Tag Archives: marriage

3,0-5,9, comedy, female director, romance,

“Laggies” by Lynn Shelton (USA, 2014)

Laggies

Summarized: only the perfect (male) match can give sense to a woman’s life. No story to be proud of!
Just like Touchy Feely, a female reacts dramatically when her boyfriend offers her to commit herself more fully to their relationship. Adding to the sequel feeling, both movies stage an adult female, a teenager, and 2 adult males. In both movies, the “mother” is absent.
But instead of defining its personages realistically as they are in Touchy Feely, those in Laggies are inconsistent. A hopefully one-time hiccup in an up-to-now interesting oeuvre.

Cast: Keira Knightley, Sam Rockwell, Chloë Grace Moretz, Mark Webber, Ellie Kemper, Jeff Garlin, Kaitlyn Dever
Director: Lynn Shelton
Screenplay: Andrea Seigel
Director of Photography: Benjamin Kasulke
Original Music Composer: Benjamin Gibbard

8,0-8,9, drama,, female director, romance,

“Mansfield Park” by Patricia Rozema (Canada, 1998)

Mansfield Park

Social hierarchy is a recurring theme in this director’s work. In Mansfield Park, the lead personage comes from a poor branch of a family whose wealth is built on slavery. Kit Kitteridge: An American Girl (2008) depicts the social destitution and disintegration of a family as a consequence of the Great Depression, and the parallel world of hobos. Into The Forest shows again a society in the process of disintegration, which leads to the rape of a woman – both woman and rapist being honorable members of that society prior to these events.
“This is an uncommonly intelligent film, smart and amusing too, and anyone who thinks it is not faithful to Austen doesn’t know the author but only her plots.” writes Roger Ebert.

Cast: Frances O’Connor, Jonny Lee Miller, Alessandro Nivola
Director: Patricia Rozema
Writers: Jane Austen (novel), Patricia Rozema
Music by Lesley Barber
Cinematography by Michael Coulter
Film Editing by Martin Walsh

7,0-7,9, female director, romance,

“Lovesong” (Son Yong Kim, USA 2016)

Lovesong

A finely chiseled description of a friendship between two women. Excellent direction and performances

Cast: Riley Keough, Jena Malone, Brooklyn Decker, Ryan Eggold, Rosanna Arquette
Director: So Yong Kim
Writer: Bradley Rust Gray, So Yong Kim
Cinematographer: Kat Westergaard, Guy Godfree
Editor: So Yong Kim, Bradley Rust Gray
Composer: Jóhann Jóhannsson

8,0-8,9, drama,, male director

“The Salesman” (Asghar Farhadi, Iran 2016)

The Salesman
Victim of an intruder, a woman not only suffers a psychological trauma, but has also to deal with her husband who seeks vengeance because his honor and status have been shattered.

Cast: Shahab Hosseini, Taraneh Alidoosti, Babak Karimi, Farid Sajjadi Hosseini
Director: Asghar Farhadi
Writer: Asghar Farhadi
Cinematographer: Hossein Jafarian
Composer: Sattar Oraki
Editor: Hayedeh Safiyari