mona

terence fletcher is just my mom in a black t-shirt helping me with my 4th grade math homework

> ***“So please, do not forget me. My life was miserable and I was lonely. But remember me as the one who wrestled her fate at the end.”*** The sheer cinematic weight of this film is staggering. I’m absolutely, completely obsessed with the choice of monochrome throughout the film! The decision to shoot this entirely in black and white creates such a masterclass in visual tension. Every single frame is so rich and drenched in shadows... It creates this intoxicating, dreamlike claustrophobia that makes it an unbelievably immersive experience. I could honestly watch it on mute and still be completely mesmerized by how gorgeous it is… But the story is just as gripping! The psychological mystery of it all completely pulls you in by the throat! The narrative dynamic is so fascinating, perfectly contrasting the dull, suffocating boredom of a mundane routine with the terrifying, electric thrill of a suspected serial killer. The driver uses this inescapable sexual charm and fatal magnetism as a literal weapon, truly dangerous and terrifying in some sense, the power one could hold without seeming so malicious nor hostile… The way the film explores the protagonist’s twisted attraction to him is phenomenal! She’s caught entirely between the horrific reality of what he might be and her own desperate, dark desires. It’s such a dangerous, gorgeous exploration of how closely intertwined fear and arousal(?) interest(?) allured(?) can be… Basically stepping onto the edge of a cliff just to finally feel something alive, breaking free from the boredom of such everyday routines. An absolutely hypnotic masterpiece! I will be thinking about these stunning visuals for a very long time…

> ***“Maybe it’s only a dream! We’re dreaming, Joshua.”*** A very misleading title, yet wondrous tragicomedy! A blinding proof that radical love can survive and exist within the most absolute tragedy and chaos. It brilliantly explores the sheer, desperate power of laughter to levitate the human spirit when faced with an otherwise crushing reality. Roberto Benigni directed a cinematic fable that’s equal parts magical and devastating (double down on the devastating). Yet, I have to admit that utilizing such a horrific historical atrocity as a theatrical backdrop for a whimsical narrative about a father and his son sits a bit uneasily in my chest. It does not sit quite well with me to watch the darkest chapter of humanity filtered through the lens of elaborate games and humor… I completely understand why this film alienates some viewers, as framing such unimaginable trauma with such lightness and comedy can easily feel jarring and highly controversial. But despite that hesitation, the film absolutely dismantled me! Knowing that Benigni entrenched this narrative in the actual experiences of a survivor’s novel (Rubino Romeo Salmonì’s *‘In the End, I Beat Hitler’*), as well as his own father’s time in a labor camp, shifts the perspective entirely and earned my utmost of appreciation. The ferocious, almost delusional lengths a parent will go to shield their child’s psyche and innocence from the abyss. Horrific to merely imagine and absolutely tragic. I suppose it moved me exactly the way it was intended to. Bravo!

it’s endlessly fascinating how people came together to meticulously resurrect this piece, hand-painting and restoring thousands of individual frames so carefully, delicately, is such a profound labor of love! there is something so deeply beautiful and fundamentally human about dedicating that much energy to saving art made by another human over a century ago... to literally breathe life back into the very first sci-fi film! it is an absolute triumph of human collaboration! and to witness the sheer, unhinged imagination of Georges Méliès is just staggering. he was an absolute visionary... taking the mechanics of stage illusion and basically inventing cinematic magic out of thin air. to think he conceptualized such a surreal, bizarre lunar dreamscape back in 1902 is completely mind-bending… watching this piece also serves as a staggering reminder of exactly how far cinema has evolved, seeing where it all started makes you realize how easily we take modern visual advancements for granted… yet, also, there is immense comfort in knowing that humans have always harbored this deep, obsessive love for the arts... we have always been desperate to entertain each other and build entirely new worlds on screen. it’s just incredibly inspiring to witness the pure, unpolished origins of that passion! what an absolute joy of a watch!