Movie Reviews
Film Review: Dolphin (2023) by Bae Du-ri
“Go to Seoul and die, jerk”
Written, directed and edited by Bae Du-ri as a school project at the Korean Academy of Film Arts, “Dolphin” premiered last year at Jeonju and was released in Korean theaters this week.
The movie revolves around Na-young, a 35-year-old journalist at a local newspaper, who is definitely stuck in the small-town life she has experienced all her life, with her main focus being taking care of her mother, Jeong-ok, younger brother, Seong-woon and her friends. Na-young had a rather dramatic childhood, but through her routines and the simplicity of life in the particular location, she has found a degree of harmony. Everything, however, starts changing, when her mother informs her that she wants to sell the house Na-young grew up in, her brother decides to move to Seoul after finishing school, and Hae-soo, a man her age, relocates from Seoul. As Na-young cannot handle change, the potential alterations have her struggling intensely, until she discovers bowling.
Bae Du-ri directs a film that draws from personal experience, in a rather unusual coming-of-age story, since it focuses not on a teenager, but on a woman in her mid-30s. Without falling into the clutches of melodrama, as so frequently happens in Korean movies, she deals both with what causes people to be afraid of change, and how one can find relief from this type of agony. Regarding the first aspect, Na-young’s rather dramatic past as a kid is presented as the main source, which is actually revealed gradually, in timely moments within the narrative, with the director eloquently stating that, for her protagonist, life could have been much harder and the one she has now does look quite good for her. On the other hand, and while her mentality is somewhat justified in that fashion, the fact that she cannot cope with others moving on is a sign of immaturity, with the story focusing on how Na-young tries to overcome it.
And here comes the second, rather unusual element in the film, with bowling becoming a factor, and Bae exploring the sport in its amateur level quite thoroughly, as the particular alley and her proprietor function in the way bars and bartenders frequently function in cinema. That Na-young finds solace, a way out of her problems, and someone to talk to is a rather appealing element within the narrative, also adding a very entertaining sport element to an indie drama that actually stands out due to this part.
The comments, however, do not stop in Na-young and her effort to cope with change. The concept of the blended family is also central to the story, as much as the way people in small communities react to “outsiders” and the reasons the population of young adults in such areas is diminishing. That the characters of the movie mirror these comments is a testament to the quality of the writing, since Bae manages to both make her audience empathize with them and creates a chemistry that results in a number of interesting comments.
This aspect also owes a lot to the acting, which is one of the main sources of the realism that permeates the movie. Kwon Yu-ri as Na-young highlights her frustration excellently, both in her calm moments and the more rare ones, when she lashes out. The same applies to Kil Hae-yeon’s Jeong-ok, who does let’s her anger show more frequently, and Hyeon Woo-seok’s Seong-woon, who is actually the calmest one in the whole movie, despite his age. Both the acting, and the bottled up sentiments of the protagonist find their apogee in a scene close to the end, when no one can control their feelings anymore, in probably the most memorable sequence in the whole movie.
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Kim Him-chan’s cinematography follows the realistic lines of the narrative, although the bowling parts are occasionally impressive, in a rather welcome change from the usual approach of Korean arthouse dramas, which is also found in the pace. That the movie lasts for 90 minutes is another rather welcome aspect that should be attributed to Bae’s editing, which results in an economical approach that does so by avoiding the usual melodramatic shenanigans.
“Dolphin” is a gem of a film, one of the rare Japanese indies that manages to stray away both from the melodrama and the “Hong Sang-soo recipe”, retaining both its entertainment and its contextual richness for the whole of its duration.
Desert Warrior, 2026.
Directed by Rupert Wyatt.
Starring Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley, Ghassan Massoud, Sharlto Copley, Sami Bouajila, Lamis Ammar, Géza Röhrig, Numan Acar, Nabil Elouahabi, Hakeem Jomah, Ramsey Faragallah, Saïd Boumazoughe, and Soheil Bostani.
SYNOPSIS:
An honorable and mysterious rogue, known as Hanzala, makes himself an enemy of the Emperor Kisra after he helps a fugitive king and princess in the desert.
With aspirations of being a historical epic harkening back to the sword and sandal blockbusters of yesteryear, Rupert Wyatt’s seventeenth-century Arabia tale is about as generic and epically dull as one would expect from a film plainly titled Desert Warrior. Yes, there appear to be real locations here, and there are some admittedly sweeping shots of various tribes storming into battle on horseback and camels, but it’s all in service of a mess that is both miscast and questionable as the work of a filmmaking team of mostly white creatives.
The story of Emperor Kisraa (Ben Kingsley, a distracting presence even with only one or two scenes) rounding up women from other tribes to be his concubines, which inevitably became the catalyst for a revolution led by Princess Hind (Aiysha Hart), uniting all the divided clans and strategizing battle plans for flanking and poisoning, is undeniably ripe for cinematic treatment. The problem is that what’s here from Rupert Wyatt (and screenwriters Erica Beeney, Gary Ross, and David Self) is less than nothing in the primary creative process; no one seems to have a connection to Arabic heritage or culture, but they have made a flat-out boring film that is often narratively incoherent.
Following the death of her father and escaping the clutches of oppression, the honorable Princess Hind joins forces with a troubled, nameless bandit played by Anthony Mackie (he totally belongs here…), who seems to be here solely to give the movie some star power boost without running the risk of white savior accusations. Whatever the case may be, it’s jarring, but not quite as disorienting as how little screen time he has despite being billed as the lead and how little characterization he has. It is, however, equally disorienting as some of the other names that show up along the way.
As for the other factions, Princess Hind talks to them one by one, giving the film an adventure feel that fails to capitalize on using beautiful scenery in striking or visually poignant ways at almost every turn; the leaders of these tribes also often have no character. There also isn’t much of an understanding of why these tribes are at odds with one another. This movie is filled with dialogue that consistently and shockingly amounts to vague nothingness. Nevertheless, each tribe doesn’t take much convincing to begin with, meaning that not only is the film repetitive, but it’s also lifeless when characters are in conversation.
That Desert Warrior does occasionally spring to life, and a bloated 2+ running time is a small miracle. This is typically accomplished through the occasional fight scene between factions that also serves to demonstrate Princess Hind coming into her own as a warrior. When the tribes are united in a massive-scale battle, and that plan is unfolding step by step, one certainly sees why someone would want to tell this story and pull it off with such spectacle. However, this film is as dry as the desert itself.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=embed/playlist
‘4’, the opening track on Richard D James’ (Aphex Twin) self titled 1996 album is a piece of music that beautifully balances the chaotic with the serene, the oppressive and the freeing. It’s a trick that James has pulled off multiple times throughout his career and it is a huge part of what makes him such an iconic and influential artist. Many people have laid the “next Aphex Twin” label on musicians who do things slightly different and when you actually hear their music you realise that, once again, the label is flawed and applied with a lazy attitude. Why mention this? Well, it turns out we’ve been looking for James’ heir apparent in the wrong artform. We’ve so zoned in on music that we’ve not noticed that another Celtic son of Cornwall is rewriting an art form with that highwire balancing act between chaos and beauty. That artist is writer, director and composer Mark Jenkin who over his last two feature films has announced himself as an idiosyncratic voice who is creating his very own language within the world of cinema. Jenkin’s films are often centred around coastal towns or islands and whilst they are experimental or even unsettling, there is always a big heart at the centre of the narrative. A heart that cares about family, tradition, culture, and the pull of ‘home’. Even during the horror of 2022’s brilliant Enys Men you were anchored by the vulnerability and determination of its main protagonist.
This month sees the release of Jenkin’s latest feature film, Rose of Nevada, which is set in a fractured and diminished Cornish coastal town. One day the fishing boat of the film’s title arrives back in harbour after being missing for thirty years. The boat is unoccupied. And frankly that is all the information you are going to get because to discuss any more plot would be unfair on you and disrespectful to Jenkin and the team behind the film. You the viewer should be the one who decides what it is about because thematically there are so many wonderful threads to pull on. This writer’s opinions on what it is about have ranged from a theme of sacrifice for the good of a community to the conflict within when part of you wants to run away from your roots whilst the other half longs to stay and be a lifelong part of its tapestry. Is it about Brexit? Could be. Is it about our own relationships with time and our curation of memory? Could be. Is it about both the positives and negatives of nostalgia? Could be. As a side note, anyone in their mid-40s, like me, who came of age in the 1990s will certainly find moments of warm recognition. Is the film about ghosts and how they haunt families? Could be…I think you get the point.
The elements that make the film so well balanced between chaos and calm are many. It is there in the differing performances between the brilliant two lead actors George MacKay and Callum Turner. It is there in the sound design which fluctuates from being unbearably harsh and metallic, to lulling and warm. It is there in the editing where short, sharp close ups on seemingly unimportant factors are counterbalanced with shots that are held for just that little bit too long. For a film set around the sea, it is apt that it can make you feel like you’re rolling on a stomach churning storm one minute, or a calming low tide the next. Dialogue can be front and centre or blurred and buried under static. One shot is bathed in harsh sunlight whilst the next can be drowned in interior shadows.
Rose of Nevada is Mark Jenkin’s most ambitious film to date yet he has not lost a single iota of innovation, singularity of vision or his gift for telling the most human of stories. It is a film that will tell you different things each time you see it and whilst there are moments that can confuse or beguile, there is so much empathy and love that it can leave you crying tears of emotional understanding. It is chaotic. It is beautiful. It is life……
Rose of Nevada is released on the 24th April.
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Released through the BFI – Instagram | Facebook
Review by Simon Tucker
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