Prime Time: Midsommar (2019)

Unlike many other people, I wasn't overly impressed by Hereditary, the feature film debut from writer-director Ari Aster. It was certainly an assured piece of work, and had some great moments, as well as an impressive visual style, but everything started to unravel in a third act that, to me, felt surprisingly hokey and predictable, considering what had come before it.

So I wasn't anticipating Midsommar with much enthusiasm, especially when the trailer gave me a strong feeling of having been there and done that before. And if I want to see a film like The Wicker Man then I'll usually just watch The Wicker Man.

I am pleased to be proven wrong. Midsommar is one of those films that is so good I am considering revisiting Aster's previous feature, especially as both movies are thematically connected by exploring how people deal with death, and how they grieve.

Starting off with one hell of a grim opening, viewers are then introduced to the main characters. Dani (Florence Pugh) has been changed by a devastating personal tragedy, which means it has never been the right time for her boyfriend, Christian (Jack Reynor), to separate from her, as he feels he should. Christian and his friends, Josh (William Jackson Harper) and Mark (Will Poulter), have been invited to a special festival in Sweden by another friend, Pelle (Vilhelm Blomgren). It will be a chance to relax for some of them, while one or two others may make it the subject of their big university dissertation. But the trip could feel very different when Christian decides to invite Dani along, expecting her to say no. The welcoming residents at the Swedish retreat soon start to show some bizarre behaviour, to say the least, and it becomes obvious that the first impression of something pretty and sweet hides something much darker.

As mentioned above, this is another exploration of death and grief from Aster, and it's an impressive flipside to his first feature. Where Hereditary was all about the consuming darkness and the constant pain hanging overhead like a heavy weight ready to crash down, Midsommar looks at someone attempting to take their mind off things and constantly attempt to act "normal" until that becomes natural to them again.

The visuals throughout are gorgeous, with the bright colours, floral displays, and geometric design of each shot giving you plenty in every scene to appreciate, explore, and dissect. Not always noticed by the central characters, many of those at the festival make sure they sit or stand in a certain formation, and the camera moves around to let viewers see what the leads might miss.

Pugh puts in another superb performance here. The past two years have seen her immediately become one of my favourite actresses, thanks to the sheer range and undeniable talent shown throughout her roles, and this turn is arguably her strongest yet. Reynor is the right choice for Christian, because he's charming and likeable enough even as he's being a bit shitty to people. Poulter provides a number of the lighter moments, and they can grate slightly, and he's good in his role, Harper is a considerate guest interested in learning more that will help him in his studies (so not too far removed from the character that he's best known for playing on The Good Place), and Blomgren is enjoyably ambiguous for a lot of the runtime. As for the many other festival attendees, all are believably beatific and everyone ends up onscreen precisely where Aster wants them.

I am sure that some will dislike the fact that Midsommar is highly derivative and predictable, if you've seen even one other film like it, but it's a film all about the journey, not the destination. And it's one hell of a journey.

8/10

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Mubi Monday: Paterson (2016)

I have absolutely no idea how I am going to recommend this to other people, or even what I may end up actually having to say about it, but let me make clear from the very beginning that Paterson is an absolute delight from start to finish, largely thanks to the captivating presence of Adam Driver in a lead role that allows him to once again show why his career has gone from strength to strength over the last decade.

Driver plays Paterson, a bus driver who lives in the town of Paterson, New Jersey. He has a routine that seems to work for him. Work, catching up with his wife (Golshifteh Farahani), walking the dog, and enjoying a beer or two at a local bar. He also works on a variety of poems, influenced by the work of local poet, William Carlos Williams.

Directed by Jim Jarmusch, who also wrote the script, based on work by William Carlos Williams and Ron Padgett, Paterson is one of those slight films that feels about nothing while paradoxically feeling as if it may just hold secrets to the best way to get through modern life. If you take anything away from the film then perhaps it is how easy it can be to make the everyday and mundane into something poetic and worth taking note of. Even a matchstick is made into something beautiful and memorable here.

Although it wouldn't be half the film it is without Driver in the lead role (I could close my eyes and listen to that man read the phone book, but his ability to remain deadpan and calm despite whatever happens around him is also a big plus), Paterson also boasts a talented selection of supporting players. Farahani does well in her role, helping to make something more of a flighty character who could easily have come across as more annoying. Because it's hard to stay onside with someone who dreams of increasing their cupcake sales while trying to become a . . . country music artist. Barry Shabaka Henley is Doc, the owner of the local bar, and Chasten Harmon and William Jackson Harper are a couple of people who aren't in a relationship, despite how much Harper wants them to be in a relationship. Sterling Jerins is a young girl who shares a lovely little poem with our lead, and Masatoshi Nagase pops up to share a moment of appreciation for William Carlos Williams.

This is absolutely a film that you can go without seeing, it doesn't really say anything new or say it in a completely original way. Yet it's a rewarding and worthwhile experience, and one of my favourite viewings from the past month or so. Sometimes you don't need a story telling you something new, sometimes you don't need innovation in the storytelling techniques. A reminder of things buried away in the recesses of our mind can be just as good, a nudge to get us willing to look at things from a slightly different angle, be it a matchstick or time spent without a mobile phone (Paterson doesn't have one, which is perhaps what enables him to spend more time capturing imagery more poetically).

9/10

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