Photo: Netflix
Quest narratives and exploration stories can typically be divided into two broad categories: those that preserve the romantic spirit of adventure, where nature is often a source of wonder and even renewal; and those that parody the very same, tracking descents into madness, misery, and confusion. Yulene Olaizola’s
Tragic Jungle falls squarely in the latter camp. Set during the 1920s on the border of Mexico and present-day Belize (formerly British Honduras), it mainly follows a group of Mexican chicleros who, in the course of their work harvesting tree resin for chewing gum, come across a solitary, English-speaking woman named Agnes (Indira Rubie Andrewin). Fearing that she might belong to a competing British crew, they take her along forcibly, not knowing that she had just escaped from a vengeful white landowner (Dale Carley) whom she was supposed to marry, and who is still in hot pursuit. More ominously, perhaps, intermittent narration from one of the chicleros (
Frankie review - dying for nuance | reviews, news & interviews Frankie review - dying for nuance
Frankie review - dying for nuance
Isabelle Huppert stars in Ira Sachs s disappointingly wan homage to Eric Rohmer
by Graham FullerThursday, 27 May 2021
End game: Isabelle Huppert in the title role of Frankie
American filmmaker Ira Sachs excels at crafting throughtful relationship dramas in which middle-class characters confronted with crises or unanticipated realisations gain valuable emotional knowledge. His best works –
Forty Shades of Blue (2005),
Keep the Lights On (2012), and
Little Men (2016) – demonstrate an evenness and maturity rare in the rough and tumble of indie cinema.
American filmmaker Ira Sachs excels at crafting throughtful relationship dramas in which middle-class characters confronted with crises or unanticipated realisations gain valuable emotional knowledge. His best works –
American filmmaker Ira Sachs excels at crafting throughtful relationship dramas in which middle-class characters confronted with crises or unanticipated realizations gain valuable emotional knowledge. His best works – Forty Shades of Blue (2005), Keep the Lights On (2012), and Little Men (2016) – demonstrate an evenness and maturity rare in the rough and tumble of indie cinema. Sadly, Sach’s new film Frankie pales beside its predecessors, despite the presence of Isabelle Huppert and Brendan Gleeson and a postcard-perfect Portuguese Riviera backdrop.
A chance meeting in a dog park turned into an unexpected encounter
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January 15, 2021 â 10.55pm
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Proudly I say it: Iâm a lefty. An inner-city (outer inner-city), chardonnay-guzzling (actually Irish whiskey, just a tipple on weekends), latte-sipping (though I prefer flat whites, and never after 11 am or I wont be able to sleep at night), tree-hugging (just the one tree, Iâm a strict mahoganist) loony lefty.
And as a loony lefty, Iâm always on the lookout for other loony lefties to chat with â anyone wearing a pair of round John Lennon glasses, maybe a jazzy hipster hat, possibly carrying a hand-painted ukulele that they canât play even though theyâve been in a ukulele orchestra since the late 2000s.