Directed by Karim Aïnouz When Invisible Life leans into the melodrama it becomes otherworldly. The story of two sisters separated sometime around age 18 is inherently melodramatic, based solely on the justification for their separation, but it's not until the second half that the film sheds any semblance of realism and becomes almost magical, albeit in a … Continue reading Invisible Life (2019)
melodrama
The Aeronauts (2019)
Directed by Tom Harper The Aeronauts is satisfying. Half of it is a pure survival story right up there with some of the better ones (like The Martian, All is Lost, Gravity) while the other half struggles to push past constructed melodrama and instead leans into the same emotionally manipulative qualities as what we'd consider Oscar bait. In … Continue reading The Aeronauts (2019)
Volver (2006)
Directed by Pedro Almodovar Volver revolves around two sisters, Sole (Lola Dueñas) whose deceased mother has suddenly appeared from beyond the grave, and Raimunda (Penélope Cruz), whose daughter kills her stepfather in self-defense after he attempts to force himself on her. In both cases the storylines do not end in plotted melodrama but rather something … Continue reading Volver (2006)
Talk to Her (2002)
Directed by Pedro Almodovar How do you recommend this movie to someone without putting them off to it completely? It's the story of a friendship between men who give themselves almost entirely to the women they love, who both happen to be comatose. In the case of one of them his loyalty to a woman … Continue reading Talk to Her (2002)
Every Thing Will Be Fine (2015)
Directed by Wim Wenders Every Thing Will Be Fine is a melodrama that keeps you at arm's distance. Told over the course of a decade it tells the struggle of a man, woman and child after a fatal accident. He, Tomas (James Franco) was the driver of a car that hit one of two young … Continue reading Every Thing Will Be Fine (2015)
Asako I & II (2018)
Directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi If the title character of Asako I & II were more devious, maybe even just more active, then this might be more like Vertigo. She meets and falls immediately for a young man named Baku, his stringy long hair acting like a theater curtain slowly being drawn over his face, hiding something. Asako falls … Continue reading Asako I & II (2018)
Moonrise (1948)
Directed by Frank Borzage Moonrise opens in brutal fashion, with the shadow of a man being hanged (without a chance at his final words, no less). From there we cut to the shadow of a hanging doll teasing a crying baby, the son of the hanged man. We next see that boy, Danny, a little … Continue reading Moonrise (1948)
Floating Weeds (1959)
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu Floating Weeds is a melodrama about a man whose ill-conceived but well-intentioned lie catches up to him. He is Komajuro, the leader of a small, struggling acting troupe as it arrives in a seaside village in which resides a former mistress, Oyoshi, and adult son, Kiyoshi. Komajuro is immensely proud of … Continue reading Floating Weeds (1959)
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989)
Directed by Peter Greenaway The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & her Lover is a theatrical movie which takes place almost entirely within the large, ornate London restaurant owned by mobster Albert Spica (Michael Gambon, aka Albus Dumbledore). He eats there every night with his wife Georgina (Helen Mirren) and a group of his thugs … Continue reading The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989)
Freaks (1932)
Directed by Tod Browning Freaks is a bit of a melodrama about a group of circus "freaks" and a trapeze artist who goes by Cleopatra. Most of those in the traveling circus are severely disabled and deformed, whether they be limbless, legless, stunted or otherwise different. They see Cleopatra as an outsider, partially because she … Continue reading Freaks (1932)
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