Human Factors.
Klemens Hufnagl/Sundance Institute
This year’s Sundance Film Festival was like no other. Thanks to the ongoing pandemic, the usual red-carpet premieres were replaced by at-home streaming supplemented by screenings at a handful of small venues and drive-ins around the country.
That’s not the way most attendees preferred to experience the movies, of course. But the festival’s 2021 selections were still true to the spirit of Sundance, which fosters independent cinema and innovative voices: They served up exciting stories from around the world, mostly of the kind that Hollywood often skips over. The fiction films that made it to Sundance in this weird year ranged from thrillers to dramas to heartwarming comedies; soon, many of them will be (or already have been) bought by distributors and streaming services.
Marvelous and the Black Hole Review: Appealing Odd-Couple Ode to the Magic of, Well, Magic Marvelous and the Black Hole Review: Appealing Odd-Couple Ode to the Magic of, Well, Magic
A young girl forms an unlikely bond with an eccentric magician in this predictable but gently winning and peppily performed coming-of-ager.
Jessica Kiang, provided by
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Not quite adult enough to be young adult, and not quite a children’s film either, Kate Tsang’s “Marvelous and the Black Hole” is a sweet-natured throwback, the kind of film a parent might wish their young teen would watch, rather than whichever dystopian franchise or fanfic adaptation they’re currently involved with. A set-your-watch-by-it riff on the unlikely-friendship-helps-two-lonely-people formula, this time involving a troubled schoolgirl and a stage magician, it is however so nicely performed and takes such honest pleasure in the flourishes of its little magic show, that only a hard heart would
Glen Wilson / Via Courtesy of Sundance Institute
Produced by Ryan Coogler, the second feature from Shaka King is a formidable work of art. A late addition to the Sundance lineup, the film stars Daniel Kaluuya as Fred Hampton, the young chair of the Black Panther Party’s Illinois chapter, and Lakeith Stanfield as William O’Neal, the undercover FBI informant who joins the group and betrays them. Kaluuya carries a grounded gravitas and is nothing short of sensational in his tour de force portrayal of the charismatic activist. Meanwhile, Stanfield’s chameleonlike nature serves his frantic character well here; it’s hard to pin down where his head’s at as he scrambles to survive. Throw in a handful of other notable performances (courtesy of Dominique Fishback,
Marvelous and the Black Hole and
Land capture the intricacies of grief, with Kate Tsang and
Robin Wright, respectively, tackling rather difficult subject matter in very different ways. There isn’t one correct formula to telling a story, no matter how similar they might be, and both these films offer a unique perspective on how and why we grieve.
Marvelous and the Black Hole (Kate Tsang)
Marvelous and the Block Hole (2020) – source: Sundance Film Festival
In her feature directorial debut,
Marvelous and the Black Hole,
Kate Tsang has created a tender examination of grief through the lens of a 13-year old child. The film hovers around the imaginative nature of childhood, but never flinches away from the serious nature of the narrative, and handles the concept of lived grief with maturity. This is a striking debut from a promising filmmaker.
FAIRFIELD-SUISUN, CALIFORNIA
Kate Tsang’s film debut combines ‘weirdo’ magic with the joy of Asian American family life [Los Angeles Times :: BC-MOVIE-SUNDANCE-MARVELOUS-BLACK-HOLE:LA]
“Marvelous and the Black Hole” will make you believe in magic.
Filmmaker Kate Tsang’s feature directorial debut follows Sammy (Miya Cech), a 13-year-old delinquent struggling with her grief over the death of her mother. After her exasperated father enrolls her in a summer business class, Sammy meets the gruff magician Margot (Rhea Perlman), who is on her way to perform a show for kids. And through this new friendship and some magic lessons things start to change for Sammy.