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The Land of Steady Habits (2018)
A land of steady habits
It is a really successful film. I liked it. It shows a middle-aged man who, after years of being the "perfect" society role model/suburban father, decides he wants to be HAPPY. Whatever that means... He finds himself without joy in the middle of his life, going to a job he doesn't like, paying for a house, raising a family. Pretty much everything you'd expect from a man his age in that town. The story has an existential tone, which he perfectly explains in a metaphor about a web: you make connections with everyone around you and I thought that the more you made, the more important you are and the more you will be remembered. But in reality, you disappear, and the people you connected with, only make new conexions... You go from "role model citizen" to a disappointing person in the blink of an eye.
I think that by chance, the protagonist in his egoism, trying to find happiness far from what society expects of him, finds that his true happiness is what he walked away from: his family, his son, his life and only by moving away... He realizes.
These social misfits, like the main character, his son, Charlie, live their lives differently and are ostracized as disappointing members of the town. I think the film is about a new take on that kind of prejudice. Just as the story of Laica, who died without even knowing the "greater purpose" she was serving, simply living and dying for the "greater cause" of society.
Definitely recommended.
The House (2022)
A House through time
An amazing surreal animated film. It consists of three stories that revolve around the concept of a house, What is a house? What makes something a house? Why is it a house? Through literal time (stories occur at different time periods) and metaphorical time (past, present, future) the same house means different things for the different inhabitants it has throughout each story. There is also an interesting comment about architects, developers, real estate agents and landlords; the division of classes, aspirationism and how all this is reflected in a house that, as in real life, transcends time. There are houses that live 200, 300 years and see the passing of many generations. In this movie we are the house, watching humans (or humanoids) make us, give us a reason to be, change it, cling to us, use us and finally let us go.
PAST
Leaving the house of your parents and grandparents "this furniture has been in my family for generations" the house of your ancestors that is now yours, but it is not the house you should have. You have to leave that and go to this new house: THE HOUSE.
The first story is about a poor family probably from the XVII-XIX century typical of the time. With the "relatives" a group of bitter and complaining old people begins making less of the family for their "precarious" situation and their conformism for living in that "miserable" way and "not getting ahead." Important in contextualizing ourselves in the situation of the father of a family and his "social failure" for having his family in those conditions. Immediately after this visit, in an unsubtle way, the film shows us this "well-intentioned genius architect" who is going to "rescue" the family with his good taste and knowledge of their needs. As an architect I can only say: auch. The family literally signs their sentence when a representative of the famous architect offers to design the new house for them. And the interesting begins, because this story is narrated from the point of view of the eldest daughter (about 5-10 years old) who sees how his parents make these strange decisions without being able to understand why, a child cannot understand the aspirationism or the social pressure of the "relatives". Eventually they move into the house and the animation shows us the house in a metaphorical way through the eyes of a girl being lost in a new house, huge, labyrinthine, cold, dark, different from the house you are used to. The parents also go through a transition that they surreally do with the animation of killing, or in this case "burning" (burning down parts of your old house) everything that was and merge with the new house (taking the form of the furniture according to the architect's vision), the elegant clothes, the gourmet food and become what from the beginning they were reproached not to be. Incredible way to reflect something so actual in other way through animation.
PRESENT
Is a house business? If I do enough, I'll be able to sell this house to one of "them." What am I selling them? Wood and bricks? One day the worms, beetles and rats will invade it and all the work I put into it will have been for nothing.
The second story focuses on a rat (in this story they are all anthropomorphic rats, more on that later) who is remodeling the house, with the intention of adding value to it and selling it. A very common business today, and from there it starts to question the modern conception of a house: a business, an investment, "invest in real estate that is always good business." This is how the main character sees the house, this becomes more evident when we see that he does not live in any of the spaces of the house, he sleeps in a utility room on a cot, he is only remodeling the house so that someone can buy it, not to live in it, is this really your house? While he fixes up the house, he installs the best flooring, wallpaper, kitchen, cell phone control lights; slowly we are seeing how inside the house there are more and more beetles and worms that begin to appear in the cupboards, between the floors, claiming what is theirs. A duality between the house as this abstract concept of business, investment, profitability against the physical and real part of the house, a set of perishable materials that nature (mold, grass, worms, insects and yes, rats) will eventually claim. The day of the open house arrives. All the work of our protagonist (who looks very lonely, depressed and obsessed with the house) is summed up in a visit, the food is bad, the lights don't work, the water tap doesn't work... People in general seem little motivated to buy it. Again the class difference between the potential buyers and the seller. Until there is a couple of rats who continue to see the house, stay to sleep, take a bubble bath, watch television, all with the promise that "they are very interested in buying the house". We see it even more clearly when potential buyers are enjoying the house, asking for repairs and the protagonist is still asleep on a cot in the utility room. The protagonist comes back to his house where the buyers' family is already living too and in the final scene all the characters really become rats, "taking over" (just like the bugs at the time) the house and destroying it completely, plundering and seizing everything they find.
FUTURE
What remains of us in our house (our life) when we leave. Can we take it with us? What could have become of her when we have to go? Di I enjoyed my house even if it was not how I always wanted?
In the third story we follow a landlord who rents rooms to 2 tenants. In the initial shot and throughout the story we can see that there is a flood, all around there is only water and the flood continues, gradually raising the water level until it enters the house. The protagonist is focused and directs her attention exclusively to making improvements to the house (completely ignoring the situation of the flood) with money that her tenants give her, with the problem that neither of them pays (one is a spiritual hippie and the other a fisherman). A friend of one of the tenants comes to tell them that they have to leave and little by little each one begins to navigate out of the house. We can look into the marxist approach to private property, especially in a world where there are clearly no longer capitalist structures, possibly post-apocalyptic; but I think the approach of the story is more towards "letting go", a bit towards not living for a future goal, living today (as the protagonist vs her hippie tenants). I think that here the house is a life, it is a physical body, it is the memories of what has been lived; and the protagonist is a metaphor for "wanting a better life." It seems to me a representation of death a bit, clinging to what you have, you know, to do something better with your life. And the very real, but there sometimes we don't want to see, time passing by like water that in the end continues to rise until we have no choice but to leave. The ending seems to me an analogy of life, or your life, that you carry through the water, with that change that you needed to make so as not to drown in the flood.
Maniac (2018)
Brilliant story telling, amazing plot, great performances, Must Watch!
It's just a great series. I loved the way it introduces us in a future world (kind of, because all of the tecnology actually is retro) and just let us go finding out how everybody lives in this new society. But it doesn't stop there, it goes into all these surreal worlds, all with Jonah Hill and Emma Stone (Both amazing actors who give great performances) and all of this just to try to explain in "simple terms" one of the most complicated things you can try to explain: madness and the human mind. No back stories of the caracters, no introduccion flashbacks, you get to know them while they go into a drug trial that is supposed to "heal" them from their madness, in 3 steps: re-live your biggest trauma, de-activate your defense mecanisms and finally confrontarion I LOVE THIS.
The geniallity of this series is how through simbolisms and methapors it acuratelly reflects the characters traumas, defense mechanisms and confrontacions by telling stories (thats all a movie is supposed to be about). And finally, also going into AI, a computer who is programed with empathy and feelings (brilliant) that looses a loved one and goes trough grief... Just everything goes perfect. Totally recomended. Must Watch.