I have a passion for learning, discovery, and inspiration. While working on a narrative non-fiction story that I felt (at the time) might have cinematic potential, I became interested in how to tell a story visually. Outside of some work years ago as a field producer in documentary television, I am a complete amateur in the visual storytelling arena. So, I did what came naturally. I began reading, watching, listening, and studying the greats – photographers, cinematographers, composers, writers, and directors. I began an instagram artist gallery in 2020 to learn more – and discovered I had a keen personal interest in photography. In the early months of 2024, I gave myself an assignment to watch a variety of films to deepen my understanding of the craft of storytelling and filmmaking. I found that writing about films gave me a foothold in what I discovered I love the most about storytelling – the intuitive process by which we capture in words, sounds, and images what is felt — though not always seen. Here are some of the films I found the most resonant. – Christiane Schull
Posted originally on Facebook.
Feb 11, 2024
Maestro
Maestro is thunderous. A grand, sweeping, captivating film with a complicated love story at its center. Bradley Cooper, who co-wrote (+Josh Singer), directed and stars as legendary composer, conductor Leonard Bernstein opposite the winning Carey Mulligan as his wife, Felicia Montealegre, has created a masterpiece. Bradley Cooper’s whole hearted passion for this story is apparent in every frame. Maestro is larger than life as is Cooper in this role.
Shot in black and white and colour, (cinematography by Matthew Libatique, editor, Michelle Tesoro), this gorgeous sprawling tableau of life in the Bernstein world dazzles. The film would be nothing without Carey Mulligan who brings nobility, grace, fierceness and effervescent charm to her role as Bernstein’s wife and delivers an achingly powerful performance. She is clearly his North Star and the true heart of the story. One of the most powerful moments is when Bernstein/Cooper sits between his wife and his gay paramour in the Kennedy Centre , hands clasped, fidgeting. Cooper’s face reveals his inner conflicts – unable to hold back the tide of truth. What happens next is agonizing to watch. Mulligan brings us with her. We feel her pain – especially because of the easy, forgetful, casualness of his actions. It is also one of the few times in the film when he is absent a cigarette, yet completely at peace. — Love is complicated. So too can be the truth. Maestro doesn’t hesitate. It’s all in.
Feb 16, 2024
Anatomy of a Fall
Anatomy of a Fall is a French drama, directed by Justine Triet and written by Triet and Arthur Harari. Taut and absent of artifice, it lays bare the landscape of pain that leads to a husband’s death.
It feels very cinema verite as if a camera just rolled as these moments play out in front of us. The stunning centre of this film is 11-year old Daniel, played by Milo Machado-Graner, who is called as a witness in the trial against his mother. Visually impaired, his sensory acuity and intelligence is sharp and his moral compass intact. He delivers a riveting performance that both surprises and grips you to the last. He so clearly feels and senses between the lines of his parents relationship. Making sense of what neither of them seem able to do. He is his father’s voice in the end. A powerful film, well worth seeing.
Feb 18th, 2024
Oppenheimer
Epic biopic, highly experiential and visually immersive, Oppenheimer, written for the screen and directed by Christopher Nolan, and adapted from the Pulitzer-prize winning book American Prometheus: The tragedy and triumph of J Robert Oppenheimer, by Martin J Sherwin and Kai Bird, is a sensation.
A complex electrifying narrative that shifts back and forth in time in black and white and colour, Oppenheimer’s editing (Jennifer Lame), cinematography (Hoyte van Hoytema), art direction, music score and sound are as much the stars of this film as the extraordinary acting by its cast, headlined by the increasingly haunting and haunted Cillian Murphy as J.Robert Oppenheimer, creator of the atomic bomb, Emily Blunt as his wife Kitty, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr, Florence Pugh, and so many others. Fantastic cameos by Tom Conti as Albert Einstein and Tony Goldwyn as Gordon Gray, attorney and national security official.
Staggering visually with sweeping, hypnotic views, haunting, urgent syncopation, it has in some ways the spirit of Sir David Lean’s Lawrence Of Arabia (1962) which itself took home several Oscars for best directing and best picture, cinematography, art direction, sound and music score, and film editing, notably, Anne V Coates.
Oppenheimer is vast in scope, intimate, personal and wrenching at its core. All that washing on the line. ” Don’t take in the sheets.” What could be more intimate, personal or wrenching than the end of the world? A false accusation and scurrilous lie engineered by a vindictive foe.
Feb 19, 2024
Killers of the Flower Moon
The true story of the 1920s Osage Nation murders immortalized in director, Martin Scorsese’s extraordinary film, Killers of The Flower Moon, written by Eric Roth and Martin Scorsese, and based on David Graan’s book, “Killers of The Flower Moon; The Osage Murders and The Birth of The FBI” is a blistering indictment of searing prejudice and evil.
From the opening, Robbie Robertson’s hypnotic blues rock score lays down a beat that never leaves you. It thrums its way into your being – an omen of the growing evil to come.
The film is riveting from the opening frames. Attention to detail supreme. It is shot in both film and digital, black and white and colour. Editing by Thelma Schoonmaker; Cinematography by Rodrigo Prieto.
Prieto explained his approach in an interview by indepthcine .com, “Part of the role of the cinematographer is to find ways so that the camera and lighting really represent what (characters) are feeling. What’s the energy of the scene. What should it feel like?”
Feeling is everything in this film.
Robert Deniro’s portrayal of cattle baron William “King” Hale in 1920s Oklahoma is masterful and as sinister as they come. Hale is a man whose lies and machinations are so practiced and commonplace, you imagine ice water runs through his veins.
Leonardo DiCaprio plays Deniro’s nephew Ernest Burkhart who with Lily Gladstone as Osage Molly Burkhart is the true heart of this film. Their love story keeps us enthralled in the midst of encroaching evil.
DiCaprio captivates from the first scene on the train. He is a veteran of war, sombre, unsettled, troubled from the get yet searching for a better life. The dour look on his face only seems to lighten at the sight of a brawl in the opening minutes of the film. It is a glimpse into the man we will soon come to know.
Lily Gladstone as Molly Burkhart brings gentleness, elegance, subtlety, steadfast honour, love and passion to her role. She is never more haunting than when she learns of the murder of her sister. A wail that could wake the dead earth.
Other stand-out performances include Jesse Plemons as former Texas Ranger and FBI Tom White sent in to investigate the many murders of Osage citizens. Plemons as Tom White brings an understated authority and unexpected sensitivity to the role.
Brendan Fraser is a surprise as Hale’s defense attorney. He demonstrates the necessary bombastic brashness and zeal.
Tantoo Cardinal as Osage mother/grandmother (to Molly and her sisters) is the matriarchal voice of the tribe, mostly, a silent witness, a knower of the truth that marriage to the white man is the key to their downfall. She is a keeper of native wisdom, a bridge to the other side and a link to the natural world. So in tune with the unseen, she sees what others don’t – the great owl, harbinger of death. She reminds us we are in “their” world. Not the other way around.
The Osage tribal members played by Yancee Red Corn as Chief Bonneecastle, William Belleau as a sad and melancholic Henry Roan, Talee Redcorn as Non-Hon-Zhin-Ga and so many others bring a regal force, majesty, and purity – a sharp contrast to the greed & villainy of the white man.
Deniro and Dicaprio together on screen and alone offer visceral, powerful performances. One of the most gripping include, when a frightened Ernest Burkhart (DiCaprio) seeks out Hale/Deniro for help, Hale tries to quiet him, getting so close to him that he grabs his ear as if it’s a coin he plans to pocket.
Ernest Burkhart/ DiCaprio slapping the black fly away from his face as if his conscience can no longer be kept at bay.
Hale/Deniro, a watery silhouette against the fiery red sky as the prairie burns. His men move up and down like levers in a ballet of choreographed indifference; no one puts the fire out. Hale is a man of malfeasance; his motives can no longer remain hidden.
The geyser of oil that shoots up from the earth at the start of the film becomes a river of blood at the end. So much for all that lucre.
The sacred rituals and songs of the Osage people open and close this film. The Great Spirit of the Osage (Wakonda) is an immense, invisible energy and creative force that pervades everything. Air. Sky. Earth. Waters. Sun. Moon. Stars. Creatures great and small. It is everlasting, a bringer of enduring hope, Love, strength, Light, and truth.
Feb 22nd, 2024
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Alright now, I am a late comer to this comedic gem. And if you have not seen it, do yourself a favor and see it. Ben Stiller’s 2013 updated take (writer Steve Conrad) on the 1947 classic The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, loosely based on a 1939 James Thurber short story, is pure joy.
The original starring Danny Kaye is fantastic. Danny Kaye like Buster Keaton before him were extra-ordinary masters of their craft. In the 1947 film, Danny Kaye plays a hapless daydreamer Walter Mitty who gets caught up in a sinister conspiracy. Kaye is so full of wit, charm and spunk, he dazzles with his escapades and oral gymnastics- rapid fire rhyming singing verses at the drop of a hat. Kaye is supercalafragalistic on steroids. Writing in this ‘47 version is off the charts clever, inventive and funny.
Feb 22, 2024
Barbie
Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig and written by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, cinematography by Rodrigo Prieto, is uber-pink and brilliant. Barbie is a sharp, satirical send-up – infectious out-of-the-box, come-from-away, sugar-coated pink swirl of a world made up of many Barbies and Kens that skewers sexism and patriarchy with a cheeky smile.
Margot Robbie’s smart-as-a whip comic timing paired with her beauty, wit, and silliness makes for an irresistible onscreen Barbie combo.
When Barbie/Robbie tells us: “By giving voice to the cognitive dissonance required to be a woman under the patriarchy you rob it of its power!” every woman – in fact, anyone who has ever been subjected to it – cheers. Robbie is a brilliant choice for the role precisely because she is the stereotypic “doll” – so beautiful and “too beautiful” all at once.
Many laugh out loud moments, Connor Swindell as intern, Aaron Dinkins, in a Mattel boardroom filled with men, says: “I am a man with no power does that make me a woman?”
Other great performances – Rhea Perlman as the ghost of Mattel founder, Ruth Handler who helps Barbie finally step into human hood ( and through that final door, touché!), America Ferrera as Gloria, Will Ferrell as Mattel’s CEO, Ryan Gosling as Ken.
✨
Feb 25, 2024
Rustin
Rustin, the biographical drama about Bayard Rustin, one of the greatest yet little known and openly gay civil rights activists of all time, chief architect of the 1963 March on Washington for equality, jobs and freedom, and mentor to Martin Luther King Jr, is a monumental film and a magnificent work of art. Rustin captures the pure, raw, electric, inspirational, aspirational, undaunted, and uncompromising energy of the man himself.
Directed by George C Wolfe, written for the screen by Justin Breece and Dustin Lance Black, cinematography by Tobias Schliessler, with a magnetic big band jazz music score by Branford Marsalis giving this film its captivating spirit, rhythm, strut, and pacing, Rustin delivers the power and intimacy of the theatre writ large for the screen.
The writing is fire! Like spoken word poetry, every moment, every scene, every passage is brilliant – visceral, unflinching, eloquent, purposeful, courageous, rousing, tender, explosive, fearless.
The cast is extraordinary. From the astonishing performance by Colman Domingo as Bayard Rustin who lives and breathes this role in every ember of his being, to Chris Rock as Roy Wilkins, Aml Ameen as Martin Luther King Jr, Glynn Turmann as A Philip Randolph, Union organizer, Johnny Ramey as preacher, Elias Taylor, Gus Halper as Tom, CCH Pounder as Dr Anna Hedgeman, Audra Macdonald as Ella Baker, Lilli Kaye as Rachelle, and so many others.
Among many, many breathtaking scenes, these stand out for the clarity, elegance, fierceness, spirit, and tenderness of the writing and acting: on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial Rustin/Domingo addressing the police; with Ella Baker/Audra Macdonald describing Rustin as “a shark trapped in a damn shot glass”, urging him to “harness his energy with Martin Luther King Jr for our freedom”; Rustin/Domingo with his lover, preacher, Elias Taylor/Johnny Ramey in the park; Rustin/Domingo himself speaking to the rank prejudice of the white man with words so sharp they impale ignorance with “exulted rage” – “I’m not railing at Jim for being arrogant and ill informed. The fact that he happens to be white while doing so is between him and the Lord”; Rustin/Domingo skipping up the steps of Utopia, the community club that would become the organizing hub for the March as though he had no care in the world; and at the end of the March when he joins the volunteers in picking up trash – brought me to tears. This film, its actors, and its words are a force to behold.
As is often said, if it ain’t on the page it ain’t on the stage/screen, all I can say is thank God it was on the page so it could make it to the screen. The once little known story of Bayard Rustin and the monumental and instrumental role he played in the civil rights movement will be indelibly and unforgettably etched into memory because of this film.
Feb 27, 2024
American Symphony
American Symphony is a soaring and uplifting documentary film about multi-Grammy Award winning singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, and band leader Jon Batiste and his wife author Suleika Jaouad and her struggle with cancer.
The film, directed by Matthew Heineman, tracks Batiste’s success from “Washington Heights and Goya beans” to the lofty realms as band leader on the Steven Colbert show (“how’d I get here?”) and beyond. “Fame” he says, “you have to protect yourself from it becoming the primary way you relate to your life and loved ones.”
The heart of the film is the love story he shares with his wife, Suleika Jaouad. Together they are a bright beacon of hope, creativity, love and light- illuminated and tender, finding joy and strength in each other while coping with her cancer remission.
Batiste is larger than life, a multi-talented yet humble, grateful person who defies and resists definition and relates to his music as “spiritual practice”. His intent is to have a positive impact in everything he does. The final scene, his performance of American Symphony at Carnegie Hall, is a battle cry to freedom – freedom for all.
Feb 27, 2024
Society of the Snow
Remarkable true story of tragedy and triumph, Society of The Snow, is a film about the Uruguayan Rugby team crash aboard Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 in the Andes in 1972 and the struggle for survival of 16 of the 45 passengers.
Directed by J.A. Bayona, written by JA Bayona, Bernet Vilaplana, Jaime Marques, Nicolas Casariego, with cinematography by Pedro Luque Briozzo, music score by Michael Gracchino, editing team, Andre Gils, Jaime Mark, the film is based on the 2009 book of the same name by Pablo Vierci.
There is a ferocity and velocity to this film from the outset. And a visual majesty that is captivating throughout.
At the heart of this film is the love and friendship between the survivors and the trust and inner fortitude they will call upon to deal with the excruciating challenges before them. The narrator at the opening tells us the 19-20-year-old boys barely knew each other when they boarded the plane but were all raised with love and in houses by the sea. It is a touching introduction in stark contrast to the brutal conditions they will soon meet.
In an accompanying documentary about the making of the film, one of the adult Andes survivors is quoted as having told the director: “Do what you want but remember you have my life at the heart of this.” Apparently, the survivors of the Andes crash felt that Bayona and his team honoured their story, paid meticulous attention to detail, even selecting actors (largely newcomers) whose personalities were similar to the survivors.
I wept through much of this film (bring Kleenex). The story was told with great love and respect for those who died and those who survived. The love was palpable.
Feb 29th, 2024
The Boys in The Boat
Everyone loves a good underdog story and The Boys In The Boat is a great one.
Based on the book of the same name by Daniel James Brown, directed by George Clooney, screenplay by Daniel James Brown and Mark L Smith, music score by Alexandre Desplat, cinematography by Martin Ruhe, The Boys In The Boat tells the inspirational true story of the University of Washington rookie rowing team that competed for the gold medal at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.
The film woos you from its opening scene; lyrical and visually poetic. It builds in intensity and excitement introducing us to the boys we will champion to the end.
Joel Edgerton as Coach Al Ulbrickson has a steady hand and watchful eye, grit and faith and love for the sport and his team. He inspires comparisons to John Keating/Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society and Lt Slade/Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman for the way he stands for and fights for his boys. The Boys In The Boat is a film imbued with the spirit of those other great films.
Peter Guinness as George Pocock is the right loving medicine at the perfect moment delivering words that go straight to the heart of a boy he can see is bent on greatness. He is also at the center of some of the most magical scenes, in the boat-making loft, showing Joe Rantz/Callum Turner how to care for what is most precious and nurturing the bond that will carry them to victory.
Callum Turner as Joe Rantz around whom the film revolves is compelling, striking, understated and real.
The Boys in The Boat is the story of an unlikely and unexpected victory; and the rookie team that persevered against great odds.
~ Christiane Schull