Fjord

I was already interested in seeing Fjord because I am a big fan of both Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve but, after it won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival this year, it became one of my most anticipated movies this fall.  I went to see it last night at the Broadway and to say that it is thought-provoking would be an understatement.  Mihai and Lisbet Gheorghiu (Stan and Reinsve, respectively) are a devout evangelical Christian couple who move their family from Romania to Lisbet's remote coastal hometown in Norway to be closer to her parents for help with their five children.  Their conservative parenting style immediately catches the attention of a progressive counselor (Lisa Loven Kongsli) at their children's school, so when she sees bruises on their oldest daughter Elia (Vanessa Ceban), she reports them to the Child Welfare Services for abuse which also triggers a criminal investigation.  All five children are eventually removed from their parents' custody when Mihai admits to occasionally spanking them.  Soon the Gheorghius are involved in an intense custody battle, but when their neighbor Mia Halberg (Lisa Carlehed) steps in to defend them, they are given temporary custody pending the outcome of the criminal trial.  However, when Mia refuses to represent Mihai in the criminal trial, the Gheorghius decide to flee to Denmark to avoid losing their children forever.  I was really intrigued by the fact that there are no easy answers and that much of what happens with the children is open to interpretation.  Elia may have gotten the bruises from roughhousing with her brother Emmanuel (Jonathan Ciprian Breazu) or from wrestling in her P.E. class, the language barrier may have led to miscommunication during Elia's interview with Child Welfare, or Elia may have lied in her interview to get back at her parents for interfering in a new friendship with their neighbor Noora (Henrikke Lund-Olsen).  I was also very struck by all of the moral dilemmas raised by the narrative, especially whether you should protect the rights of someone you disagree with (I was often uncomfortable because, while I disagree with some of the Gheorghius' beliefs, I found the prosecution of them to be overzealous).  The symbolism is incredibly powerful, especially with the setting because the fjords represent isolation and the resulting avalanches show the crushing weight of judgement.  Finally, both Stan and Reinsve give highly restrained and nuanced performances in which anger and frustration are internalized.  This choice does make the characters seem cold and remote (mimicking the setting) but it is absolutely devastating to watch.  The audience is challenged to have sympathy for characters they may disagree with and, for that reason, I highly recommend it.

Everest: The Other Side

I am a big fan of Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin's previous documentaries, Meru and Free Solo, so I was excited to see their latest, Everest: The Other Side, yesterday at a matinee (with all of the other retired people who are now my best friends).  This follows elite ski mountaineers and romantic partners Jim Morrison and Hilaree Nelson as they attempt to climb and then ski down the more remote and treacherous north face of Mount Everest (only five people had successfully completed this climb and no one had ever skied down).  After Nelson is tragically killed by an avalanche during a practice climb on nearby Mount Manaslu, Morrison returns several years later to complete their quest with Chin in her memory.  It goes without saying that cinematography is absolutely spectacular (see it in IMAX if you can) with breathtaking aerial footage captured by drones to show the scale of the expedition and Go-Pro shots that put the audience right on the mountain with the climbers (the latter definitely creates several white-knuckle moments, especially during the avalanche sequences and the climbs through the couloirs).  However, what I found most compelling (and disturbing) is the discussion about the hubris of pursuing a dream at any cost.  It is suggested that it is especially irresponsible for a parent to participate in such a dangerous sport when there is a very real possibility that they could be abandoning their children permanently.  Many of the climbers' family members are interviewed and express their fears about what could happen but I was particularly struck by Vasarhelyi's emotional reaction when Chin (her husband and father of their two children) tells her that Morrison wants to go back to Everest with him as his climbing partner as well as their subsequent discussion about the risks vs. the rewards (it was interesting to learn that she filed for divorce during the final climb).  The most poignant interviews are those with Nelson's teenage sons Quinn and Grayden because they are clearly devastated by the loss of their mother but reiterate that climbing was her passion and nothing could have stopped her from pursuing what she loved.  I'm not sure this absolves Nelson for her choice and it definitely left a bad taste in my mouth when Morrison pushes his sherpas to continue after one of them is severely injured.  I would definitely rate this as my least favorite in Vasarhelyi and Chin's mountain trilogy but it is exhilarating.

Note:  It was also very off-putting to see the sherpas establish all of the rope lines and camps along the way while Morrison and Chin wait in their tents with all of their expensive North Face gear (it definitely feels like one long ad for The North Face).

The Only Living Pickpocket in New York

My nephew and I were both really looking forward to The Only Living Pickpocket in New York so we braved the large crowd at the Broadway for The Rocky Horror Picture Show to see it there last night.  It is an intriguing character study with a career best performance from John Turturro.  Harry Lehman (Turturro) is an old-school pickpocket in a city that has moved on without him.  His usual tricks no longer provide enough for him to care for his disabled wife Rosie (Karina Arroyave) so he breaks into a vintage car and steals a duffel bag filled with cash and a USB.  He takes the USB to his old friend Ben (Steve Buscemi) who owns a pawn shop and acts as his fence but he doesn't know what it is and sends him to Frank (Kelvin Han Yee), another fence who specializes in electronics, who eventually buys it.  Unbeknownst to Harry, the owner of the car is Dylan (Will Price), the scion of a powerful crime family, and the USB is a crypto wallet that he is is desperate to get back.  Dylan locates Harry using footage from street cameras and threatens Rosie to motivate him to return it.  He races against time across the boroughs of New York, calling on his old friend Detective Allan Warren (Giancarlo Esposito), Frank's grandson Ernie (Michael Hsu Rosen), his estranged daughter Kelly (Tatiana Maslany), a young pickpocket and possible protege (Mark Cayne), and Ben's daughter Eve (Victoria Moroles), before showing Dylan's grandmother Moira (Jamie Lee Curtis), the crime boss, that an old dog still has a few new tricks.  I really liked the juxtaposition between the different generations because, even though the young characters have a greater fluency with technology, they still benefit from the wisdom of the older and more experienced characters (and vice versa).  I also liked gritty portrayal of New York (this reminded me of the crime dramas of the 1970s with the production design, the natural lighting, the use of grainy film effects in the cinematography, and even the retro score) as a repudiation of the soulless gentrification of the city.  Harry is an interesting character because, even though he is extremely flawed, he evokes sympathy with how he cares for the people in his life and Turturro embodies all of these contradictions with subtle changes in expression (there are so many close-ups of his world-weary face), especially in scenes that show his growing desperation, his tender care of his wife, and his heartbreaking encounter with his daughter.  It is a powerful, yet restrained, performance and the rest of the cast is also outstanding.  I really enjoyed this and highly recommend it.

The Smashing Pumpkins at the Delta Center

I love seeing The Smashing Pumpkins in concert (I've seen them multiple times including a rather memorable night at Saltair when my friends and I got stuck in the parking lot for over an hour after the show because the cars were packed in like sardines).  They always put on an epic show and last night was no exception!  They played for over three hours, with a very brief intermission between their two sets, and I loved every minute!  The first set was in honor of the 30th anniversary of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and featured 16 tracks from this seminal album.  I definitely enjoyed hearing the hits, including "1979," "Bullet With Butterfly Wings," "Tonight, Tonight," "Thirty-Three," and "Zero," but it was also fun to hear "Cupid de Locke," "Galopogos," and "By Starlight" because they are not played live as often.  The second set was billed as a career-spanning journey through four decades of hits, deep cuts, and newer material.  The hits included "Disarm," a funky version of "Ava Adore," "Mayonaise" (I had forgotten how much I love this song), "Today," and "Cherub Rock."  Some of the deep cuts were "Machina, Machina" and "Sojourner" and the new material included "Edin," "Pentagrams," and "War Dreams of Itself" from their most recent album Aghori Mhori Mei and "Black Stars" from the forthcoming The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping soundtrack (I hadn't heard this before and I really liked it).  The visuals were incredibly theatrical with graphics announcing each song title projected on large screens (the ones used in the first set mimicked the original artwork for Mellon Collie and the ones in the second set were inspired by their classic music videos) and the lighting design was very dramatic with dark purple, blue, and pink stage washes.  Frontman Billy Corgan was in rare form last night because he was much more animated than I have ever seen him before and he joked that half the crowd hadn't been born when Mellon Collie was released.  He is is such a weirdo (complimentary) because he came on stage wearing a long black leather tunic over a flowing skirt (he switched to white for the second set) but he sounded fantastic and his guitar solos were amazing (especially during "Porcelina of the Vast Oceans").  It seems like I have been anticipating this show for so long (I bought the ticket months ago) and it was even better than I was expecting!  I had the best time and, as with the other times I've seen them, I would rank this among my very favorite concert experiences.

Little Shop of Horrors at PTC

Last night I got to see another really fun production of Little Shop of Horrors, this time at PTC, and it is one of the best I've seen! A meek and awkward floral assistant named Seymour Krelborn (Andrew Faria) discovers a strange and interesting carnivorous plant, which he names Audrey II after his coworker crush, while working at a failing flower shop on Skid Row. As Audrey II grows larger and larger by feeding on his blood, it brings Seymour sudden fame, fortune, and the affections of Audrey (Alanna Saunders), but it soon demands more blood than he can spare. Driven by desperation and ambition, he feeds Audrey's abusive boyfriend, Oren Scrivelo (Brandon Espinoza), and their boss, Mr. Mushnik (David Benoit), to the plant only to realize too late that Audrey II's ultimate goal is world domination. The reason why this is one of my favorite musicals is because the music is a fabulous pastiche of popular rock and roll, doo-wop, and Motown songs from the 1960s (you will be humming them for days after seeing the show) and I especially love the use of a girl group to narrate the story. Lauren Wilmore, as Crystal, Maya J. Christian, as Chiffon, and Tyler Symone, as Ronnette, were highlights of the show for me because they harmonize beautifully in the songs "Little Shop of Horrors" and "Skid Row (Downtown)" and they are very lively whenever they suddenly appear on stage to serve as backup singers and dancers in other songs. The rest of the performances are equally outstanding. Saunders sings "Somewhere That's Green" with a voice full of yearning but then she belts out "Suddenly, Seymour" after gaining some confidence and just about blows the roof off the theater. Faria displays an earnestness that is fun to watch (although I wish he had leaned more into Seymour's physical awkwardness) and his versions of "Grow for Me," "You Never Know," and "Sudden Changes" are nuanced and vibrant. Benoit is very persnickety but he lets loose in "Mushnik and Son" to great comedic effect (I loved the way he uses a scarf throughout the song but especially when he imitates a matador with it). Espinoza is completely over the top in "Dentist!" and "Now (It's Just the Gas)" but he almost steals the show by portraying three completely different characters in "The Meek Shall Inherit" (he had the audience laughing out loud). I can't forget the R&B stylings and the diabolical laugh of Nicholas Ward, who voices Audrey II, because he gives the plant a lot of personality. I was also impressed with Joe Gallina, as Audrey II's puppeteer, because he seamlessly matches Ward's vocal performance with his physical one and I particularly loved seeing the plant dance in "Feed Me (Git It)." The stage is dominated by a large and elaborate set for the flower shop (I loved the attention to detail, especially the refrigerated display cases with glass doors) with only a small alley in front for other scenes (my one criticism would be that this doesn't allow for more dynamic choreography). Finally, the colorful period costumes and wigs are a lot of fun (especially those worn by the girl group). This is a really entertaining show that is perfect for Halloween and I definitely recommend getting a ticket (go here). It runs through November 7.