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Border (2018)
Border (2018)
2018 | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
If you’re a fan of the original super dark fairy tales, you’re probably going to love Border. But be warned, it contains some incredibly disturbing content that I wasn’t prepared for. This film is not an easy watch, and I found myself thinking about it for a long time afterwards. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, it just isn’t for the faint of heart.

The film follows Tina (Eva Melander), a woman who works for the Swedish Border Control. She has a unique talent to sniff out contraband, so she’s an asset to the rest of the team. This ability confuses many around her, and this becomes a central part of Tina’s self-discovery later on in the film. Alongside her ability, Tina suffers from facial deformities which makes her an outcast in society.

Tina’s life changes when she meets a man named Vore (Eero Milonoff), who looks just like her. At first, she suspects him of something, but following an inspection, lets him pass through. The two of them have frequent encounters throughout the film, with Vore helping Tina to understand who she is. As she’s embarking on this journey, Tina is assigned to a child pornography case, with the authorities believing her ability can help them find the perpetrator.

Border is dark both in its narrative and its visuals, as you seldom see the sunlight throughout the entire film. It feels gritty, dirty and bleak, reflecting this incredibly harrowing case that Tina has to try and solve. Even her own home is depressing; living in a tiny cabin-like home with a man named Roland who trains dogs. Tina’s relationship with Roland is confusing to the audience, and she barely spends any time at home, opting to take walks outside instead. She is an incredibly lonely, isolated character until Vore comes along.

The film’s visuals really stood out to me, I loved the ethereal fantasy elements even when bad things are happening. Since Tina spends a lot of her time outdoors, her encounters with wildlife and nature are beautifully shot. These moments seem to be the only ones that bring Tina real joy, and the cinematography reflects this. The film’s bleakness can often feel too much at times, but it’s entirely appropriate given the story. Despite Tina’s eventual self-discovery, this is not a happy film.

Tina and Vore’s animalistic behaviour may be uncomfortable for some audiences, and it was for me too. The film relies on long, purely diegetic scenes that bring us closer to the action than we may have liked. Their relationship is raw, functional and sometimes aggressive, often making it difficult to like the characters. Despite this, I still liked Tina as a character and wanted her to find happiness.

Border is just under two hours in length, but feels much longer due to Abbasi’s use of lingering shots. I did find myself feeling a little frustrated with this at times, but the beauty of the cinematography made up for it. The story is as twisted as it is captivating, and by the end of the film you’re left in a stunned silence trying to process what you just saw. It’s the kind of film that leaves you feeling exhausted afterwards.

This happened to be my first real exploration of Nordic cinema, and I’m certainly interested to see what other films are out there. Border is a unique and harrowing story that points fun at Nordic relations, and is certainly worth the watch. Having said that, I’m not sure I could go through it again.

https://jumpcutonline.co.uk/review-border-2019/
  
The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019)
The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019)
2019 | Adventure
Verdict: Beautiful Movie

Story: The Peanut Butter Falcon starts as we meet a down syndrome young man Zak (Gottsagen) who dreams of being a wrestler, but is stuck in a care home sharing a room with Carl (Dern) under the care of Eleanor (Johnson), he has been trying to escape before and when he finally does, he meets Tyler (LaBeouf) a rebel who is fighting for his place in a fishing world.
As Tyler reluctantly agrees to help Zak, the two go on an adventure through the outdoors to make it to the wrestling school to live his dream of becoming a wrestler like his hero Salt Water Redneck (Church), even though Eleanor is trying to find him before it is too late.

Thoughts on The Peanut Butter Falcon

Characters – Zak is a down syndrome young man that is living in a nursing home with nobody else offering him a place to live, he loves wrestling and wants to make this his dream to become a wrestler, which sees him running away from the nursing home, meeting Tyler and having his first adventure. Tyler is a drifter working on the local fishing area, that has found himself getting into trouble with the locals, needing to go on the run, where he ends up meet Zak, reluctantly teaching him about life. Eleanor is the carer that has always looked after Zak, she has become concerned about his desire to move away and after he runs away, she must go in search of him, needing to learn more about opening up to his own desire in life.
Performances – Zack Gottsagen is wonderful in the leading role showing all the delight and pain his character is going through. Shia LaBeouf is going down the right path here, doing the roles which require him to show his skills rather than cash heavy roles. Dakota Johnson is great too, with the supporting cast that all work wonderfully through the film.
Story – The story here follows a young down syndrome man who decides to run away from the nursing home he is living in, with dreams of becoming a wrestler where he meets a lost drifter who teaches him more about life, while chasing his dream. This is a story that is similar to the story of Mark Twain with a fresh approach, with one of the clear messages being, not to judge somebody on a disability they have, they can achieve as much as anybody else. This is a joy to watch as a story, seeing how the two bond and just have a life adventure.
Adventure/Comedy – The adventure side of this film, sees two unlikely men at different stages of their lives spending a couple of days together learning about life, it is inspiring to see how people might react to life, while getting a couple of laughs along the way, with the friendship.
Settings – The film uses the back-water locations to show the drifter lifestyle to which Zak has fallen into and one that Tyler can navigate.

Scene of the Movie – The match.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Nothing really.
Final Thoughts – This is a delightful movie that can be enjoyed by all, one that has a clear message about treating everyone equal and one that will leave you feeling good by the end.

Overall: True Delight.
  
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Wildling (2018)
Wildling (2018)
2018 | Fantasy, Horror
Characters – Anna was raised by a man in the middle of the woods, she has been drugged to stop her going through her womanhood until she is rescued. Taken in by the local sheriff, she learns about the world for the first time, only she isn’t prepared for everything, finding it hard to adjust to everything. Daddy is the man that has raised Anna, he did educate her, while warning her about the outdoors, while he does drug her, the mystery is around why he kept her isolated. Ellen is the local sheriff that takes Anna in, she does her best to teach her about being a woman, while others just want to lock her away. Ray is the sister of Ellen that is still in high school, he tries to help her on a social standpoint, while being one of the only people left for her to trust.

Performances – Bel Powley is great in this leading role, she must go through a transformation and play the fish out of water figure too. Brad Dourif is just as creepy and you need him to be, always going to work in this type of role, with Liv Tyler being the cop that believes they know what will be right for victim, trying to be the role model figure.

Story – The story here follows a young girl that is raised in the woods, only to be released to discover who she really is and what she is capable off. This story does follow the traditions of seeing a young girl taken and raised in secret, before something happens to bring her into the real world, this side of things has been done before, it works and is an effective way to bring a stranger into a modern world. Where this story takes an interesting turn comes from the reason behind why she was being kept, we do get to see what she really is, but we don’t get to see if she is a threat to everybody else, we do get a couple of message in this film too that want to point out certain motives in hunting, but overall the story keeps us guessing and surprised by the truth.

Fantasy/Horror – This film does dive into fantasy when it comes to learn what Anna really is, we have ideas early on, but we are never truly sure what she will become, this does help with the horror side of the film because it keeps us waiting to see if there will be more bloodshed.

Settings – The film is set in a town surrounded by woodlands, this shows first where she was raised and where the people will welcome her, right back to where she feels more comfortable.

Special Effects – The effects are used to show the wounds and the look of the Wildling figure, there give us a creepy but natural looking creature and the blood isn’t afraid to be splashed about here.


Scene of the Movie – Home from the party.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – We could spend more time learn the normal human life.

Final Thoughts – This is a fun fantasy horror, it doesn’t hide the blood and is happy to give us a twist on the traditional storytelling.

Overall: Fantasy Horror 101
  
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