Film's Cool Firsts - Week 3: “Better late than never, but never late is better"
January 16 - January 22, 2023
This week for Film’s Cool Firsts, I watched movies from two directors who got back in the saddle last year.
Little Children (New Line Cinema) dir. Todd Field, now streaming on HBO Max ★★★★
Following a 16-year hiatus, director Todd Field wowed critics and moviegoers alike with TÁR—one of my favorite films from the past year. In many ways, it’s a movie singularly focused on the sole demise, socially, professionally, and internally, of the title character. Sure, the people around Lydia Tár feel the shockwaves of her fall from grace, but we don’t see it depicted as much on screen.
In Little Children, Field’s second feature length film and the predecessor to TÁR, the director shows us that our “internal battles” aren’t so internal. The movie opens with a news report: Ronnie J. Mccurvey (Jackie Earle Haley), a sex offender convicted of indecent exposure to a minor, is released from prison and back into society. The townspeople are less than ecstatic to reintegrate Ronnie back into the neighborhood. We also meet Sarah (Kate Winslett), a suburban mother unsatisfied with the doldrums of suburbia. She doesn’t relate to the other mothers in her daughter Lucy’s playgroup, nor is she particularly good at “being a mother,” often forgetting to pack Lucy’s lunch before going to the park.
Sarah’s life is shaken up considerably when Brad (Patrick Wilson), a stay-at-home dad and object of desire of the moms group, visits the park with his son Aaron. Like Sarah, Brad is discontent with his life—he has no ability or desire to pass the bar exam he’s already failed twice, he has no friends, and little to no connection with his wife Kathy (Jennifer Connolley). Sarah and Brad bond over their melancholy existence and romantically-absent spouses.
The more I think about this film, the more I like it. Field really captures uncomfortable feelings in a relatable way. Ronnie desires a life of normalcy, but his psychological illness prevents him from reentering society; Sarah wants to take back the power she feels she gave away to her husband who neither cares for her or their daughter in any meaningful way; and Brad is struggling to find a life purpose—a reason to get out of bed each day with a vigorous energy.
The last act of the movie fails to wrap these competing journeys in a way that satisfied me, but I enjoyed Little Children a lot.
You can watch Todd Field’s 2022 film TÁR in select theaters or on video on-demand.
Shoplifters or 万引き家族 (Wild Bunch) dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda, now streaming on Amazon Prime ★★★★½
We don’t get to choose our parents, our siblings, or our grandparents. When we’re born, all of the people with whom we spend our lives with are chosen for us. Shoplifters, a 2018 Japanese film by Hirokazu Kore-eda, turns this dynamic on its head. It tells the story of a family of misfits whose main source of income is grift—they steal from grocery and convenience stores; they fake work-related injuries to collect workers’ compensation; they simulate sexual acts to dupe desperate, lonely men; and they scam unsuspecting people out of thousands of yen (the currency of Japan).
I don’t want to spoil too much about the plot so I’ll just say I really loved this movie. It took me 3 times to actually sit through its entirety, which is why I’ll always prefer the theater over streaming services (less distractions!); but when I finally completed Shoplifters, I immediately felt regret for not seeing it sooner. I think it plays well with Moonlight, Barry Jenkins’ magnum opus. Both films make an unconventional case for what it really means to be family, a bond that goes way beyond shared genetics and birth certificates.
I was blown away by Sakura Ando’s character, Nobuyo. Ando oscillates between tenderness, hardness, and flirtatiousness in a way that stands out, even amongst the other great performances (like the two children, Kairi Jō and Miyu Sasaki.
You can watch Hirokazu Kore-eda’s 2022 film Broker in select theaters.