FNC 2019 review roundup (Pain and Glory, Bacurau, The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open)

The 48th annual Festival du nouveau cinéma boasted an incredible lineup this year, from recent festival circuit favourites like Parasite and Pain and Glory, to a stacked TEMPS Ø slate including the H.P. Lovecraft adaptation Color Out of Space, Nail in the Coffin: The Fall and Rise of Vampiro, and much more. Below is our first review roundup from the festival. Stay tuned for more coverage from FNC in the coming days.

Pain and Glory
Pedro Almodóvar blends fact and fiction with his latest, a meditative look at a director trying to take stock of his life and career. Salvador Mallo (Antonio Banderas) is a respected director who has stepped out of the spotlight due to a number of health issues. Racked with chronic pain, he exists in a medicated state of numbness, dosing off frequently in his beautiful home in Madrid and revisiting his life as a impoverished but joyous child with his mother (Penélope Cruz). When a festival wants to honour Salvador by showing a restored version of his 1980s film Sabor, he reconnects with the film’s star Alberto (Asier Etxeandia) for the first time in decades, following a painful falling out decades earlier. Intrigued by Alberto’s heroin use, Salvador begins partaking with him, deepening their working and personal relationship as Salvador’s focus flits between the future and his past.

Pain and Glory is a fairly reserved film for Almodóvar; there are some striking stylistic choices, including an elaborate animated sequence highlighting the various chronic pain points in Salvador’s body, but much of the film’s heft rests squarely on Banderas’ powerhouse performance. It’s a vulnerable and often very still portrayal that highlights decades of pain and regret without ever feeling heavy-handed. Like the title suggests, this is a film that balances joy and sadness, showing how the two can intersect throughout one’s life in surprising ways. Despite the occasionally heavy subject matter, Almodóvar manages a breezy tone, from the springy soundtrack to the bright color palette, which makes the whole thing go down as easy as one of Salvador’s ever-present pills.

With a revelatory lead performance from Banderas, Pain and Glory is one of Almodóvar’s most personal and accessible films. It’s both a love letter to filmmaking, and an unflinching look at the often messy creative process that can inspire the most resonant works of art.

Pain and Glory is in theatres now. 

Bacurau
While there have been a number of films about wealth inequality this year (Parasite, The Platform, even Joker), none have taken the notion of class struggles and the effects of colonialism to the gonzo degree that we see in Bacurau, a Brazilian genre oddity from directors Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles.

When Teresa (Bárbara Colen) heads back to the remote village of Bacurau in Brazil for her mother’s funeral, she is confronted with a society that is being wiped out. The fight for drinkable water has led to assaults on water tanks, while food and vital services are all in short supply. We quickly learn that the village has actually been wiped clean from the maps of Brazil — it doesn’t show up in online maps any longer, and the villagers suddenly begin encountering well-armed foreigners who begin hunting them for sport.

Without getting too far into the film’s twisty plot, Bacurau is a surprising genre mash-up that puts a contemporary spin on the traditional western. The film tackles the corruption and political issues ravaging Brazil by way of a bloody genre picture, pitting the poor villagers against the violent militia members, led by the intensely over-the-top fan favourite Udo Kier (Suspiria, Blade). While there are some intense action scenes, the filmmakers take their time to really establish the characters that make up the village, emphasizing their relationships and the stark beauty of the area. It all culminates in one of the best endings in recent memory, a hallucinogenic, blood-soaked finale that will have you fist-pumping in your seat as the villagers stage their incredible counter-attack.

The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open
The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open begins with a chance encounter. Áila (Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers) is leaving a doctor’s appointment in Vancouver when she comes across Rosie (Violet Nelson), a pregnant young woman crying the street. Standing in her bare feet and looking distraught, Rosie is fleeing from her abusive boyfriend, who continues to berate her and pursue her down the street. Áila makes a quick decision to bring Rosie home with her, setting off a trying day as Áila attempts to get Rosie the help and support she needs to stay safe.

Unfolding in real time, The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open is a devastating look at abuse and the cycle of poverty and institutional racism that can keep Indigenous women trapped in a pattern they can’t break free from. Written and directed by Kathleen Hepburn and Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers (who also stars in the recent Blood Quantum), the film is a meditative look at two Indigenous women with very different lives who are brought together though an act of violence. The film slowly tracks the two of them throughout their day, from their time in Áila’s apartment to the local women’s shelter that Rosie eventually agrees to give a shot, even though she has strong misgivings about the whole process.

Shot on 16mm film, the filmmakers create a strikingly intimate showcase for the two main actors, letting scenes play out in long takes that lend the film an almost voyeuristic edge. We see Rosie struggle with her situation, and watch as Áila tries to do the right thing, even as we know that things never resolve themselves that simply in real life. With heartbreaking performances from the two leads, The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open packs an emotional wallop that will stay with you long after the credits roll.