Author: victorfraga

Ex-Husbands (aka Men of Divorce)

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Simon Pearce (Richard Benjamin) is convinced that nothing lasts forever. So he decides to leave his wife of 65 years and make himself available once again at the age of just 80. The spring chicken is convinced that he’s still a catch, and that it’s just a question of time before women flock towards him. He believes that he may have another 30 years to enjoy his life, only for his son Peter (Griffin Dune) to do the tragic mathematics: “that would make you 110”.

Peter does the very best to talk his father out of the unexpected idea, determined that both of his parents should be buried together. He believes that the bond of matrimony is sacred, and that a man and a woman should spend the rest of their lives (and eternity) together. To his despair, his wife of 35 years years Maria decides to file a divorce, leaving the poor man scrambling for a purpose for his own existence. The couple have two young and good-looking sons. Nick (James Norton) is engaged to Thea, while Mickey (Miles Heizer) is a single gay man with no intention of tying the knot any time soon (same-sex marriage is a topic never addressed, leaving viewers to guess whether homosexuals would make good “ex-husbands”). Nick holds his stag do (or “bachelor party”, in the local vernacular”) in the Mexican town of Tulum, a place dotted with late-night bars, strip joints and beaches covered with sargassum. Presumably a low-cost holiday destination for young Americans seeking cheap thrills, apparently some sort of Latin American Benidorm. He’s joined by a motley crew of male friends, his brother Mickey, and… tah dah… his loving (and somewhat nosey) father!

A very unexpected revelation is made at the resort, throwing what was intended to be a Dionysian celebration into disarray, and seriously compromising the emotional stability of the three men. In their own different ways, they attempt to savage their dignity and their ability to love. The three heterosexual men (including grandpa Simon, who did not join them the other two generations on their trip) have their masculinity entirely defined by marriage. Any movement outside the old-fashioned institution is deemed a failure. Even Mickey sees a great opportunity at (homosexual) love ruined by (heterosexual) matrimony. Instead of feeling liberated, all four men end up oppressed and restrained by the bourgeois establishment. Such a conservative and reductionist conclusion.

Ex-Husbands has some lighthearted moments of comical relief, like any conventional romcom. This includes Peter intruding into the graphic details of his gay son’s sex life, Maria’s vaguely snide comments about divorce, and – perhaps most crucially – the fate of grandpa’s wedding ring. The jokes are fairly subtle though. This is not the laugh-out-loud, dirty type of comedy. This is a squeaky clean affair, lacking flair and vigour.

Noah Pritzker’s sophomore feature is not a nod to John Cassavetes’s Husbands (1970). The American indie classic is a very personal, mostly improvised film about mere mourning and grief, which uses married life as a mere background to the complex emotional developments. Ex-Husbands is a highly formulaic movie that puts marriage at centre stage, and promotes the idea that it’s the only institution capable of legitimising and immortalising love.

Ex-Husbands just premiered in the Main Competition of the 71st San Sebastian International Film Festival, when this piece was originally written. Also showing at the 41st Turin Film Festival.

All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt

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This is a movie that you can feel with all of your senses. You can see it, your can hear it, you can taste it, you can smell it, and you can touch it. Thirty-three-year-old poet, photographer and filmmaker Raven Jackson creates a genuinely intimate portrait of a resilient female character, who has spent her entire life in rural Mississippi. The story begins with a child Mack (played by Kaylee Nicole Johnson) being taught how to fish by her father. She gazes at the unfortunate creatures as they struggle to breathe inside a fishing net. Her elder warns her: “don’t you think of releasing them back into the water”.

This is a movie about the irreversibility of time, and the circularity of life. Mack abides by the rules, and does not let the animals back into river. Instead, she allows tradition to define her existence. This tradition consists mostly of a spiritual connection to the land, and churchgoing. Mack becomes a mother and a grandmother, yet little seems to have change to in her tightly-knit, ageless community. Her descendants perpetuate her legacy of love. Now played by Charleen McClure, adult Mack treats her offspring with the same love and devotion that her parents bestowed upon her and the environment. These are people intimately linked to all four elements: a tragic fire (the movie’s most powerful scene) heralds one of the biggest changes in Mack’s life, the wind brings new opportunities, water washes and carries away the undesired, while earth anchors her to the land.

Both Johnson and McClure deliver heart-wrenching performances, their eyes overflowing with emotion, their embrace bursting with tenderness.

This is a quiet film with very sparse dialogues and a very loose narrative. “There is no beginning and no end, just changes”, Mack explains, her comment apparently extending to the movie as a whole. There is an enormous amount of attention to detail, particularly the water and the earth (the titular “dirt”). People too are made of water and dirt, we find out. . The photography consists mostly of close-ups, with the occasional wide shots. Passionate embraces are captured in intimate detail. There is a strong focus on hands, crafting a sense of comfort and protection. A gospel song performed at the local church seems to provide a palpable explanation: “Lord, in your hands I’m alright; Lord, in your hands I’m satisfied”.

The outdoors takes are long and the movements are subtle, as if the passing of time wasn’t mandatory at all. Constant images of flowing liquid (rain, river, or even urine) beg to differ, revealing instead that life is fluid, and there’s no way of turning back time. It’s all water under the bridge. Film and sound editor Lee Chatametikool (a collaborator of Apichatpong Weerasethakul) constantly alternates artistic devices, ensuring that the film remains visually and acoustically arresting throughout.

The narrative is almost entirely subordinate to these exquisite sensory devices. As a consequence, the plot can be a little difficult to follow at times (despite being relatively straightforward). This is a movie to be contemplated, not one to be read and deciphered like a conventional drama.

All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt premiered in the Official Competition of the 71st San Sebastian International Film Festival, when this piece was originally written. The UK premiere takes place in October as part of the BFI London Film Festival.

MMXX

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QUICK AND DIRTY: LIVE FROM SAN SEBASTIAN

This loose piece of social drama sits somewhere between an anthology movie and a non-narrative fiction feature. It is roughly broken down into four stories that only vaguely overlap and hardly make any sense as standalone pieces. They are snapshots into the lives of ordinary Romanians during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Balkan nation is riddled with the virus, corruption and family strife. Selfish people are always prepared to attack each other with hurtful and malicious comments. Solidarity struggles for space in a precarious society with little prospect of redemption.

The beginning of the story is the most lighthearted and funny one. Flaky therapist Oana treats a new patient in her Bucharest home, the self-righteous and confident Nadia (she eventually reveals that the session was the present from a friend, and that she only attended it because it would be rude otherwise). The interaction consists almost entirely of providing answers on a scale of one to five, but it is the patient who ends up asking more questions, leaving a baffled Oana mostly in silence. Oana’s brother Mihai interrupts the session, and the therapist makes an angry phone call as her patient pops to the toilet. All so very professional. In the second part of the movie. Oana attempts to help a heavily pregnant friend who has been taken to hospital. All of the action takes place from inside her apartment, presumably because the pandemic prevents people from leaving their home. She desperately calls score of friends, acquaintances and even an ex-lover in the hope that someone has insider access into the hospital. Because a little nepotism is the best remedy. Her careless brother Mihai is more concerned about the rum and the cake for his own birthday, while her husband Septimiu is plain malicious and unpleasant.

In the second half of the movie, Septimiu listens to a very strange story concocted by a colleague, involving Chechens, Moldovans, the American Dream and the Romanian Dream (the equivalent to the American Dream for the hapless Moldovans). The conversation takes place on a piece of furniture resembling Freud’s divan, despite the absence of a therapist. The final story centres on crime investigator Narcis Patranescu as he questions a prostitute about human trafficking and organ harvesting. Some shocking revelations bring some tragic closure to the story. Dejection and pessimism intoxicate the future of the Carpathian Garden.

Fifty-six-year-old director and writer Cristi Puiu, sometimes credited as the founder of the Romanian New Wave, does not set out to create a coherent story. Loose ends are left everywhere for viewers to conjecture and deliberate. I have no idea what the puzzling movie title means (maybe a letter for each one of the four stories, the two “X”s suggesting that the second half of the movie is a lot more hardcore? Your guess is as good as mine!). Elliptic intertitles between the chapters offer little clarity: one of them says “Norma Jeane Mortensen” (Marilyn Monroe’s birth name), while another one is written in Cyrillic (without subtitles).

Virtually the entire story takes place in interrogation format (therapist, friend listener, police investigator). A significant number of conversations are held on the telephone, with viewers unable to hear what people at the other end of the receiver say – thus creating a further sense of disconnection and alienation. The camera is mostly handheld and there are no extra-diegetic elements, as the director strives to create a realistic piece of filmmaking with as little technical wizardry and set design as possible. The outcome is convincing, however hardly enrapturing. The conversations are just too banal and the references just too esoteric for non-Romanians. Puiu deserves credit for his candid austerity, but less so for the bizarre storytelling. XXMM is not a universal piece of filmmaking.

MMXX just premiered in the Official Competition of the 71st San Sebasntian International Film Festival. The movie barely justifies its duration of 160 minutes (two hours and forty minutes). It claimed its first audience casualties already in the first half an hour, with roughly a quarter of viewers departing long before the lights went on.

Socialist Realism (El Realismo Socialista)

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This is not to be confused with Social Realist cinema. Socialist Realism has nothing to do with the films of Ken Loach and Tony Richardson. Raúl Ruiz’s long-forgotten docu-fiction was rescued and reconstructed by his widow and long-time collaborator Valeria Sarmiento. The outcome is a caustic and dry look at the working class movements that permeated Chilean society on the eve of the military coup that changed the history of Chile and the world. The assassination of Salvador Allende (the first Marxist to be elected president in a liberal democracy in Latin America) on September 11th 1973 enabled the implementation of the most radical free market economics model on the planet (an open-air laboratory for Milton Friedman).

Entirely filmed in black and white, and loosely structured like a fly-on-the-wall type of documentary, the filmmaker captures working class representatives, settlement (particularly the Elmo Catalan Brigade) delegates, and trade union leaders as they discuss politics, haggle over banalities, engage in bizarre brinkmanship, and erupt in violence (not against the enemy, but instead against each other). They barely see a way of influencing Allende’s government. Even talking to the Labour and Finance Ministries are a long shot for these garrulous revolutionaries. What stands out the most in this testosterone-fuelled environment is their self-righteousness, factionalism and inability to compromise. Intellectuals are poets to the background, their voices barely discernible,

The rhetoric of these people is dotted with Marxist terminology. Yet our comrades lack cohesiveness and a sense of direction, instead parroting doctrine in a way not dissimilar to a Catholic priest delivering the Liturgy of the Eucharist .There was little unity in the Unidad Popular (the extremely broad coalition of left-leaning parties that elected Salvador Allende). These peoplen are prepared to die for their cause (something that comes full circle at the end of the movie), yet they have limited understand of what the battle might entail, and that their chances of succeeding are rather meagre. They conceal their names, opting instead for codenames such as “Lucho” (a nickname for “Luis” which also means “I fight”). They barely reveal the organisation of their affiliation. There is no real sense of freedom. An activist confesses that he wouldn’t want to live in Chile if the country was turned into one large Marxist settlement.

Ultimately, Socialist Realism reveals that the Marxist dream can easily descend into a bloody nightmare, and that Allende’s Chile was a far cry from the from the beacon of hope that the romantic left likes to think. It isn’t an endorsement of the American imperialism, either. The portrayal of the elites isn’t particularly rosey: the bourgeoisie are haughty and futile. This is a sardonic allegory of political doctrine gone unhinged, as well a tragic register of a society on the brink of social collapse. A fertile ground for the deeply authoritarian regime that took over and ruled the South American nation for nearly two decades.

Socialist Realism premiered at the 71st edition of the San Sebastian International Film Festival, when this piece was originally written. A reminder that cinema never dies: it is possible to resurrect a movie five decades later to great results. Also showing at the Turin Film Festival.

Fingernails

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Anna (Jessie Buckley) and Ryan (Jeremy Allen White) are truly in love with each other. And they have evidence of their sentiment: they possess an “In Love Certification” from the “Love Training Institute”. Unbeknownst to Ryan, Anna takes a “love instructor” position at the very same institute. She quickly becomes a doting worker convinced that she can help couples of various ages, races and sexualities connect with each other (or disconnect where appropriate).

The Institute was set up by a middle-aged man called Duncan (Luke Wildon). He takes his work very seriously, having divorced his wife three years earlier upon failing the Test that he designed himself. The technique is highly unorthodox. A caring love instructor removes one nail from each applicant and then inserts them into a large microwave-like device embedded on the wall. A “100%” reading reveals that their bond is genuine and reciprocal; “50%” means that love is unrequited; “0%” means that there is no love at all. The removal process is far from romantic. A love instructor pulls out their fingernails with pliers, leaving the lovebirds screaming in agony. More Reservoir Dogs (Quentin Tarantino, 1992) than Love, Actually (Richard Curtis, 2003). This is the romcom of your worst nightmares. You will never look at your lover’s fingernails in the same way again.

The Institute carries out a number of “training” activities before the ultimate litmus test. The objective is to foster romanticism, and ensure that partners are indeed devoted to one another. The whole place has a white noise emulating rain (because the sound of rain is romantic). The problem is that the noise of water is also conducive to urination, confesses a worker with a hyperactive bladder. Clients are encouraged to sing in French because “la langue française est très érotique”. Other activities include diving together while gazing at each other in the eyes, and even parachuting, in order to improve their sense of mutual trust and complicity. All in the name of goo ol’ fashioned romance.

Love instructor Amir (Riz Ahmed) is quiet and stern. He carries out his professional duties with precision, but does not seem to enjoy a meaningful relationship with his partner Natasha. Amir and Anna are allocated to work together, and they begin to develop a bond that could morph into something a lot more wholesome. Their seemingly mutual, suppressed attraction is the main pillar of this unusually sore and yet mostly conventional romcom. Greek director Christos Nikou’s sophomore feature is fun and enjoyable to watch (if only you cover your eyes in the most graphic sequences). But it’s also highly formulaic and predictable, with a lukewarm ending. A little ironic for a movie that sets out to prove that love cannot be measured, structured and mechanically devised. I bet Nikou would fail the controversial Test of his own creation (he penned the film script himself, alongside two co-writers)!

Fingernails premiered in Competition at the 71st San Sebastian International Film Festival, when this piece was originally written. In cinemas on Friday, November 3rd.

They Shot the Piano Player (Dispararon al Pianista)

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During the 1950s, three then unknown Brazilian musicians – Joao Gilberto, Tom Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes – recorded Chega de Saudade, the first Bossa Nova song. They immediately catapulted the genre to international fame, drawing the attention of artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra and Stan Getz. Tenorio Junior was an independent pianist and composer wbo routinely toured with de Moraes, whoever kept a low profile. The largest country of South America was experiencing a cultural revolution, supported by a succession of progressive governments. Then came the military coup of 1964, and many prominent artists had to flee into exile. A string of such events toppled the majority of democratically-elected governments of Latin America, always with the tacit and yet very active support of the CIA, in what became known as Operation Condor.

Spanish filmmakers Javier Mariscal and Fernando Trueba retrace the rise the fame and the last moments in the life of Junior, who went missing in 1976 in Argentina during a musical tour. He was kidnapped as he popped out of his hotel (presumably in order to buy food or cigarettes) in the middle of the night. The gruesome details of the action that ensued are disclosed in the second half of this 104-minute documentary. At the helm of the investigation is a fictitious New York reporter called Jeff (voiced by Jeff Goldblum), who is determined to established what happened to the relatively obscure, shy and seemingly apolitical artist, who some hailed as “the greatest pianist Brazil has ever seen”. Junior’s friend Joao (voiced by Brazilian superstar Tony Star) lends Jeff a helping hand, taking him to some of the emblematic corners or Rio, where Bossa was born. There are testimonials from Brazilian music grandees Caetano Veloso, Chico Buarque, Gilberto Gil and Milton Nascimento, as well as lengthy interaction with Bossa Nova musicians Toquinho, Murtinho and the late Joao Donato (all voiced by the artists themselves; Donato passed away just two months ago). Interaction with Jobim, de Moraes and (Joao) Gilberto is a little trickier because these people died a long time ago, the directors having to resort to archive interviews instead.

Those expecting a tour of Brazilian music are in for a disappointment. The film instead focuses almost exclusively on the personal life of Junior, his family and friends, the nuts and bolts of the oppressive dictatorship that ruled Brazil for 21 years, and its connections to other such regimes in other parts of the continent. The allegiance of Jeff is brought into question, and he promptly admits to his country’s destructive role of the US in Latin American politics. We see large chunks of a map of Latin America turn black as Uncle Sam topples left-leaning leaders and democracies in order to install deeply reactionary regimes that would claims hundreds of thousands of lives in the 1960s and 1970s.

From a narrative perspective, They Shot the Piano Player is structured like a very conventional investigative documentary. Talking heads interviews are blended with archive footage and reenactments in order to create a coherent story, as well as a tribute to an artist gone-too-soon. The difference is that instead of real images we see something akin to rotoscopic animation (whereby real images are converted into realistic animation), mixed with imagined drawings (because there is no real footage of some events, such as Junior’s kidnapping). This is done very smoothly, and it is often difficult to distinguish the two techniques. On the other hand, this is at odds with the conventional storytelling. The strict narrative arc emasculates the creative freedom. In other words, I wish the directors had injected the movie with more lyrical devices instead of creating such a straightforward investigate documentary (with some strategic elements of fiction thrown in). Still, a peculiar piece of filmmaking worthy of praise as well as an attentive viewing.

They Shot Piano Player premiered as part of the main selection of the 71st San Sebastian International Film Festival (out of competition), when this piece was originally written. Out in the UK in October as part of the BFI London Film Festival.

The Boy and the Heron

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Twelve-year-old Mahito Maki (voiced by Soma Santoki) is still mourning the tragic death of his mother Hisako to a hospital fire during World War II. His father Shoichi has a new partner, the young and beautiful Natsuko (Yoshinp Kimura). She happens to be Hisako’s younger sister. The family enjoy a wealthy lifestyle in a large countryside mansion, supported by a group of wrinkly old ladies. These servants constantly probe the little Mahito, vouching for his comfort and security, while also intruding into his dreams and aspirations.

Mahito does not fit in at school and has a troubled relationship with his stepmother, who turns out to be pregnant. He self-harms by repeatedly hitting his head with a large rock, in an attempt to dissociate himself from his psychological pains, while also drawing attention to himself from his vaguely estarnged father. From this point on, reality and fantasy blend seamlessly, presumably as an hallucinatory consequence of his self-inflicted wounds.

Mahito befriends a sarcastic and manipulative grey heron with human teeth. It is soon revealed that the bird in in reality inhabited by an evil-looking dwarf with a big red nose. The parasitical human being eventually sticks his head out of the creature’s beak and wears its feathered body as if it was a costume. Mahito’s unlikely and highly dubious friend takes him to a mysterious tower in the woods, which was built by his long-missing great-uncle. They enter the collapsing building, and many layers of fiction begin to intertwine. Mahito unwittingly drags one of the old maids along his journey, a woman called Kiriko (Ko Shibasaki), who literally clings to his clothes. There is an alternative world inside that building, one where old and frail Kiriko becomes a youthful, seafaring beauty, and small budgies turn into giant, man-eating parakeets. Pelicans and tiny spectral creatures called wara-ware complete the exotic fauna of this exotic land. It is later revealed that the tower was formed by meteorite, adding yet another layer of mystery to this strange tale of motherly love and interspecial bonds.

One day, Natsuko goes missing after entering the forest. Mahito sets out to find her, convinced that she’s imprisoned in the magic tower. Our protagonist is hellbent on saving the woman his father loves and his unborn sibling (perhaps in a gesture of redemption for earlier jealousy). He may even come across his mother (the grey heron lures him with the promise that she may not be dead after all). We barely see the two missing women, the 123-minute story being almost entirely focused on Mahito’s imagination. A very colourful and barely coherent fantasy world, much like the imagination of an orphaned child (

The problem with the Boy and Heron is that its is too multithreaded. The convoluted narrative is ostensibly dotted with Japanese folk, mythology and cultural references not recognisable to Western eyes such as mine. And I’m not sure whether there are any political connotations, given the tumultuous time in which the film takes place (and the fact that Mahito’s father owns an air ammunition factory. Not a film that hits you like a meteorite. More like a light dream that you’ll barely remember once you open your eyes.

The Boy and the Heron showed in the Official Competition of the 71st San Sebastian International Film Festival. The film premiered in Japanese cinemas in July to both critical and commercial acclaim. Also showing at the 3rd Red Sea International Film Festival. The UK premiere takes place in October as part of the 67th BFI London Film Festival. In cinemas on Tuesday, December 26th.

Kalak

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Based on Kim Leine’s 2007 autobiographical eponymous novel, this international co-production of six European countries examines the life of 30-something-year-old nurse Jawho (Emil Johnsen) during the 1980s as he moves from his native Denmark to the remoteness of Nuuk, Greenland’s quiet and bucolic capital, and then the even more distant and isolated Kulusuk (a settlement of just 200 inhabitants). He is accompanied by his wife (Asta Kamma August) and their two children Markus and Amanda.

On the surface, Jan has a well-structured family and career: he is loved by his patients, spouse and offspring. But there’s a dirty secret preventing him from achieving happiness: he was sexually abused by his father, an event that audiences witness in graphic detail in the movie’s opening sequence. Instead of devoting his full attention to his wife, he engages in multiple affairs with a string of local women. One of the locals challenges him: “you must love Greenlandic women”. He retorts: “I love all women”. He is upfront about his extramarital life to his wife, also indicating that he has no desire to give up his lifestyle. She offers no reaction to his candid yet seemingly selfish and objectionable behaviour.

Jan’s father is dying of cancer, yet he mostly ignores his elder’s attempts at reestablishing some sort of communication him. It is his wife who reads the letter informing the family that the disease has progressed, and that death is all but inevitable. His family find Jan’s lack of emotion awkward, but never challenge him. Jan only shares his secret to one of his lovers, perhaps in search of compassion, but the response that he receives leaves him shellshocked (in the film’s most powerful dialogue). Does his tragic past indeed justify his demeanour, or is Jan simply indifferent to the emotional pains and malaises of those around him? Is he a sexual victim or a sexual predator, Kalak seems to ask.

A couple of freak accidents affect two people very close to Jan’s heart, and he becomes overridden with guilt and depression. He resorts to prescription drugs, aided by the very unorthodox local doctor. The clinician alternates Ritalin and Rohypnol in order to keep going, and recommends a cocktail of morphine and Tramadol for anxiety, with the occasional benzodiazepine thrown in – one has to wonder what medical school he attended.

The film title means “dirty Greenlander”, a suitable accolade for our complex and multilayered protagonist. He is dirty because he’s an outsider. He’s dirty because his promiscuous lifestyle is at odds with his profession. And he is dirty because he profanes the sanctity of his very own family. And he is unrepentant. We eventually learn that he inherited some of these traits from his unapologetic father. Viewers are left to judge whether Jan’s choices reflect and perpetuate the actions of the man whom he despises, or whether they are the genuine expression of a free-loving soul.

Swedish director Isabella Eklöf’s sophomore feature is bursting with raw authenticity, all wrapped up in the cold Greenlandic weather and Scandinavian stoicism. Not a remarkably heart-wrenching experience, however a palpable and honest one.

Kalak just premiered as part of the Official Competition of the 71st San Sebastian International Film Festival. Also showing at the Turin Film Festival

How to write a dirty movie summary essay: comprehensive tips and techniques

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Every student is acquainted with the concept of a movie summary. We frequently discuss movies and narrate their plotlines to our friends or post brief summaries on social media. Nevertheless, when it is time to compose a comprehensive movie summary essay, the assignment becomes significantly perplexing.

This article provides guidance on identifying the important aspects of a film and understanding the structure of a movie summary essay. It aims to assist readers in finding solutions to these inquiries and developing the ability to create an engaging movie summary essay.

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Study the source material and take notes

Naturally, the first step in creating a movie summary is to watch the original material. To make this task easier, break the movie into different sections based on the progress of the plot and the underlying themes. Jot down concise notes summarising each section individually to determine their main focus and gather sufficient information.

During this phase, it is important to generate a preliminary framework that encompasses the main concept and significant supporting elements. Prepare to view the film multiple times to ensure that you have successfully grasped its fundamental essence.

A lot of students rely on online movie reviews when creating their summaries. Unfortunately, this can lead to them overlooking crucial details and handing in shallow summaries. If you lack the drive or time to work with the original material effectively, it’s best to trust an easy essay writer from a trustworthy essay service, such as EssayService.com. This website offers the simplest way to obtain a thorough and unique summary of any movie.

Ensure that the intention of a movie summary essay is well-defined.

The primary goal of a movie summary essay is to emphasise the key aspects and demonstrate your comprehension of a film. This can be done as an independent task or as a component of a bigger research paper that aids in utilising sources.

When writing your essay, it is important to choose which details to include carefully. Focus on characters, conflicts, and plot twists demonstrating the film’s significance. Keep your summary objective by sticking to the facts and avoiding personal opinions or evaluations of the movie. A successful summary should allow someone who hasn’t seen the film to understand its content after reading your essay. But if you are looking for someone to write my essay, you can contact EssayHub.com for professional help.

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Keep it concise

To enhance the clarity and brevity of your movie summary essay, it should be a concise composition that solely highlights the essential points necessary for comprehending the main concept of the source. Following these steps will assist you in achieving this goal.

  • Review your notes.
  • Eliminate repetitions.
  • If you desire to talk about smaller concepts, organize them within a broader subject or category.
  • Ensure that your essay flows logically and presents a strong central argument that connects all of your ideas.
  • Make sure you use transitional words and phrases to connect your thoughts together and avoid your summary appearing as a disorganised list.
  • It is advisable to use a simple and cohesive format for your writing, ensuring the ideas are presented in a logical and organised manner. Generally, following a chronological sequence is often the most effective approach.

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Structure your movie summary essay

A summary essay for a movie is typically between one to three pages and should adhere to the conventional essay format, consisting of an introduction, a three-paragraph body, and a conclusion. Here is the essential content to include in each section.

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Introduction

  • Provide the title and the individuals responsible for producing the film.
  • Create a brief and captivating summary of the movie, highlighting the main characters, conflict, and intriguing elements to engage the reader.
  • If relevant, comment on the genre.
  • Express the main idea of your movie summary through the thesis statement.

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Body

  • Provide an overview of significant events, clashes, and pivotal moments.
  • Examine the main character(s) and their characteristics, aspirations, and personal growth.
  • Comment on the setting.
  • Define the themes and motifs.
  • Discuss the overall atmosphere and emotional atmosphere of the film.

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Conclusion

  • Restate the thesis statement.
  • Provide a concise overview of the main ideas discussed in your essay.

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Make it your own

Summarising a movie involves more than just repeating ideas from the original source. It requires reconstructing those ideas in your own words while retaining your unique style of writing. Although you can include quotes from the source and utilise its concepts, your summary should maintain its own independence.

Avoid copying the content you witnessed in the film. Instead, express the main ideas and your comprehension of them using your own language. Remember that while your interpretation will serve as the foundation for the summary essay, refraining from providing any assessments or criticisms of the movie is important.

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To sum up

Creating a movie summary essay is similar to explaining a film you’ve watched to a friend but with some planning. It’s important to analyze the original content to determine the crucial elements and convey the essential “who,” “where,” and “when” in writing. Like regular essays, a movie summary should follow a logical structure in order to maintain clarity and coherence. Most importantly, ensure that the essay reflects your own style and showcases your distinct writing voice.

A Day and a Half (En Dag och en Halv)

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Swedish-Lebanese actor Fares Fares’s debut may seem like a clichéd hostage drama, but this is just a guise. This is an ambitious production focusing on broken family relationships and their devastating effects on the individuals. Fares also co-signs the screenplay, along with first-timer Peter Smirnakos, and holds one of the main roles in this emotional drama that doesn’t always achieve its intended objectives.

What starts out as a hostage drama soon morphs into a confessional trip from hell. The three protagonists Artan (Alexej Manvelov), his estranged wife Louise (Alma Pöysti) and officer Lucas (Fares Fares) express themselves freely in side the vehicle. It is there that they speak the truth, voice their acrimony, and distill their poison, while admitting some of their most fundamental mistakes that marked their past and shaped their present status.

The story commences with Artan, an underprivileged immigrant who used to have troubles with the law during his stay in Sweden, visiting the medical centre where Louise works and demanding to see her at once. When the woman in the reception rejects his request, he pulls out his gun and threatens everybody around him, frantically repeating that his wife kidnapped their daughter and took her away from her father.

Soon, officer Lucas enters the scene, and he struggles to be the voice of reason that must prevail. He fails to defuse a tense situation that could easily slip into chaos, and the death of innocent people. Artan holds Louise at gunpoint and explicitly states his demand to see his little daughter, who is currently living in her maternal grandparent’s house. After overcoming some practical problems, the trio of protagonists gets into the car and the journey of self-discovery is on. Sadly, the dialogue is rather weak. The characters are neither entirely plausible nor multidimensional. The characterisation, especially in some parts of the movie, feels rather shallow. Each character manifests their inner essence by rotating around a single axis: Artan is desperate; Louise is mentally unstable and occasionally deranged; Lucas is depressed.

The performances are more effective than the script. Manvelov, a familiar foreigner villain in Swedish television and cinema, proves that he is a multi-skilled actor: the haunted look on his face doesn’t fade away even after the film is finished. His character is the first one to impose his agency over others, says: “I’m in charge here!”. However, his wavering voice reveals his true state of mind. He is terrified that he may set have set in motion something irreversible and with dire consequences both for himself and his loved ones. The actor is never exaggerated, instead his character comes across as an insecure man trying to convince himself of what he says (before he can convince others). Alma Pöysti gives Louise a palpable sense of depth, with problems rooted in a dysfunctional childhood. Fares has the least demanding role, with his story interspersed and mostly auxiliary to the other two. He too has some emotional baggage and damage.

A Day and a Half can be viewed now on Netflix.

Raindance: “younger” and more audacious than ever?

Posted on by victorfraga

Now on its 31st edition, and with a history of three decades showcasing “the best of Independent Cinema at the heart of London”, Raindance has decided to return to its roots, with an almost exclusive focus on debutant filmmakers. Seventy-five percent of movies showcased this year are made by first-time directors, the figure reaching nearly 90% once second and third features are added. The Festival describes itself as a place to “discover and be discovered”.

The action takes place from October 25th to November 4th. The Central London venues include the Vue Piccadilly, Curzon Soho, Curzon Mayfair and the Garden Cinema, with The House of Raindance industry hub and the Raindance Immersive VR Showcase hosted this year at Wonderville on Haymarket (near Piccadilly Circus). Gala projections and parties take place at the glamorous Waldorf Hilton, in Covent Garden. Raindance founder Elliot Grove explains: “We are wholeheartedly back in London’s West End, the beating heart of cinema in the UK. And we will continue to champion new filmmakers and the edgy, under-the-radar films that we at Raindance love so much”. Further screenings will be held at Genesis Cinema, in East London

We asked Raindance’s Artistic Directors Malaika Bova and Martyna Szmytkowska more about their decision to focus on new directors, how this affected the structure of their programme, and whether being a first-time filmmaker really makes you more prone to risk-taking.

You can book your tickets for Raindance and find out more by clicking here.

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DMovies – Raindance has decided to focus almost exclusively on first and second features this year, in line with your “discover and be discovered” proposition. How did this decision come about?

Malaika Bova – “When we were first appointed Artistic Directors [last year] we thought long and hard about Raindance’s identity but also about its unique selling point within the world of UK festivals and the wider industry. We realised we were stepping into a precious legacy of championing not only indie but also new voices in filmmaking, and we decided to go back to our roots and focus our research on bringing to light first-time films and filmmakers. There’s a wealth of debuts out there looking for a place to shine. And sometimes more prestigious festivals are not exactly the right place for them to be on the forefront of the line-up. We are.

DM – And how does that affect the breadth and the depth of your programme?

Martyna Szmytkowska – Once we decided what the Raindance platform was about, it was surprisingly easy to populate it with the right content. We put ourselves in a position to research and find debuts before they manage to catch the industry attention, or if they have it already we offer our support to promote them. So in fact we have been spoilt for choice and had to make hard decisions to create a coherent programme, which we feel is stronger and has more identity as a final result. Out of 37 feature films we have 29 first and two second features. We managed to consciously build almost an entire programme around the “discover and be discovered” motto, including the Opening Night film, a debut feature by Jack Huston, Day of the Fight. Additionally we made a very compact selection to ensure each individual first-time filmmaker was properly taken care of and supported by the whole team.

DM – The focus on nascent director isn’t something entirely new, but instead a “return to the roots”. Could you please tell us more about that?

MB – We are definitely returning to the roots with the idea of championing first-time filmmakers but this time we wanted it to be crystal clear. So we have come up with a to-the-bone programme structure that emphasises our attention to new voices. We have devised four simple competitive sections that highlight our main objectives: Best UK Features, as we are a UK festival with a large network of home-grown filmmakers; Best Documentary Features as we always want to follow the current topics and because many first time filmmakers venture into filmmaking through documentaries; Best International Features because it allows us to bring to the London audience a more diverse and multicultural offering; and last but definitely not least the Discovery Award for the first time filmmakers with a strong vision, whose films have already travelled or we believe will be picked up by the festival circuit.

DM – Does “nascent” mean “audacious”? In other words, do debutant directors tend to take more risks than established ones?

MS – We believe most times they do. Before they enter the market circuit they have more to prove and less to lose and therefore are inclined to make bolder choices. But it is also very important for us that these choices are relevant for an audience and do communicate something to viewers. That they have a strong story that resonates with many even if their tools of expression may be unconventional and controversial. So, yes, we like audacious. Like Mountain Onion a Biennale College project by Eldar Shibanov, a Wes Anderson-esque film from Kazakhstan or Only The Good Survive by Dutch Southern, a genre-bending gory horror comedy.

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The programme

Opening Gala

Day of the Fight (Jack Huston):

UK Premiere. Debut feature. Award-winning British actor Jack Huston (Boardwalk Empire, American Hustle, House of Gucci) makes his directorial debut with this story of a once-renowned boxer who takes a redemptive journey through his past and present, on the day of his first fight since he left prison. This formidable drama stars Michael Pitt alongside a cast including Ron Perlman, Joe Pesci, and a cameo from Steve Buscemi. Director Jack Huston will take part in a post-screening Q&A, followed by a gala opening party at the Waldorf Hilton.

Closing Gala

Un Amor (dir Isabel Coixet):

Based on Sara Mesa’s bestselling novel, award-winning actress Laia Costa (nominated for the 2017 BAFTA EE Rising Star award for Victoria) plays a young woman who escapes her stressful life in the city and relocates to rural Spain. When she accepts a disturbing sexual proposal, it gives rise to an all-consuming and obsessive passion. Nominated for the Golden Seashell at San Sebastián Film Festival, it’s a striking account of existential doubt and the transformative power of carnal desire.

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Special guest focus: Catalonia

Raindance is honoured to welcome Catalonia as the special guest this year. Closing gala Un Amor is presented as part of this special focus in partnership with Catalan Films, along with the UK Premieres of Upon Entry, Tender Metalheads and La Singla (more details below). A dedicated Shorts Programme will further showcase the vision, ambition, and vibrancy of Catalan filmmakers. Special sessions during Raindance’s Industry Programme will also champion Catalonia’s film industry.

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In Competition: Discovery

1. Parachute (Britanny Snow)

The directorial debut by actress Brittany Snow won her the Thunderbird Rising award at SXSW. Lead actress Courtney Eaton also picked up a prize at SXSW for her powerful performance as a young woman with an eating disorder and addiction issues.

2. All the Colours of the World are Between Black and White (Babatunde Apalowo):

Winner of the Best Feature Teddy at Berlin, it portrays two men who develop a deep affection for each other when they first meet in Lagos – but in a society which considers homosexuality taboo, they feel the pressure of social norms.

3. Upon Entry (Alejandro Rojas, Sebastián Vasquez):

Acclaimed at festivals including Málaga and Tallinn, it follows a young couple as they move from Spain to the United States, only to face an unpleasant inspection and gruelling interrogation when they enter New York airport’s immigration area.

Read our exclusive review of Upon Entry here. This pieces was written during the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (where the movie world premiered last November).

5. Only the Good Survive (Dutch Southern):

Multi-award-winning actress Sidney Flanigan plays a young woman who, after a heist gone wrong results in the deaths of three of her friends, finds herself in the custody of the small town sheriff in this impressive horror/thriller.

6. Mountain Onion (Eldar Shibanov):

This Venice Film Festival prize-winner follows an 11-year-old boy who finds his mother with a truck driver, and so he travels from Kazakhstan to China to find what he believes is the only thing that can help his father save the situation and become a strong man: Gold Viagra.

7. Lost Soulz (Katherine Propper):

A young rapper leaves everything behind and embarks on an odyssey of self-discovery, music, and friendship in this slow-burning Texas-bound road btrip movie.

8. Storm (Erika Calmeyer):

After her son drowns in an accident, a mother tries to restart her and her daughter’s life in this tough and powerful drama – only for rumours to surface that the daughter pushed her brother into the water.

9. The Land Within (Fisnik Maxville):

This Kosovan-Swiss production was the Best First Feature winner at Tallinn. It follows an adopted boy living in Switzerland who returns to his native Kosovo at the request of his cousin, to help identify the exhumed bodies from a mass grave in their childhood village. Lead actress Luàna Bajrami won the Raindance 2021“Best Director award for her directorial debut The Hill Where Lionesses Roar.

Read our review of The Land Within, also originally written in Tallinn.

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In Competition – International

1. All the Silence (Diego del Rio):

An actress and sign language teacher learns that she is soon to become deaf. Despite having deaf parents, deaf friends, and a deaf girlfriend, she refuses to accept a world without sound.

2. Blood for Dust (Rob Balckurst):

With a cast including Kit Harington, Josh Lucas and Stephen Dorff, it tells of a struggling travelling salesman who finds himself on a dangerous path after a chance encounter with a former colleague.

3. Clashing Differences (Merle Grimme):

Winner of the Young German Cinema award at Munich Film Festival, the all-female cast tell the story of a white feminist organisation who, in a clumsy attempt at diversity, invite a group of queer and BIPOC women to participate in their conference.

Read our exclusive review of Clashing Differences, written during the Munich Film Festival.

4. Tender Metalheads (Joan Tomas):

A Catalonian animated tale of two teenage boys in 1990s Barcelona who take refuge in their friendship and heavy music, escaping the grey world in which they live.

5. Palimpsest (Hanna Västinsalo):

From the Venice Film Fest Biennale Cinema College, this Benjamin Button-esque sci-fi drama follows two elderly roommates who are selected for a medical trial that makes them younger, giving them a second chance at life while retaining the memories of their past life.

6. Pett Kata Shaw (Nuhash Humayun):

Having directed the multi-Oscar® qualifying horror short Moshari (2022), this self-taught filmmaker brings more ancient South Asian folklores to life in this supernatural anthology film – perfect viewing for Halloween.

7. Sweet Sixteen (Alexa-Jeanne Dubé):

Adapted from the late Suzie Bastien’s 2018 play, eight 16-year-old girls unveil themselves through eight bittersweet monologues.

8. White Plastic Sky (Tibor Bánóczki, Sarolta Szabó):

This bold and visually striking animated film follows a young couple living in a barren, post-apocalyptic Budapest in the year 2123, struggling for food and life as they survive along with the rest of humanity beneath a huge white dome.

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In Competition: Documentaries

1. Satan Wants You (Steven J. Adams, Sean Horlor):

The provocative story of how the “Satanic Panic” of the 1980s was ignited by Michelle Remembers, a bestselling memoir co-written by a psychiatrist and his patient, which made lurid claims about Satanic ritual abuse.

2. Dusty & Stones (Jesse Rudoy):

This remarkable debut intimately chronicles the ride of Gazi “Dusty” Simelane and Linda “Stones” Msibi, two struggling country music singers from Swaziland who journey to Texas hoping for their big break.

3. Sex with Sue (Lisa Rideout):

Winner of Best Documentary at the Canadian Screen Awards 2023, it chronicles the life of nurse-turned-sex-educator Sue Johanson, whose popular radio and TV programmes offered sex education from a pleasure-driven, feminist perspective.

4. La Singla (Paloma Zapata):

Romani flamenco dancer Antoñita Singla lost her hearing just days after her birth, so learned to dance by watching her mother clapping. In the 1960s she was considered “the best flamenco dancer in the world” – but ironically, she was more famous internationally than in Spain. This is her fascinating life story.

5. We are Guardians (Chelsea Green, Rob Grobman, Edivan Guajajara):

Produced by Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way Productions, this is a poignant portrayal of a group of native people who endeavour to save what is left of the Brazilian Amazon.

6. Another Body (Sophie Compton, Reuben Hamlyn):

Winner of the Special Jury Award at SXSW, it documents a college student’s search for justice after she discovers deepfake pornography of herself circulating online.

7. Aurora’s Sunrise (Inna Sahakyan):

Combining archive footage with animation to tell the true story of a teenage refugee turned Hollywood star: 14-year-old Aurora lost everything during the Armenian Genocide, but after fleeing to New York her story became a media sensation, leading to a starring role as herself in the 1919 film Auction of Souls (Oscar Apfel).

This is our verdict of Aurora’s Sunrise, which premiered last November at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.

8. Omar and Cedric (Nicolas Jack Davies):

Having worked with the likes of Coldplay, Elbow, PJ Harvey and Mumford & Sons, this Grammy-nominated director charts the intimate, artistic and personal relationship between Omar Rodriguez-López and Cedric Bixler-Zavala of American progressive rock band The Mars Volta.

9. The Books He Didn’t Burn (Claus Bredenbrock & Jascha Hannover):

Narrated by Academy Award winner Jeremy Irons, this documentary takes an eye-opening look at history by examining the remains of Adolf Hitler’s private library.

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In Competition: UK

1. Long Distance Swimmer (Charly Wai Feldman, UK):

When former pro swimmers Sara Mardini and her sister Yusra arrived in Germany from war-torn Syria, they were Europe’s most celebrated refugees. Now Sara is facing a 20-year prison sentence for volunteering with a Greek NGO, helping other refugees. Screening in association with Migration Matters Festival.

2. Sisters Interrupted (Caroline Sharp):

Highlighting the medical injustices that people face, this documentary follows two sisters as they both battle forms of epilepsy and together fight for access to a treatment that could save both their lives.

3. Red Herring (Kit Vincent):

Tackling themes of mental health, love and society, a filmmaker enlists his family on an intimate and darkly humorous journey to help them come to terms with his terminal illness.

4. Embers (Christian Cooke):

The first feature by British actor Christian Cooke, he also stars alongside a cast including Ruth Bradley (Humans, Ted Lasso) in this story of a sexual surrogate who is employed to help a high-security psychiatric patient overcome his intimacy issues so he can make parole.

5. Silent Roar (Johnny Barrington):

Chosen to open this year’s Edinburgh Film Festival, this charming coming-of-age drama follows a young surfer on the Isle of Lewis as he deals with unresolved grief following his father’s death.

6. The Portrait (Simon Ross):

European Premiere. Debut feature. After her husband is devastated by a tragic accident, a devoted wife becomes obsessed with a mysterious portrait that resembles how he once was. This eerie thriller stars Natalia Cordova-Buckley, Ryan Kwanten and Oscar nominee Virginia Madsen.

7. Catching Dust (Stuart Gatt):

Erin Moriaty and Jai Courtney play a woman and her criminal husband who are hiding out in Texas, when a couple from New York suddenly arrive resulting in dangerous consequences.

8. Warhol (Adam Ethan Crow):

The lives of a controversial America shock jock, a desperate deaf girl, a homeless ex-soldier, and a scared young gang member intertwine in this tale of choice, consequence, and redemption.

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Off-Competition:

1. Restore Point (Robert Hloz):

Special Critics Pick selected by Variety’s Guy Lodge. Set in 2038, a female detective investigates the case of a murdered couple when a restoration team is able to bring one of them back to life.

2.To be confirmed:

Special Critics Pick selected by Screen International’s Finn Halligan.

3. Typist, Artist, Pirate, King (Carol Morley):

Kelly Macdonald and Monica Dolan play two women whose friendship grows as they hit the road in an electric car looking for endings and reconciliation. Co-starring Gina McKee.

Read our review of Typist Artist Pirate King here, written in Tallinn.

You can book your tickets for Raindance and find out more by clicking here.

The images on this article are stills from Mountain Onion, Only the Good Survive, Aurora’s Sunrise, Clashing Differences, and Typist, Artist, Pirate, King (top to bottom).