Mateo Gil's REALIVE (Proyecto Lázaro) finally hits theaters just prior to its Digital/VODebut

Made in 2015 and first released in Europe last year, the new film from Spanish filmmaker Mateo Gil (Open Your Eyes, The Sea Inside, The Method, Blackthorn) entitled for America REALIVE (it original monker Proyecto Lázaro had already been used over here as The Lazarus Project) just opened theatrically this past weekend in very limited release and will hit home video tomorrow. Anything by Señor Gil (shown below) -- as writer, director or often both -- is worth checking out, and so it is once again with this better-than-average sci-fi drama.

The subject here is that old sci-fi staple, cryogenics, which has been with us at least since the rumors of Walt Disney on ice, In Gil's hands, the subject becomes not only a tale of body freezing and returning to life-after-death but also a love story (perhaps two of them), as well as a kind of modern-day Frankenstein re-do (without all the snips, scars and stitches). What distinguishes the movie, however, is its insistence of forsaking the usual plot machinations and thriller-film action cliches for a much more quiet, ruminative, philosophical approach.

This is most clearly seen in the voice-over narrative that begins the film and remains in place throughout. The tale is told in a kind of flashback/forward, past/present combination by the story's not-quite hero, a rather self-involved commercial-approaching-fine artist named Marc (the very beautiful and relatively unusual in that he actually looks good bald actor, Tom Hughes, shown above and below), who becomes the first human to have been successfully brought back to life after decades of frozen slumber.

As we learn more about Marc's life and loves, along with his relationship to his on-again/off-again lover, Naomi (Oona Chaplin, below), a character more fully develops.  Eventually we learn much more about why Marc had chosen this particular route and, of course, the intended and unintended results of his decision.

This gives Gil the opportunity to explore, along other subjects, morality, commitment, and the ethics of science -- all of which he does to good effect, simultaneously offering us more and more to question and wonder over. The filmmaker's use of flashback is, as ever, very well-done, and his spare but effective use of futuristic settings, as below, works well, too.

In the supporting cast are France's Charlotte Le Bon as Marc's pretty/sexy post-op caregiver (below), a woman who may have even deeper feelings for our flash-frozen hottie.

Also on view is the primary doctor, shown below, for these proceedings (Barry Ward of Blood Cells) who, of course, has his own agenda plus a trick or two extra up his semi-sleazy sleeve. If the film's ending(s) may seems more typical/obvious than necessary, what has come before should make the movie worth your time. It's generally elegant, beautiful and thought-provoking, and this alone lifts it a notch above the usual sci-fi (and above most of what its distributor, SYFY -- Sharknado, anyone? -- generally offers).

Running 112 minutes, the movie, now playing in a few theaters  -- including the Cinema Village in New York City and the Arena CineLounge in Hollywood -- hits VOD and Digital HD tomorrow, Tuesday, October 3 -- for purchase and/or rental.

Architecture, connection and commitment grace Kogonada's masterful debut, COLUMBUS

The perfect antidote to summer's uber-marketed blockbusters and indie rom-com drivel, here's a movie made for intelligent adult audiences who want something original from their cinema and are willing to watch real characters deal quietly but bracingly with important events and themes in an atmosphere of great, if often man-made, beauty.

Architecture has seldom seemed as vital and important to our life as it does in COLUMBUS, the debut film from a fellow named Kogonada, a South Korean-born U.S. immigrant raised in the Mid-west and now living in Nashville. His movie so lives and breathes its architectural wonders that the viewer is able to do this, too -- relishing each new place, and the compositions through which we see those places, in rapt appreciation. (The cinematography here is by Elisha Christian, and the editing by Kogonada himself.)

Visual beauty and the wonders of architecture have been captured elsewhere, as in La Sapienza by Eugène Green, but Kogonada, as writer and director, has also been able to capture character -- succinctly and realistically -- two in particular: Jin (played by a surprising John Cho, below, left), the son of a famous architect whose father in now in hospital in a coma in this architecturally amazing city of Columbus, Indiana; and Casey (the equally fine Haley Lu Richardson, below, right). a young girl with aspirations to architecture stuck here in Columbus taking care of her maybe-still-drug-addicted mother.

How these two people meet, slowly bond, and finally prove important to one another is handled by the filmmaker with such efficiency, honesty and believability that the movie will probably stand as some kind of filmmaker's/screenwriter's manual on how to achieve this sort of thing.

The character-building and theme-revealing is given us via much of the architecture that we, along with our two characters, view, and this is handled equally well. (The movie should make you more fully aware, if not appreciative, of your own surroundings.)

The pacing here is very slow, yet so much is going on that I doubt you will mind. Event-wise, very little happens, yet by the finale immense changes are occurring. And if Kogonada resists not just melodrama but even perhaps the idea of drama itself, he nonetheless brings us to the point of caring a great deal about these two people and their lives.

The movie's single misstep, in my estimation, is the one scene in which, suddenly, and for no good reason I can fathom, the soundtrack goes silent -- just at the point at which our heroine has been prodded to explain her deepest feelings about her love for architecture. Is this just too precious for the likes of our own, culturally-deprived ears? Or was the screenwriter perhaps unable to quite render le mot juste? This would certainly be one question I'd ask Kogonada in a Q&A.

Otherwise, Columbus is a glory of a movie: quiet, commanding, and utterly beautiful to see. Running 104 minutes, it opens this Friday in New York City at the IFC Center, and in Los Angeles at the Landmark NuArt. (Kogonada is said to be appearing for several Q&A at both the IFC Center and the NuArt during the coming weekend. Click here and here for the schedules. I'm not sure how one man can be in two place at once -- maybe via video? -- and on separate coasts, to boot, but both theaters are claiming to have him.)

Gillian Robespierre's sophomore effort, LANDLINE, hits South Florida theaters

Well, its credentials as a piece of American Independent Cinema are certainly flawless: actors the likes of John Turturro, Edie Falco and Jay Duplass, along with newer members such as Abby Quinn and Jenny Slate, the latter of whom director/co-writer Gillian Robespierre collaborated with a few years back on the funny, original and much better indie movie, Obvious Child. Their newest collaboration, LANDLINE, though it boasts a number of lovely moments and scenes, doesn't fare nearly as well overall.

Set in 1995, the movie opens on Labor Day, with some awfully laborious (and, yes, funny) sex taking place on screen. Ms Robespierre, shown at left, together with her co-writers Elizabeth Holm and Tom Bean, have fashioned a movie about family set back some 22 years, at a time when technology, computers, the internet (but not yet cell phones) were beginning to control our lives. This will initially make the movie a nice nostalgia trip for some of us. (Benihana, the restaurant most seen in the film, was also perhaps a bit more newsworthy then.)

The themes here, in addition to the perennially popular one of "family," are those of intimacy, fidelity, trust and betrayal -- and how important these actually are (or maybe aren't) to a successful, long-term relationship. All good -- if nothing we haven't encountered at the movies many times before.

When the family's younger daughter (Quinn, above right) discovers -- a little too easily, it seemed to me -- what looks like an affair their dad (Turturro, at right, two photos above) is having with another woman, she eventually apprises older sibling (Slate, above, left) of the goings-on.

They keep mom (Falco, above, center) out of it while they (sort of) investigate matters, even as the older daughter, though engaged to a nice fellow named Ben (Duplass, in bathtub below), nonetheless falls into an her own affair with an old friend she has recently encountered at a party (Finn Wittrock, at left in photo at bottom).

That's about it -- except that the chickens, as they say, do come home to roost. (Oh, there's a little drug-dealing here, too.) The problem is that nothing we see or hear is all that incisive, interesting, funny or moving. (It's certainly not original, either.) Performances are as good as can be, given the material, and the movie is never unwatchable. But we keep waiting for it to take off. Instead it stays firmly grounded until it finally rolls into its predetermined destination.

From Amazon Studios and running a little too long even at 97 minutes, Landline, after hitting the major cultural centers a week or so back, opens here in South Florida tomorrow, Friday, July 28, in the Miami areas at AMC's Aventura 24 and Sunset Place 24, Regal's South Beach 18 and the O Cinema Wynwood. The following Friday, August 4, it expands to Fort Lauderdale, the Palm Beach and Boca Raton areas at The Classic Gateway Theatre, Regal's Royal Palm Beach 18 and Shadowood 16, the Living Room Theater, and the Cinemark Palace 20. Wherever you live across the country, just click here to find a theater near you.

Here's a streaming "must" -- Sam Hoare's unusual "family" film, HAVING YOU

One of those don't-miss movies that the whole world will -- because small tales of love and life and learning, no matter how good they may be (and this one is very) find it almost impossible to make a dent in today's marketplace, given the amount of money that is spent selling cloddish blockbusters to sheep-like consumers -- HAVING YOU proves one of the most special films to arrive of late in that difficult-to-market category of rom-com drama.

The film also heralds the movie-making debut of an actor named Sam Hoare (at right), whom we shall certainly be hearing from again. Mr. Hoare has managed to tell a terrifically good story -- full of surprises, large and small, that never defy credibility -- and tell it so well that we latch on early and stay supremely focused on these several characters brought to lovely life by the excellent cast.

Suddenly one day, into the life of a struggling young man named Jack (Andrew Buchan, below)-- he's dealing with commitment issues; an angry, unloving father; and a job that barely earns his living -- comes Anna (Anna Friel, above), with a young boy in tow (a quiet and hugely appealing performance from Isaac Andrews), whom she says is Jack's offspring from a one-night-stand nearly a decade earlier.

Jack has just popped the question to his fiancee of too many years (the beautiful Romola Garai, below), who happens to have, as her doctor has put it, an "inhospitable womb," but who accepts Jack's proposal with tears and grace and lots of love. This is a particularly well-crafted and -acted scene -- so unlike the many dumb proposals we've viewed on-screen. Still... Now what?

What the filmmaker, who both wrote and directed Having You, does with this fraught situation is simply lovely -- there's not a misstep anywhere along the way. Via low-key but somehow intense and very real performances, Hoare keeps us rooting for every character, despite some of their wrong choices. On one level there does not seem to be a lot of conflict here, and yet the conflict is built into the situation and into the character of Jack, whose responsibility all this finally is.

Aside from the drama present, there's a good deal of humor, too, particu-larly from Jack's boss and best friend, Paul, given a nice spin by Steven Cree. The people here are good people, doing their best and generally succeeding. Yet the past will catch up with them and force them to face who they are and what they really want. The present, too, has some trauma in store, and together past and present unite to force change.

Having You is one of the most "dear" movies in a long while: the kind you want to protect and nurture, just as, I suspect the filmmaker and his cast wanted to do. They have succeeded so spectacularly -- but, yes, in a small, sweet way -- that their film becomes hands-down one of the least known success stories of last year. You can view it now via Netflix streaming and elsewhere.

Park Hong-soo's COMMITMENT, in theaters now, screens FREE at Tribeca Cinemas next Tuesday....

Oh, boy: I'ts another movie from South Korea in which those poor North Koreans are sent spying on their southern brothers, are left twisting in the wind (or worse) by their own government and then finally cut loose to be killed by either the South or other spies from the North. Ah, fun. Sent from North to South on a mission of espionage, an imprisoned 18-year-old boy agrees to do this job on the promise that his younger sister will be safe and then let go when he returns. If only. Betrayal is everywhere here. Says the older North Korean spy to his younger counterpart as he shoves a knife into the boy's chest, "Don't you know, you naive kid, that nobody ever goes home." 

As directed (and maybe written: I can't find any writing credit on the IMDB's post) by Park Hong-soo (shown scratching his head at right), the new film COMMITMENT, a box-office bonanza in its home country, should please quite a few folk over here, too. It moves at a very speedy pace, includes a number of fine and violent action sequences, and has the added hook of partially taking place in a South Korean high school, where resides a particularly nasty crew of mean girls (and boys).

In the leading role is a very attractive young man named Choi Seung-hyun (shown below, and better known as a rapper named T.O.P. from the group Big Bang). Master Choi acquits himself surprising well, I thought, as this poor young recruit trained to kill so easily and naturally that it soon becomes second nature. Desperately trying to protect his sister (below, right), as well as another young girl he meets in his new high school, the kid is up to his ears in problems.

This movie, as well as a number of others recently seen from South Korea, will indeed make you wonder: Is this country -- certainly as "western" an eastern one as can be imagined -- a place where present-day spying runs rampant and can so very easily be believed? If so, even if not, this idea certainly seems to be a hook from which countless Korean movies can be hung.

Super-violent and running up a very large body count, Commitment finds betrayal just about everywhere, at least where the men are concerned. You can count on the women a whole lot more easily, whether it's the grandmotherly North Korean spy who helps both the kid and his late father (in the film's fine opening sequence), or the high school honey (above) who befriends our hero, or his put-upon sister (both girls are conveniently named Hye-in).

While the film is most often rueful and sad, it is not without some humor on occasion. The scene in which the kid reacts to his pompous teacher in approximately the same way he would to a killer spy is pretty funny. 

In Hollywood, a movie like this would end in only one way. Thankfully, Korean cinema (understandably, I think) has a darker view of life. Commitment, like it or not, places this front and center. Despite some of the clichés on view here, I think you'll be moved and somewhat chastened by the film's finale.

You can see Commitment this coming Tuesday evening, January 14, at 7pm as part of the Korean Cultural Service's free screenings at the Tribeca Cinemas in lower Manhattan. It's first-come, first-served, however, so get there early! Click here for all the details.

Class, choice, guilt and circumstance: Catherine Corsini's rich THREE WORLDS; plus a short Q&A with filmmaker and star

How rare it is to find a film -- these days, even a foreign one -- with a meaningful and important theme, let alone several of them. Catherine Corsini, a filmmaker who ought to be better known worldwide and certainly here in the USA, has done all this in her newest movie, THREE WORLDS, and managed it so well that her themes and seams blend effortlessly into a brilliant whole. In preparation for this review, I watched the film a second time the other evening with a couple of friends who had not seen it. We were all impressed; I even more so on this repeat viewing.

Ms Corsini, shown at right, who directed and co-wrote this original screenplay, has imagined an event -- an accident that turns into a hit-and-run -- the ramifications of which bring to the surface issues of immigration, class, money, love, guilt (in several forms) and commitment (I may have left out a few other themes) involving nearly a dozen characters -- all of whom get their time in the sun to become fully understandable people, complete with needs and desires, often counter to those of others in this mix. The fact that Corsini achieves all this succinctly and economically within a time frame of 101 minutes is impressive. That we don't in any way feel short-changed is even more so.

Primarily, we have the driver of the car, Al, played by up-and-comer Raphaël Personnaz (above, right), who was so good in last week's The Stroller Strategy and is ever better here, as the pivotal character around whom all else revolves. This would include his fiancee (Adèle Haenel, above, left, also excellent in another of last week's openers, Aliyah) and her father, M. Testard (Jean-Pierre Malo, below, left), who owns the automobile dealership where Al works and is about to gift his new son-in-law-to-be with the title to the firm.

Also in the mix are a couple of Al's co-worker pals, who are with him at the time of the accident; his mom, who for years worked as a cleaning woman at the company; the young woman who witnessed the accident but could not identify the driver (played by Clothilde Hesme, below) and her boyfriend.

Finally there's the victim himself (an illegal immigrant, who remains initially comatose), his wife (Arta Dobroshi, below), family and friends. These people are not connected in the currently popular happenstance manner of movies like the witless and overdone Crash or the recent and much better Disconnect. No -- the connections here are immediate and profound for everyone concerned, and the movie is all the stronger because of this.

Once our protagonist begins having trouble living with himself and what he has done, these connections light up and begin firing on all cylinders. As usual, the less said about plot so as not to spoil surprises, the better -- but the fact that it all hinges not only on unfolding events but on character is paramount.

Ms Corsini also manages to avoid melodrama, no mean feat in a tale like this one. As sad and surprising as the movie becomes, what happens always seems real and understandable, given the people with whom we are dealing.

Performances are everything they need to be from every actor, leads on down. Details are exhibited smartly, too: they register but are never hammered home. (Note the final scene between Al and his father-in-law: heated and angry but with a very sudden and moving moment.) Corsini -- who has already given us the excellent Leaving, Les ambitieux, La répétition and The New Eve -- is a smart and graceful filmmaker, and Three Worlds is her best I've seen to date.

The movie, another very fine one from Film Movement, opens this Friday, June 21, in New York City at the Quad Cinema and at the Sacramento French Film Festival (who knew?!) and in the month following on July 28 at the Laemmle Music Hall 3 in Beverly Hills. To see currently scheduled playdates, click here and scroll down a bit.

PERSONAL APPEARANCE! One of the film's stars, 

Arta Dobroshi, will be present for Q&A's on Friday 6/21 

and Saturday 6/22 following the 7:15 show.

*******************

When, last March during Rendez-vous With French Cinema,  TrustMovies met with both Catherine Corsini and Raphaël Personnaz, I recorded the conversation (some of which was offered last week, with my reviews of The Stroller Strategy). This week, because I'm away from home with only my laptop and not my trusty desktop, on which that interview is stored, I must simply recall the highlight with both the filmmaker and her star.

My biggest question for Corsini, above, having now seen five of her films and having liked them all was: What is it, aside from each film's strong interest in the lives of women (Three Worlds is different by virtue of its male protagonist) that links your films? Or is there anything specific?  To which the filmmaker immediately replied, Yes: in each, the character is trying to find his or her place, his or her identity, within the world that he or she inhabits.

I thought about this, recalling the various films, and sure enough, they all have this feature in common -- and yet so subtle but incisive a filmmaker is Ms Corsini that this does not jump out at you as you watch. Her films are filled with interesting people and ideas and situations, and so you're pretty much enveloped in all of this as you watch.

For M. Personnaz, at right and below, after the rest of our talk (which you can find at the end of the former post here), I wondered aloud if I could ask a somewhat personal question that would involve his past history. A very likeable and gracious guy, he immediately smiled and said, "Of course."

Of these three worlds that the film depicts -- that very fragile world of the illegal immigrant, the lower/working class world of his best pals, and the haute bourgeoisie to which his character aspires -- into which one does he place himself most securely? Obviously, I tell him, you're not an illegal immigrant (at this point, he outright laughs), so which of the other two?

Personnaz smiles again (and what a smile he has!) and tells me that he has actually been pretty firmly embedded in both those worlds. He was a kid from a lower-middle class family in which his dad labored (I believe he said) in the construction industry. After awhile, the family made some money and found themselves living in a higher class in a very different world. But then, he shrugged and grew a bit philosophical, things changed once again. Times grew difficult, the economy suffered, and the family was back again in a less good place.

It was very interesting, noted the now quite successful actor, to see which of his so-called friends stuck with him. Many simply bailed. "We call these "fair-weather friends'," I told him. The actor thought about this phrase for a moment, then smiled again.

"Exactly."