What to Watch When You’re Sick of Watching

Genevieve Onori

I’m Genevieve, a writer and filmmaker based in Naarm. The greatest source of escapism I’ve found over the past two years has been in watching films that not many others have seen. To reprieve my friends from my endless lists of recommendations, I write reviews of the obscure (and admittedly not so obscure) films I think you should watch

***

In this age of Netflix specials, A24-wannabees and senseless remakes, there are few films being made now that feel like the medium of cinema is being truly appreciated. Don’t be mistaken, I have seen a good share of new films both on the couch and at the cinemas these past few months, but while I have been entertained, quite rarely am I impressed. I’m looking for a film that breaks the boundaries, that takes what it has and uses every element of filmmaking to the very best of its ability. Just over 100 years from the feature film’s inception, I wonder why it seems as though we have made enough progress in the industry, that we find ourselves religiously recreating what already exists (how many more Batmans do we need until Bruce runs out of juice?) I hate sounding like a cynic, but I am a cynic, through and through.

At the intersection of moving image, sound and narrative sits film. To minimise these factors to their most mundane, or to result to repetition, makes for average and banal cinema. I wonder, have we seen all the good stuff wrung dry?

But don’t fret, there’s heaps of good shit out there. When I’m in a viewing slump, I found myself returning to a few films that I think will remind you how good the art of cinema really is.

#1 DONKEY SKIN

Based off a truly disturbing fairy tale, Donkey Skin, on paper, reads as a messed up horror film. Understandably, this princess story never got a Disney animation, but in 1973 France, it did get a live action musical. A king, recently widowed, vows to remarry someone more beautiful than his wife. The only woman who meets the quota is his own daughter. The Princess escapes, and what ensues is probably the most unexpectedly gaudy and camp hour and a half of your life. Certainly, the subject matter is gruesome, but the tone of the film is anything but. From the rainbow-coloured set design to the incredible costuming, it’s impossible to be bored watching this film.

Donkey Skin, albeit imperfect and ridiculous, stands out to me because it ventures where few films fear to tread nowadays. It takes quite a disturbing source material and does something completely unexpected with it. Donkey Skin exists purely to have fun and entertain its audience in the most unabashedly childish way possible. There is very little out there that bothers to go where Donkey Skin goes, and that might be why I love it so much.

#2 THE RED SHOES

The Red Shoes is another fairy tale that you might have already heard of. A dancer finds a pair of red shoes, puts them on and cannot stop dancing. Despite her efforts, she cannot take them off. Life passes by, love passes by… and what happens in the end? She dies, of course.

But the film is not just an adaptation of the fairy tale like Donkey Skin. It’s the story of a ballerina who makes her name in a ballet, based off The Red Shoes tale by Hans Christian Andersen. She falls in love with the composer, but cannot escape the demands of the director. She is left torn between her love and her art.

It’s a familiar tale that we have seen incarnated hundreds of times, but what makes this film so outstanding is its understanding of artistic passion, and how it drives all three of the players in this film to madness.

Halfway through the film, the film halts to present us The Red Shoes ballet. The set design, music, lighting and performance is entirely unique to this film – it manages to capture the beauty of ballet on a two-dimensional screen in a way unlike any other. It’s no wonder that the film is considered a classic.

#3 DAISIES

Daisies was released in 1966, but if you watch it now, you might be surprised by how strangely modern it all seems. Almost every female-led narrative being released right now is just copying what Daisies managed almost 60 years ago.

Unapologetic, ridiculous, and punk before punk even existed, Daisies follows the lives of two best friends, both named Marie, who abandon all civility in an attempt to mimic the chaos of the world around them. The two girls indulge in childish and farcical behaviour which oscillates between being disturbing, hilarious and confusing. The film is strung up like a collage of disjointed, dream-like scenes which are held together by a very thin piece of thread.

At times you’ll want to rip your hair out with frustration, and at others you’ll be laughing your ass off. Of course, this type of scandalous behaviour by women was not appreciated so much upon Daisies release. Directed by Věra Chytilová, the film served to criticise the politics of Czechoslovakian communist regime. Now, it holds up as an integral piece of female filmmaking history.

But aside from all that, it’s just fun to watch girls act utterly diabolical for no reason at all.

#4 IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE

The tenderness that exudes from this film is almost unshakeable. After watching, you may find yourself peacefully yearning for a love gone by, or for a love not yet experienced. I was fortunate enough to watch this film in cinema at ACMI’s Wong Kar Wai festival last year, in a packed room of his fans. You could just feel that the trembling emotion felt between the two main characters in this film was being experienced by every person in the crowd as they watched. In the Mood for Love is an emphatic experience; not just a visual or sound one.

Two neighbours discover their respective partners are cheating on them with each other and, in an effort to understand why, the two find themselves falling in love. It’s a slow burn romance (maybe even the slowest burn romance around) that will have you silently aching by the end of its 98-minute run time. But despite the pacing, this film never feels too slow or boring. Every frame is like a beautiful painting of rainy and red Hong Kong in the 60s. You’ll be fascinated flicking through the gallery of these characters lives and learning their minds as this story unfolds. It’s stylised and glamorous like a classic film, proving that intimate moments on film don’t have to be as intimate as we’re used to nowadays.

You can follow the Demure Letterboxd account here.