Cinephile No. 869 “Nomadland”

Recommendation: 5/5 SHOWTIME

Plot: “After losing everything in the Great Recession, a woman embarks on a journey through the American West, living as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad.” -IMDB

Review: Much like Fern (Frances McDormand), I am from one of those towns that are slowly disappearing from the map. As agriculture becomes more industrialized and people leave for a better life in bigger cities, my hometown of Frederick, Oklahoma continues its slow march toward death. Before I know it or fully understand the consequences, my hometown will be gone. Knowing I escaped this collapse in an effort to create a new version of myself, I approached “Nomadland.”

During the Great Recession, Fern’s home in the company town of Empire, Nevada had its heart ripped out with the closing of a mine. Following this catastrophe, Fern loses the love of her life. These seismic events give birth to a nomadic lifestyle of seasonal work throughout the American west. Because of the way in which this film is structured, we are made to feel tremendous pain for the plight of the working poor, living in vans or mobile homes, traveling throughout the country without a community of their own. At times, the loneliness Fern expresses is heartbreakingly sad. This is true until we discover there is more to the story.

Fern is the personification of songs written by Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, and Bruce Springsteen. The life we are witnessing is chosen. It is a life Fern always envisioned. It is filled with temporary relationships, exploration, and self-determination. It is seasonal, ever-changing, and forever confusing to those standing on the outside looking in on her.

With the lifestyle choice realized, this film becomes something much more. It feels poetic in the same sense of “Into the Wild.” It feels boundless and deeply spiritual like standing on a cliff overlooking The Pacific Ocean. It flies in the face of conventional theories on permanence and the expected. It gives us another example of a person who rejects the tyranny of the expected. When these higher ideals are combined with superb writing, brilliant cinematography, and the grounded, quiet performance of McDormand, we get the best film of the year.

Cinephile No. 875 “The Courier” 

Recommendation: 4/5 SHOWTIME 

Plot: “Cold War spy Greville Wynne and his Russian source try to put an end to the Cuban Missile Crisis.” -IMDB 

Review: There is no doubt in my mind that one day we will be saying, Oscar Winner, Benedict Cumberbatch. While “The Courier,” is not the vehicle for that date with destiny, it does allow the actor to stretch in new and fascinating ways.  

In this film, Benedict plays Greville Wynee, a normal businessman living in Britain, attempting business in communist-held Europe. It is his unassuming and plain nature that catches the eyes of MI6 and the CIA. With very little convincing, Greville becomes a spy at the height of the Cold War.  

His first task is to establish business relationships with Moscow. This leads him to a high-ranking government official, Oleg Penkovsky (Merab Ninidze). Oleg, for his part, believes his country is acting recklessly and is pushing the world toward war. He sees it as his patriotic duty to supply the west with information in an attempt to save humanity.  

The meeting between Greville and Oleg is a meeting between east and west, but it also escalates a certain level of tension that remains throughout the rest of the film. With spies everywhere and every one an assumed officer of the KGB, we can feel the distrust and the risks these two men are taking.  

The tension in this film reaches a fever pitch when it is discovered that the Soviet Union has ambitions of placing armed nuclear weapons in Cuba, 90-miles from the United States. With this information publicly known, the Soviets begin looking internally for the leak. At this point in time, getting both men out of Russia becomes paramount.  

As this movie moves into its final act, we are forced to wrestle with what the KGB actually knows and the new parts both men are forced to play. It is in these emotionally charged and raw moments that Cumberbatch shines and shows new range. While the ending is a matter of history, I won’t spoil it here, because I think many of us are unaware of what transpired.  

So, is “The Courier” the perfect spy movie? No, but I found myself enthralled by it and its emotionally well-constructed in its final chapters. For that, I cannot recommend it enough. 

Cinephile No. 872 “The Mauritanian”

Recommendation: 4/5 SHOWTIME 

Plot: “Mohamedou Ould Salahu fights for freedom after being detained and imprisoned without charge by the U.S. Government for years.” -IMBD 

Review: “The Mauritanian” starring Tahar Rahim as Mohamedou Ould Salahu, Jodie Foster as Nancy Hollander, and Benedict Cumberbatch as Stuart Couch is a smart reckoning with one of America’s great sins during the 9/11 years. Some 90-miles from the Florida Keys sits a detention center at Guantanamo Bay. Since our country began a worldwide mission to kill, capture, detain, and question the supposed perpetrators of the September 11th attacks, detainees have been held here – many of them without the right to due process. This film attempts to reconcile the existence of this place with our American ideals by focusing on the trials and tribulations of one of the many people detained there. By doing so, it reveals what is being done and what has been done in our name.  

The story begins with Rahim’s character Mohamedou being picked up at a wedding. After questioning, he is transferred to Gitmo. Once there, his case lands on the desk of Nancy Hollander, representing the client, and Stuart Couch representing the United States of America. Immediately, we get the sense there is a profound level of distrust between the opposing sides. There also seems to be an absurd level of secrecy on behalf of the federal government, which oddly leads the prosecution to disbelieve the information they are receiving.  

From here, this film can seem quite procedural as the opposing sides build their cases, interview witnesses, and challenge government decisions in court. I found the work of both sides to overcome these roadblocks and landmines enthralling. If you love a good courtroom drama, I am sure you will too. As the challenges escalate, the truth of Mohamedou’s case is revealed, as is the nature of his confession. Honestly, watching the means used to torture him into admitting something he did not do made me feel ashamed for my country. Ultimately, this is the point of this film.  

For 243 years, the United States of America has been a beacon of hope to the world shining a light on justice, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The decisions and actions displayed in this film are not representative of who we say are to the world. They reveal a dark chapter in our history when our thirst for vengeance blinded our ideals. Great art can serve as a mirror. If you do not like the reflection you see in the mirror, this film asks a simple question. What are you going to do about it?  

Cinephile No. 871 “Judas and the Black Messiah”

Recommendation: 4/5 SHOWTIME

Plot: “Bill O'Neal infiltrates the Black Panther Party per FBI Agent Mitchell and J. Edgar Hoover. As Party Chairman Fred Hampton ascends, falling for a fellow revolutionary en route, a battle wages for O'Neal's soul.” -IMBD

Review: “Judas and the Black Messiah” might be the most perfectly titled film of the year. Focused on Bill O’Neal’s (LaKeith Stanfield) infiltration into the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party led by Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya), this movie deals with a man selling his soul and deceiving his own people for the modern-day equivalent of thirty pieces of silver all in an attempt to keep himself from jail.

Hampton for his part is waging a dangerous revolution, or so Hoover’s FBI would have you believe. In reality, Hampton is seeking to tear down a racist system meant to keep people of color and impoverished Americans in their place. By opening a free medical clinic, founding a free meal program, and ensuring equal access to education, Hampton flirts too openly with socialism. In Hoover’s America, this cannot stand and flies in the face of all we represent.

LaKeith Stanfield plays Bill O’Neal pitch perfectly. In his eyes, we can see the dissonance and doubt. He believes in what Hampton is selling, but in an effort to save and enrich himself, he must draw close to Hampton and earn his trust. This makes him the personification of Judas. Daniel Kaluuya as Fred Hampton is moving, powerful, and undeterred. He is willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good in the same vein as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. Playing the part of Messiah should earn Kaluuya an Oscar nomination. The same should be true for Stanfield.

Of course, any student of history and/or any reader of the Bible knows how this story is going to end. Jesus must be crucified and with an explosion of violence that is exactly what happens. Enriched and free, Judas will be forced to reckon with his guilt. We, as audience members, will be forced to wrestle with one more example of institutionalized racism giving way to violence against a man with nothing more than prosperity on his mind at the hands of evil cops.

Cinephile No. 872 “Minari”

Recommendation: 4/5 SHOWTIME 

Plot: “A Korean family starts a farm in 1980s Arkansas.” -IMDB 

Review: “Minari” feels like a deeply personal and nuanced character study. As we watch five members of a Korean family rally around the dreams of a father and husband with a wish to start a farm in rural Arkansas, it is their collision points that remain vividly imprinted on my mind. In fact, to properly review this film, we must analyze the role of each character.  

Jacob (Steven Yeun) is the dreamer and the father of the family. It is his dream that fundamentally changes the direction of the family. His desire to be a provider is harmless enough, but when coupled with a wide-eyed misunderstanding of the agricultural markets, it is his decisions that will force a slow-building avalanche of pain on his family.  

Monica (Yeri Han) is the mother of the family. We see much of this story through her eyes, and she has deep concerns about Jacob’s dream. Their marriage has been anything but peaceful and the burden of starting fresh in a new place could be the breaking point. Coupled with this sense of duty to care for the children and support her husband, Monica spends much of this film on the edge of oblivion. In her eyes, we see a tremendous amount of patience, but that patience is not infinite.  

Anne (Noel Cho) is the daughter of the family. She brings a certain level of pre-teen angst to the film. She longs for community and connection to the outside world, both things which are in short supply on the would-be farm. We can also see that she is struggling with weighty expectations around traditional family roles.   

David (Alan S. Kim) is the son of the family. He has a preexisting heart condition and is often discouraged from running and playing like a normal child because of it. He admires his father and longs to be by his side, but as the baby of the family and out of an abundance of caution, he is relegated to creating mischief around the house; most of which is directed at his grandmother.  

Soonja (Yuh-jung Youn) is the grandmother of the family. She is asked to move in the help around the house and build a sense of community. She and David have a fascinating relationship because the young grandson does not believe she behaves like a traditional grandmother. Soonja, for her part, has no obvious interest in playing the role.   

As the characters collide, as all families do, they will be asked to blend their culture with those of their new community. As is often the case in rural America, that community can only be found in a church. Beyond this challenge, the difficulty associated with farming (dry weather, lack of water, diminishing access to resources, a vanishing market for produce) will add a tremendous burden on a family on the cusp of falling apart.  

The dynamic of this film is accelerated when tragedy strikes. I will not give the event away, but it shifts everything and forces Monia into action. It is this choice and what follows that makes this a nearly perfect film.  

In the end, this quiet little movie has a lot to say about family, life in rural America, home, generational differences, manhood/womanhood, religion, and success. It doesn't answer all the questions it asks, but it begins a conversation. There is no doubt in my mind that this is one of those films we will be talking about for a very long time.  

Be good to each other,  

Nathan  

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