L'Oiseau-tempête

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source: Earthquake Bird

This is a dull, bland and very slow moving film about a sullen and blank expression expat Lucy living in Japan who hooks up with Japanese noodle chef and street photographer - Taiji - with dark past (never fully explained in the movie but a possible serial killer of women). Lily, a young and vibrant American girl enters to movie to become the apex of a love triangle with Lucy and new boyfriend, Taiji, eventually leading to her disappearance and supposed murder. As a murder mystery one would expect suspense and an edge of your seat drama. You get neither. Just a very slow and dull story, uninteresting characters, and no real answer to what happened to the missing girl. Far too many pointless scenes. Only interesting scene is the bizarre club dance scene between Lily and Taiji that looks like it belonged in Pulp Fiction. You can find 1970's vintage episodes of Columbo that are far more riveting than this dud.

Set in Tokyo, a surprisingly Japanese speaking Alicia Vikander, Lucy, is interrogated by police over the disappearance, and suspected murder, of fellow expat Lily. Tension grows throughout the film as Lucy grows increasingly jealous and paranoid of Lily, who slowly gets close to her mysterious photographer boyfriend Teiji. Whilst the pace of the film is slow, Alicia Vikander is phenomenal as Lily, holding you at the edge of your seat as her mental state slowly crumbles. Time is taken to dwell on Lucy's expressions, her feelings, her psyche. Her eyes slowly welling up in one scene is magical. The setting is a character in its own right, framed magnificently in a number of scenes- the grandeur of the mountains, the composition of the secret woodland temple, the liveliness of the festival... compared to the greys of Teiji's studio and Lucy's apartment near the end. There is a quietness to the movie which I actually really like and unfortunately felt that the ending/resolve, which was rather abrupt did not feel right with the rest of the movie and was too convenient and expected. Nonetheless, I found there was a lot to love about the movie that despite its pace, kept my attention throughout; with an emotional and reflective performance from Vikander, and was a much needed "quieter" film amongst all the noise of the world.

A solid but ultimately stolid mystery, super competent and quite engaging but with no flair and a lacklustre ending. Seen it all before, albeit in a different setting. #LFF

Absolutely a slow burn. If you're looking for a thriller, or wit, or anything other than a story that echos the muddy, slow beat of the tell-tale heart... go elsewhere. Great performances, Vikander did really well with heavy material that would have flattened many. Also. The music. Great choices made for the score. If the music doesn't tell you what you're getting into....best of luck.

Movie starts off quite well arousing the viewer's intrigue. It is set in a really interesting background, Japan in the 80s. Alicia Vikander's acting skills and beautiful cinematography kept my attention. Every little detail seemed to be heading for a dramatic ending perhaps a really intelligent twist. However, movie becomes all over the place in the second half ending abruptly without much of a conclusion. In the end I felt like being let down and totally unsatisfied.