Cultural Mining

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

This week I’m looking at three new movies about people searching for forbidden fruit. There’s a jewel thief in LA looking for his ultimate heist, a mild-mannered man in London looking to serve the man of his dreams, and a middle-aged mom in Montreal who wonder, is that all there is?

Pillion
Co-Wri/Dir: Harry Lighton

It’s Christmas in Bromley, London, and Colin Smith (Harry Melling) is celebrating with his family at the local pub. His dad’s there (Douglas Hodge) along with his older brother, all all of them dressed in garish striped suits and boater hats. They’re a barbershop quartet with Colin as the featured singer. His mum’s there, too (Lesley Sharp) in a blonde wig, one of many she wears since her chemotherapy began. She has set him up on his first blind date that night, with a large, moustachioed man. She’s always looking out for her gay son. But there are also some unexpected visitors, an unsavoury-looking biker gang playing darts. One of them catches Colin’s eye: a tall, handsome man, bedecked in white leather, with a short blond beard. And after a brief encounter at the bar, he slides Colin a small Christmas card, with a cryptic message inside. It’s an invitation of sorts, with a time and place to meet. But their encounter is not what he expects. Ray (Alexander Skarsgård) forces him to his knees in a dark ally and tells him to service him. For Colin, it’s both frightening and thrilling to be told what to do.

 

Later, after a visit to Ray’s home he starts to understand what sort of a relationship Ray is looking for. Colin would be his sub — a submissive man who follows orders, both ordinary and sexual. Like a faithful dog, but one who gets minimal affection from his master. For Colin this is all new and mind-blowing, but something he thinks he likes: like riding on the backseat of his motorcycle, or the many surprising — though sometimes painful— encounters Ray arranges. Ray shaves Colin’s head, dresses him in leather, and puts a padlock on a chain around his neck. But at the back of Colin’s mind, he thinks something is not quite right. Why won’t Ray kiss him? Does he even like Colin? And how can he explain their relationship to his parents?

Pillion is a coming-of-age story about two adults in an unusual sexual relationship. It’s warm, shocking and surprisingly funny. I’d heard a lot about this movie long before it came out, so I approached it dreading another corny erotic thriller, 50 Shades of Grey. Luckily it’s nothing like that. Skarsgård is good as the mysterious Ray, a man who never shows emotion, but Melling is just amazing as the awkward fish-out-of-water, through whose eyes the whole story is told. Pillion is a neatly structured, carefully edited and exuberantly presented look at a consensual S&M gay relationship.

This is a good movie.

 

Montreal, My Beautiful
Wri/Dir: Xiaodan He

It’s summertime in Montreal. Feng Xia (Joan Chen) is taking the afternoon off from the Depenneur she runs with her husband Wang Jun (John Xu).  But she’s not out enjoying the parks and gardens she loves so much. She’s visiting her gynaecologist, with her daughter Joy (Pei Yao Xu) serving as her translator. (Feng Xia and her husband are originally from Harbin, northeast China, and barely speak French; Joy, a university student, and her little brother Dong-Dong, a piano prodigy (Angelo Zhang), are real Quebecois and Quebecoise.  Her doctor assures her that hot flashes are nothing unusual at her age — it’s menopause. But why does sex with her husband hurt so much? He gives her an ointment but it doesn’t solve the real problem. Sex with her husband has always been bad. From there, two things happen. First, Joy insists her mum enrol in a government French class: 14 years is way too long to live in Montreal and speak no French, and I’m not going to act as your interpreter anymore, she says. At the class she makes some new friends, especially a young gay man from Cuba, who is gushing about his boyfriend. How did you meet him? she asks. Online, of course.  By that night, Fengxia is on her cel discretely swiping past various women’s faces. She is captivated by Lucy, a woman with curly hair and soulful eyes. She works up the courage to meet Lucy at the cafe where she works as a barista. Sparks fly and they gradually progress from touching to kissing to having full on sex. Lucy guides the shy Fengxia to unheard of levels. But she’s terrified of the shame this could bring her if word got out, or worst of all, losing her beloved children. Is this true love or just a fling? And can she have her cake and eat it too?

 

Montreal, My Beautiful is a bittersweet romance about an older woman finally coming out of her shell. It’s gentle and loving. The entire film is in French and Chinese, with much of the dialogue shifting back and forth between the two languages. It’s all set among the parks and balconies of that beautiful city and the wilderness around it. Joan Chen is exquisite as Fengxia and carries the entire film.

This is a nice movie to watch.

Crime 101
Wri/Dir: Bart Layton (American Animals)

It’s another day in LA, and Davis (Chris Hemsworth) has just finished his work. He’s an ethical, professional jewel thief whose heists are always perfect: the loot is insured, no one sees his face, no injuries, not a shot fired, and not even a speck of DNA left behind. He pays a hacker to research every aspect of the job leaving nothing to chance.  But when he turns down a job because it doesn’t feel right, his prep work is passed on to a violent and cocky punk. Where Davis is safe, Ormon (Barry Keoghan) is violent. He robs in a haphazard and dangerous way, making his own flawless record vulnerable.  Then there’s Lou, a frumpy but persistent LAPD Police Detective. He drives a junk heap and seldom shaves. But he’s on Davis’ trail looking for a pattern to all these unsolvable crimes. And Sharon (Halle Berry), an insurance agent who lands contracts from the rich and famous, is plying her wares among the very people whose jewels Davis is stealing.

She is both beautiful and shrewd: she can size up a potential client’s wealth, history, and psychological outlook just by looking at their faces, jewelry, cars and clothes. An upcoming heist affects all of their lives, but in different ways. And suddenly everything — Davis ‘s perfect planning, Sharon’s skilful judgment, and Lou’s sharp deductions — start to unravel when the wildcard Ormon starts messing everything up. What will become of these four people awaiting the big heist?

 

Crime 101 (the title comes from the freeway where Davis commits all his perfect crimes) is a tight, taut action heist movie in the style of old-skool hollywood films. I had low expectations for this movie — not a fan of most heist thrillers — so I was very pleased at how it turned out. It’s fast-moving (but not too fast) and keeps you guessing till the very end. It’s the kind of movie where each character has a personality and a backstory. You actually care about what happens to them. The aerial drone shots of the glowing lights of LA look spectacular blanketed across an IMAX screen. And the throbbing soundtrack keeps the tension growing. Nothing profound here, but this is a fun movie — with a great cast — to watch.

Definitely worth seeing!

Montreal My Beautiful, Crime 101, and Pillion, 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.