• City of God meets Werner Herzog in Monos– a superb film from Brazilian director Alejandro Landes
  • One hell of a location find- the ethereal mystic mountains with a big structure that almost looks like Denis Villeneve’s Arrival’s spaceship in terms of set piece (this is natural though) in isolation—clouds and fog.
One hell of a location find- the ethereal mystic mountains with a big structure that almost looks like Denis Villeneve’s Arrival’s spaceship in terms of set piece (this is natural though) in isolation—clouds and fog.
Alejandro Landes — I’m excited to see what Landes does next- finding a set piece like this shows a keen cinematic eye
  • If Landes has an issue (and overall this is an outstanding film) – it’s balancing the two stories here- there is the film about the captors (the City of God, or Beats of No Nation– harsh and cruel children army/gang) and the hostage escape (the Julianne Nicholson story which is almost like a short film within the larger film). They’re both compelling—but the narrative focus shifts a little erratically that makes it feel like bad form
  • Love the statement on society, or nature of man/human—call back to Kubrick’s 2001 primate opening and the nature of destruction or the Lord of the Flies (we even get a slaughtered pig). Evolution, dog-eat-dog cruelty and nihilism
  • A slight statement on culture’s effect- the kids names are Smurf, and Rambo—there’s trivia about Spider Man and the cow is named Shakira
  • A strong performance from Moises Arias as the leader Bigfoot
  • A marvelous shot off a puddle showing the reflection of the crew
  • Almost exactly half-way through the film (great form) we go from the mountains to the jungle with equal (but different) horrors- really well done
  • A long duration shot from Landes where he’s just preoccupied with the beauty of the oxygen bubbles in the water. Ruminations of a fascinating auteur- I’m very excited to see what he does next which is telling
A long duration shot from Landes where he’s just preoccupied with the beauty of the oxygen bubbles in the water. Ruminations of a fascinating auteur- I’m very excited to see what he does next which is telling
  • The film ends in the middle of a thought—no idea on the Nicholson thread. I can’t even call it open. It is odd- still wrestling with it.
  • Recommend