Cultural Mining

Hi, this is Daniel Garber at the Movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM.

While everyone enjoys consuming the arts, producing it is not just fun and games; it’s hard work. So this week I’m looking at three new films about artists and the troubles they face. There’s a Kabuki actor from a shunned family, a poet fallen on hard times, and a pop singer unable to cope with her sudden success.

A Poet

Wri/Dir: Simón Mesa Soto

Oscar (Ubeimar Rios) is a melancholy poet who lives in Medellin, Colombia. As a young man, he was a rising star in the literary world, publishing volumes of prize-winning verse, in the style of his idol, José Asunción Silva. He was a university prof, on the board of a poetry centre and was deeply in love with his wife and newborn daughter Daniela (Alisson Correa). But that was then, this is now. Now he is an unemployed alcoholic, whose main hobby is shouting matches with strangers in dark alleys at 2:00 am about the meaning of poetry. His elderly mother nags him to get a job, he falls for obvious Internet scams, and his sister threatens to kick him out onto the street. He offers no child-support to his now-teenaged daughter and rarely sees her.  To put it plainly, he’s a total wreck, ruining the lives of everyone he touches.

But what if he turned his life around? He takes a job teaching poetry at a local high school. Though he still guzzles hootch out of his coffee thermos, he does seem to be connecting with the teenagers. Especially one named Yurlady. She carries a small notebook filled with her drawings, random thoughts and poetry. It’s the poems that interests Oscar. He decides to take her under his wing and introduce her into the world of poetry. Though Yurlady is more interested in nail polish than literary clubs, she agrees to go with him to the poetry centre with the hope of winning first prize at their annual poetry fest. Yurlady comes from a very poor family with a dozen nieces and nephews all under the same roof, so any prize money would be a great help.  But they soon discover that the literary world can be cruel. And then a terrible faux pas plunges Oscar into hitherto unknown depths of gossip, lawsuits, and humiliation. Can Yurlady make it as a literary star? Will Daniela learn to love him? And can Oscar ever climb out of the deep black hole he dug for himself?

A Poet is a darkly funny satire about what happens when romantic melancholic poetry clashes with life’s dismal reality. This cringe comedy pokes fun at middle class “woke” expectations forced on working class writers, and the depravity and callousness of some people in the arts. It’s shot in a series of chapters, with short takes and background music switching on and off seemingly at random. Rios and Andrade as a hapless mentor and his non-committal artist, make a good mismatched pair. And Guillermo Cardona is appropriately sleazy as Efrain, a successful poet who knows how to play the system. I liked this one, especially it’s unusual style, which feels closer to Romanian avant garde than a typical Colombian telenovela. 

The Moment

Co-Wri/Dir: Aidan Zamiri

It’s London in the summer of 2024. Charli xcx (played by Charli xcx) is a synth pop musician who makes DIY videos and tunes with the help of her friend Celeste (Hailey Gates: Atropia). They’re popular in queer dance clubs and online but largely unknown to the mainstream. Until everything abut her suddenly goes viral. Everything she says, or makes or does, appears everywhere, from her puke green colours to her choice of words. Her vocab, her lifestyle, her hair, her cigarettes: it’s a social phenom, a brat summer!

Now she is signed to a label, endorsing products, making public appearances. And after years of performing in small local clubs, she is preparing for a stadium tour. She has gone from nobody to superstar overnight. She thinks she’s the same woman she’s always been, just with an entourage around her, telling her what to do, what to avoid and what to sign. Tammi (Rosanna Arquette) is a hard-ass recording exec, who wants things running smoothly and finished fast. LLoyd, Tim, Jamie and Alex send her in  conflicting directions. And then there’s Johannes (Alexander Skarsgård) a documentary filmmaker in love beads, whose ideas are all anathema to her self-image.  “You must descend from heavens and fly over the stage! I want everyone in the audience waving glow sticks!” Finally, she can’t take it anymore and flees to a spa in Ibiza. But when she comes back things are out of control. Can Charli hold on to her identity and self worth as a superstar? 

The Moment is a fictional comedy about a Charli xcx’s sudden rise to fame. It’s cute and a bit funny. The thing is, she’s a singer, not an actor, and that comes through in her performance. I didn’t love the strobe lights, and the flashing titles, though it was meant as half-real, half self-mockery. The whole thing felt like a combination reality show and music video. And the lure of celebs with cameo appearances was lack-lustre; I only recognized Rachel Sennot. I’m told a Kardashian was somewhere in this movie but if so, it was completely over my head. I can only take so much vapidity in one movie. On the other hand, Arquette and Gates are both good, Skarsgård is hilarious and I liked the quick pace.

Is it worth seeing? I didn’t actively dislike this movie, but I didn’t really care what happens.

Kokuho

Dir: Sang-il Lee

It’s a New Years party, in 1960s Nagasaki. Kikuo (Ryô Yoshizawa) is performing on a stage. He’s an amateur Kabuki artist, playing the female role. A Kabuki master Hanjiro Hanai (Ken Watanabe) is a guest that night, and is blown away by Kikuo’s skill. Unfortunately, it’s a Yakuza party, and a rival clan invades and attacks right after the show. Gunshots and sword fights ensue, the clan is wiped out, including Kikuo’s father, leaving him an orphan with nowhere to go. Kikuo vows vengeance on his father’s killers and gets a huge, painful tattoo of an owl on his back. Fast forward one year, and he’s in Osaka, where Hanai — the Kabuki master —  has taken him on as his assistant.There he meets Shunsuke (Ryûsei Yokohama) Hanai’s son, who is in line to inherit the top position. (Kabuki is a profession you are born into, not one you join.) They’re the same age and end up going to school together during the day, and in their free time practicing kabuki. Training is brutal. Kikuo is hit with a bamboo rod if his body position, voice or expressions are not perfect. They are yelled at and abused, but Kikuo loves every moment, and devotes all his thoughts on reaching perfection. And the two of them are introduced to a venerable elder, a national treasure. Like the boys, he is an onnagata, an actor who only plays female roles (Women have been excluded from Kabuki since the 17th century).  7 years later, they are part of the company. Kikuo is a much better performer, but Shunsuke (Ryûsei Yokohama) is a member of the family, which protects him from harm. They have a friendly competition, as half brothers, half rivals. But will become the star?

Kokuho is a stunning drama about an outcaste who devotes his life to an insular profession that rejects that abhors outsiders. It offers a backstage look at the world of Kabuki, from the training areas to the makeup rooms, the complex kimonos and the subtle but precise movements of a hand-held fan.  It takes you into Kyoto’s Gion district where geisha live behind closed doors.  And doesn’t shy away from darker aspects of Japanese culture, including venomous tabloids and organized crime.  The title refers to living National Treasures, a handful of people who have devoted their lives to a traditional Japanese art, including performance art.

This film is a work of art itself. The use of colour is breathtaking, where a slash of red can transform a change of scene on stage, or appear as the drops of blood from a broken nose. Yoshizawa Ryô as Kikuo performs all the dancing, voice and movements without a stand-in. (Apparently he trained for a year and a half for this role). Although I was never brought to tears by the story, I did find it captivating and sympathetic. 

Lovely movie.

Kokuho, The Moment, and A Poet all open in Toronto this weekend; check your local listings.

This is Daniel Garber at the Movies, each Saturday morning, on CIUT 89.5 FM and on my website culturalmining.com.