Art to Activism, This is The Blueprint and Boy is it Deeply Moving
Film Recommendations
Hector Wright | November 14, 2024
Last Stop in Yuma County | Francis Gallupi, 2023
Subverted expectations through a frantic Mexican stand-off set at what feels like the edge of the world. This small gem of a film flew somewhat under the radar following its release in 2023, but that seems like a highly unjustified reaction to The Last Stop in Yuma County. The film takes place almost entirely at a gas station diner in the titular Arizona county, where an attempted robbery and hostage situation unfolds. Now, there’s undoubtedly a reliance on certain heist genre tropes here, but also present, is this refreshing splash of absurdist humour. Note Jim Cummings scene stealing performance as the anxiety-riddled divorced dad on the verge of a panic attack, it’s stupidly good.
Widows | Steve McQueen, 2019
Widows is a criminally under-appreciated masterpiece. Steve McQueen’s first foray into the heist genre echoes an all-American, Michael Mann styled crime-thriller, but with a modern twist, thanks to a script from none other than Gillian Flynne (Gone Girl).
A simple one take transport scene in which Colin Farrell’s crooked politician character, Jack Mulligan, is chauffeured from dilapidated Chicago neighbourhood to affluent suburban residence will forever be ingrained in my brain. It shows the brilliance of McQueen’s editing philosophy, with some of his most effective filmic moments revelling in this kind of strong temporal hold on a dragged-out moment. Uncut realism. A real world filled with real people experiencing real social and economic inequality. And this tension is only raised by a classic Hans Zimmer score that always seems be counting down.
What Daniel Kaluuya does with his eyes alone in this film convinced me that he is one of the best actors working in the industry today. You’ll know what scene I’m talking about.
This is an angry film showcasing an angry country and I love it.
Blue Collar | Paul Shrader, 1978
Capitalism, justice, union. These are only some of the institutional concepts explored by Schrader in this blunt and disheartening film. The main narrative focus rests on a dilemma of association; one between the pride a worker takes in their union and the angered despair he feels towards its corrupt and racist system.
This was my first exposure to Richard Pryor, having never actually seen any of his stand-up comedy before. And after witnessing his performance in this film, I struggled to believe that the man was not a professionally trained actor.
Sure, Blue Collar touches on Schrader’s usual wheelhouse of themes: A failure of faith, crisis of identity, critique of establishment. But perhaps, being his directorial debut, the film embodies an interesting insight into how a writer begins to shape their visual voice.
When we think of Paul Schrader today, we think of him as a filmmaker (the mind behind such intellectually provocative films as First Reformed and The Card Counter), as well as the man who penned screenplays for Taxi Driver and Raging Bull. It seems that one successful career has not eclipsed the other. And this can only stand as a testament to the ground work laid in an early directorial feature such as this. One of defined vision for years to come.
Cure | Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 1997
This is a Tokyo-set psychological crime thriller with a capital P. The film’s first hour seems to play by the stereotypical rules of its genre; a detective slowly losing his grip on reality, a wave of bizarrely gruesome murders, a mystery that would keep even David Fincher on the edge of his seat. It’s all there. The elements you crave in a film of this kind, executed perfectly. However, it’s not until the second half, where you’re brought into the malaised mind of Koji Yakusho’s unreliable narrator, that everything you thought you knew starts to be challenged.
This is a masterclass in the relationship between sound design and editing. The persistent dull hum of oceanic waves and monotonous winds paired with the disturbingly liminal locations creates a constant feeling of unease and threat. This is an experience wound so tight that it will have you flinching at every door creak and footstep.
The tonal residue of this film stayed with me for a long time after the screen went black.
All The Beauty and The Bloodshed | Laura Poitras, 2022
The documentary that kick-started my fascination with the Sackler family and sent me down a dark complicated opioid-crisis-obsessed rabbit hole for the next year or so.
Focusing on Nan Goldin, and the way in which her artwork captured a community of counterculture misfits ravaged by the AIDs epidemic in America during the 80s, the documentary carries us lyrically towards the present day, where Nan is the David set against the Sackler family’s Goliath.
This is a beautiful portrait of a woman representing a voice for the marginalised and rejected. Art to activism, this is the blueprint, and boy is it deeply moving.
Hector Wright
Hector Wright is a social network of interconnecting souls who runs on an ancient sort of magic.