Reviews – Page 2 – No lipstick! Book & Film Reviews

Books: First Lie Wins. A Novel by Ashley Elton. 2023

It is a book about a female con artist who is controlled by a mysterious Mr. Smith who instructs her to do various jobs and defines her marks. The protagonist does not know who is her Master. The plot follows her relationships with her most current mark, Mr. Smith and some “helpers” and antagonists. OK, so far so good. BUT – the plot is so arbitrary and incredible that a self-respecting reader would get very annoyed and offended by the stupidity of the whole thing.

Here is the heroine talking: “I shove a few fries in my mouth while I consider my next move.” This is exactly what the author was doing while writing this novel…The protagonist has about ten other aliases for her previous “jobs” and they are all called upon when something in this outrageous plot has to be motivated.

I found this title on the best-seller list and it was an editor’s pick on Amazon, and a book-club selection! It is either a symptom of the enormous power of advertising or the stupidity of the (mostly) female reader or both. Scary!

Film: American Fiction. Directed by Cord Jefferson. 2023

I loved that film! It is the bold, fresh, original, well-made cinema that has become so rare recently. When is the last time you saw a film whose main characters are upper middle class educated African Americans?

The film turns upside down all the stereotypes of blackness. It is a satire addressed to the liberal whites who actually promote these stereotypes, or what they think as the “raw” truth about the “underrepresented voices” — their subconscious main motivation being to feel better about themselves. It exposes progressivist attitudes as a therapy for liberal guilt…

Without becoming the feel good lemonady film about race, “American Fiction” ironically reminds us through its original ending that race is a problem which cannot be easily brushed aside. But the way it has been treated recently is not beneficial for the black community.

The performances of the entire cast are great. Jeffrey Wright and Sterling K. Brown deserve to get the Oscars they are nominated for. Loved Erika Alexander’s subtle and intelligent presence.

Film: Killers of the Flower Moon. Directed by Martin Scorsese. 2023

I will call this: Eight problems I have with this film:

It is too long. It could have been at least 3o minutes shorter.
It is predictable because the villains are clear from the start, and the victims are helpless till the end.
It is a straightforward illustration of the intrinsic nature of white men’s capitalism/imperialism as crime. As an illustration of a thesis, it is less of a work of art than a piece of propaganda.
Leonardo De Caprio’s character – it is not clear whether he is an evil conniver or an idiot because the actor switches between these two interpreations of his character’s personality sometimes especially indulging in portraying the physical mannerisms of the “dimwit” aspect.
Lily Gladstone’s character – her behavior seems inconsistent. After realizing that a massive crime is being perpetrated against the Osage Indians, and going to Washington to seek help, she still trusts her husband’s caring for her and administering her insulin injections. This type of “devotion” seems to defy credibility.
The Osage Indians are denied any agency. They are depicted as prone to alcoholism, submissive, and naive. Their reaction to the murders is expressed through tribal superstition and dreams (e.g. the sequences involving Molly’s mother). They are described as big children who are helpless and easy to be taken advantage of, thus promoting a stereotype instead of undermining it.
Robert De Niro plays the sociopath that he has played many times before.
The script in general does not have a solid dramatic structure – that is, it does not obey the rules of drama, rather – it illustrates time and again the greed and evil nature of white men conspiring to commit murder after murder and never quite getting the just retribution for their crimes.

Film: Anatomy of a Fall. Director Justine Triet. 2023

With high chances of getting an Oscar and having won the Palme D’Or the film deserves some special attention. It is definitely of higher quality than some recent Cannes awardees. It does not merit descriptions like “thriller” of “court drama” even though it strives to be one.

Its failure of checking the boxes for court drama has been discussed already (in The New Yorker.) The part of it that explores the husband/wife conflict is probably its most banal aspect – there is a rivalry between the husband and the wife, the husband is of course the less successful one, he is week, he is jealous of his wife’s success, he is to blame for the child’s accident – too many cliches in one place to make up for an original analysis of a relationship gone wrong. The forensic aspect (angles of “the fall” being examined) does not really become relevant in the film – it is just the director playing the “court drama” part. The blind child as the unreliable witness - really?

It gradually becomes clear to the viewer that they are not going to get a clear answer in the who-done-it situation. And that is the most important feature of the film – its original conclusion. The child is made to realize that the world of the adults is complicated, that there is no real “truth” about who is to blame in a Fall – symbolically speaking. He realizes that he needs to “choose” what he is going to believe has happened since he would not be able to understand what has actually happened. The son choses to save his mother. And he does so by providing the decisive testimony that exonerates her. The final sequence of the film is its best – we see a tired mother, a deeply, existentially tired human being forever locking inside a secret impossible to ever share, embracing her child. A bond that transcends truth.

The best thing about this film is Sandra Huller’s performance. Formidable!

The Rachel Incident. A Novel by Caroline O’Donoghue.2023

I have not had a more enjoyable reading recently. The initial impression was of a cool witty language that would dominate the experience of reading the book but it soon became more than a captivating exercise in style.

It won me over with the best description of a book launch that was at the same time funny, cruel, and realistic. It captured the pathetic and the sublime in this culminating moment of an author’s experience and the ridiculous anticlimax in the encounter with their first audience.

The book has an original plot – it follows the dynamics of a love triangle of sorts but it is the triangle of a girl and her three archetypal lovers: the Teacher, the Friend and the Lover. Thus it allows the author to dissect the nature of adolescent desire or love – the combination of the erotic appeal of the intellectual, the platonic homo-erotic intimacy with the confidante, and the purely sexual attraction to the elusive man. The main character Rachel struggles her way to maturity by gradually sorting out the nature of her attractions and setting herself free from the first two along the way. But in retrospect, the time of her entanglement and confusing affinities with the three men is the happiest time of her life when love is diffuse and all-consuming before it becomes tamed and is channeled to culminate in a marriage.

O’Donoghue is a master of detail and the ability to capture the undercurrents of a scene. The one-liners can be smart and witty and dirty but are also vehicles of an underlying melancholy, the melancholy of growing up and fitting in.

She has more literary substance than some bearers of literary awards.