Divines (2016) - Houda Benyamina

I guess films about the suburb (banlieue) population is a legit genre. People who are from the lowest social ladder try really hard everyday to strive or simply just to survive, most of them have one thing in common, anger. People who are just like us but not really. It’s hard to admit and nothing derogate. Some people just struggle to put food on the table. 

What makes Divines different from it’s genre? It’s funny, it’s light but it’s also hard to watch at times and it definitely doesn’t sugarcoat anything. There is this incredible friendship between the two young actresses which is something rare to see in this kind of genre. It’s interesting how they play with gender roles in the film, they put the female lead into dealing and the male into dancing. When he asked: “do you know how much my life would change right now?” There is a sense of irony, viewing that she was making fun of him working in security for a supermarket on the side while he was auditioning for a dancing company. Obviously she thinks she makes a better choice than he does but does she?

A little side note, the male lead… you will know what i mean when you watch it. Maybe it’s just me but I don’t think so.

julieta (2016) - Pedro Almodóvar

Almodóvar said in an interview that every single colour used in the film meant something, from the wardrobe to the wallpaper. (a lot of directors do pay a lot of attention to colours but not all of cause like Gus Van Sant [not as much]) And julieta is different from his other films since the presence of female dialogues are less prominent even through the film is guided by the narrative point of Julieta.

Looking the Movie (2016) - Andrew Haigh

I love the tag line for the movie, “The end is a new beginning”. 

The final chapter of the HBO series Looking, a year later after where season 2 ended. Patrick (Jonathan Groff) comes back to San Francisco for a weekend to attend a wedding. 

Obviously, this movie is about closures. Maybe I am a bit basis, I have been and always will be “Team Kevin”, the scene where they meet for the last time just breaks my heart. I feel like it has happened to all of us before. There are a lots of “what if” throwing in the air, I am not saying we should just forgive our cheating boyfriends and start all over again. It’s more about facing the problem, how you handle your emotions and most importantly how you deal with it. Running, of course is a solution but it will probably lead you nowhere. Relationship is about “the spark”, yes, but the most crucial thing is how you work it out. Every relationship has their ups and downs, but if we always run away from them, what good does it do to us? The whole Kevin situation happened because Patrick is running away from his problems with Richie in the first place. 

What I love about Looking the series and the movie in general is how the show runners and the creators convey the emotions we all have, yes, it is a gay-themed series, but it happens to we all. It will be equally good even if it’s a heterosexual series. 

I guess the reason why it didn’t work with the audience is because it’s too real, too cruel. They are just like Patrick turning away from their problems and try to turn a blind eye to what is really happening around them. People hate conformation, they like something they could relate to but not too much. 

I love the idea that the movie could be called “the weekend” too, if you what I mean.