t know anything about his father, and lives with his grandmother and his two brothers. Known as a liar and a thief, Robbie is the first to be questioned when trouble is around. His relationship with the family is a key factor for us to understand his erratic behavior and natural tendency to steal. Having a great relationship with his younger half-brother, with whom he likes to play in the fields, Robbie is often influenced in the wrong way by his older brother Lucas, a lazy bum and an exploiter of women. Caught in the middle of chaos and forced to grow up too fast, he will gain some conscience and responsibility, but when one's past is marked by trouble, even getting an honest job becomes doubtful at other people’s eyes. The pure independent style adopted fit well, giving the rawness that the story was asking for, but despite the truthfulness evinced, it lacked intensity and firm pace in several situations. In the end it didn’t create the impact I was expecting, despite the lesson of courage and hope that conveys.

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Fill The Void (2012)

Directed by: Rama Burshtein
Country: Israel

Review: “Fill The Void” takes a deep look into an orthodox Hasidic community in Israel. The film portrays their culture with all its creeds, festivities, and rituals, but the central theme here is marriage and how the family poses a huge influence on young women’s decisions on this matter. The story’s protagonist is Shira (Hadas Yaron), an 18 year-old young woman who is happy to be engaged with a successful man of her age. When her older sister dies during childbirth, her mother tries to persuade her to marry her brother-in-law. This peculiar situation was meant just to keep the newborn close to the family. Beautifully shot by newcomer Rema Burshtein, whose credibility is above suspicion since she belongs to an orthodox Jewish community, “Fill The Void” embraces the matter with extreme sensibility and in a non-intrusive way, putting a whirl of complex emotions in each character. Each time Shira changes her mind, we can feel the weight of her decision and the pressure that surrounds her. The persistent religious chants helped to reinforce this sense of oppressiveness and anguish. Burshtein’s smart vision doesn’t hide some problems in terms of pace and unchanged mood throughout the film, although it seems clear that restrained tension was an option and not a limitation. The brilliant performance by Hadas Yaron was awarded in Venice and Israel.

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Mud (2012)

Directed by: Jeff Nichols
Country: USA

Review: I was astonished two years ago with the disturbing “Take Shelter”, but this time Jeff Nichols was not capable of maintaining me a hundred percent clung to “Mud”, his third feature film. Ellis is a sensible 14 year-old kid, who is passing through difficult times with the imminent separation of his parents. One day, he and his friend Neckbone, went to a deserted island, across the Mississippi river, to search for an old abandoned boat that has been placed on top of a tree. For their surprise, they found a famished man called Mud living there. Wanted by the police and by some thugs who wanted him dead, Mud asks for the kids' help after telling them his story of love and crime. The old question arises: is the story true or false? The adventure never lost interest, but some excessive situations made the story fall into a sort of triviality. Ellis’ appetite for punching faces was in some cases absolutely ridiculous. The pace didn’t help too, and visually the film didn’t cause much impact for the eyes. The exception to these issues was the final shooting, which was very well done, putting intensity on the screen and adrenaline in our veins. “Mud” showed some moments of sincerity, especially those depicting the relationships between parents/sons, and gave a respectable vision of coming of age and the complexities of love associated to it. Being perfectly watchable, I felt it needed more agitation in the story and the suppression of some unnecessary scenes, to become more appealing.

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