Weekly Watches: May 8, 2024
Sharing Our Recent Discoveries: Weekly Watches with 100 Movies Every Catholic Should See
Nostalgia (1983)
Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky
Within all of us, there is a longing for our eternal home. We are strangers in a foreign land. Andrei Tarkovsky’s penultimate film, released 3 years before his own journey home, speaks profoundly to this spiritual ache. His first artistic utterance following what would be a final exile from his Russian home, Nostalgia is drenched in a sense of deep melancholy. It is a thinly veiled autobiographical expression of his own feelings of loss, alienation and yearning. In Tarkovsky’s own words, Nostalgia is an articulation of “my inner state during filming: I had been worn down by my separation from my family and from the way of life I was used to, by working under quite unfamiliar conditions, even by using a foreign language.”
The film follows a Russian poet, whose first name Tarkovsky shares, as he travels to a remote Italian village to research an 18th-century Russian composer. Tarkovsky’s Italy is not the sunny, cheerfully pastoral image we are accustomed to, it is bleak, misty and ephemeral, full of spiritual symbols which point to the world beyond our own. Intercut with monochromatic flashbacks which equivocally point to memories left behind and a reality beyond the veil of this corporeal world, the film seeks to express a feeling rather than propel a serious plot. To this end, it is most effective. It is an experience that will leave all but the most seasoned cinephile bereft and drained. It is highly recommended to begin one’s journey into Tarkovsky’s filmography with the likes of Stalker, The Sacrifice and Andrei Rublev before embarking on this arduous journey.
With a proper mindset, a viewing of Nostalgia can elicit a sense of the sublime, a clarion call for us to consider our eternal homeland. To echo the words of St. Augustine, Nostalgia poignantly articulates a longing deep within each of us, that “our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”
Whiplash (2014)
Directed by Damien Chazelle, starring Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons
By Anthony Morales
Throughout the entire span of my life I have been introduced to a great variety of films and to the iconic characters within them. Luke Skywalker, Rocky Balboa, Rufus T. Firefly, I had become quite aware of the greats. But quickly I reached the point in my cinematic journey where I began recognizing certain trends. Having become so accustomed to and honestly bored by seeing again the average shy middle schooler, the overly funny sidekick, the sassy girl who shockingly becomes the hero’s love interest, I simply assumed this was to always be expected in modern cinema one way or another. That was until I received a punch in the gut from a film called “Whiplash”.
“I want to be one of the greats'' admits the main character Andrew Neiman (Miles Teller), a nineteen year old college student who wants to prove himself to become one of the greats in jazz drumming by playing in a band ruled with an iron fist by the instructor Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons). While this line can appear rather cliché without proper context, it sums up what I love most about this film. For “greatness” is not only one of the main themes explored throughout this film, but it also happens to be one of the most intrinsically human things for one to desire in life.
Not only this though, but the way it is explored is such a relatable and almost biographical one that Andrew’s own pursuit can often take the form of embodying our pursuit as we are invited to cheer him on in his journey. The everyman journey which consists of broken love, broken mentors, and nothing but blood sweat and tears. Like many of us, he is often presented with the lie that without perfection he is nothing but the remnants of disappointment and failure, yet through it all he persists through to the end. Such a relatable and motivated character makes the film more than a movie but a story. And with this universal desire for greatness and recognition, Chazelle crafts an elegant and everyman type story through music and cinematography alone which attracts every viewer to finish it till the end to know whether or not he or she can achieve such a greatness that Andrew himself yearns for alongside us.
*Content Warning: Whiplash contains many scenes with language and verbal abuse which may disturb some viewers.
Ant-Man (2015)
Directed by Peyton Reed, starring Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly
By Josh Wilson
At the time of this movie’s release, Marvel Studios had had some major success. The Avengers and Avengers Age of Ultron had both been smashing successes at the box office. Everyone was flocking to the theater to watch their movies. But with Ant-Man, Marvel tried something a little different.
Ant-Man is centered around Scott Lang (played by Paul Rudd) and his daughter, Cassie. Scott had previously gotten into trouble for theft and spent some time in prison at the beginning of the movie, but Cassie still believes in him and believes he is a good person. Although this movie does have the Marvel feel when Scott teams with Hank Pym (Michel Douglas) and Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) to stop Darren Cross from forming an army of yellow jackets to overtake the world, the climax of this movie occurs when Darren threatens Cassie and Scott rushes to save the day. The world isn’t threatened like it is in the Avengers, Thor: The Dark World, or Avengers: Age of Ultron, but Scott’s world is because of how important Cassie is to him which we see throughout the movie.
Ant-Man is a movie that can be enjoyed by both Marvel and non-Marvel fans. The relationship between Scott and Cassie is a strong and delightful one to see throughout the movie. Certainly, there is some superhero excitement, but the center of this movie is certainly a very human relationship between Scott and Cassie. Ant-Man is not just a quality Marvel film, but also a solid film in general that can be enjoyed by any type of audience.
The Power of Film (2024 Series)
This week, I checked out a new documentary series from TCM that was streaming on Max called 'The Power of Film,' based on the book of the same name by UCLA film professor Howard Suber Ph.D. The series is essentially a mini-film school with episode titles like "Popular and Memorable," "Character Relationships," and "Heroes and Villains". The films covered are some of the greatest films of all times such as "The Godfather," "High Noon," and a lot of Spielberg flicks: and while it's not as in-depth as some hardcore cinephiles might want it's a very well-done starter point for people looking to go deeper into some of their favorite movies. Highly recommend checking this one out if you have Max!
 | A guest post by
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In case I needed another reason to never watch Nostalgia ;)