Change Your Image
awleonard
Reviews
Au revoir le bonheur (2021)
Self-congratulatory and incongruent
I wanted to like this. It came recommended from an affinity group for which I have a lot of respect.
Unfortunately, Au Revoir Le Bonheur is immensely hard to take seriously. To get right to the point, the film is self-congratulatory to the point of what many would call "wanky."
Just as the characters are aware their portrayals in their brother's plays are caricatures, so too are the characters of the film. You see, aside from two of the four brothers, there's next to no character development despite being given ample time.
The montage of the cooking "competition" was cheesy at best and did not move the story foreword in the slightest. The over-emphasis of the four children of Nicola, and the subsequent ignoring of those children throughout the rest of the movie was a lame plot device - as was the triteness of his girlfriend being knocked up with his fifth child by the end of the movie.
Trite, self-congratulatory, and predictable are all accurate terms to describe this movie. Not worth your time, except maybe for the gorgeous québécois scenery and above-average cinematography.
Love Hard (2021)
A way to pass the time
I guess I'm not terribly experienced with the genre of romantic comedies, but I thought it would be a good way to pass the time when I scrolled past it in Netflix. I suppose I was entertained in the sense that I was scoffing and laughing most of the way through the film.
Given the different elements casting a wide net over the Netflix audience -- technology, musicality, stereotype challenges, etc. -- it's easy to see why this could easily rise to the top of popularity lists. It's easy to digest, doesn't require a lot of thought, and has a happy ending.
Throughout the film, you kind of wonder who you should be rooting for. On the one hand, you have an overly trusting young woman who ignores warning signs from her friends. She flies 3,000 miles to meet someone who, conveniently, she has never once video chatted with. (Technology is used as such a crutch in the movie that there's a plot hole: FaceTime doesn't exist?) On the other hand, you have the lead male character who deceives a young woman and then can't let go of his family hangups -- further enabling deception, albeit out of self preservation.
Never mind the young columnist living in an insanely nice LA house, and all the rest of the tired TV tropes that make no sense in television or film.
Overall, there were moments of cringe, moments of decent acting, and a couple genuinely funny moments here and there. Romance didn't make up a very large part of the film, and the areas where you think romance will happen never surface until the very end.
I'll end with this: This film reinforces as many negative stereotypes as it attempts to break. Those who praise it for its "values" and "lessons" are selective about what they think this film teaches.
Permission to Exist (2020)
An insight into South Korean education culture with a dose of artistic interpretation
Some 9 years ago, this project caught my eye as I was a recent instructor in the Korean national education system via their English Program in Korea. For a paltry $25, I donated to help fund the project in the hopes it would eventually come to fruition. I later learned that after many health, financial, and other roadblocks, the documentary was completed in 2020. The cost of the film exceeded the total raised by Kickstarter by a factor of 20.
Now, we are seeing the result of a project that spans years -- and successfully gives closure to some of the very personal stories that Kelley Katzenmeyer chose to tell through Permission to Exist.
I thoroughly enjoyed watching this film as I had personal investment in seeing it succeed; it touches on things that interest me; and the painstaking story of the young woman who created it was very compelling.
This documentary is by no means a comprehensive look at the Korean educational system. It highlights one specific area, the College Scholastic Ability Test, or in romanized Korean, the Suneung. It's a grueling test that shapes the outcomes for young Koreans both in university and beyond. All Koreans take the test; their entire school career revolves around passing this capstone exam.
In the documentary, Kelley's interviewees help the viewer examine issues of mental health, suicide, self image, plastic surgery, parental influence, self expectation, self pity, and many others. The stories are intertwined with interpretive dances and sketches that visualize some of the mental pain and anguish young Koreans experience trying to pass with high marks and move on to top-tier universities.
As I mentioned above, I had a very niche interest in this film having lived in Korea and been part of the machine that guides students to the meat grinder that is the Suneung. However, I give the documentary 8 stars as I do not see it having an immensely wide audience beyond non-Koreans who already have a pre-existing interest in Korean culture. Surely, as the story is told largely by Koreans, little is revealed to Korean nationals. And - would that be received well by Korean elders, in any case? In the US, I know of a number of people I recommended the video to, including my spouse, who only has been to Korea once (with me, on our honeymoon).
Overall, if you would like to watch a documentary with great artistic direction, pointed storytelling, cultural insights, and pure passion, I can wholeheartedly recommend Permission to Exist. Just keep in mind it's only part of the picture of a textured, nuanced culture.