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Beanpole Movie Review
Director: Kantemir Balagov
Cast: Viktoria Miroshnichenko, Vasilisa Perelygina, Andrey Bykov, Igor Shirokov, Konstantin Balakirev
Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 11/27/20
Opens: January 29, 2020 in theaters. May 5, 2020 streaming
War is hell and Kantemir Balagov has a unique way of making that point. Balagov, whose “Closeness” (Tesnota) hones in a small, squalid town in which a Jewish couple are kidnapped with ransom demanded, paints on a larger canvas with “Beanpole.” Artem Emilianov’s lenses bring us up close to a hospital that is treating war injuries, where notably Stepan (Konstantin Balakirev) has apparently been paralyzed and begs for death, but he is most interested in the ways that two women are adapting to a war that killed some twenty million Soviet citizens, or one out of every ten residents.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that, locked down, locked in, more people have had time to read more books than ever before. Many booklovers, passionate about their own favourite books, are curious to know what writers have been reading during this lonely period. What was already on their shelves; what did they borrow, buy or read online?
In this series, Reading in the present tense, a range of writers and other creative artists reflect on texts that moved them, intellectually engaged them, frightened them or made them laugh. The chosen text can be something recently published or a cherished book re-read with a fresh perspective. It can be a book written at any time, from any country and in any language if also translated into English.
The DePaulia
Michael Brzezinski, Chief Film Critic|January 10, 2021
The year 2020 was anything but typical for film. Movie theaters across the nation were closed for the vast majority of the year. However, Hollywood persisted thanks to virtual cinemas, streaming services and a few stubborn studios. Even now, in its most turbulent form, cinema continues to survive and give unforgettable stories and experiences. These rank among the most unforgettable and moving this year.
Honorable Mentions: “Lingua Franca,” “Nomadland,” “Promising Young Woman,” “First Cow,” and “I Was At Home, But…”
10) “She Dies Tomorrow” (Dir. Amy Seimetz)
A fearless experimental film of the moment. An unsettlingly hilarious and psychedelic exploration of how susceptible we all are to viral fear. As we watch a small group of Californians slowly start to believe that their demise is coming the next day, it makes the viewer ask how we’re able to live with ourselves moving forward. The
The unchecked ravages of COVID-19 completely changed the long-established model of how movies are consumed. It also acutely altered the ever-fading line between films built for theaters and the wide-screen at home. Now there is no discernible difference, which I find myself actually enjoying since I no longer need to venture far or wait months to see the new movies I really want to see. How this affects film distribution in years to come is unclear, but it is certain that going to the movies will never be the same again, good or bad. The one thing that didn’t change was the plethora of good films, especially the quieter, more thoughtful indies that seemed to thrive under this new environment. You’ll note in my ensuing Top 10 for 2020 that it is free of any blockbusters. And I’m not complaining; merely rejoicing that the closure of theaters across the country opened the door for streaming the quality movies that used to get overlooked. And there were so many of these