From Brazil comes a genre bending/busting marvel: Juliana Rojas and Marco Dutra's "family" film, GOOD MANNERS

Hugely feted and probably fated to go down in cinema history as one of the great love stories/family films/horror films -- yes, there are not so many of these! -- the Brazilian movie, GOOD MANNERS (As Boas Maneiras), is like nothing you've so far seen.

When TrustMovies was a teenager back in the late 1950s and especially in love with werewolf movies, he always imagined that someone would make a werewolf love story that could bring an audience not simply to fear, but to tears and maybe even a weird kind of joy. The South Koreans managed this to an extent with their lovely A Werewolf Boy back in 2012, and now, finally, the movie-making team of Juliana Rojas and Marco Dutra (shown above, left and right, respectively) have gone even deeper and more thoroughly into genre-jumping/mashing to bring us a film that is at once, as the quote on the poster at top makes clear, a fairy tale/horror movie/romance/musical/social parable that works beautifully in every single one of those genres, even as it becomes, at last, something sui generis and quite amazing.

Good Manners is so good, in fact, that it rather sneaks up on you, growing better and stronger as it moves along until its final moment that should leave you as stunned and moved as any genre film you'll have viewed.

Low-budget, independent movies -- let alone genre jumpers -- rarely make for Oscar bait, which is a shame in itself. Even more so when the lead performance in one of those films is as full, rich and deep as is that of Isabél Zuaa (above), who plays the nanny, cook, cleaning woman, friend and finally lover to the pregnant woman (Marjorie Estiano, below) who hires her,

and then becomes the surrogate mother to the shape-shifter at the core of the film, the beautiful and gifted young actor, below, who bears the too-perfect moniker of Miguel Lobo (could that be his actual name?).

Though I hadn't yet realized it as a teenager who would soon identify as gay and eventually bisexual, the strong pull that these movies about "the other (in whatever form)" had on me came from the idea that one could be punished and destroyed for being different, even though one had no control over that difference.

Difference is paramount in Good Manners, whether it is seen via skin color, class, religion, or finally species. How the filmmaking duo brings this to the fore by melding their genres so skillfully is impressive enough; that they also manage to bring the emotional content home so strongly is even more so. Oh -- and did I mention how lovely the songs are?

One of the movie's odd strengths comes from its use of children -- as both aggressor and victims. These scene are as surprising, awful and moving as any I can recall in the genre, and while they do involve some bloodshed, the filmmakers never rub our noses in it. They show what they must and let our mind and heart do the rest. How well they also use some of the genre cliches -- the aroused mob of townspeople on the march to destroy Frankenstein and his monster -- is also admirable.

Good Manners is utterly transgressive in so many ways, and yet it is also one of the sweetest, kindest examples of the horror genre imaginable. The combination proves bracing and the movie -- together with its lead performance from Ms Zuaa (above right) -- unmissable.

From Distrib Films US and running a surprisingly lengthy 135 minutes (not one of which you'd want to part with, post viewing), the film opens theatrically in New York City this Friday, July 27, at the IFC Center and on August 17 in Los Angeles at Laemmle's Royal. Elsewhere? Sure hope so, but if not, the film will surely reach DVD and digital eventually.

Home video debut for Matteo Botrugno, Daniele Coluccini and Nuccio Siano's impressive and beautifully written Italian drama, TAINTED SOULS

Note: This excellent film is now available

-- as of September 2019, at least -- via Amazon Prime

The original Italian title of TAINTED SOULS -- a new drama about a neighborhood, bisexuality, drugs, money and power -- is Il contagio, which translates, as you might guess, to The Contagion. Perhaps that sounded like too much of a sci-fi thriller for proper international distribution, but it makes a much better (and less pompous) title than Tainted Souls There is nothing at all pompous about this beautifully wrought and gorgeously written exploration of love (mostly unrequited), loss, and life among Italians trying so hard to better themselves with little hope of actually achieving this.

The films directing duo --  Matteo Botrugno and Daniele Coluccini (shown above, with Signore Coluccini on the left) -- also wrote the film, with some help from one of its stars, Nuccio Siano, who plays (and very well) Carmine, the major villain of the piece. One of the many characters in this tale of a Rome neighborhood, which looked to me maybe lower-but-still-striving-middle-class, is a successful novelist in the midst of an affair with a 40-year-old body builder, Marcello (Vinicio Marchioni, below), who is married to a woman who loves him, even if they rarely, if ever, have sex. Marcello's main goal is going to the gym and keeping that still-beautiful body in shape.

His writer/lover, called The Professor, and played to perfection by Vincenzo Salemme (shown below, center), sort of narrates the film. It is his words we hear at the beginning, and again those same words at film's end. Yet what a difference that second time around! If you are not moved to tears or perhaps experience a kind of catharsis at all you have seen and what it has meant, as those words resonate again, I shall be very surprised.

In the midst of the film, the professor speaks at length of what Marcello means to him, and the words are perhaps the most beautiful and moving I've ever heard expressed about "the love object." If this is not art, I don't know what is. I was certain at this point that the movie must have been based on a novel, with this portion of dialog taken word-for-word from the source. Evidently not. We have one, two, maybe all of the three co-writers to thank, as well as Signore Salemme's beautiful delivery of those words. (My mistake: Upon a second viewing of Tainted Souls, during the end credits, I found that the film is indeed based upon a novel, Il Contagio, written by Walter Sitti. I hope Signore Sitti was pleased with the film version.)

We also get to know a number of other tenants of the building and experience a peek into their lives, some of which are sad indeed (a robbery and fur coat figure into things). In the second half (there's a Three Years Later title card), the film turns its attention from Marcello to the character of Mauro (Maurizio Tesei, below), who plays second-in-command to Carmine's crime lord.

Mauro has earlier been instrumental in saving Marcello from the wrath of Carmine (Signore Siano, shown below). It is not clear if there may be a sexual attraction between Mauro and Marcello or simply the chance for a special and perhaps deep friendship.

Either way, that increasing contagion of the power/drugs/wealth combo will eventually destroy this relationship, too. Though the filmmakers deal with some awful and violent stuff, they never rub anything in our faces. We understand what happens and feel its horror and weight but are not subjected to anything approaching slasher-movie nonsense. (A stoning, below, is handled with a surprising, Saint Sebastian-like combination of terror and grace.)

Instead we get a good dose of everything from philosophy and religion to economics, politics and class (there are divergences in that latter category, it seems, even among the criminal set). Finally, as the end credits roll, we feel that we've lived with and loved these people. We understand them, suffer with them, and feel deeply their humanity -- even, in some cases, when there is almost nothing of it that remains.

The film also treats its female characters with unusual clarity and affection, especially Marcello's wife (played by Anna Foglietta, below, of Escort in Love and the recent Diva!), who handles her "other woman" role with the sadness, hope-against-hope and gravity it deserves.

From Breaking Glass Pictures, running 112 minutes and in Italian with English subtitles, Tainted Souls makes its home video debut tomorrow, Tuesday, July 24, on DVD and VOD -- for purchase and/or rental.

DVDebut for Russell Harbaugh's well-acted grief 'n gloom fiesta, LOVE AFTER LOVE

Reviews were generally so positive when LOVE AFTER LOVE opened theatrically this past March that TrustMovies made certain to stick it on his must-see list and/or perhaps cover it for its DVD release. That release is now, and sure enough, the movie -- co-written (with Eric Mendelsohn) and directed by Russell Harbaugh (shown below) -- proves to be the very well-acted and relatively insightful look at a family working through its grief during (but mostly after) the death of its husband/father.

Made up of quite a few "family gathering" scenes interspersed with some twosomes, often sexual encounters, the film moves forward in time without explicitly informing you of the where or when. If you pay attention, however, you can easily follow things. Tolstoi's famous-but-specious maxim that begins Anna Karenina (regarding how happy families are all alike but unhappy ones unhappy each in its specific way) comes to mind here, as the family we meet appears to be very unhappy indeed.

Further, this unhappiness does not appear to be stemming merely from grief: These folk were clearly fucked-up long before dad took to dying. Of the two sons, one (James Adomian) is a passive-aggressive alcoholic and the other (Chris O'Dowd) a narcissistic asshole and serial womanizer, and there is no indication that this has not long been the case.

Mom (Andie MacDowell) holds things together as best she can, and it is clear that she's something of a hedonist who was in an "open marriage" before the current husband and is soon involved with someone new afterward.

Mr. Harbaugh makes no excuses for these people. He simply presents them as they are, via their dialog and actions. And yet to make the claim, as many critics have done, that the movie is all about grief and how we manage it seems an oversimplification. It is hardly just grief that these folk are having to handle: It is their life -- past, present and future -- with which they are (barely) coming to terms.

In fact, you may feel -- as did I, my spouse and the friends with whom we viewed the film -- that the extended family (husbands, wives, significant others, friends) were more appealing than the family itself. Still, this is the family we're dealt, movie-wise, and Harbaugh, Mendelsohn and the fine cast bring them to life quite solidly. Mr. O'Dowd (above) is spectacularly good. If anyone else has better portrayed an impossibly narcissistic asshole, I'm at a loss to recall it.

Mr. Adomian has not as much to do here but certainly does it well. His oh-pity-me! less successful brother is a mountain of quiet-but-overbearing excess in every way. And Ms MacDowell (above) proves more than the equal of her on-screen sons. This is one of her most unusual roles -- written with more specificity and detail than the actress is often given -- and she does it full justice, in the process showing us just how much subtlety and understated strength she is capable of.

Nice supporting turns come from Dree Hemingway (above, as O'Dowd's current) and especially from Juliet Rylance (as O'Dowd's ex) -- two of that extended family you'll find yourself wishing were part of a more kindly crew.

From IFC Films and running 93 minutes, the movie hits DVD this coming Tuesday, July 24 -- for purchase and/or rental. It is (or soon will be) available via digital streaming, as well.

DVDebut: Obssesion has its day in Sophie Laloy's 2009 endeavor, YOU WILL BE MINE

According to the IMDB, French film worker Sophie Laloy (shown below) has labored mostly in cinema sound and has directed and co-written but a single full-length film. If and when you view that movie -- YOU WILL BE MINE -- you may understand just why. Ms Laloy's original title in French, Je te mangerais, translates as "I would eat you," and this pretty much describes the obsessive and utterly possessive feelings of one of our protagonists for the other. God knows, obsession has been the theme of a number of excellent movies, from Visconti's early work to Vertigo. But thanks to the nitwit behavior on view, together with some ridiculous plot twists, this film comes nowhere close to joining those ranks.

Fortunately, the film offers some pleasant distractions that just might make it worth your time. Chief among these is Isild Le Besco, (shown above and below), that actress of exotic blond beauty who tends to add interest to anything in which she appears. Here she plays the villainess role to that of co-star Judith Davis' turn as would-be heroine, though neither character is completely what she may initially seem.

This good/evil combination may be the filmmaker's point -- along with the difficulties of accepting one's own lesbian tendencies, given society's majority-rule, continuing stigma of same sex love. If so, Ms Laloy did not find a way to bring all this to remotely believable life, given the over-the-top behavior.

The film was made in 2008 and first released in France in 2009. While attitudes have changed some over the past decade, human behavior remains fairly consistent, and what we see in this movie doesn't pass muster. When the worst possible decision are made, over and over again, the viewer's suspension of disbelief goes into overdrive and finally collapses.

The plot offers up Ms Davis, above and below, as a talented student of classical piano who has the chance to study at a major academy. Due to her family's finances, she must move into the apartment of the daughter of  family friend, a medical student played by Ms Le Besco.

Possessiveness and libido come to the fore almost immediately and grow ever stronger as the movie progresses, turning itself, along with its characters, inside out in the process. Supporting performers includes Edith Scob as a helpful teacher at the academy and Johan Libérau (below, right) as Davis' would-be boyfriend. M. Libérau's copious endowment is given its own impressive full-frontal scene.

For those so inclined, that may be the highlight of the movie. Otherwise, it's a long slough through passion resisted and embraced, love and hate, and nonsensical actions on the road to ruin. Which young woman comes out ahead, and why, may surprise you. Or not.

From Film Movement (though at this time it can be found nowhere on this distributor's web site) and running 100 minutes, the movie finally hits DVD and digital this coming Tuesday, July 24 -- for purchase or rental. If you want to view this one, your best bet is probably via Amazon Prime.

Nabil Ayouch's RAZZIA: a Moroccan apocalypse of great beauty and even greater sadness

Moving from the Atlas mountains of Morocco in 1982 to the city of Casablanca in 2015, RAZZIA begins with the art of  teaching via a fine, smart teacher and his class of students that includes one boy who has a bad stutter and with whose mom our instructor is romantically involved. When we cut to Casablanca, we see a march of fundamentalist Muslims, a beautiful woman (pictured above) dressed in far too Western a style to please those fundamentalists, and a dead bird on the beach that must be properly buried.

The filmmaker here is a fellow named Nabil Ayouch, whose earlier and quite wonderful movie, Ali Zaoua: Prince of the Streets, TrustMovies covered  back when he was writing for the late, lamented Greencine Daily. That film dealt with a band of Arab street boys and what happens when one of their number is killed. With Razzia, Ayouch has opened his canvas much more broadly, as his film moves back and forth between mountain and city over 33 years and includes a huge cast and a number of important characters that share the spotlight. Some of the people we see in both time frames, others are shown only in recent times. All are brought to life with immediacy and specificity.

Initially I imagined Razzia was the name of one of the characters here. But, no. Instead, a little research brought up this following definition, which fits the movie's themes quite handily: a hostile raid for purposes of conquest, plunder, and capture of slaves, especially one carried out by Moors in North Africa. While there is no actual "raid," in Razzia, the movie views Muslim fundamentalism as pretty much the same thing.

In the 1982 Atlas mountains sequence, a teacher (Amine Ennaji, above) is silenced and must leave his teaching post because of "reforms" that force religion into everything, destroy scientific learning, and insist that the students study in Arabic -- a language they do not even understand, as they are Berber.

In the Casablanca of 2015, we pick up the life of  that classroom stutterer, now a middle-aged man (Abdellah Dedane, above, right) who works for a Jewish restaurateur (Arieh Worthalter, above, left, and below) in the bustling city.

Our heroine, Salima (Maryam Touzani, below) seems to be in a sort of relationship with an attractive guy, but like so many Arab men he, too, appears to be, if somewhat unknowingly, misogynistic.

Finally we have a young man (played with mounting fire and anger by Abdelilah Rachid, below) who's part of a local rock band and who worships at the altar of Freddie Mercury. Is he also gay, as was Mercury? The subject is almost raised, but we never really know, and perhaps this is one Muslim taboo too many for the filmmaker to engage.

All these characters move and interest us as they wander about Ayouch's vast canvas (the screenplay comes via him and Ms Touzani), with some of them connecting to the others in particularly strong fashion. The many shiftings from past to present are never confusing, and little by little we learn enough about the various characters that they begin to matter more and more.

The movie ends with a double dose of violence -- at a party and in the streets -- that makes it seem as though some kind of Moroccan apocalypse has occurred, followed by a few moments of peace at the beach. All this proves a stunning resolution to a film, the ambitions of which are great and the execution of which is perhaps even greater.

Though lauded at various international film festivals and chosen as the opening night selection at the New York Jewish Film Festival, Razzia never managed to procure a theatrical release here in the USA. So let's be grateful to First Run Features for making its DVD debut possible. The film -- running 109 minutes -- hits the street this coming Tuesday, July 24 -- for purchase and/or rental.

Note: Razzia is now also available 

on VOD, via Vimeo-on-Demand.

DVDebut: Jacques Doillon's 2010 whopper about theatre, THE THREE-WAY WEDDING

Only the French, bless 'em, could have come up with a movie like THE THREE-WAY WEDDING (Le mariage à trois), in which a quintet of characters talk incessantly and intelligently about themselves, their ideas, their feelings and in particular their sexual and emotional needs but make it so goddamned interesting that you hang on almost every word. France, after all, is the country that gave us Molière and Marivaux -- to whom this film, written and directed by Jacques Doillon, owes plenty.


M. Doillon, shown at right, who recently gave us the not-so-well-received Rodin but earlier brought us the very well received Ponette, has created a tale of theater folk -- playwright, producer, actors and a novice assistant who, by film's end will soon be an actress, too -- who quite literally can't keep anything to themselves.

It's as though they have to give vent, via actions and words, to literally everything they think and feel. The fact they they're in the theater makes this somehow more believable (you know how theater people behave!), as well as making almost everything they say sound like dialog from a play. Fortunately, it's a rather good play.

Even better, Doillon has cast his film with a group of actors who could hardly be improved upon. In fact, their work here proves a near high-water mark for some of them (in TrustMovies' estimation, at least). The estimable Pascal Greggory (above, left, whose work in Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train and Doillon's Raja you may remember) is the playwright, and he is pitch perfect throughout: smart, witty, narcissistic beyond belief and every bit as controlling (and vulnerable) as you might expect a playwright to be.

As his "ex" and still-possible-paramour, Julie Depardieu (above, right, and further above) matches him moment for moment. Ms Depardieu is better here than I have ever seen her: emotionally on-point through so many highs, lows, and middles that her performance astounds. (One of the several fine things that Doillon's spill-it-all-out dialog succeeds in doing is giving us enormously full-bodied characters by allowing us to see and hear their innermost thoughts and desires.)

Louis Garrel (above, left) plays Depardieu's young actor/lover, and he is as fine as always, bringing his penchant for semi-snotty self-love to the fore and making the most of it. Each actor here manages to make fun of himself/herself (and amuse us in the process), even as s/he rounds out the character to its fullest.

As the pretty little assistant with the porcelain skin and gorgeous red hair, Agathe Bonitzer (above and below) imparts just the right sense of naivete coupled to the power that comes with the realization that one is desired. She makes a lovely and not-yet-too-theatrical addition to this little group.

I only wish that the excellent actor Louis-Do de Lencquesaing (at left in bottom photo) had been given a bit more to do. He is fine as far as his character is allowed to go, but that's not quite far enough.

A word must be said for Doillon's interesting "choreography" of his actors. They almost never stop moving about -- when they're talking, thinking, even in bed. This adds an extra little surge of energy to the film and to the performances  Nothing is ever static here.

The Three-Way Wedding is such an oddball film for specialized tastes that I must recommend it with that caveat. But for folk who appreciate something brave, unusual and very well-executed, do take a chance on this one!

From Film Movement (but good luck trying to find it on that company's website) and running 109 minutes, the movie hits DVD and digital this coming Tuesday, July 24 -- for purchase and/or rental.
Perhaps via Amazon Prime...?