Lulu Wang's lovely family dramedy, THE FAREWELL, opens here in South Florida

Already lauded with near unanimous critical acclaim, coupled to positive audience ratings, THE FAREWELL, a new film from Lulu Wang, is all about a young Chinese-American woman and the family reunion in China that she has with her grandmother, who's just been diagnosed with terminal cancer.

If this sounds like a recipe for the maudlin "family" films we often get from television, do note that Ms Wang, pictured at left, has offered us a unique experience, during which a smile will rarely disappear from your face, nor a chuckle from your throat. The Farewell is a movie that gives that overused entertainment term "dramedy" a good name. Yes, it is moving -- but it is equally funny, charming and most of all surprising. And it ends with two quick scenes/moments -- the first on the streets of New York City, the second above a housing project in China -- that are so brilliant, so perfect, I hope they'll take your breath away, as they did mine.

The conflict in The Farewell has to do with whether or not to keep grandma's diagnosis a secret from her, letting her imagine that she is really doing OK, with little more necessary than to recover from her bad cold and cough. The Chinese branch is determined to do just that, while the Chinese-American group -- personified by the grand-daughter, Billi (a wonderful performance from Awkwafina, shown front row, center, above), and her parents -- are much less certain of what should happen here.

As writer/director, Ms Wang gives us culture clash served up with both a gimlet eye and a genuine feeling for how deep go the differences in Chinese and American culture. Little is easy here, save for the wonderful affection between grand-daughter and grandma (called Nai-Nai and played with a serenely dour comedic sense by an elderly newcomer named Shuzhen Zhou, above, right).

Over its maybe just slightly long 100 minutes, the movie fairly steeps you in Chinese culture. Even when you don't understand it all -- just like the Japanese bride of the family cousin, whose upcoming wedding is the supposed reason for this sudden get-together -- you will indeed understand that you damn well better watch and listen and figure out everything you can. And you will, as Ms Wang does not make things that difficult to understand. Along the way, as I say, that smile will rarely leave your face. By the finale, you will have partaken in the not just expected very moving and emotional scene but in so much more, as well.

I rather wish that, in addition to getting to know grand-daughter and grandmother, we might have learned more about that cousin and his bride (above), and a couple more of the extended family members. There was time for this, but instead it was spent somewhat repetitiously on Nai-Nai and Billi. But that's a small price to pay for so much else that works so splendidly here. And the two-moment ending, as I say, is sheer cinematic wonder.

From A24, in English, Mandarin and a little Japanese and Italian (all with English subtitles), The Farewell opens nationwide today. Here in South Florida, you can find the film in Broward County at the Paradise 24, Davie, and the Gateway 4, Fort Lauderdale. In Palm Beach County, look for it at at the Cinemark Palace, Living Room Theaters and Regal Shadowood, all in Boca Raton; at the Cinemark 14 in Boynton Beach; at the Movies of Delray, Delray Beach; and at Cobb's Downtown at the Mall 16 in Palm Beach Gardens. In Dade County, it's playing at the Aventura Mall 24, Aventura; The Landmark at Merrick Park 7, Coral Gables; the O Cinema, Miami Beach; the South Beach 18, Miami Beach; and the Sunset Place 24, South Miami. Wherever you live around the country, click here to find the theater(s) nearest you.

Family history and the Holocaust explored anew in Jeff Lipsky's unusual THE LAST

Jeff Lipsky is back. This storied producer, shown below, who has also directed a number of interesting films -- one of which, Flannel Pajamas, is among TrustMovies' favorites -- loves to push envelopes. And while those envelopes would ostensibly seem to be filled with the usual envelop-pushing subjects such as sexual taboos, the results are films that actually push our ideas about those things, rather than the things themselves. Folk who want more sex and violence will likely feel cheated by Lipsky's movies, while those willing to have some of

their precious notions/beliefs upended in ways surprising but maybe salutary should find the experience bracing and perhaps a lot more than that.

Lipsky's latest, entitled THE LAST, may be one of his best. (I'll have to let it roll around a lot more before coming to any air-tight conclusions.) It is certainly one of his more provocative endeavors, dealing as it does with The Holocaust and the multi-generational history of one particular family in quite an unusual manner. Who these people are, together with how they got that way and what they plan to do about it, once they've learned the truth, makes for quite a movie.

The film begins by a lake with a certain Jewish ritual. The family here is mixed-faith: Jewish on the great-grandparents side downwards, Catholic on the side of the father (Lipsky regular, the fine Reed Birney, above), with dad's daughter (Jill Durso, below, right) about to convert to Judaism as she marries her hot-looking Jewish hubby (A J Cedeno, below, left).

A day at the beach with 92-year-old great-grandma (a most memorable performance by Rebecca Shull, below), during which our elderly non-heroine talks about her past, changes everything for the entire family.

How each member of each generation reacts to this news comprises the meat of the movie, and while the filmmaker, as is his wont, gives us all this via conversations, the dialog is good enough to keep us glued and alternately surprised and off-kilter.

Lipsky forces us, simply via dialog, to imagine, even experience World War II from a different viewpoint that we've heretofore encountered. He allows the leading members of his fine ensemble -- including Julie Fain Lawrence (above, right, as Birney's wife, Melody) -- to have their own scene or two in which they grapple, with intelligence and emotion, with this news.

It's both challenging and oddly diverting to be forced to come to grips with what's exposed here -- which includes everything from religious faith, morality and hypocrisy to genocide, justice, euthanasia (or maybe murder) and what actually constitutes a Jew.

And though the story is told almost exclusively through conversation, which includes a ton of exposition, so well-performed is the film -- especially by Birney, Shull and Lawrence --  that I think you won't mind. The younger generation is perhaps not quite as skilled, but even that makes a certain sense, given the fact that age, coupled to experience, does count for a lot, in performing, as in building character.

The Last is likely to set more than a few teeth on edge. I hope it plays down here in Florida, where audiences are more likely to be subjected to nonsensical feel-good twaddle such as Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel. What a mitzvah it would be to give our audiences something to actually think about that maybe shakes them up a bit.

From Plainview Pictures and running (just a tad long at) 123 minutes, The Last opens in New York City at the Angelika Film Center and the newly reopened East 62nd Street and 1st Avenue cinema, the CMX CinéBistro. Over the weeks to come, the film will play other cities across the USA -- it hits Los Angeles on April 26 at Laemmle's Royal and Town Center 5 -- click here to see all currently scheduled playdates, cities and theaters.

VODebut for Anne Giafferi's baby-centric French rom-com, LOVE AT FIRST CHILD

About as manufactured and manipulative as a rom-com can get -- and you know how ridiculous this genre often is -- LOVE AT FIRST CHILD (its French title is the much more mundane, named-after-its-leading-characters Ange & Gabrielle) turns out to be, once you say "OK: I'll play along," a reasonably clever, enjoyable and funny example of this perennially popular movie species. The big difference here has to do with what exists at the core of it all: a surprise pregnancy that involves two generations.

As adapted (from a play by Murielle Magellan) and directed by Anne Giafferi (shown at left), with collaboration from Anne Le Ny, the film begins with an interesting enough premise: The mother of a newly pregnant 17-year-old arrives at the office of the father of the young man who has inseminated her daughter and demands that the father of this father-to-be take his son in hand and make him accept his parental responsibility. Fair enough, if a bit unusual. The  mother is played by the always luminous actress Isabelle Carré (below), and her character is as determined and insistent as you might expect for a caring, concerned but maybe a little-over-the-top mother.

It is regarding the father department that the situation grows more difficult. Not only does the father-to-be want nothing to do with the upcoming birth, but there's a bit of a problem with the new father's father (Patrick Bruel. shown below, right, with Thomas Solivérès, who plays his no-nonsense son). Much of the film's fun and conflict derives from this character, so to say much more would spoil some of that fun.

As the film unfurls, some of that earlier manipulation dissipates, due to the smart and charming performances, and Ms Giafferi's fast pacing (the film lasts only 91 minutes). By the finale, all kinds of romantic connections have been made, and there are a number of adorable babies on view.

So, for fans of this sort of thing, Love at First Child should prove a tolerable, and sometimes even better-than-that experience. (That's Alice de Lencquesaing, above, who plays the expectant young mother with the expected youthful energy and blithe disregard).

From Under the Milky Way, the movie hits VOD nationwide this coming Tuesday, July 11, on all major platforms including iTunes, Google Play, Amazon, Microsoft, Vudu, Comcast, Charter, Cox, Vimeo, and various other cable operators. 

Hirokazu Kore-eda's latest, AFTER THE STORM, opens in New York via Film Movement

For those of us who love the work of Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda, the chance to see another of his graceful, beautiful explorations of family connection and growth will not go unattended. In the last couple of Hirokazu's films that TrustMovies has seen, however --  Our Little Sister and his latest, AFTER THE STORM -- it seems to me that the slow pace is slackening even further, while any surprise has gone almost completely missing. While these elements might be deal-breakers for some movie-makers, where Hirokazu is concerned, they don't matter so much. This is due to the rich, human detail he always provides regarding his main characters. You come away from his films steeped in the many individual idiosyncrasies of character, as well as a greater understanding and appreciation of the culture at large.

There is also a grand sense of kindness experienced here, both from the individuals shown and via directorial intent. This is not to say that the people we meet are all good and sweet all the time. Hardly. Our main character here, Dad, played Hiroshi Abe (below, of Hirokazu's I Wish and Still Walking), is a novelist with writer's block who now works as a sleazy private detective, catching husbands or wives in extra-marital affairs to pay his bills (which he rarely seems able to pay, in any case). He is also not above selling out his client, if he can make some extra money off the spouse. Yeah: nice.

This guy also loves to gamble, much to the consternation of his ex and his mother, each of whom is brought to lovely life respectively by Yôko Maki (shown below, of Like Father, Like Son) and Kirin Kiki (of Sweet Bean), shown further below. Both actresses bring such truth and concern to their characters that they help keep the movie on track, given Dad's consistently bad behavior.

In fact, the movie threatens to go off the track, due to Dad, who seems so unable to change, learn or grow in a better direction that, given what you know from Kirokakzu's other films, his "turnaround" is simply going to be unbelievable: too much too late. Stick with After the Storm, though, because the filmmaker manages, as usual, to give us growth in such tiny but smart increments that we not only buy it, we finally revel in it.

There is one scene in particular, in which the poignancy of a failed marriage that both participants -- plus offspring and older generation --want to see repaired is captured with such beauty, sadness and delicacy that, all on its own, it makes the movie worth seeing.

Hirozaku is also finely attuned to the manner in which that apple never falls far from its tree (we learn quite a lot about the recently deceased grandfather, too). Yet in this filmmaker's world, both apple and tree are decidedly mixed bags -- plenty of negatives but some redeeming positives in the mix -- from which Dad's young son (a very good performance by a young actor, above, left, whose name I am not certain of) will also grow and change.

The film is firmly anchored by the excellent performance from Mr. Hiroshi (above and below), a tall, rangy, immensely sexy actor with charisma to spare. Watching him repeatedly fuck up and then try to make up for this, will keep you alternately annoyed and hopeful, desolate and delighted. He is a pleasure to watch in action or repose -- as is, finally, the movie itself.

From Film Movement and running a lengthy but packed-with-detail 117 minutes, After the Storm opens this Friday, March 17, in New York City at the Lincoln Plaza Cinema and the IFC Center, Here in South Florida, it opens on Friday, April 7, at the Living Room Theaters, Boca Raton; the Tower Theater, Miami; and at the Miami Beach Cinematheque. To see all currently scheduled playdates, with cities and theaters listed, click here and scroll down.

Mothering, Bulgarian-style, in Maya Vitkova's gorgeous personal/political oddity, VIKTORIA

What a knockout (for a good while, at least) is VIKTORIA, the near-new (made in 2014) film from Maya Vitkova, shown below, which is said to be based somewhat on the filmmaker's own life -- with a little magic realism/ absurdity tossed in for good measure. We've long heard that popular phrase advising us that "the political is personal" -- or is it the other way around? -- but seldom do we see something that brings this idea to such specific life, if in awfully free-ranging fashion.

Viktoria, the character, is the spawn of Boryana and her live-in boyfriend who occupy a one-room apartment with Boryana's mom.The movie begins with their morning lovemaking, with mom unhappily listening. Well, this is Bulgaria under Communism, so there's little chance for even a separate bedroom. Though mom is still a true believer, who, according to Boryana, sacrificed her daughter's betterment for that of the Communist Party's, Boryana herself seems like a person drained of all hope. When her BF asks what they will name the baby he expects to have just helped conceive, she asks blankly, "What baby?"

And, yes, there is a baby -- an absolute delight of a cutie, above, who is born without a belly button (we won't get into how this is medically possible; that's part of the magic realism/symbolism on display) and so becomes a "hero" of the People's Republic of Bulgaria, and a clear sign to the powers- that-be that Bulgarian babies no longer need umbilical cords. What a country!

Ms Vitkova's rendition of the country's Communist leaders, along with her hilarious portrayal of Viktoria's education and elementary school years, where she is played by the very game Daria Vitkova (above, and the filmmaker's niece) -- how the power structure facilitates her every wish and need -- shows us a country that seems to have grown stupider with each ensuing decade. No wonder our Boryana is depressed.

She is also, as portrayed by actress Irmena Chichikova, shown above and below, one hell of a beauty, with a face the camera just loves. And this is where Vitkova begins to go a bit off-kilter. She sticks that camera on Chichikova's lovely, dark, deep face far too often and too long. For awhile we're so besotted with this weird tale and the pyrotechnics of the Communist nit-witticisms that we march along happily, both marvelling at and appalled by what we see and hear.

But the movie goes on for over two and one-half hours, and once the fall of Communism occurrs and Capitalism has reared its almost equally ugly head, much of the fun goes out of the film, and we're left with a little too much artsy-fartsy. feminist-to-a-fault filmmaking that drains the energy from Viktoria, both the character, who by now is a very sad young adult (played by Kalina Vitkova, another of the filmmaker's nieces, shown below), and the film itself.

This is too bad, because there is so much to recommend about the movie, from its use of symbolism -- cutting the other umbilical cord to the red-button phone (below) that links Viktoria to her country's leader, and showing us the great need for (and multitudinous ways to dispense) milk -- to its rich cinematography (by Krum Rodriguez) to the director's often buoyant and funny visual and verbal sense (Ms Vitkova also wrote the ambitious screenplay).

The film has its own rhythm, as well, and it's quite slow, and sometimes repetitious. But as the three generations of women we meet break further apart and then try to feebly bond again, the movie also begins to turn a bit too sentimental -- even if Vitkova does not, thankfully, go all out in this direction. We hope for better days for at least two of the three generations, for Viktoria especially. But given what we see and learn about Bulgaria through these eyes, the future is not particularly bright. There's an enormous and very real longing here for "elsewhere."  Venice, anyone?

Viktoria -- a Bulgaria/Romania co-production released in the USA by Big World Pictures and running 156 minutes -- opens in its U.S. theatrical premiere this Friday, April 29, in New York City at the Lincoln Plaza Cinema and IFC Center, and on May 13 in Chicago at Facets Cinematheque, and then in Los Angeles on June 10 at Laemmle's Royal. Elsewhere? Maybe, if some positive word-of-mouth builds. Goodness knows, this movie does not easily compare with much else you'll have seen. And for real film buffs, that may be enough to entice.

Blu-ray/DVD/Digital debut for Marleen Gorris' 20-year-old Oscar winner, ANTONIA'S LINE

Thanks to Film Movement's new "Classics" division, those of us who've had a hankering to revisit a movie we loved and that won Best Foreign Language Film some 20 years ago can do just that, come this Tuesday April 19, when ANTONIA'S LINE comes to Blu-ray (the transfer is generally sparkling and quite lovely), DVD and Digital Download.  I remember that our entire family left the theater in tears (rather joyful ones) at the end of the film, but other than that I could not recall a single specific scene. Consequently, I think I enjoyed the movie every bit as much the second time around and am happy to report that it holds up quite beautifully both in terms of its content (five generations of women -- the titular Antonia and her mom, daughter, granddaughter and great-granddaughter -- and how they make their way in our world) and its style (combining dark humor with magic realism to form an odd but very appealing "reality").

As written and directed by Marleen Gorris, shown at left, the movie is enormously feminist without ever having to use the word or push it any further than the film can easily maintain. It takes the position that, in a patriarchal society, strong women must isolate, to some extent at least, and these women certainly do that, while inviting certain of the men into their circle but on the women's terms, not those of the guys. Each woman in this line pursues her own agenda -- art, science/math/music, writing and exploring -- with both achievement and enjoyment, while the men watch and encourage. This is quite the opposite from what we're generally used to seeing in our films -- both mainstream and independent -- but damned if it doesn't work quite wonderfully, for the onscreen characters and us viewers, too.

The film was a Netherlands/Belgium co-production (with some help from France and Britain), and the cast Gorris chose was almost entirely new to U.S. audiences then, and is likely to have remained so even today -- with the exception of Jan Decleir (shown above left, with Willeke van Ammelrooy, the very impressed actress who plays Antonia) who has been seen in a number of films released here over the two decades since.

That cast if first-rate, however, and the assortment of odd but often loveable characters portrayed adds immeasurably to the audience's delight. There a lot of death in the movie and even some violence -- the worst offence is the crime of rape -- but the philosophy here is one of growth and satisfaction, even as time brings its usual barrage of age and loss. For anyone who loved this movie back in the day -- and certainly anyone who hasn't yet experienced it -- this new release of Antonia's Line to home video will be welcome indeed. (That's Els Dottermans, above, who plays Antonia's daughter, Danielle.)

From Film Movement Classics, in Dutch with English subtitles and running just 102 minutes, the film arrives on Blu-ray, DVD and digital download on April 19th -- for purchase or rental.

Still the year's best love story: Victor Levin's sweet knockout, 5 TO 7, makes its DVDebut

When I covered 5 TO 7 just prior to its theatrical debut last April (that review is here),  I found it a remarkable example of culture-clash love story. Seeing it again this week on DVD -- where it will hit the streets for rental and purchase from IFC Films this coming Tuesday, August 18 -- I am even more impressed. On second viewing it holds up beautifully, delivering its charm, humor, surprise and sadness with a knockout combination of intelligence and grace. As written and directed by Victor Levin, it's an example of the height this genre can achieve, in which both grasp and reach are at one.

Mr. Levin, shown at right, has many more credits as writer than director, yet he has done a sterling job at both in this film. He's nailed the mind-set of a certain kind of writer -- his hero, Brian, played very well by Anton Yelchin -- without wasting any time trying to mimic the actual process of writing itself (something movies almost never get right and, in any case, is boring to view). He has given us the thrill and beauty of first love -- first real and important love, that is -- and balanced it quite deftly with life and all its compromises. Most important he's nailed the role of children and how defining they are in the decisions we make.

In tackling, as he does so well, the cultural difference between European and American mores regarding morality, sexuality and relationships, Levin has provided some utterly juicy roles for supporting characters -- Frank Langella and Glenn Close as Brian's parents -- and thoughtful, smart ones for actors such as Lambert Wilson and Olivia Thirlby, who play, respectively, the love object's husband and that husband's mistress.

As the love object herself, Arielle, the filmmaker has cast a remarkable performer, French actress Bérénice Marlohe, below, left, who uses her killer smile and graceful, mature composure to such devastating effect that she'll have you every bit as in thrall as she does our young hero. How the filmmaker employs Arielle's character to bring home his thoughts on compromise and life lessons is quite lovely, leading to a finale that balances poignancy with beauty, sadness and loss with a kind of joyful understanding and acceptance of that compromises we must make. And Levin's final line should resonate like crazy with most writers out there.

And yes, as on first viewing, I still feel that the movie works because the people here have no "money problems." This is a film about the entitled. Twice along the way, a character mentions something to the effect that, every so often life surprises us with its grace. Yes -- and especially, as here, when you don't have to worry about how you are going to afford your next meal.  Well, audiences in hard times have always flocked to movies in which the wealthy are seen at play. We still do, and I suspect that I'll return to 5 to 7 every once in awhile, to view a love story that understands the bigger picture and to be royally entertained while also being reminded of the costs involved. For you not to watch the film at least once would represent a real loss.