Ellie’s Film Recommendations
My name is Ellie and I love international films, so be prepared to read all about films with subtitles only. I wouldn’t say I liked all the reading at first, but once I got used to it, international films gave me a different perspective than your typical Western films.
I want to start with a more accessible film, due to its popularity–thanks to one man known for singing about watermelons and sugar even though I prefer it when he sings about Matilda. Don’t Worry Darling should be known for Florence Pugh and Florence Pugh only, because, without her, that film would’ve sat below its competition; Black Mirror episodes. I’ll start with the good stuff to ensure Harry Styles fans don’t come for me. After paying $50 for my friend and me to see this film, I returned the next night. The film from start to finish holds your attention and I can’t disagree with Harry: “It feels like a movie-movie.” This isn’t the result of the writing, acting or overall themes, as the entertainment is embedded within the basic functions of film aspects. The cinematography is constantly placing viewers in a composition that makes you feel like you are in an art exhibit. Hence, viewers feel something quite particular as the shot sizes and point of view heavily suggest a clear-cut context.
Generally, the film is quite appealing due to the nostalgic and vintage aspects within everything from the score to the set, to the clothes and even the kitchen appliances. Even the ugly moments that take place back in the “real world” hold some sort of appeal, as they were edited to happen quickly: black and white clips thread together in mere flashes, not leaving enough time to lose our attention.
If one were to delve beyond the beauty curated by the less thematic practitioners, we see a whole new concept that isn’t as meaningful as we thought. I have a small hatred of psychological films that question if someone is “crazy” by leaving out their point of view, like in Shutter Island. In some cases, this can curate incredible perspectives that can’t be emphasized in other mediums, such as in the film Requiem For a Dream directed by Darren Aronofsky. Yet films such as Fractured directed by Brad Anderson, do nothing but romanticize abuse or minimize the validity of mental illness. Yes, it is clear that Don’t Worry Darling is a hypothetical situation and a story curated to develop a feminist narrative, but did they have to use psychology in such a way to express this? I think not, just look at the film Little Women or Hidden Figures. Instead, in Don’t Worry Darling, the character Alice is being given medication by a male doctor who is on the “bad” side. The film often suggests that she is sane and everyone around her is crazy and untrustworthy, even the doctor. The film shows Alice with delusional thinking, but we see that she is actually 100% sane and in fact the victim.
Unfortunately, how Alice thinks is a reality for many and harms their everyday functioning. Reversing the roles of sanity is far from authentic and can be perceived in a completely incorrect way, denying severe mental illness and the trust of mental health practitioners. Along with that, there were a few other elements that were disconnected, making the writing feel unedited. For example, what and why were there planes crashing? My biggest concern was when Gemma Chan’s character randomly stabs her husband. Why did this come out of nowhere? It could have been used to express a feminist realization or perhaps anger within her characters’ development.
At times, like in the examples above, it is clear that things occurred just for the sake of aesthetics. As a big fan of Olivia Wilde’s previous film, Booksmart, I was a bit disappointed after thinking about this one for a while. She has the directorial talent to produce strong characterization thematically, yet she chose an overdone psychoanalytical path for well-developed patriarchal themes.
Ellie’s November 2022 Film Recommendations:
- Triangle of Sadness
- Fire Of Love
- The Territory
- The Woman King
- Wendall and Wilde