Today's Review: White Bird in a Blizzard

Wrote another review for MovieScene this week. After all, I had some catching up to do in that department:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/157936/white_bird_in_a_blizzard_-_recensie

From director Gregg Araki, we both got what we expected and we didn't, in this film's case. White Bird in a Blizzard contained all his usual themes - surrealism, teenage social issues, sexuality, death - but it lacked his usual energetic visual style. It never got recognizably 'Arakiesque'. Usually it's a not a bad thing per se when you can't tell who the director is from looking at the picture, but in this case, it's no flattery at all. White Bird is a visually unimpressive, bland picture that in many ways feels like a missed oppurtunity on this director's part. You might say he preferred to stick to the source material, this being an adaptation of somebody else's novel, but considering he did change a fair amount of things already, it would also have suited him to get the film more in line with his signature style to feel less detached and make us care more about the characters.

At least performances are good throughout the piece. Shailene Woodley makes a better impression than usual. However, it's Eva Green who steals the show while playing her mother. That too, doesn't help the movie much, as it's not her show (hence the proverbial 'stealing'). In fact, it's much more about her absence than it is about her presence, but when she graces the screen, the movie lightens up considerably. Green does an excellent job portraying a seemingly perfect house wife, sizzling with the frustrations of a wasted life and unfulfilled desires just underneath the facade. Her unhealthy relationship with her daughter makes for the most emotional scenes, thoroughly uncomfortable yet mesmerizing to behold. However, the moment she's out of the picture, literally and figuratively,and  the story fully centers around Woodley's character just hanging out with her friends, having sex and going to college, our attention wanes. And then it uneasily evolves from a typical coming-of-age drama into a thirteen-a-dozen thriller in the second half and all the predictable dirty secrets come out. But we care too little, too late at that point.

White Bird in a Blizzard will always be compared unfavorably to that other adaptation of a literary work Araki directed, Mysterious Skin. That movie too featured all his themes (including a visually sober look), but fared a lot better combining teen angst, creepy sexual relations and a thriller component, as the movie unraveled in a way that did make us interested in the questions of what happened to whom. White Bird in a Blizzard sadly feels repetitive and redundant on Araki's resumé. But at least Green is not at fault.

Today's Mini-Review: Jeune & Jolie

Jeune & Jolie: ***/*****, or 6/10

François Ozon paints a titillating but rather illogical coming-of-age portrait of the seventeen year old Isabelle (Marine Vacth) who explores her sexuality over the course of a year, told in four episodes over the four seasons. In summer we witness the nubile French girl's defloration by a German boy whilst on vacation with her parents. It's not a very fulfilling first time to say the least, as the young man humps her in a rather unflattering way (though alcohol is partially to blame). In the next season Isabelle chooses a secret life of prostitution, the suggested notion being to seek out other sexual options with men of various ages and preferences to really find out what she likes and desires herself. The exact reason for opting for such a drastic measure to discover her own sexual nature Ozon regrettably leaves in the dark, a rather cowardly move on his part as a writer, since it requires quite a leap of faith to take this decision for granted, one most spectators will have difficulty with. Vacth (actual age 23) nevertheless exhibits a brave performance in her role as hooker, as she is seen nude throughout the film on a regular basis throughout many a steaming sex scene, some exerting a genuine sense of tenderness and even playfulness, but others falling into a category of either unpleasant to watch to the point of debasing, or just awkward redundancy as we fully understood she was a prostitute at that point in the story. Despite all the intercourse she partakes in, the only real connection Isabelle experiences is with an old man who actually seems to care about her as a person too, instead of simply as a body for hire. Unfortunately she proves too much for his weak heart which expires as they have sex one time too many, after which Isabelle's hidden profession comes to light to the police, and ultimately her parents. Over the next two seasons, the girl must cope with her double life, her mother even more so, and come to terms with the reason why she chose such a dangerous and desperate path for her self-exploration. A clear answer is sadly never provided, so we are led to believe that any girl whose first time isn't pretty could easily go down the same route. Isabelle, however, must also deal with the death of a man, especially when she meets his widow (Charlotte Rampling) in spring, who seeks answers of her own regarding his demise. An overly mutually understanding confrontation follows, which further adds to the plot's credibility being stretched further than it ought to be. With Jeune & Jolie Ozon doesn't penetrate the realm of female sexuality for the first time (e.g. Swimming Pool for example), but he does so in his least convincing film to date. Nevertheless, thanks to strong performances by the cast overall and Vacth in particular, as well as genuinely compelling emotions being stirred in the various revelations (not answers, mind you) of the details of Isabelle's life, Jeune & Jolie is still a far cry from the mindless sensational soft-erotic drivel it would otherwise have become.