Monthly culture, April 2024
Tuesday, May 28th, 2024 08:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tamaranth04APR24: Errementari (Alijo, 2017) -- Netflix
Set in a small Basque village in the 19th century, this is based on a Basque fairytale about a blacksmith and the devil -- here more 'a' devil than 'the' devil: Sartael (splendidly acted by Eneko Sagardoy) is a minor demon who's been imprisoned by the village blacksmith, who's made a deal with Hell. A government official arrives in the village, his agenda unclear: an orphaned girl Usue, bullied by nasty boys, wants to save her dead mother's soul...
This was great, and very atmospheric with shades of Goya. Not only is it a Basque horror film, it is a Basque horror film with dialogue exclusively in Alavese, an extinct dialect of Basque. 'Hala bazan ez bazan, sar dadila kalabazan eta atera dadila herriko plazan', the last line, was subtitled as 'get into the pumpkin and out at the square': it's the local equivalent of 'if they haven't died, they are living there yet' or 'they all lived happily ever after'.
10APR24: Nye (Price, 2024) -- Olivier Theatre
Michael Sheen was compelling as Nye Bevan, founder of the NHS. The set design was incredible, from the use of light to the shifting curtains and borders of the hospital ward in which the framing narrative is set to the way that the colours of library-book spines echoed the stripes on Nye's pyjamas. Very educational: I had not realised that such a vast majority of doctors were anti-NHS until Nye compromised with their demands. Also very moving.
11APR24: 'Coming out of the Cage' panel, Waterstones Piccadilly
Panel featuring Julia Armfield, Natasha Pulley, Alison Rumfitt, Emma Hinds, and Jodie Matthews: fascinating, inspirational, and did little to reduce my TBR. I was there to hear Pulley but the other panellists were just as interesting --freakshow culture in C19 New York, ghost stories on Bodmin Moor, ghosts as the opposite of body horror, lesbian Lear at the end of the world...
18APR24: Frybread Face and Me (Luther, 2023) -- Netflix
Benny (a half-Navajo boy who lives with his rather flaky mother in San Diego) is cruelly forced to spend the summer with his Navajo relatives on a reservation in Arizona. At first he sulks: eventually he forms a bond with his cousin Dawn (known as 'Frybread Face'). Slow sweet uneventful film with the ambience of a faded colour photo, and excellent performances by the predominantly Navajo cast.
25APR24: Emily the Criminal (Ford, 2022) -- Netflix
Aubrey Plaza stars as Emily, a would-be artist who can't get a decent job because she has a criminal record for defending herself against an abusive ex. A tip-off from a friend leads her to the lucrative world of credit card fraud. She takes up with Youcef, the guy running the operation, but Youcef's cousin Khalil disapproves of Emily. Bad stuff happens. Very noirish (nice to see a female noir protagonist) and rather bleak, though Plaza's performance is compelling and Emily's character complex and only slowly revealed.
Set in a small Basque village in the 19th century, this is based on a Basque fairytale about a blacksmith and the devil -- here more 'a' devil than 'the' devil: Sartael (splendidly acted by Eneko Sagardoy) is a minor demon who's been imprisoned by the village blacksmith, who's made a deal with Hell. A government official arrives in the village, his agenda unclear: an orphaned girl Usue, bullied by nasty boys, wants to save her dead mother's soul...
This was great, and very atmospheric with shades of Goya. Not only is it a Basque horror film, it is a Basque horror film with dialogue exclusively in Alavese, an extinct dialect of Basque. 'Hala bazan ez bazan, sar dadila kalabazan eta atera dadila herriko plazan', the last line, was subtitled as 'get into the pumpkin and out at the square': it's the local equivalent of 'if they haven't died, they are living there yet' or 'they all lived happily ever after'.
10APR24: Nye (Price, 2024) -- Olivier Theatre
Michael Sheen was compelling as Nye Bevan, founder of the NHS. The set design was incredible, from the use of light to the shifting curtains and borders of the hospital ward in which the framing narrative is set to the way that the colours of library-book spines echoed the stripes on Nye's pyjamas. Very educational: I had not realised that such a vast majority of doctors were anti-NHS until Nye compromised with their demands. Also very moving.
11APR24: 'Coming out of the Cage' panel, Waterstones Piccadilly
Panel featuring Julia Armfield, Natasha Pulley, Alison Rumfitt, Emma Hinds, and Jodie Matthews: fascinating, inspirational, and did little to reduce my TBR. I was there to hear Pulley but the other panellists were just as interesting --freakshow culture in C19 New York, ghost stories on Bodmin Moor, ghosts as the opposite of body horror, lesbian Lear at the end of the world...
18APR24: Frybread Face and Me (Luther, 2023) -- Netflix
Benny (a half-Navajo boy who lives with his rather flaky mother in San Diego) is cruelly forced to spend the summer with his Navajo relatives on a reservation in Arizona. At first he sulks: eventually he forms a bond with his cousin Dawn (known as 'Frybread Face'). Slow sweet uneventful film with the ambience of a faded colour photo, and excellent performances by the predominantly Navajo cast.
25APR24: Emily the Criminal (Ford, 2022) -- Netflix
Aubrey Plaza stars as Emily, a would-be artist who can't get a decent job because she has a criminal record for defending herself against an abusive ex. A tip-off from a friend leads her to the lucrative world of credit card fraud. She takes up with Youcef, the guy running the operation, but Youcef's cousin Khalil disapproves of Emily. Bad stuff happens. Very noirish (nice to see a female noir protagonist) and rather bleak, though Plaza's performance is compelling and Emily's character complex and only slowly revealed.
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Date: Monday, June 10th, 2024 08:10 pm (UTC)