And just like that- it’s April. Carl (my cat) is feeling ghost heat and entering a masculinity battle with the feral outside so his new thing is to poop (yes) in front of the door once a week when he feels threatened. A co-worker suggested a calming diffuser for cats. He then pooped in front of the diffuser.
Anyway- Springtime! Culture! Onward!
Here are the shows, exhibits and films that made my March- feel free to send me yours <3
FILMS
Reminder- I love a slow movie that doesn’t say a ton. I understand that this is not for everyone, but Return to Seoul was a delight (for me at least/not for the guy several rows in front who would let out a sigh every half hour).
And what drew me in really was not as much the story (of an adopted Korean woman who goes back to Seoul to meet her biological parents after having been raised in France) than the character of Freddie, this woman per say. What I loved about her- which a lot of people hated- was that she makes no sense. She’s not necessarily always likable, resists the tropes the audience wants for her- to forgive her parents for letting her go. But that in itself kept me going. Film watcher and fellow director Claire Denis said of the film that Freddie (Ji-Min Park) seems to resist the director David Chou and the film itself. And Ji-Min in fact kind of was- she wanted her character to be more of a “fighter”, argued from her clothing to reflect that (unrelated but her leather jacket is to die for) and pushed back against a lot of the script- which- Chou enabled her to do. What’s even more intriguing is that this was Ji-Min’s first film- she is actually a visual artist- and that David found her through word of mouth/friends desperately searching for a Korean woman in France who would fit his idea of Freddie. Ji-Min certainly didn’t fit but I think took the film further than anything he or we could expect.
The music in the film is also stunning and really narrates the whole film. This scene of Freddie dancing is one of my favorite dancing scenes to date (on its own it might not really show/but is totally absurd in the context of when it happens).
(Return to Seoul and Freddie with her leather jacket)
Two other ang$ty films that were really beautiful were The Quiet Girl and Women Talking. Though very white they managed to construct a really strong narrative arc without really leaving a place (or two for Quiet Girl) which feels supernatural in this day and age where many movies feel fast/intense/all over the place.
(Image from The Quiet Girl)
If you’re craving a documentary, Navalny (on HBO) is worth watching just for one scene that is the greatest political theater of all time with an insane amount of potential tragedy/death consequences. I also was really impressed by the journalist in the doc who pressed Alexei on some challenging questions regarding his willingness to unfortunately come together with Nazis at times because “he just wants to get people together against Putin”- though his answer was not necessarily satisfactory- and charged in cultural differences in how we understand WWII- it was important to include in this hero story.
PERFORMANCES
I am not going to talk about Pina Bausch lol. But what I will say is that times have changed and her work feels very dated.
The best show I saw this month and that I am going to urge everyone to see if you have to see one thing this year is Michael R. Jackson’s (previously made Strange Loop) White Girl in Danger. It’s been maybe two weeks and every time I think about it I still laugh.
Michael grew up watching mostly white soap operas and wanted to write a play about that experience. White Girl in Danger is a satire of white sitcom writing in which the shero is a young Black actress who will go through any means to play the best friend. Her mom follows her through these absurdist worlds in a "Everything Everywhere All At Once” kind of way to prevent her from being white washed. Her mom in this, Tarra Conner Jones is an absolute revelation and carries so much of the show on her back- she got a standing ovation midway through the show which says it all.
The two other shows that will stay with me were both firsts in my book for different reasons. Ryan J. Haddad’s Dark Disabled Stories is the first fully accessible show I’ve ever seen- that not only offers captions, live descriptions and different seating options (including a space for you to stand and stretch your legs). As Alejandra Ospina (who uses a wheelchair) described the set with a lot of wit, I caught myself noticing so many details that I typically wouldn’t pay attention to. It was as if she was holding our hands and helping us settle into the piece more. The content of the show was sexy, sassy and funny and kept checking your assumptions throughout- reminding you that darkness can also be really deeply funny at times and that our pity or guilt can prevent us from seeing that.
(Dark Disabled Stories)
We also saw Thanksgiving Play which was written by Larissa Fasthorse- Broadway’s first Native American playwright. The show is a cringe-worthy ride in which we follow an all-white devised theater group (including D’Arcy Carden!!) in their attempt to make a “woke” Thanksgiving Play for kids. Sometimes a bit heavy handed in the writing it takes you through the absurdity of how America celebrates Thanksgiving, white guilt and how white guilt shows up in trying to do the right thing.
If you are looking for calm/poetic performance, I will also suggest the show that Janine is assistant directing right now- Night Keeper by Aaron Landsman at The Chocolate Factory. At one point we were asked to remember our first sleepless night- do you?
EXHIBITS
If you want to see mermaids, video work, collages, and paintings that celebrate Black women and African tradition, run to see Wangechi Mutu’s show at the New Museum. This massive show celebrates 25 years of her work and expansive breadth as an artist in a way that is both culturally specific and universal.
(Wangechi Mutu)
If you want to drop into a bunch of free galleries here are snippets of things that made my heart flutter this month:
Chryssa & New York at Dia Chelsea: a comprehensive survey of Greek-born artist Chryssa who was a leading figure of the art world in the 50s and 60s. Think light installations, minimalism, looking into America post WWII.
Gerhard Richter at David Zwirner: I honestly really only loved the watercolors in the back- but they are so beautiful/almost like aura colors and worth catching.
Simon Evans’ “dollhouses” at 52 Walker: Full of humor these fake dollhouses are a sordid take on capitalism in miniature form.
Kennedy Yanko at Jeffrey Deitch: Metal sculptures draped in heavy fabrics that feel like paintings and play on material vs abstraction.
LISTENING TO
Because it’s “launchapalooza” meaning I am working on launching a million shows in the next two months I haven’t had much fun listening time but really enjoyed NYTimes Film Critic AO Scott talk about why he is leaving movie criticism and the state of film and how that impacts criticism at large.
And because it’s Spring here is some music:
Fever Ray’s new album and a 90’s song I’ve been obsessed with since hearing it at a ski chairlift.