Pentru mine tu ești Ceaușescu (2021): Sebastian Mihăilescu stood out with the controversial Mammalia (2023) last year, but his debut feature should ruffle considerably fewer feathers, while staking its own claim for your attention. In an unconventional (and artsy) documentary, Mihăilescu challenges a group of teenagers to audition for the role of young Nicolae Ceaușescu, i.e. the Romanian dictator removed from power and executed during the 1989 Revolution. It’s a fairly obscure era of Ceauşescu’s biography for the everyman, even more so for the youths asked to interpret the role. In a minimalistic setting, they re-enact scenes based on existing documents (speeches, police reports, confessions), with minimal direction and a focus on self-discovery. The resulting movie asks of the viewer to evaluate their own relation to history, while managing to frame the innocuous and less than fatefully obvious origin story of the man who was to become a tyrant. At times it resembles a bit of a school project, but this also makes it authentic and highly quotable. In a wider sense, a commentary on the risks of filmmaking and doing things differently. I’ll go into it some more next week, but for now this should do. 8
The Greatest Night in Pop (2024): Netflix manages to unfurrow our serious brows with a documentary on the making of “We Are the World” – the seminal 80s song which saw some of the biggest name in American music gather and sing a tune to help starving children in Africa. Director Bao Nguyen doesn’t dwell much on the impact of this type of direct intervention in poverty alleviation, but instead waxes nostalgically with Lionel Richie in the foreground and many other artists in the archival background. I always liked the song, but it was particularly interesting to get some details on the logistical and technical requirements to make something like this happen, with the shoot/recording into the early morning hours taking a toll as well on the convenience-habituated A-listers. A likable trip down memory lane. 7
ClearMind (2024): As we approach the release of the *fruit* Vision Pro tomorrow, what other more topical movie could one watch, but a movie where VR is used to treat trauma? Nora’s daughter drowns during a pool party with all her friends and while, a year later, everyone seems to have moved on, Nora is still struggling to cope. Part of her (almost medical) treatment is a simulation to help her overcome the unresolved issues and as the movie progresses, it becomes less and less clear what reality even is. It’s not a thriller-thriller, but rather a tongue-in-cheek thriller, with wit and bitter humor, that takes apart friendships in a creative way. Nicely shot and acted, ClearMind is a fun little cabin in the woods kind of flick. 7
Self Reliance (2023): Jake Johnson’s directorial debut, a movie he also wrote and starred in, introduces us to Tommy – an aimlessly drifting 30-something who gets challenged to participate in a life or death competition, which, if he wins, he goes on to receive a million bucks. Only catch – killers from all over the world are looking to eliminate him, but they cannot do so if he is in the close proximity of another person. It sounds easy enough, except that Tommy has no friends and lives with his mother. To top it all off, there’s always a question of what is actually real, and what’s just a coping mechanism to make Tommy, well, self reliant. It’s a neat concept and the movie offers the occasional laugh, but it fails to reach beyond itself as it would like and the ending is less than satisfying. 6
Klaus & Barroso (2024): The team behind the surprising, if uneven, Taximetrişti (2023) reunited for a follow-up that feels similar in style, but is considerably less inspired. As it is now, there’s just very little to hang onto, with lukewarm performances from all involved, alongside stock skits and equally uninspired dialogue providing little to no entertainment. The best that can be said about it is that K&B doesn’t make your insides turn and your brain combust, but not much more. Full review here. 4
tributary stu 