Apocryphally Weird

44*. POOR THINGS (2023)

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“Nature gives children great emotional resilience to help them survive the oppressions of being small, but these oppressions still make them into slightly insane adults, either mad to seize all the power they once lacked or (more usually) mad to avoid it.”― Alasdair Gray, Poor Things

DIRECTED BY: Yorgos Lanthimos

FEATURING: Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef

PLOT: When a pregnant woman throws herself off a bridge, scientist Godwin Baxter spots an opportunity to conduct an unprecedented science experiment by transplanting the fetal brain into her mother’s body. The result is Bella, a woman with a grown-up physique and an infantile mind, who develops at a rapid rate and soon discovers many adult pleasures not otherwise accessible to an impressionable youth. Speaking with a frankness about herself and others that flies in the face of standards for propriety, she leaves home to explore the world, first in the company of caddish attorney Duncan Wedderburn and later as an employee in a Parisian bordello, returning  home  to discover that a figure from her past has located her.

Still from poor things (2023)

BACKGROUND:

INDELIBLE IMAGE: Bella’s very raison d’etre is to explore the world on her terms, following her bliss and flagrantly disregarding social niceties. Nothing better expresses this impulse than her spin on the dance floor, staggering about in full thrall to the music, limbs flung in every direction, and doing so with such verve and joy that even Mark Ruffalo’s Duncan is compelled to join in.

TWO WEIRD THINGS: Bubble burps; “I have to go punch that baby”

WHAT MAKES IT WEIRD: A spectacular blend of quirky plot, offbeat setting, and demented execution, Poor Things is joyously inappropriate. In a film where virtually nobody behaves according to convention, the heroine is someone who casts aside any semblance of decorum in favor of a life lived as she chooses. The result is an unexpected blend of Frankenstein, Big, Candide, and The Opening of Misty Beethoven.

Official trailer for Poor Things

COMMENTS: The most dreaded phase for parents rearing a child is Continue reading 44*. POOR THINGS (2023) →

Capsules

CAPSULE: SHADOW OF FIRE (2023)

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DIRECTED BY:

CAST: Shuri, , Ouga Tsukao

PLOT: Amidst robberies and other exploits, a young boy tries his best to survive in the black market area of a ravaged town in post-WWII Japan; his path intersects with other struggling characters, including a war widow and a man who recruits him for an unknown enterprise.

Still from Shadow of Fire (2023)

COMMENTS: Shadow of Fire is the latest offering by Shinya Tsukamoto; more specifically, the Tsukamoto who brought us films such as  Kotoko, Fires on the Plain, and Killing. These late-career outings see the director opt for a more conventional register, while keeping more or less all of the trademarks that define his peculiar filmmaking style.

In the immediate aftermath of WWII, an unnamed war orphan makes his way through a devastated town’s black market, eventually finding refuge in a tavern kept by a woman who has resorted to prostitution after the loss of her husband and her son. She soon develops a motherly affection for the boy; the inn also begins receiving frequent visits from a young soldier.

In spite of all the differences that separate Shadow of Fire from Tsukamoto’s earlier work, the sensibility of the Tetsuo director is still on display here, not only in certain aesthetic choices but also in film’s core themes: for instance, the emphasis on the thinness of the barrier between what we call “human” and whatever lies outside its fragile boundaries. The soldier who finds shelter in the tavern undergoes, at a sudden reminder of his wartime torments, a quick transformation, unlike those in the director’s more fantastical productions, but no less terrifying precisely because of how plausible it is. (One can only imagine how many veterans underwent similar transmogrifications.) Equally notable is how repressed subjects (in this case, war traumas) are always ready to burst forth violently and dramatically—this time, not through physical mutations or explosions of steel and monstrous flesh, but in eruptions of emotional intensity. Shadow of Fire portrays an environment of disquieting uncertainty that underlies even its warmer moments, such as the familial bonding that develops between the three characters, with horror always on the periphery, looking to intrude at the slightest invitation.

In moments like these Tsukamoto’s DIY approach reveals its strengths. The handheld camera adds immersion and immediacy, and a visceral sense of physicality that heightens the brutality. The more discrete scenes might not be pulled off as efficiently, but they are as satisfactorily executed as in a piece by a more traditional filmmaker.

In any case, the drama is genuinely compelling: in particular, the plotline involving the boy’s dalliances with a mysterious man with whom he tags along for a mission whose nature is never disclosed, apart from the fact that it requires the boy to carry a pistol. Tsukamoto maintains an effective sense of tension and intrigue until this arc’s climax, which ties in with the film’s overarching themes of the lasting effects of trauma and dehumanization.

The film’s entire POV is the boy’s, much like in the masterful Soviet war film Come and See. While the adults surrounding him deal with a variety of war scars, his plot arc mirrors his condition as an orphan. Throughout his journey, he finds himself successively abandoned, first by a new mother figure (who unexpectedly rejects him after their time together), and then a masculine figure who accompanies him for a tragically short but intense stint.

The film’s coda may be unnecessary, but further testifies to Tsukamoto’s compromise to conventional narrative film trappings, attempting to close all of the plot’s loose ends and develop them to a conclusion (that is, within the climate of uncertainty that envelops the entire scenario).

Shadow of Fire will please Tsukamoto fans who have stayed on board for his more “sober” output, like his post-2010 war films or, for a less recent example, 2004’s Vital. While the director’s style might not always lend itself seamlessly to the premise at hand, and the content might inevitably lead to cliché and over-trodden territory, the power of certain scenes is undeniable. Shadow is a worthy addition to the Japanese icon’s resumé.

The reviewer saw this film at Fantasporto’s 2024 festival; U.S. release plans are uncertain at this time.

WHAT THE CRITICS SAY:

“It is not an easy watch, but, driven by performances that range from haunting and affecting, to terrifying and grotesque, it is a powerful one.”–Wendy Ide, Screen Daily (festival screening)

Miscellanea

AND THE WINNERS OF THE 14TH ANNUAL WEIRDCADEMY AWARDS ARE…

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In just a few hours, the telecast of the Oscars (or, as we refer to them, the “Weirdcademy Awards for squares”) will begin. We are happy to steal the Academy’s thunder by announcing cinema’s weirdest winners of 2023 now.

In the category of “Weirdest Short Film,” our A.I. overlords have officially arrived. The winner is ‘s Joe Biden and Trump Eating Spaghetti, but it’s an AI generated nightmare.

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In the category of “Weirdest Scene,” the Weirdcademy Award goes to Beau is Afraid for the scene we’ve dubbed “phallic attic.” We can’t show it to you or describe it in detail because it would be a spoiler, but you’ll know it when you see it (enough of you certainly knew of it to make it the winner). Here is Beau’s reaction to the scene:

Beau Is Afraid Weirdest Scene 2023

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In the category of “Weirdest Actress,” the Award goes to Poor Things‘ for her portrayal of fetus-brained Bella Baxter. Should Stone also take home the Oscar, as Michelle Yeoh did last year, this will be the second year in a row (and the third time ever) that the Academy and the Weirdcademy have shared the Actress award. This gives us some pause.

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In a bit of an upset, wins his second “Weirdest Actor” award for his role as God, the scar-faced, bubble-burping mad scientist in Poor Things.

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And finally, the award for Weirdest Picture of 2022 goes to… drum roll… Beau Is Afraid!

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Thanks to all voting members of the Weirdcademy, and see you again next year!

You can browse previous years’ winners here.

 

Pod 366: A Weird Movies Podcast

POD 366, EPISODE 59: WORK, LOVE OF WORK, AND LOVE FOR “LOVE AND WORK”

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366 Weird Movies may earn commissions from purchases made through product links.

Quick links/Discussed in this episode:

Love and Work (2024): Interview with director and cast begins. In an alternate reality, work is illegal, and a network of underground workers seek clandestine employment. This thought-provoking experiment is currently on the festival circuit; we’ll update when it becomes more widely available. No official site.

Archangel (1990): Discussion begins. Read the Canonically Weird entry! A remastered version of Guy Maddin‘s sophomore film, an amnesiac early talkie about soldiers fighting a war that they don’t know is over. The Kino Lorber Blu-ray comes with a new commentary track from Maddin. Buy Archangel.

Epic of Gilgamesh (2024): Discussion begins. surprises with a previously unannounced, feature-length A.I. generated movie on YouTube. It’s an Expressionist version of the Epic of Gilgamesh. Watch the entire thing here (or the family-friendly, safe-for-work version here).

Frogman (2023): Discussion begins. A deadpan found-footage spoof about a documentarian searching for the elusive cryptid known as “Frogman.” Released a few weeks ago on VHS as a gimmick; now for purchase or rental on Google Play or Vudu, other outlets coming soon.

Moon Garden (2022): Discussion begins. Read Giles Edwards’ Apocrypha Candidate review. A esque fantasy about a little girl in a coma who voyages through a disturbing dream world, trying to find her way back to reality. Now on Blu-ray with a bonus short film, deleted scene, and “making of” doc. Buy Moon Garden.

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:

No guest to announce on next week’s Pod 366 at this time. On YouTube, Pete Trbovich has his next Weird View Crew lined up, and it’s another “bad” one (that’s ‘s 1967 transgression, Bad). In written reviews, Shane Wilson gives his take on Poor Things (wonder why?); from Fantasporto, Rafael Moreira reports on ‘s latest, Shadow of Fire; and Giles Edwards takes on one that Came from the Reader-Suggested Queue with Wild Tigers I Have Known (2006). And of course, on Sunday, March 10, we announce 2023’s Weirdcademy Award Winners: if you haven’t voted yet, this is your last chance! Feature ballots here, shorts here. Onward and weirdward!

Celebrating the cinematically surreal, bizarre, cult, oddball, fantastique, strange, psychedelic, and the just plain WEIRD!