january 2023 watched (part 1)

for your consideration

As February comes to a close and I’m on day 3 of holing up in my nook in Melbourne, I finally have some time (not really) to write about the films I covered for the month of January. At this stage, numbered ratings have become all but arbitrary when I look back at these films. This year though I hope to crystallise some off the cuff thoughts on them during the time of writing these entries. In chronological order and without further ado, here are some opinions.

Short Sharp Shock (Fatih Akin 1998, Germany)

Giving La Haine a run for its money, Short Sharp Shock follows this multicultural group of gangsters that have shifting views on the violence they used to participate in prior to the events of the film. Honing in on Turkey-Serbia-Greece relations situated in Germany through this ragtag group, Akin envisions a bleak portrait of Hamburg’s criminal landscape while also providing much needed brevity through the palpable kinship this trio exudes. Watched this film while on my family trip to Hokkaido at the start of the year and it remains my January favourite at the moment. This film is available on Mubi.

Hit and Run (Mikio Naruse 1966, Japan)

Naruse takes a stab at noir. A mother, Kuniko, finds out that her only son was killed by a hit and run incident and she embarks on a revenge plot on the driver. Femme fatale tropes are subverted with Naruse’s characterisation, her pain and grief magnifies as her investigation ensues. The driver also deals with their guilt from the incident, facing pressures from family to keep their identity hidden. There is no callousness here. Found this from Justin Decloux and Will Sloan’s tuesday screening for their podcast. Definitely got me interested in checking our Naruse’s other work, seeing as this was a sudden left turn for him.

White Noise (Noah Baumbach 2022, USA)

White Noise has not aged too well for me. While being a fan of Baumbach’s overly sharp and stilted dialogue, the mundane aspect of day to day life that it once resided in is now substituted with a saturated, stylised vision of 80s America. This results in a film that was predisposed to linger as long as cigarette smoke. While immediately quotable after the end credits started rolling, here I am a month or so removed having nothing much to grasp from the screenplay. This film is available on Netflix. Favourite Baumbach film is still Kicking and Screaming.

Time (Garret Bradley 2020, USA)

Searing indictment of the flawed US incarceration system? Incredibly precious visual artifact of the Rich family growing up while their husband / father is stuck in jail? The message here is strong but the choice of slow motion zooms to close ups employed throughout the whole film’s runtime challenged my belief in the decided form of this documentary. Nonetheless, the answer to the two questions posed above are resoundingly true. And I believe that this documentary is a testament to minimal filmmaking, for better or for worse.

Dogs in Space (Richard Lowenstein 1986, Australia)

Melt your face off cinema. Seriously. And rightfully so. The whole film felt like an acid trip through the 1970s punk scene in Melbourne, focusing on one sharehouse’s inhabitants. The enormous cast of characters is dizzying to keep up with but by the ending, I felt very content spending my 1h40m with each one of them. Throughout the various deep-hangout sessions we sit and be a part of, I found myself empathising with different characters and imagining future scenes that dared to change my mind. Thankfully, the sharehouse I’m in right now isn’t as dirty…

The Parallax View (Alan J. Pakula 1974, USA)

After this viewing, I realised The Parallax View was my second encounter with Gordon Willis’ cinematography (first time was Manhattan, which I had to watch for a class years ago) and it comes in the form of Pakula’s second paranoia thriller (yes i have not watched The Godfather yet). The mega wide exteriors and long shots were deeply effective in lulling me into the film’s conspiracy laden premise. Shoutout the just over halfway mark of the film, I thankfully watched this in the dark so I got the full experience of that scene. Stoked to check out Klute next probbaly.

Sway (Rooth Tang 2014, USA & France)

Following three separate Asian immigrants in Thailand, USA and France, Sway attempts to connect similar instances of friction with relationships that each character has forged in their new home countries. While an ambitious triptych, Tang’s overall conveyance of theme is jarring and I found myself juggling several narratives for seemingly no justifiable reason. Caught this at Asian Film Archive in Singapore, the country I call home. Perhaps watching it here in Australia might boost my overall feelings on it but for right now, all I can remember is a lot of Wong Kar Wai worship.

Okay, it’s getting late and I have to hit some other stuff. So regretfully, this will be split up into two parts. 7 films is exactly half of what I watched so expect another 7 films to appear in the next write up. Final rankings or something will be over there but as I said earlier, none of that matters. Hope ya’ll leave at least a tiny bit intrigued enough to catch one of these films. Favourite here is Short Sharp Shock, least is a toss up between Time, White Noise and Sway.