All We Imagine as Light

The second movie in my double feature at the Broadway yesterday was All We Imagine as Light.  I have been eager to see it ever since it won the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes this year and it did not disappoint because I loved it.  Prabha (Kani Kusruti) and Anu (Divya Prabha) are nurses who live together in Mumbai.  Prabha is very reserved and conscientious so, even though she is lonely because her husband abandoned her to work in Germany immediately after their arranged marriage and has not contacted her for over a year, she refuses the advances of a doctor (Azees Nedumangad) at the hospital.  Anu is more uninhibited and is having a secret affair with a Muslim named Shiaz (Hridhu Haroon) even though she worries that her parents and Prabha will disapprove.  Parvaty (Chhaya Kadam) is a cook at the hospital who is being forced out of her apartment by greedy property developers who want to demolish it to build a skyscraper.  When she decides to move back to her village on the coast, Prabha and Anu travel with her to help her get settled and both of them find release.  As much as I loved the theme of female empowerment, I was very intrigued by the examination of loneliness and how people often feel alone while living in a large city full of people.  This is portrayed with gorgeous shots of Mumbai at night with voice over narration from anonymous inhabitants about life in the city along with many shots featuring the women traveling alone in a crowd on public transportation.  The shift from the darkness of the city to the dazzling light of the village is striking (the cinematography in both locations is beautiful) and the scenes of revelation for both of the women are incredibly compelling (I was blown away by the magical realism in one and moved by the sensuality in the other).  The performances are subtle and the pacing is slow but it is still very powerful and I cannot recommend it enough!

Hard Truths

Yesterday I took a break from Sundance for a double feature at the Broadway.  I have been looking forward to both movies for a long time and I didn't want to take a chance on them leaving before I could see them (and I wasn't particularly excited about any of the films screening at Sundance yesterday).  I began with Hard Truths and I found this poignant character study to be very thought-provoking.  Pansy Deacon (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) suffers from extreme anxiety and she is annoyed by just about everything.  She gives vent to her to all of her frustrations with everyone she interacts with but mostly her husband Curtley (David Webber) and her twenty-two-year-old son Moses (Tuwaine Barrett) who are both so cowed by her they no longer react to her rants.  Her younger sister Chantelle (Michele Austin), a single mother with a loving relationship with her daughters Kayla (Ani Nelson) and Aleisha (Sophia Brown), repeatedly invites her and her family to spend Mother's Day with them.  However, the visit is fraught with tension and, in a heated exchange, Pansy tells them she knows they all hate her.  She is moved to tears when Moses gives her flowers for Mother's Day but, despite the fact that her family loves her, they don't know how to help her be happy.  There were several audible groans at the abrupt ending but, despite the fact that I also wanted some catharsis, I think it is an incredibly accurate look at the reality of mental illness and what it does to the person suffering and to the people who love them.  I was intrigued by the juxtaposition between Pansy and Chantelle (and their houses) because it shows that children in the same family are impacted by trauma, in this case an absent father and an overly critical mother, differently.  Jean-Baptiste gives an incredible performance because, even though Pansy is so antagonistic, she is also highly sympathetic and her points are often valid (Why do baby clothes have pockets?) which creates many moments of unexpected humor.  I was also struck by Webber's nuanced performance because my opinion of Curtley frequently changed.  I was angry with him when he refuses to comfort Pansy as she cries but I also felt so much pity for him when Pansy refuses to help him after an injury.  Is Pansy so unhappy because Curtley doesn't respond to her or is Curtley so closed off because Pansy has pushed him away?  I know I will be thinking about this movie for a long time and I highly recommend it.

The Book of Mormon at the Eccles

Watching The Book of Mormon in Sal Tlay Ka Siti is so much fun because audiences here get all of the jokes!  I saw the Broadway touring production again last night at the Eccles Theatre and I don't think I stopped laughing the whole time!  After spending some time at the Missionary Training Center learning how to preach the gospel around the world ("Hello"), Elder Price (Sam McLellan) and Elder Cunningham (Diego Enrico) are called to serve in a remote village in Uganda.  Elder Price is very disappointed in the location because he had hoped to go to Orlando, the most wonderful and magical place on Earth.  He is also disappointed in his companion because Elder Cunningham has a tendency to lie to compensate for his low self-esteem.  However, he soon realizes that he will be a great missionary no matter the circumstances ("You and Me But Mostly Me").  When they meet their fellow missionaries in Africa, they get some advice about dealing with any unusual feelings they might be having ("Turn it Off") and they soon realize that Africa is nothing like The Lion King because the villagers are more concerned with poverty, famine, AIDS, and a violent warlord than with their message ("An American Prophet").  Elder Price gets discouraged and decides to go home but, when the chief's daughter Nabulungi (Keke Nesbitt) shows some interest because she wants to leave Africa and go to paradise ("Sal Tlay Ka Siti"), Elder Cunningham must teach her on his own ("Man Up").  He has never actually read The Book of Mormon because it is boring so he begins embellishing it with references to The Matrix, Star Wars, Star Trek, and The Lord of the Rings ("Making Things Up Again") and eventually baptizes Nabulungi ("Baptize Me") and then the rest of the village.  Meanwhile, Elder Price decides to return after having a dream about being in Hell with Jeffrey Dahmer, Genghis Khan, Hitler, and people who drink Starbucks coffee ("Spooky Mormon Hell Dream").  Even though they get in trouble for their false teachings, they see that they have made the lives of the villagers better so they decide to stay and even send missionaries out to teach The Book of Arnold ("Hello Reprise").  In my opinion, this is an absolutely hilarious satire that exaggerates what is already humorous about the religion but people could definitely find it offensive because it is outrageous and often very inappropriate (there is a lot of profanity).  However, my audience seemed to feel as I do because it was one of the most enthusiastic I've seen and the laughter was sometimes louder than the actors, especially during "Sal Tlay Ka Siti."  In addition to the humor, the sets and costumes are visually stunning, the musical numbers are very catchy, and the choreography is incredible, especially in "Turn it Off" (I always enjoy tap dancing) and "I Am Africa."  The performances of the three leads are fantastic but Craig Franke steals the show as Elder McKinley, a missionary trying to pretend that he is not gay.  I had a blast watching this but I suggest doing a little research before buying tickets (which may be purchased here) to make sure it is something you would enjoy.  It runs at the Eccles Theatre through January 26.

Wolf Man

I really enjoyed Leigh Whannell's fresh take on a classic monster in The Invisible Man so I was eager to see his interpretation of another one in Wolf Man.  I saw it last night and, even though it is not as good as the previous movie, I thought it was pretty solid (I jumped a foot out of my seat during one particular scene).  When a hiker goes missing in the remote mountains of Oregon it is believed that he was attacked and infected by an animal so Grady Lovell (Sam Jaeger) goes to extreme measures to keep his young son Blake (Zac Chandler) safe from a mysterious humanoid figure he sees in the forest.  Thirty years later, Grady is declared legally dead after also disappearing in the forest so Blake (Christopher Abbott), who now lives in San Francisco with his wife Charlotte (Julia Garner) and daughter Ginger (Matilda Firth), returns to Oregon with his family to clear out his house.  While driving through the forest, a creature forces them off the road and scratches Blake's arm but the three of them are able to make it to Grady's isolated house and barricade themselves inside.  Charlotte and Ginger are terrified of the monster outside but they soon realize that Blake might be a bigger threat.  There is a heavy-handed message about becoming so afraid that the ones you love will be hurt that you actually become what hurts them (it is reiterated so many times) but I like how it plays out in the resolution.  The light and sound design is very atmospheric, especially the distortion that occurs when the POV shifts back and forth between Blake and Charlotte as he transforms, and the creature design is incredibly unsettling even if it doesn't resemble a traditional werewolf or incorporate any of the mythology.  There are some effective jump scares and Whannell does a good job building tension (a scene involving the creature's breath is absolutely spine-tingling) but the big twist in the narrative is pretty much telegraphed from the opening sequence and is somewhat underwhelming.  Finally, Abbott and Garner give great performances individually but they lack chemistry together.  There are definitely issues but I enjoyed seeing a different approach to a well-known character and I would recommend this.

Little Women at HCT

Last night I went to see the musical Little Women at HCT and I loved it so much! The March sisters, Jo (Scout Smith), Meg (Kat Hawley Cook), Beth (Julia Bradford), and Amy (Olivia Shelton), come of age in Concord, Massachusetts during and after the Civil War. We first meet Jo when she is in New York City pursuing her dream of becoming a writer.  When Professor Bhaer (Landon Horton), another resident at her boardinghouse, tells her that she should write about what she knows rather than the sensational pieces she has been submitting to magazines, there are flashbacks to the trials and triumphs of her adolescence with her sisters and mother "Marmee" (Claire Kenny), her neighbor Theodore "Laurie" Lawrence (Weston Wright), his grandfather Mr. Lawrence (Mark Knowles), and her Aunt March (Jen Kroff). My favorite character from the novel by Louisa May Alcott has always been Jo because she is so fiery and independent and Smith perfectly embodies these qualities, especially in the scene where she rejects Laurie's proposal and in the scene where Aunt March tells she won't be going to Europe with her. She has a beautiful voice and she is incredibly powerful in "Astonishing" and "The Fire Within Me" and her emotional version of "Some Things Are Meant to Be" with Bradford had me in tears. However, I think my favorite moment came during "The Weekly Volcano Press" when she reads one of her sensational stories to Professor Bhaer as it is acted out by all of the other characters because she mouths the dialogue and pantomimes the action in a hilariously over the top performance. There are a lot of other memorable moments from the rest of the cast as well, including a heartfelt performance of "Here Alone" from Kenny, a moment of vulnerability from Knowles during "Off to Massachusetts," and a delightful version of "Take a Chance On Me" from Wright who is as irrepressible as a puppy (the girls sitting near me were very taken with him and eagerly read his bio aloud during intermission). The set, which rotates on a turntable to reveal the parlor in the March home on one side and the attic and various locations on the other side, is lovely and the staircases connecting the two areas are used in very innovative ways, particularly in the choreography for "Five Forever." I also really loved the projections of Jo's writing and Amy's paintings (watch the pages located on the proscenium arch very carefully before the show). Finally, the costumes are absolutely exquisite with beautifully embellished fabrics. My favorite is the dress Jo wears to Sallie Moffat's ball because it features gorgeous appliqued flowers (and a scorch mark in the back). I thoroughly enjoyed this beautiful production and I am sure that fans of the classic novel will love it as much as I did. It runs on the Sorenson Legacy Jewel Box Stage through May 3 and tickets may be purchased here but, as always, act quickly because many shows are sold out.