I saw Gaspar Noe’s Climax back in March with some level of excitement. However, after I saw the film itself, I had a hard time determining whether Climax is good, bad, or just a disturbing headache. Climax is a dark movie where viewers will feel dizzy or nauseous if they are prone to vertigo or cannot handle flashing lights. Climax is inviting, yet disconcerting on many levels. The film is a dance party that goes awry and there are multiple violent scenarios that breakout. The film takes place in France and the whole film is with French subtitles.  As a director, Noe has a twisted and clever mind, but Climax was a bit over the top. Not because of its scenarios, but because of how the technical elements purposefully give viewers a haunting experience by utilizing odd camera angles that cause dizziness.

Climax focuses on a dance team dancing in a night club for a weekend to get ready for a dance competition. The film opens with a long interview sequence with many of the stars, and a long dance sequence that looks to be quite complicated so that viewers can tell the dancers are professional. Once the practice is over, the dancers decide to retreat to an after-party. There are all kinds of snacks and beverages, but drinking the beverages is where the troubles start to emerge. As soon as the dancers begin drinking sangria, they can feel the side effects of drugs and soon they realize that someone spiked the sangria with LSD. With that, everyone starts to hallucinate, point fingers, get into all kinds of fights, and exhibit very poor judgment. It quickly escalates into an irreparable disaster.

The reason why Climax is a challenge to watch is because the shots rarely transition. The camera pans on many of the characters when they are hallucinating. The camera is set to make viewers feel odd because it is bouncing back and forth.  On top of that, the lighting is dark. Also, there are many moments where insane things go wrong, like a person getting injured, killed, or accidentally doing something they did not intend to do.  Again, this is all being caused by the LSD.  Now, I did find the film to be thought-provoking, but I admit I was also disturbed. It got to the point where I asked myself how much longer I am going to have to endure this shaky camera.  While I have seen many films where the camera is jittery, Climax really makes the viewers feel they are in the movie with the realism created by the of the technical effects.   It is like Cloverfield (2008) meets Requiem for a Dream (2000) in a bad way.

There is no question that Climax is brilliant with the audacity of its creativity, visual elements, and choreography.  However, the conflict of the movie is not a very fun experience and in truth is quite negative.  Noe is talented, but this film was just over the top for me. I didn’t absolutely dislike it, but I was a bit annoyed with it. While I may decide to watch it again someday, it will be awhile since I’m still feeling dizzy and disturbed. Therefore, I can only give Climax two and a half stars.

A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to see Dennis Hopper’s Easy Rider on the big screen again for the 50-year anniversary. Now, when I watched Easy Rider for the first time back in 2010, I was not fond of it.  But then I watched it again, a few months later, and started to come to realize why people appreciate Easy Rider and why they still do 50 years later. Easy Rider is a unique movie that challenges the problems in its plot with culture, drugs, and a long trip with two hippies on motorcycles. Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper are both quite brilliant and so is Jack Nicholson. I found that I grew to enjoy Easy Rider more when I began to focus on some important elements in the movie. Those elements include important conversations, the moments of segregation, and the main characters always wondering what they are looking for on their long road trip.

The film is about Wyatt and Billy (Fonda and Hopper) and their trip heading from Los Angeles to New Orleans. They are on their way to a Mardi Gras celebration and try to be frugal with money along the way.  However, on their trip they start to run into some challenging encounters with some other hippies, some gaps in culture that they are not very familiar with and a rather odd man who joins them named George Hanson (Nicholson). Wyatt and Billy have different attitudes on the trip. Wyatt is more positive and not that nervous, but Billy is testy and aggravated about what may happen due to the weird people they encounter. George is already strange as demonstrated by his conversations and mind-set.

Over the years, I have grown to respect the films of Dennis Hopper, mostly due him playing characters that are either psychotic or angry. Being angry in Easy Rider was something that worked well for Hopper given he also was the director. I read through trivia pages that Hopper was also negative on set while filming.  According to reports, he would be in a drug-induced paranoia and would go ballistic on everyone associated with the movie. That eventually caused many people to quit working on Easy Rider. While Hopper was said to be insanely angry, his real-life anger fits the character he played and helps his audience realize how realistic the side effects of certain drugs are. I found that historical trivia to be an important insight into the cultural problems in Easy Rider. Wyatt and Billy believed they were free and could do all the drugs they wanted in unoccupied spaces.

Watching this movie for the 50-year screening was the best choice for me. The imagery is restored and re-captured. Viewers can understand more of the dialogue because it’s now more crystal clear. and they can also see more of the key moments that are hard to see in the original cut of Easy Rider.  The film is a ride full of curiosity, searching, and tides that are hard to fall into. As Fonda said, he went looking 50 years ago for America and today he is still looking. Easy Rider is a film that every film fanatic needs to experience.  If you only watch it once and do not enjoy it, it then demands a second viewing. It is simply one of those films that grows on you the more you watch it and therefore deserves four stars.

The Farewell is one of those movies that challenges the audience to be curious about the people in our family we care most about.   What impact do our family members have on our own lives?  I found The Farewell to be engrossing, but also melancholy. The film has that reticent tone where the audience knows that the story is not meant to be uplifting. It has some humorous moments, but it is a drama, not a comedy.

The Farewell focuses on a Chinese family. This family finds out their grandmother does not have much time left and is soon to die. This motivates the family to want to put together a semi-special and memorable ceremony before she dies. The focus of the movie is the granddaughter Billi (played by Awkwafina). She returns from New York because of her grandmother being terminally ill.  Billi faces challenges with the other family members based what they believe is the right way to handle the situation. Most of her family believe they should keep her grandma in the dark about the fact that she is going to die. This creates some harsh tides between Billi and her family.

The Farewell depicts a family trying to remain in silence so the person who is suffering can die peacefully and without stress or tension. For Billi, she views this approach as absurd and negative. The director, Lulu Wang directed another drama that also dealt with the handling of negative news. He did so with Posthumous (2014) and now he is again with the Farewell. However, Posthumous featured challenging legal issues, and the Farewell is all about family matters.

During the Farewell, I was intrigued with how Billi’s issues are brought into the conflict with her grandmother. Her parents challenge her decisions and what she wants to do with her life. They do that because they want Billi to remain focused on her future and not on her grandma. There are several moments where Billi finds herself in personal distress wondering about the next steps to take in her own life.

The Farewell is not amazing, but it is vivid with strong writing and acting. I was captivated by the characterization and drama. The film has some well-executed thematic elements. Also, the lack of music and the subdued lighting sets the tone for the dark topic of the movie. I give the Farewell three and a half stars.