Barbie

Barbie; fantasy comedy / drama, USA, 2023; D: Greta Gerwig, S: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, Ariana Greenblatt, Kate McKinnon, Will Ferrell, Issa Rae, Alexandra Shipp, Michael Cera, Rhea Perlman

Barbie lives in Barbieland, an idyllic town where every woman is called Barbie, and every man is called Ken. One day Barbie experiences untypical thoughts about death, flat feet and receives cellulite, prompting Weird Barbie to deduct that a girl playing with her doll avatar in the real world is depressed. Barbie and Ken, who feels underappreciated, thus go through several portals to the real world, specifically Los Angeles, but get a culture shock at how complicated the world is. Barbie meets the woman playing with her Barbie doll: Gloria, a mother of a teenage girl, Sasha. Upon discovering that men dominate in the real world, Ken returns to Barbieland and persuades all Kens to rule over other Barbies. When Barbie returns, she helps Barbies return their rule back. Barbie meets the ghost of Ruth Handler, co-founder of Barbie dolls, and decides to become human and live in the real world.

How to make a movie about Barbie? The only thing known about the famous doll and her partner Ken is that they are pretty and like fashion, yet a plot that would hold a feature length film about them together would have to be its own interpretation. Around 40 computer-animated films were made about Barbie, until the first live-action film by director Greta Gerwig and her partner Noah Baumbach, who both wrote the script. Even they didn't quite figure it out. Gerwig opts for a satire on Barbie, and through her a satire on the relationship between idealism and harsh reality, with an excess of metafilm and self-referential ideas reminiscent of Jonze's "Adaptation", leaving a rather confused film which feels as if it hates itself at times. "Barbie" follows the same old tactic of movies that use an 'ideological human shield': while its themes of feminism, patriarchy-matriarchy rights, search for meaning and self-actualization are commendable, they are here presented banally. Remove the ideological filters, and what is left? Nothing. Throughout the film, only some 4-5 good jokes ignite, while all others just backfire and feel cringeworthy. One good joke is after an employee finds out about Barbie escaping from Barbieland, so he goes to the main office of the Mattel CEO (Will Ferrell) holding a meeting with twenty other managers, and in order to be discreet the employee offers to inform the CEO via a whisper—but then just whispers the bad news to a manager next to him, who whispers it to a manager next to him, and he then whispers it to a manager next to him, until in the end everyone in the office room finds out about it, anyway.

A clever joke appears after Barbie's encounter with the real world, after which she starts feeling "down" for the first time, and thus a toy commercial appears on the screen, presenting "Depressed Barbie", with the speaker saying: "Anxiety and OCDs sold separately". Another is when Barbie says: "I'm not pretty anymore!", but the Narrator slyly adds: "Note to filmmakers: Margot Robbie is not the actress to get this point across." These breaking-the-fourth-wall moments work, yet the movie never really lifts-off. The jokes are corny and silly, and just when the viewers expect them to improve when Barbie and Ken enter the real world, they just continue with its lame intensity. It is indicative that Will Ferrell actually comically overshadows Barbie, who never really tells a single good joke. The only good joke she is involved in is when she sits and drops down to the ground like a mannequin. The movie forgets its own plot points it set up: what was Gloria's problem and depression, anyway? When was that resolved? The idealistic Barbieland reminds of the excellent "Pleasantville", where a brother and a sister from the real world enter the idealistic world of a black-and-white TV series from the 50s, and bring complexity and change with them. Every character that changed in that film earned it, and it was immediately clear what their motivation was, whereas even their world changed. The main character arc here doesn't work—what does Barbie achieve in the end? After all she went through, her acomplishment is that she goes to a gynecologist? They didn't do it right. Why not insert scenes where Barbie pretends she only cares about looks, but, let's say, secretly writes something at her home, or secretly draws on paper? That would hint at her creative, suppressed side (which would tie in nicely with Barbie's co-creator, Ruth, saying near the finale: "Humans have only one ending. Ideas live forever."). And in the end, Barbie could have become a writer or an art designer in the real world, and that would have been a true transformation. In this edition, Barbie doesn't actually grow at all. "Barbie" is composed out of 90% ideological activism, and only 10% out of writing, creativity, humor or ingenuity. Sloganeering isn't filmmaking.

Grade:+

No Hard Feelings

No Hard Feelings; comedy, USA, 2023; D: Gene Stupnitsky, S: Jennifer Lawrence, Andrew Barth Feldman, Laura Benanti, Natalie Morales, Matthew Broderick

Montauk. Maddie has tough luck: due to debt, her car has been confiscated, making her job as an Uber driver impossible. She thus applies to a peculiar add where rich parents Laird and Allison want a woman to "hard date" their shy teenage son Percy, so that he can lose his virginity and "get out of his shell" before going to Princeton University, and are willing to give her a car for compensation. Maddie contacts Percy who works at a dog shelter and persuades him to go out on a date with her. They go swimming naked in the ocean, but he is still reluctant to have sex with her. They get to know each other better and Maddie actually becomes fond of him. When Percy finds out Maddie was actually hired, he is angry and demolishes the car intended for Maddie. However, Maddie makes up with him, sells her house to go to California, while Percy goes to Princeton.

An amusing and untypical comedy for grown ups, "No Hard Feelings" is at first a crass, but later on a genuinely sincere and even emotional romantic comedy about a girl hired to "make a man" out of a shy teenager with stunted social skills. It owes most of its charm to the relentlessly dedicated performance by Jennifer Lawrence who is excellent as the heroine Maddie, demonstrating that comedy roles suit her better than too serious dramas, and one is almost surprised at what lengths she would go just to keep the movie going and preventing it to falter even during its weaker parts. One of the most insane moments is when Maddie is trying to seduce the shy Percy, so she persudes him to go skinny dipping with her in the sea during the night. While they are having awkward talk in the water, three teenagers on the beach try to steal their clothes, so Maddie goes back to the shore and beats them up, naked (!), returning their clothes and chasing them away, in a badass moment that is unexpected. More tender, grounded parts develop, such as the neat scene where the introverted Percy surprisingly sits at a piano in a restaurant and starts playing Hall & Oates song "Maneater", in a very romantic melody, which transforms not only Maddie's perception of him, but also the perception of all the guests in the place. Not all jokes work, though, and a fair share of them feels as if on "autopilot" at certain moments, lacking that ratio where inspiration outnumbers routine, and some situations are highly illogical (would a teenage guy, no matter how shy he is, be afraid of an attractive woman in a mini skirt driving him in a van and taking his phone, to such an extent that he would actually mace her?! It would make more sense if the gender roles were reversed, because one cannot buy said sequence), but the characters are sweet and have an emotional side to them, which makes the vewers care about them.

Grade:++

Great Freedom No. 7

Grosse Freiheit nr. 7; drama, Germany, 1944; D: Helmut Käutner, S: Hans Albers, Ilse Werner, Hans Söhnker, Hilde Hildebrand, Günther Lüders 

Hamburg. Hannes Kröger is a washed-out sailor whose best days are behind him, and thus earns his money as a singer and musician in Hippodrom, still in love with the owner Anita who doesn't care about him. It lies on the Great Freedom street, part of the Reeperbahn. Hannes is summoned by his sick brother Jan, who a long time ago ran away with his life savings, to take care of his lover Gisa. Jan then dies. Hannes goes to a village where Gisa lives, and she accepts to live at his apartment in Hamburg in order to escape from the judgmental rural people. Gisa however falls in love with Georg. Hannes prepares a dinner to propose Gisa, but she sleeps over at Georg. Disappointed, Hannes sells everything and boards a ship to leave the country.

An elevated example of a melodrama done in the best vein of D. Sirk or P. Almodovar, "Great Freedom No. 7" owes its successful balancing act to the director Halmut Kautner's craftmanship and Hans Albers' dignified, authentic performance which stayed remembered as one of his finest roles. Through the tale of the tragic protagonist Hannes the film touches upon the themes of resignation, disappointment and unrequited love, yet, luckily, it avoids turning too syrupy or pathetic due to several cleverly staged scenes. In the opening act, when the club owner Anita asks Hannes if he is coming back, and he replies with: "Where else should I go?", the viewers realize that this Red-light district is de facto his home, because he has nothing else. Several neat stylistic touches (Hannes spots a ship with the letters "Lisa" on it and imagines the word "Gisa" instead on the ship; the turbulence of Hannes finding out Gisa on a picnic with Georg is underlined by a storm; the unusual depiction of Hannes' dreams by having the close-up of his face on the lower side of the screen while the images of his dream are seen above) and camera drives enrich the film, whereas a few humorous moments help it as well (80 minutes into the film, a large fight erupts in the Hippodrom, but just as a whistle is heard, everyone stops for a second, and then gently starts dancing with ladies, just as the police enters the location). A few banal or "dry" drama moments bother here and there, the dialogue is sometimes too standard, whereas everything was clearly leading towards a tragic ending, which never manifested, yet overall, "Great Freedom No. 7" is an engaging and quality made achievement. 

Grade:+++

The Great Beauty

La grande belezza; drama, Italy / France, 2013; D: Paolo Sorrentino, S: Toni Servillo, Carlo Verdone, Sabrina Ferilli, Carlo Buccirosso, Giovanna Vignola

Rome. Jep Gambardella (65) is a journalist who wrote a famous novel, "The Human Apparatus", 40 years ago and never wrote anything since, and now spends his time partying with high society during the night. 40 years ago, Jep was also in love with a girl, Elisa, but she decided to marry another man. Elisa's husband shows up and informs Jep she died. Jep starts questioning his life. He starts a friendship with Ramona (42), a stripped, but she dies from a disease. Jep's friend, Viola, is shocked when he mentally ill son commits suicide, so she donates all her possession to the church. Jep's friend Romano, an aspiring writer who is only tolerated by his younger girlfriend who often flirts with other men, decides to quit this lifestyle and leave Rome. Jep and his dwarf editor Dadina want to speak to a 103-year old nun who spent her life in the Third World, but she refuses to give an interview. Upon arriving at an island, Jep remembers his encounter with Elisa again, and this inspires him to start working on a new novel.

Paolo Sorrentino's "The Great Beauty" isn't a movie about a story, but rather, just like the title hints at, a meditation on beauty found all around us in the world. It is also a movie about sadness that some people are not part of that beauty that gives happiness, but just passive observers of it. And it is also a contemplation on the question if beauty alone can give meaning to life. The protagonist Jep is a man who enjoys beauty in life, from the classic architecture of Rome, women, parties, fancy suits, alcohol, literature and art, but his time has passed. He only contributed to art once as a writer 40 years ago, when he was in love with Elisa, but with her gone, his reason or meaning to try to do anything also went with her. After having sex with a woman in the present, he admits: "At my age, a beauty isn't enough". There is this melancholic sense that despite beauty, it can still leave people feeling empty, a feeling of a lack of purpose. He feels as if his end is near, but that he is still wondering about what he accomplished in life.

Rome is basically a character in the movie. Sorrentino creates wonderfully aesthetic images that are simply beautiful to look at. The camera drives in the opening shots are exquisite: the camera "exits" from the darkness of a cannon, and then moves away as it fires in the afternoon. At around 11 minutes into the film, there is a stylish choreography of a dance where on the left row the men are clapping on one side, on the right row the women are clapping on the other side, while the camera zooms in on Jep in the middle, looking into the camera. There are also great transitions, such as the one where the old Jep is in the sea, he spots a boat heading his way, he dives, and then the young Jep emerges from the water, to catapult us into an elegant flashback. "The Great Beauty" is more a collection of episodes about modern life in Rome than a clear narrative, similarly like Fellini did it in his homages to the city, as well as Proust's novel "In Search for Lost Time". In another random episode, after the pretentious Stefania says that "Rome is pure collectivism", a triggered Jep gives a feisty response: "Do you know that Flaubert wanted to write a book about nothing? If he'd met you, we'd have had a great book! What a shame!" There is also a neat little sequence where Jep observes five walls with thousands of photos of a man, whose entire life was caught on photos from his childhood, as his father was making one photo of him each day. The last 30 minutes of the film don't work, though. There is this random, pointless new character of a 103-year old nun, but this doesn't contribute to anything to Jep's state of mind, nor does it give any revelation. The ending is also a somewhat missed opportunity: it needed something more than just a location to give Jep his inspiration and joie de vivre back. It doesn't feel earned. One can compare this to the ending of the last episode of the TV series "Monk", where the hero finds a surprising revelation in life. Something like that would have been more fitting for Jep's arc, since this randomness does feel slightly vague in the incomplete conclusion. 

Grade:+++

The Sessions

The Sessions; drama / tragicomedy, USA, 2012; D: Ben Lewin, S: John Hawkes, Helen Hunt, William H. Macy, Moon Bloodgood, Annika Marks, Rhea Perlman

Berkley, California, 1 9 8 8. Mark O'Brien (38) contracted polio as a child and was left paralyzed from the neck down due to its complications, and now can only survive four hours without negative pressure ventilator. However, he is determined that this should not prevent him from finally losing virginity. He assigns his caregiver Vera to contact therapist Cheryl Cohen-Greene who works as a sexual surrogate. Cheryl tells him she will only do six sessions, and he accepts. Cheryl takes Mark's clothes off and lies next to him on the bed, but he ejaculates immediately. Little by little, Cheryl helps him endure longer, teaching him cunnilingus, and finally having sex with him. Mark falls in love with her and writes a poem for her, but his letter is thrown away by Cheryl's jealous husband. Cheryl and Mark agree to not to do the final two sessions and end the encounter. In the hospital, Mark meets a woman, Susan, who becomes his wife. He dies at the age of 49.

Based on the true story of Mark O'Brien's encounter with sex surrogate Cheryl Cohen-Greene, "The Sessions" is a sad, depressive and tragic meditation on sex with disability, meaning that it might be too much to handle for some viewers due to such a taboo topic, but its humor, optimism and humanity luckily prevent it from falling into melodrama. Its topic reminds of the similar movie "Nationale 7", where people in a wheelchair want to pay a prostitute to lose virginity, except that Mark here is in even worse state, since he can't even move his hands and has to lie horizontally in a stretcher almost the entire movie. In the opening act, a cat walks by him, lying on a negative pressure ventilator, and since there is nobody around who can scratch his itch on the nose, he goes: "Scratch with your mind". When he asks his caregiver his opinion about sex, the man describes it as: "Overrated, but necessary". Mark is intelligent, witty and sharp, and the fact that he refuses to see himself as a victim and simply tries to live as normal as possible is laudatory. The highlight is the character of Cheryl, who is such an excellent personality that she lifts the film up a notch, and Helen Hunt is miraculous playing here. Her entrance is already genius: a phone rings in a house, a teenager picks it up and says: "Cheryl! Phone for you!" Cue to Cheryl entering the house and saying to the teenager before picking up the phone: "I'm not your girlfriend. When someone calls, particularly someone you don't know, you can use the word 'Mum'." Cheryl's sessions with Mark, where they both lie naked and she lifts his hands to touch her body, are remarkably honest and unusual for American cinema, yet the director Ben Lewine always keeps this story sincere, genuine and has understanding for his characters. Cheryl works almost as some sort of a saint who is there to help a person in trouble solve a problem, in this case having sex with the disabled Mark, and her philanthropy and dialogues give the movie a sense of an aura. The finale is a bit underwhelming, though: sadly, Mark decides to end the ecounter two sessions early, while his meeting with Susan in the last five minutes could have been a whole story for itself.

Grade:++