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what2watch2night · 3 years ago

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TITANE. LAMB. ANNETTE. (Who Did It Best: "The Creepy Child" Edition!)

Halloween decorations are now long gone but let's keep the freaky spirit going with this 2021 triple bill about creepy children from hell! TITANE, LAMB, and ANNETTE

What they have in common, despite having a particularly cool one-word-title, is that they are somewhat magic or surreal, and play like fairy tales filled with bizarre events and weirdos having even weirder... progeny. These movies are definitely of the “WTF Did I Watch Today" variety (and maybe a tad NSFW - depending on where you work!) thus are not to be recommended to everyone, which somehow might make them even more precious. Sure, they are considered niche and maybe will appeal more to cinephiles, cult-film-like lovers, possibly the "hip and hype movie-folks'', and those like us on an ongoing quest for the odd & unusual...

In fact, if this titles could talk the convo will be akin to something like this:

TITANE (for France): ‘We present to you “car baby” kinda like Transformers...'

LAMB (for Iceland): 'Hold my beer - We present to you “lamb baby...'

ANNETTE (for Leos Carax!): 'Hold up, did somebody say baby but make it weird...'

The End!

Make of that what you wish but the additional good thing about the 3 films of the night is that they are award-season material (all premiered at Cannes) with TITANE and LAMB respectively representing France and Iceland. And ANNETTE…. representing, what a collaboration between the Sparks brothers and Leo Carax - and Adam Driver - would look like! So, ready or not, ready yourself for these unforgettable films...

*And an "uncanny valley fest"!?

TITANE

The 2021 Palme d’Or is a horror film by Julia Ducournau (the second non-man, after Jane Campion, to win the top prize in 74 editions!). It stars newcomer Agathe Rousselle as Alexia who was a creepy child herself with a strange obsession for automobiles... However, after a car accident, she has to be implanted with titanium that will give her a signature later on in life as a grown-up badass sexy dancer at… auto shows! Her life is pretty much all gloom and doom until things get even more bewildering and violent. After an “unfortunate series of murderous events,” she has no choice but to try her best to impersonate a missing man named Adrien. Alexia goes to live with the lad's overprotective part-psycho-part-loving father, Vincent (played by the great Vincent Lindon) who happens to be a firemen captain living in a jail-like fire station with many other young firefighters. Naturally, Vincent wants his "son" to be a “real man”, and a fireman, but their relationship is, to say the least... problematic. It doesn’t help that Alexia is a woman of few words going through an “unnatural” transition...

Moral Of The Story: 8.5/10 ****

This is the one film of the year 2021 that you will remember forever and ever as there sure ain’t nothing like it anywhere else! TITANE should have been our favorite film of the year, having all the peculiar attributes we cherish so much (and also you know being a Cannes winner - they sure are chosen well!) and altho it might not be, it still is a solid (like titanium!) movie that might just be short of a masterpiece. It seems at times uneven (ranging from good to amazing) with the middle part dragging a little, but at the same time, we are treated to basically 2 films in one. In addition, the performances are spectacular, especially Lindon who is as transformed as Roussel transforms herself throughout the movie. But there is no doubt the bonkerz premise and original story is what makes TITANE a must-see. Despite having its fair share of body horror it is probably not as shocking as RAW, and the horror or violence have more “poesy” to it but is also more fun! Guess having something magic, lyrical, gory, extreme, and melodramatic is possible! So, we should thank Ducournau for being so free with a clear vision and unashamed of her crazy kinky idea!

LAMB

Lamb is, believe it or not, the feature debut of its Icelandic filmmaker Valdimar Jóhannsson.

The drama stars Noomi Rapace (speaking in Icelandic cuz she can!) as Maria living on a remote farm in the middle of nowhere with her partner Ingvar. They are very credible as hard-working farmers tending to their land and sheeps, even giving birth to lambs, until one day they bring a quiet “newborn” lamb home. We are not sure why, but it is what it is, and it seems this couple was desperate for a child. We can sense they had this void to fill and it is confirmed as they actually had a crib and all the “equipments” necessary to take care of a new baby. They live a happy life with this mysterious child, but despite the sweet joy of this simple family life in this peaceful valley surrounded by heavenly mountains, we can sense something strange, unnatural, and ominous is bound to happen... Oh yes, there is also Ingvar’s brother coming to the farm to threaten their blissful household and the safety of “the child”; but that should be the least of everyone’s worry… Remember a few years ago we had the excellent Icelandic entry for the Best Foreign Film RAMS about feuding bros, and, well, rams. So, in LAMB we also got those and more!

Moral Of The Story: 8/10 ****

Regardless of the horror-ish aspect of the drama, LAMB makes for a soothing viewing experience with its appeasing colors and the magnificent vistas framed so perfectly coupled with fitted direction and "mood”. It is delicately crowded with vast emptiness and fine and gentle performance, and it appears it could have been the perfect “Covid movie” with 1 location in a beautiful rural setting with a handful of actors. Moreover, it could also be the perfect Icelandic movie, making the most of the gorgeous scenery and the cliches! The story is one-of-a-kind but the actors, and particularly Rapace, are great here. They make this naturalistic yet fantastic drama very grounded. They also give it its easy-going and dark vibe. Some levity and “monotony-breaker” likewise help make the flick less heavy thanks to some well-timed nordic humor. LAMB comes across as a slice of life “at the farm” with a slice of stranger things! Additionally, the film bears the mark of an “A24 horror entry” having this little distinctive “je ne sais quoi”, so it is a win-win-win all around!

ANNETTE

This latest Leo Carax film is an ambitious drama musical - with music by none other than The Sparks - that works as both an homage to LA and/or musical classics, and a modern-day cult classic for high-end camp or grand bizarro projects!

ANNETTE is mostly about Annette’s parents.; they are the protagonists of this love story (cuz duh! Yeah of course it is also a Luvveeeee story, cuz they “love each other so much” like soooooo much yall! But seriously, somebody please nominate this song for an Academy Award for Best Original Song; not because it deserves it by being so good, but because it would be mad to have Driver and Cotillard on stage singing those same verses over and over - with the Sparks brothers in the mix of course!)

Adam Driver plays Henry, a highly performative stand-up comedian/entertainer with some weird sense of showmanship and delusion of grandeur. His lover, Ann (Marion Cotillard), is a superstar opera singer. As mentioned they are consumed by a fiery passionate love and are the talk-of-the-town (Los Angeles) being both famous and a power couple, but like in a Greek tragedy, drama happens! It becomes a tale of jealousy and betrayal… And bad parenting! Because the pair have a kid...A weird weird child. It is played by a puppet and looks like a child from hell named Annette. The precocious girl is magical and so it brings magic to this whimsical rocambolesque fable of love and psychopathic behaviors!

Moral Of The Story: 7.5/10 ****

It's great that the ANNETTE doesn’t take itself too seriously and knows that some of the most bonkerz or uncomfortable scenes are best to have some fun and funny elements sprinkled on top for breathers - and for the audience to laugh not at but with. In the end, this film is unlike any other for better or worse. It is a wild ride in its field (if there is such a field!) and is probably the most off-beat film of 2021. Viewers will be rewarded if they hang in there and are open to some of the “BOLD” artistic choices made.

Driver is now no doubt the king of “unusual actors” but he was mindblowing in this role and playing this over-the-top character to perfection. Think if Phantom of The Opera was an odd megalomaniac, introvert-extravert, privileged hipster! It is perhaps the most versatile part he’s done so far. The physicality of Driver’s performance makes ANNETTE an interesting work and might end up being the film’s real shot as gold (the man might be pulling double duty come award-season with his HOUSE OF GUCCI role too) which might help the film get more views despite its... Huh… "Specific flavoring”! Although ANNETTE seems to have some mainstream appeal, one has to admit that like many of Carax’s it is not the most “accessible” and - like TITANE - is probably one of the most divisive films of its year.

Cotillard did her best with her character but not sure she was the person most would have cast in this role or this movie filled with eccentrics and weirdos. But guess she grounds this project and brings her panache to it. She plays the soft-spoken delicate and ephemeral Anne, though one has to truly suspend disbelief to believe her to be an opera singer! Maybe they should have gone extra camp and cast someone from, let's say from Broadway, like Aubrey McDonald or Idina Menzel, or dunno like Lady Gaga (it would have been an interesting year having her and Driver playing a couple in two flicks! *Plus fun fact: they actually wanted to go the celebrity-singer route with Rihanna, and that could have been super intriguing - and also brought some “color”...) Ultimately, not sure if many other people would have been able to bring the mystic Cotillard instills this character.

Then, there is the unique screenplay coupled with The Sparks music & lyrics making the whole thing poetic and unconventional! One can argue that ANNETTE would’ve probably worked better if it was more subtle in terms of its dialogue and lyrics, but guess one will find joy watching this film and it’s a brand of humor if one is willing to disregard the idiosyncratic aspect of the latter (think parody-like 80s musicals!). Nevertheless, there is no denying that the tunes and lyrics are catchy and sometimes also beautiful (again Oscar-worthy even!)

So, in a nutshell, ANNETTE is indeed completely bonkers, probably the most nonsensical cinematic gem we’ve seen in a while, so what’s not to like!

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