We've got a a few more adventures from TIFF to get through. Here are two pictures Euphoria and Zama that I was greatly looking forward to for disparate reasons (the lead actors and the director, respectively). But neither one did it for me and I sincerely hope other future eyeballs will enjoy them more...
Euphoria (Sweden | Germany)
The Swedish director Lisa Langseth has now made 3 features and Alicia Vikander has starred in all of them. They go way back. Euphoria, which is about two estranged sisters (Vikander and Eva Greene) reuniting for a week long stay at a mysterious resort, is her first English language film. The acting is, it won't surprise you to hear, subtle and involving, with Vikander playing a closed-off narcissistic artist and Greene her older more emotionally raw sister who wants to reconcile. Charlotte Rampling and Charles Dance, a host and a fellow resort-guest are the two main supporting players.
Despite the strong cast, the film is asking an awful lot of its audience. The story moves from curiously intimate and mysterious but extremely repetitive to utterly unrelatable with its focus on über wealthy people -- a focus that hardly seems necessary given the themes. Eventually it plays like a particularly somber episode of Fantasy Island for those with millions to burn. Euphoria has heavy material about life, family, death, and purpose swirling around in it but it might have worked far better as a short-film given its heightened premise and the awkward sense that it hasn't quite worked out how literally it wants to take itself.
P.S. The search continues, meanwhile, for Eva Greene to find film projects worthy of her inimitable gift.
Grade: C-
Zama (Argentina | Spain)
Lucrecia Martel, who previously directed critical darlings like La Cineaga, The Holy Girl, and the Headless Woman has a masterful voice. For her latest picture she's taken on the true story of the titular Spanish officer (Daniel Giménez-Cacho) in 17th century Paraguay who is desperate for a transfer to Buenos Aires. That transfer is a Sisyphean dream and will obviously never come. If you're well versed in 17th Century Spanish and South American politics, colonialism, racial oppression, and history this might be completely fascinating but without that knowledge it's a slog. As it turns out intriguing images, amazing sound design, and formal control are not enough. Especially if your movie is plotty. (Please to note: I do not need plot in movies. Plot is overrated. But if there is a "story" -- and this film has a lot of it -- it needs to be legible.)
P.S. An Actress note: The cast is almost entirely men but there is a brief appearance by the always excellent Lola Dueñas who plays the promiscuous wife of a government official. She's a rare bit of comic relief in this miserabilist epic without feeling like she's in a different movie. A neat trick.
Grade: C+