Movie reviews

THE FRENCH DISPATCH

Watchable. The director's aim was to reflect reading "The New Yorker" a few decades ago. Not only Wes Anderson's fans will be satisfied with the movie visual quality - prepared meticulously, each image looks like a separate work of art. The star cast will be another magnet. You can enjoy spotting the big names. The narrative is perfectly recited by Anjelica Houston and acted superbly by everyone. Story-wise though, there are a few separate ones within one feature-length film, a spoken narrative in English and French lines subtitled in small print and placed in various parts of the screen, e.g. sometimes central, sometimes lateral. Both in lofty language, in long, winding sentences which make the narrative convoluted, demanding, tiring and overtalked. This documentary-style feature film is a work of art but hard to comprehend. One that'd be easier if you could pause the movie and analyse each fragment. But then again, the print was small even at the cinema. 

The not-so-big screen at KinoGram hindered reading. 

THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK

Watchable. The history of the Sopranos, the Moltisantis and their black rivals spans from the 1940s to the 1970s. Perfectly surrounding sound including songs of the time sets the vibe. A typical story of the Italian mob and and black gangs gets a broader picture here: economic inequalities, the racial divide and the position of women form the backdrop. At first that's all plot development and no real action. But once you immerse yourself in their world it becomes engaging.