Movie reviews

VERDENS VERSTE MENNESKE (THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD)

Watchable. The only reason for an Oscar nomination for this oddity I can fathom is the actress who's a Dakota Johnson look-alike - Norwegian Renate Reinsve. While the protagonist's relationships are: off, on, off, they all feel fake, no one's relationship is like that in real life. Director/co-writer Joachim Trier seems to have a specific approach to emotions, reflected in the on-screen couple: he verbalizes feelings, she can't feel. I like the fact she lives not having kids. The second half hosts a handful of visual effects - she walks through the film of her life - the only truly original sequence. Other than that, it presents revolting socialising ideas like urinating, though at least the details are spared. Still, it's gross. The slow pace of the film is exacerbated by slow music. And it's overtalked.

CICADA + Q&A WITH THE MAKERS

Watchable. The flirt between two men is definitely different than it would be between a man and a woman - or at least if you want it to work. It's engaging but all terribly sex-oriented. On the other hand, the tenderness like between the guys is rarely seen in straight couples. The story's quite perceptive. I felt touched twice and my eyes welled up. A huge downside is it's overtalked.

I saw a bigger part of it at the cinema but the movie's available predominantly on Outfilm.pl.

The writer/director/producer Matthew Fifer (Ben) was molested as a child. Usually when he confesses people react by saying they were molested too. Matthew's parents watched it together with him but in a different car (in a drive-in). Most of the film was shot in Matthew's apartment. Sheldon D. Brown (who acted Sam) had got hurt in a drive-by shooting, had ended up in hospital and had a scar but the production budget was low so they wrote that into the character. The actor had never been on screen before, having only acted in the theatre. The Church is a big part of black Americans' lives which makes it hard for them to come out. The makers wanted the film to be funny at times - in my view they failed at that. Originally the film had another hour. Luckily that was cut out.