Comparison is an ungrateful matter, so let us deal with it as soon as possible. Don't thank me. Kelly Reichardt’s previous film Night Moves was a combination of the unhurried rhythm of the dynamics of one sloth and the energy of a diesel engine in a thousand horses. Slowly, these films are very similar, as well as the fact that the viewer must himself decode what is happening in the heads of the characters and draw conclusions according to his desire, experience and outlook.
There's a nuance here. In the previous powerful film about the eco-terrorist, everything is glued together, consistently and clearly what you are dealing with, then in the new Reichardt film with the presence of integrity there is a failure. A few stories looking like student work, perfectly shot, with good actors but brainless like zombies - going from nowhere to nowhere, left me with a big question mark over my head and a surprised expression on my face. Against the backdrop of a host of other slow-moving movies that make you think, this film makes you sink into melancholy and, in my case, confusion. I will do without spoilers, as well as a stupid description of the script – if you read, then you know.
To sum up, I am generally offended. Hopefully, next time Reichardt will shoot something closer to Night Moves, something as slow, dark and powerful, and this style of wise parables is best left for student shorts on Vimeo – there are several films a week. They go, at the same time, for 15 minutes. Most of the time.
Laura Wells (Laura Dern), a lawyer working with a difficult client whose deep misfortune threatens to escalate into violence. He is pathetic, but at times seems intimidating, and she tries to keep a safe professional distance from him, putting all the efforts that are similar to tension and deep longing.
Tensions and anguish define Gina Lewis (Michelle Williams), who is building a house in the countryside with her husband and daughter, who she feels have united against her in a silent conspiracy. Their family happiness collapses, which the main character does not notice, but what becomes quite obvious when they visit an elderly acquaintance of Albert to buy a bunch of old stones for the future home.
Jamie (Lily Gladstone), who works as a winter watchman on a horse ranch, happens to take evening courses at a rural school. She meets a young lawyer, Beth Travis (Kristen Stewart), who teaches the subject of education law, about which she admits she knows nothing. Jamie considers herself a slain heroine and begins to pursue her with a little nervous dedication.
Kelly Reichardt’s “A Few Women” occupies a place in the broad sky, rocky landscapes and pent-up feelings. People are rare here, and words are even fewer. But the director, being a poet of silence and open spaces, has his own kind of eloquence to create his own specially graceful and silent films. From The Swampy River and Old Joy through Mick’s Bypass to Night Movements, the human presence feels fragile and contingent. This film, based on a series of short stories by Mail Meloy, shows a split group portrait of women loosely connected to each other.
The stories of Laura and Gene, artfully written and meticulously filmed, are more like anecdotes ripped from the flow of everyday life than full stories. But the third part of this triptych is something completely different, resembling a quiet, perfectly verified vignette. It is the strongest source of heat in the picture and creates the effect of visualizing other parts of it that appear colder and smaller than they might otherwise be. This love story - like a longing great pop song but without any explicit statement of passion - fits into the harsh routine of northern life: endless roads, monotonous work, endless cups of coffee. Kristen Stewart performs a feat on the screen, being both convincing as a mouse and unmistakably glamorous girl. Her beth, with ruffled hair, perpetual slouching and an anxious smile, looks forever tired, living on autopilot, except that to Jamie she seems to be the queen of heaven. And as an extremely disciplined actress, she displays the necessary level of magnetism that made her a star to allow us to see the character of both heroines.
The subtlety of the picture is demonstrated both by its achievement and by its limitation. The three novels are consistent in their restrained tone, but differ in their impact. I wish you to see the main thing in this drama. As a director infuses subtle details with thrilling emotions, and in a scene with a quiet night chase, it seems to expand cinematic time and fill it with an inner life.
Kelly Reichardt is known primarily for the touching story of a girl’s love for a dog Wendy and Lucy, as well as the faceless arthouse western Mike’s Pass. Her new film, "Certain Women," is based on stories by Maile Meloy. This excessive concentration of the weaker sex in one project unwittingly excites in my imagination variations of stupid advertising slogans in the spirit of “created by women, about women and for women”. Is that really true?
Reichardt is a horribly narrative director who makes, if I may say so, stories, not movies. The plots and manner of their presentation are everyday and realistic, it is a natural product, contrasted, obviously, with Hollywood dramas stuffed with flavor enhancers. The director eliminates the form: there are no deliberately long plans, pretentious installation glues, original angles and other signs of old aesthetics. "Several Women" can be attributed to the direction of cinematic minimalism. This approach allows you to focus on the main thing. To meet a follower of Bresson in the twenty-first century and not be enchanted is to have no heart. Several short films are combined under one sign not by chance. The stories told are similar in mood and the look that is addressed to them. “A few women” is a reflection on the unspoken. Silence, explained by various reasons, gives rise to the problem of sociability. And that creates a wall between people. Humans are social creatures, they feel the need to speak, they need understanding, support, even a simple kind word is sometimes enough. Of course, the biggest problems are faced by those who feel thirsty in contact with other people, but these feelings are not mutual.
For example, in the first story, an accident victim makes regular and meaningless visits to his lawyer. He has no chance of receiving compensation from the contractor for an injury sustained in the workplace, but why is this simple adult man constantly drawn to the law office? Laura is exhausted by these visits, not only does she not understand the tragedy of her client, but she does not even try to understand. She is a good person, even pleasant and clearly soft, but has lost sensitivity to other people's grief. Maybe it's professional. Fuller, who has lost the meaning of life, is simply difficult, however, he cannot clearly express this. A man just wants to see someone who fully understands the depth of his problem. He even goes to a bad and stupid act to hear again words of sympathy, albeit read from the materials attached to the case. With the second episode, many may have some difficulties, in which case I can recommend paying attention to a secondary character - a single grandfather. Through the attitude towards him, the real inner content of each of the spouses is expressed, trying to acquire a sandstone from the “old senile”. And when the viewer has already formed a clear conviction that he is in front of a misogynistic movie, he receives a red-eyed Jamie as a gift in the third chapter. She's a simple hillbilly who works on a ranch. By the will of fate, she is destined to become attached to an untidy lawyer with whom this husband-like girl is trying in vain to make friends.
"Certain Women" may not immediately lend itself to proper interpretation, but by putting all the stories together, it's almost impossible to make a mistake. None of the three actresses with star status (lawyer Laura Dern, hurtful wife Michelle Williams and lawyer Kristen Stewart) can be considered a true center of stories. It's very symbolic! It is also important that it is difficult to recognize them as purely negative characters, after all, these few women are very similar to many of us. However, they are all distinguished by a pathological lack of empathy. You can be a good person, but not capture the feelings of other people. We don't do anything wrong if the customer is boring us and we don't have the basic human compassion for them, do we? Well, there is nothing surprising in the fact that a mother with a tough character cannot find a common language with her teenage daughter, and treat a stranger without proper tact. I don’t think we can blame anyone for a rejected friendship. It is very easy to hide behind formal observance of the rules of decency, but does something still distinguish a person who is capable of empathy from one who does not have a heart for others? Kelly Reichardt is a real humanist, because, despite such a joyless theme, she persistently brings islands of humanity to each of the novels. We don't live in such a bad world.
Here are really completely different three different stories from life, and three completely different heroines, their female view of their lives, which is shrouded in strange circumstances.
In my opinion, these stories are lined up like a small schedule, going on increasing.
1. The story of Laura Dern is ambiguous, sometimes unclear, is located on the lower level. She is a lawyer, and all the time is engaged in business, her not simple client, and because of whom, she faces difficult tasks, because he was injured at work and unsuccessfully fights for justice. This role is not easy and the story itself is not simple. This story needs to be looked at more closely, paying attention to certain details.
2. The story of Michelle Williams is already better, on the pedestal is located a step higher. More clearly the previous one, but not much, there are their roughnesses. Here the plot of the heroine is more visible. She's trying to fix these cracks in her marriage by building a house out of stones.
3. The story of Lily Gladstone and the stunning Kristen Stewart is the most interesting, the strongest and the most dramatic, about the relationship between two women: a rancher with a young teacher. It is this part of the picture that I want to note most of all, since it is completely imbued with drama. This story is more understandable and it carries a semantic load. I think the main character should have thought before opening up in front of a completely unnecessary person. This story is definitely at the top of the pedestal.
Each of these stories has a special element of drama, the facets are shown, at the stage of self-destruction. But heroines make decisions, despite deadlocks, contemplating the morality in themselves.
The film is a sketch about the lives of four women, whose storylines are practically unrelated, except for a few elegant strokes of the director.
What are these women doing on screen? One, being a lawyer, tries to get rid of an annoying client who, if you look at it, does not need her professional services at all. The second builds a stone house for his family, noticing how her other house - the same family - cracks. Well, the third heroine just accidentally enters the auditorium, where the fourth lecture is not less by chance.
What's so unusual? What's your interest? It might not be unusual. Here's the interest. I can only say that the film was made in such a way that, even as I plunged into this dull, cold, depressing life on the screen, I followed these simple plots as if I were watching a fascinating psychological thriller. Here and the ability to “submit material” from the director, and excellent play of actresses, each of which, it seems, just created for their role. It’s as if it’s not Hollywood divas, but ordinary people who are filmed with a hidden camera.
If the first two stories are clinging to a common atmosphere, something nonverbal, then the third novel offers some philosophical reflections on the topic of social relationships. Personally, for me, the main question here was - should you let a person who is absolutely unnecessary to you into your life simply because he is a simple-minded good man looking at you with loving eyes? What do we do? Is it cynical to walk away or try to play a polite member of society?
The film shows a woman’s reaction to the world around her, to strange circumstances. And what exactly motivates women is not explained to us, showing only actions, words, emotions.
6 out of 10
In modern cinema, there are authors whose work requires a special inclusion from the viewer. In order to correctly read the codes of their works and get genuine pleasure from viewing, in the background you need to have not only a rich audience experience, but also a specific worldview that is different from the average. Such, for example, is Noah Baumbach, whose “spoken genre films” have already become classics of modern art house. Or Nicholas Winding Refn, whose hypnotic psychedelism delights some and terrifies others. In the same cohort, there is also Kelly Reichardt.
If you’re a fan of Fast and Furious or Marvel comics, and you see the richness of modern cinema through their colorful illusions, Kelly Reichardt’s world is not your world. Lovers of romantic fairy tales in the spirit of “Pretty Woman” and “Intuition” can also not worry. Reichardt’s art space is extremely realistic and chamber. There is no hint of any decoration or effects for the sake of effects. The action of the paintings unfolds in an atmosphere of unobtrusive sincerity, and is based on a subtle play of nuances and halftones.
For “A Few Women”, this atmosphere is especially organic, since the world in question is the same one-story America, sung by classics and not similar to its quiet measured life to the bustling America of Broadway or Wall Street. Its inhabitants live ordinary lives that are unlikely to form the basis of any dashing action movie or thriller. A young woman lawyer dealing with an occupational injury case. A family building a house and buying sandstone. A girl looking after horses on a ranch and showing sympathy for a law teacher, whose lesson she accidentally dropped by. Simple stories, almost devoid of intrigue. But for some reason they fascinate no less than another burly blockbuster. What is the key of this box?
For its centuries-old history, Hollywood has shown the world many intricate fantasies and fascinating spectacles. But sometimes at this feast of imagination, in this cycle of delights, you want something simple and clear. It's like, fed up with rascals of high cuisine, take and go to the forest to bake at the stake ordinary, with a haze and charred crust, potatoes. And feel the beauty of life simplicity.
If Baumbach is such psychotherapy by conversation, Refn is a psychedelic trip, then Reichardt is a kind of Movi Zen, helping to find the beautiful in the ordinary.
8 out of 10
"Some Women" ("Certain Women) is a silent movie poem about four women from a small town in Northwest America. In the best traditions of American independent cinema, Kelly Reichardt creates a portrait of a life full of events unremarkable and unnoticed by anyone. When no one is looking, you are real, and silence can become louder than any of your words.
The lives of the main characters of the film touch only fleetingly, but harmoniously merge into a single picture, impregnated simultaneously with the cold landscapes of Montana and a kind of warmth of human relationships. Attorney Laura Wells (Laura Dern) reluctantly tries to help her desperate client (Jared Harris), who has been injured at work and is now fighting unsuccessfully for justice. Gina Lewis (Michelle Williams), having lost her emotional bond with her husband and daughter, is dedicated to making her dream home a reality. A lonely horse caretaker wanders out of boredom for evening school and becomes attached to a teacher (Kristen Stewart), who comes to the city twice a week, leaving it again after a couple of hours.
Telling three different stories, Reichardt uses poetic rather than cinematic instruments. Her narrative is filled with states, not events, silence, not lines. The viewer by habit expects action and cliches, climaxes and denouements, random meetings and unexpected turns of fate. Reichardt does not give in and steadfastly adheres to his course of realism. Here you can not hear the shots of bullets, lovers do not meet by chance on the street, cars do not explode, but slowly slide to the side of the road towards an empty field, and the credits are not preceded by the final kiss.
Meditative neorealism combined with delightful camera work is fascinating and allows you to enjoy the very subtle acting of a beautiful female quartet. The biggest surprise in the film is that the unknown Lily Gladstone openly outplays the star trinity of Dern, Stewart and Williams.
All four heroines need human intimacy, but miss it in the pursuit of imaginary happiness. Reichardt’s formula for happiness is simple: life doesn’t have to be something special for it to be life. And in the cinema, too, it doesn’t have to be something supernatural for it to be a movie.
It is worth watching if:
- you like a slow and narrative movie, one that seems to be about nothing, but really about the most important thing.
To action and action you prefer atmosphericity, attention to detail and realism
Talking headline. There are three novels that are related in some way. No matter how you perceive what will be below, this movie should be seen. I'll write down why at the end.
On the one hand, everything is extremely simple, on the other hand, the cinema speaks and shows about some dead-end situations in life, and the deadlock is a priori not easy, although here you can argue. The important thing is that the choice did not fall on the most successful situations, so to speak. There's a lot that's not clear, but it's not -- I assure you -- not because the actors are bad or the dialogue is about nothing. By the way, this dialogue will envy many tight American films that consider themselves significant. It is clear that the authors wanted to build it on the details. On the very simple, you can even say that flat. That's the problem. To catch/feel all three novels would be enough 1:30. Having reduced by these 20 minutes, the tape would be much more concise, which is necessary for such a film. Those 20 minutes of supposedly accentuating -- actually dissipating -- the viewer's attention.
Why it's worth watching. It's simple. Laura Dern, Lily Gladstone and Kristen Stewart. Yes, they are all openly underrated. Perhaps even in this tape, few people will appreciate them. The film is not about anything, but with such an interesting composition and with such a game you can and should live and watch. Dern, the prize train is coming. Gladstone may be in another movie, but that’s unlikely. Stuart - admire. The latest of the newest generation of actors, which means you can start liking it now because it will be mainstream.