ETERNALS

Gemma Chan     Richard Madden     Angelina Jolie     Salma Hayak     Kumail Nanjiani

Lia McHugh     Brian Tyree Henry     Barry Keoghan 

            In the Marvel universe jumping through time and space are de rigeur, as seen in this film, which starts from 5,000 B.C. in Mesopotamia and goes through the centuries to the present, touching on Babylon, Chicago, South Dakota, Tenochtitlan, Mumbai, Australia, the Amazon, Iraq, and spaces in between and up in space.  It will make you dizzy trying to keep track.  Not only that, one must also keep track of tricky names:  Thena (not Athena), Sirsi (not Circe), Ikaris (not Icarus), Phastos (not Hephaetus), all tied to Greek mythology.  They are clever and make you smile.

            Anyway, the story is roughly that a being called Arishem has created not only humans but also Eternals who are intended to survive anything, and… what? Deviants are sent to destroy the Eternals?!  Well, like any god-like figure, Arishem is quixotic—at least seemingly.  Through his own reasoning, he decides to foster the emergence of a Celestial transformation that could dispose of humans in the interest of furthering civilization development.  This sets up a fierce battle among the Eternals—one siding with Arishem and the others wanting to preserve humans and the earth planet.  This constitutes the rest of the story in Eternals.

In wresting with these conflicts, there are some philosophical discussions/arguments about life paradoxes to tease the mind, such as that creation always involves destruction; some have to die in order for other life to be born.  Also to be wrestled with is that even though Heresham created humans, Eternals, Deviants (which he lost control of), in the offing he plans for the emergence of the Celestials.  Life is a cycle of creation and destruction.  But some are questioning Creator Arishem’s requirement that Eternals not interfere in human conflicts because he says that conflicts and war are necessary for the development of the human world.  

The script adapted from Jack Kirby’s original comic books by Chloe Zhao, Patrick Burleigh, Ryan Firpo and Kaz Firpo is reasonably good, but goes on far too long for this type of movie.  It does meander into some of the Eternals’ lives, such as Sersi’s relationship with Ikarus and a human named Dave, Phastos’ complex relationship with Thena and his subsequent attachment to a human who will give him a family, and Druig’s going off on his own to establish a community with the Amazonians—which is always interesting, but none of these pairings are highlighted enough for us to cheer them on.

The crafts in Eternals—cinematography (Ben Davis), music (Ramin Djawadi), special and visual effects, art, and sound—are extraordinary, easily transporting the viewer into the mythological realm.  As Marvel movies go, this one seems to be one of the better ones, having some grounding in literature and wrestling with contemporary issues.  I think the upshot of it all is that any group needs to stick together as one, united against forces against it.  But—there is likely to be a sequel, so we’ll see where it goes from there.

 

Eternals are eternal, except…The twists and turns will keep you engaged, but leave you wanting more.  It’s more the crafts that will amaze you.

 

Grade:  C+                            By Donna R. Copeland

NOMADLAND

Frances McDormand     Linda May     Bob Wells     Charlene Swankie     David Strathairn

     What people do when they get older varies immeasurably, depending on family, circumstances, personal preference, and many other reasons.  That there is a group of oldsters who travel around—mostly in vans and RVs—is new to me, as probably for most of us.  Some are facing the end of life and want to make the most of it, while others seem not to be thinking about an ending date at all. Fran (McDormand) is one of them and a bit of a mystery, but we discover a lot about her as the story wends its way.  Her husband has died, the town she lived in lost its industry—taking her job with it—during an economic recession—and with a wandering spirit, Fran decides to outfit her van and take to the road.  

     Nomadland is the story of the people she meets along the way, but it’s also a picture book of all the breathtaking vistas she gazes out on as she travels the American upper Midwest—Nevada, South Dakota, Nebraska, California, and Arizona.  Cinematographer Joshua James Richards captures the colorful sunsets, the hills of the Badlands in South Dakota, and much more, along with the wizened, expressive faces of people coming from all kinds of different histories and current circumstances.  He deserves aThe music supplied by Ludovico Einaudi enhances all these scenes with melodic—sometimes haunting—strains.  His piano music is especially pleasing.

     Nomadlandis just as much a character story as a travelogue.  Fran is a complex mix of thoughtfulness and kindness—no one is a stranger for long with her—and a near-fierce self-sufficiency and independence.  She has plenty of welcoming opportunities to stay put, but a pressing need keeps her moving on.  We don’t learn a lot about her early life; she reflects on it at times and relates a bit about it, and her sister provides more information, but we see little of her core and reflections about her present.  I think the film could have put in more of her past to give us a better idea of how she came to be the way she is.

     With her usual expertise, Frances McDormand embodies Fran so well, she comes across as a real person and someone we would all enjoy meeting.  She will certainly be considered during awards time for this performance.  It’s impressive how well the actual people found on the road enlisted to be in this film played their parts.  Linda May, Charlene Swankie, Gay DeForest, Patricia Grier, Bob Wells, and many others are applauded for their willingness to be filmed and managing to come across as themselves.  What we see  loud and clear is the increasing tolerance for others and their opinions that people seem to gain as they age and become wiser.

     Nomadland is not likely to appeal to everyone, but for those who contemplate their later years, it provides some reassurance that everything should be just fine, provided, of course, the world stays reasonably stable.

 

A different look at the elder years from what we’re used to, Nomadland provides a pleasant journey into what it might—and what we hope—will be.

 

Grade:  B                                    By Donna R. Copeland

THE RIDER

Brady Jandreau     Tim Jandreau     Lilly Jandreau     Cat Clifford     Lane Scott

     This remarkable production written and directed by Chloe Zhao and based on a true story, using the real people for actors, transports us into the world of men where keeping a stiff upper lip and rarely showing weakness or emotion is de rigueur, particularly among the rodeo crowd. I’m in awe of its being directed by a woman—and a Chinese woman at that—who was clearly able to grasp the essence of that culture and give it such authenticity.

     Despite our expectations, each of the main characters is drawn in multi-layers, showing the outer image of bravado and surface identity and some degree of scorn, but gradually getting to the underlying bravery, and deep, tender feelings they have about themselves and toward other people.  For example, Brady (B. Jandreau), called “stubborn as a mule” by his father, is determined almost to the end to overcome any frailty he has after a rodeo accident, remove bandages, and check himself out of the hospital, and then get right back up on a bucking bronco.  Yet, toward his sister Lilly (L. Jandreau) and his friend-hero Lane (Scott), he is optimally patient and thoughtful; and he finally allows himself to grieve for what he has lost, albeit not expressing such deep-seated feelings to anyone else.

     Zhao weaves an intricate story around a Lakota Indian family in South Dakota, where rodeo and horses are primary interests.  Brady has a promising career as a bucking bronco riding cowboy, aspiring to match the achievements of his friend and idol Lane, who was very seriously injured and is now in a rehabilitation facility.  The family is barely surviving, living in a house trailer, and the father has a weakness for alcohol and gambling. In addition to Brady, Tim has a younger daughter with Asperger’s Syndrome.  The mother has died.  When Brady himself is injured, major adjustments will have to be made by Brady, by his family, and by his friends.  This takes time, and the viewer is called upon to be patient and will, hopefully, be fascinated and rewarded by the characters’ gradual evolvement.

     To lighten the mood, humor and affection are liberally disbursed throughout. Lilly is entertaining in her spunkiness, slightly oddball comments, and her devotion to Brady.  After his accident, she is shown stroking his back and arm while cooing encouragement (a motif that is repeated later when Brady is lovingly training wild horses, using the same techniques to calm them.)  The guys josh and tease one another, and there are some scenes where a saddle is put on a “pony” in rehab, so that Brady can help train his friend Lane to use the muscles and movements again that he used to do without thinking.

     A pronounced influence in how you will view this film is in the cinematography by Joshua James Richards.  The film opens with artistic renderings of horses in a beautiful introduction of the film.  And then throughout, striking images capture the mood and action of the story, as when we see a moon trying to appear in the darkness where cowboys are sitting around a fire, the pastels of the western sky, and the stark portrait of a man walking away, a man standing, and a fallen horse after a heartbreaking scene.

     This is an art film incorporating the elements of a masterpiece in screenplay and story telling, cinematography, and depiction of age-old human struggles in meeting the challenges of life.

Perhaps the most elegant, empathic story about ordinary men and horses that you will ever see.

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland