D'Angelo day four
MICK JAGGER IN THE BURNT ORANGE HERESY
TIFF 2019: Day 4
The Burnt Orange Heresy (Giuseppe Capotondi, UK/USA): 61 [complete review]
Gotta say, Donald Sutherland’s legendary artist doesn’t make much sense, reputation-wise: Seemingly renowned for a single conceptual piece (literally an empty frame) half a century ago, he’s somehow at the center of a forgery scheme involving traditional oil-painting techniques—it’s as if Banksy had produced just one stenciled graffito and were treated like Monet following 50 years of Salinger-style seclusion. (I’m guessing Willeford’s novel handles this aspect with more clarity.) Solidly entertaining otherwise, with Debicki in particular fairly igniting the screen with casual insouciance—an especially canny performance given what we ultimately learn (or don’t learn) about her character. Capotondi strikes me as Mr. Reliable Pro.
Martin Eden (Pietro Marcello, France/Italy): 50 [complete review]
Has there ever been a truly strong Jack London adaptation? (I have somewhat fond memories of Curtiz’s The Sea Wolf, but it’s been a long time.) Martin Eden’s emphasis on autodidacticism and political theory makes it seem especially ill-suited for the screen, and while Marcello knows his way around an arresting image, he can’t prevent Martin’s slow, tiresome metamorphosis into the kind of guy who’s forever shouting his convictions at anyone within earshot. Social-climbing element proves strongest, though even that boils down to a comparison between two women (with London’s focus on the stigma of manual labor mostly lost). Has many passionate fans among hardcore cinephiles, but seemed like just another case of literary lepidopterology to me.
Synchronic (Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead, USA): 47
Benson (who writes the scripts) keeps coming up with fascinating premises and then taking them in what I find to be bizarrely unsatisfying directions.. . . . a potentially good idea semi-squandered.
Comets (Tamar Shavgulidze, Georgia): W/O He "Didn't think" he'd "actually see" this. It "seemed to chronicle a reunion between two middle-aged women who’d perhaps been in love as teenagers (with some as-yet-unspecified trauma having separated them for many years. . ." He left the theater after 37 mins.; usually his rule is after giving a film 40 minutes of his time, he can walk out.
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