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

With a rapidly aging population, the traditional image of frightened, little-old cat ladies is gradually shifting to one of strength and cunning. Witness new TV shows like Matlock. So this week I’m looking at two new movies about tough older women and one about a cat. There’s an opera diva in Paris preparing her swan song; a rustbelt widow who wants to go out with a bang; and a cat on a sailboat in a world covered in water.

Maria

Dir: Pablo Larraín (Reviews: Spencer, The Club)

It’s 1977 in Paris, and Maria Callas (Angelina Jolie: Salt, The Tourist, Unbroken) — one of the greatest divas in opera history, is not doing well. She rarely eats, often never leaving the bedroom of her palatial apartments for days at a time. She rarely speaks with anyone anymore, aside from her servants. She runs her butler ragged (Pierfrancesco Favino: The Hummingbird, in a red monkey suit) and she relies on her cook (Alba Rohrwacher: Sworn Virgin, Hungry Hearts, The Ties/Lucci ) for judgement on the quality of her vocal chords. 

But she’s not completely alone. She is seeing a pianist for his unvarnished opinion on whether her legendary “voice” has returned. And has agreed to an unheard-of interview with a young journalist named Mandrax (Kodi Smit-McPhee: The Road, The Congress, The Power of the Dog, Memoir of a Snail). But Maria faces a number of problems. She refuses to see a doctor, despite her rapidly declining health, and she won’t stop popping Quaaludes, leading to frequent hallucinations and delusions. Can her devoted servants save her life? Or is this the end?

Maria is a biopic about the death of a legendary Greek-American diva. The movie begins with her demise at age 53, then goes back in time to show what led up to it. This includes flashbacks to her chubby adolescence in German-occupied Athens in WWII, her failed marriage, and at the peak of career, including trysts with Aristotle  Onassis and JFK. 

But is this biopic any good? I have very mixed feelings about that. I love the beautifully shot interiors, the ostentatious costumes and the amazing arias provided by recordings of Callas herself. Italian actors Rohrwacher and Favino provide wonderfully painful performances. And, as the latest in a series of films about famous woman by Chilean director Pablo Larraín it has good pedigree, especially Spencer (with Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana). But this movie depends on Angeline Jolie, and she doesn’t carry it off. She always seems to be acting. I don’t see Maria Callas here, I see Jolie posing for the camera, with  a haughty face here and a dramatic gestures there; so you rapidly lose sympathy with the main character. Perhaps Maria Callas really did act like that, even behind closed doors, but Jolie plays her somewhere between high camp and kitsch. 

Maria is never boring… just a bit embarrassing. 

Flow

Co-Wri/Dir: Gints Zilbalodis

It’s some time in the future, somewhere in the world. A small grey cat with golden eyes and pointy ears is enjoying a walk in the woods. The cat lives by an abandoned old house surrounded by enormous cat statues. The cat is very shy, and fears, most of all, a pack of feral dogs. Suddenly, there’s a stampede of animals running in one direction, full speed. They‘re trying to avoid a massive flood, sweeping away everything in its path. But cat and a friendly, white dog are among its victims. Survival instinct kicks in and eventually cat manages to climb on board a tattered sailboat. There Cat discovers a gentle, sloth-like capybara already on board. Other animals make their way onto the sailboat, including an ingenious lemur, that big, white dog and a majestic-looking phoenix. Together they form an uneasy friendship as they brave a dangerous water-covered world. But can they learn to get along? And is this world worth living in?

Flow is a brilliantly animated film about a picaresque journey by a mismatched troupe of animals. It’s tender, heart moving and lovely to watch. It’s all about friendship and cooperation learned by animals living in a gently hostile world. And though they behave a tiny bit like humans, there are no people in the story, and no dialogue either; just grunts meows and barks. Dogs still want to fetch. Cats want to catch fish.  

And though it’s post-apocalyptic, there is nothing futuristic in this film; human technology is limited to abandoned ancient cities, glass bottles and sailboats; no cars or smartphones to be seen. The science fiction comes in with its universality, where animals from different continents, along with mythical beasts like sea monsters, can randomly encounter and learn from one another. I just watched Flow, and I already want to see it again.

Flow is Latvia’s Oscar submission for Best International Feature.

The G

Wri/Dir: Karl R. Hearne

It’s a rust-belt city somewhere in North America. Ann Hunter (Dale Dickey) is a tough cookie in her 70s, who is feeling depressed. You can see it  in every wrinkle on her face. She lives with her ailing husband in their fully-owned condo. He was once a tough guy, but is rapidly sliding into immobility and dementia. She grudgingly takes care of him, and drowns her sorrows in rot-gut alcohol straight from the bottle. Aside from him, she only spends time with Emma, step-granddaughter (Romane Denis). Emma models her life on The G (as she calls her grandmother) someone who doesn’t take crap from anyone. The G also helps her out financially, and doles out hardboiled words of wisdom.

But everything changes when a man in a suit  named Rivera (Bruce Ramsay), out of the blue, breaks down The G’s front door, accompanied by two toughs:  Matt (Joey Scarpellino), a handsome but simple-minded gardener; and Ralph, a psychopath with bleach blond hair (Jonathan Koensgen). Together they violently shove Ann and her husband into a van, who wind up locked in a threadbare room without a phone, in a nursing home that feels more like a prison. This is your new home, Rivera says, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me. He’s now their legal guardian and has the documents to prove it; their doctor (a silent partner in the scam) has declared them both incompetent. No one’s allowed to go in or out for the first month. He roughs up her husband to try to find the proverbial pot of gold he thinks they’re hiding. But they underestimate the G, her stubbornness, and her shady connections back in Texas.

Meanwhile, Emma is shocked when she discovers her grandparents have suddenly disappeared, leaving behind just a torn-up home. She scours the city to find them, and makes friends with a caretaker who works at the home (who also happens to be Matt, the friendly thug). It’s too late to save her grandpa but she vows to get the G out of there. And even while Emma is trying to free her, the G has vowed vengeance on all her enemies — and she’s not messing around. Who can they trust? Can two women best a criminal organization? Or will they end up buried alive? 

The G is a great revenge thriller about the very real phenomenon of organized criminals attacking and abusing the elderly. It’s dark and disturbing. Dale Dickey blows this movie out of the water, supported by a good Quebecois cast. (It’s shot in Montreal). If you’re looking for a gratifyingly violent revenge flic, this is the one to see.

Maria and Flow are now playing at the TIFF Lightbox, with Maria streaming on MUBI on December 11th; and The G is opening across Canada; 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.