In a cold and remote landscape, two strangers struggle to repair their broken pasts. A young man is on parole after serving time for attempting to murder the man who killed his girlfriend in a hit and run. A woman is released from a psychiatric facility far from her homeland. These two damaged strangers cross paths in the mountains in winter and fall into a complex intimate relationship, putting to the test their capacity to trust and heal.
Russian Federation
Moscow International Film Festival
New Zealand
New Zealand
Russian Federation
A grinding slice of slow cinema given an ethereal feel by the simply outrageous beauty of New Zealand. Whereas the film's looks are almost soulful, the minimal plot's lurking sense of injustice acts to really ground such striking surroundings, it never lets you forget the pain our heroes are experiencing in their own private purgatory.
March Around the World Challenge 2021.
Film 1: New Zealand
And we're off! My reviews this month might end up being too short to "pass" the rules, but I decided that's better than missing the challenge completely.
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Dustin Fenely’s debut feature is exceedingly slow is a study in how to give pay-off for an audience’s patience. Firstly and crucially, having a good cast. Kieran Charnock and Luciane Buchanan have the screen presence and acting chops to carry off the dialogue-light roles of Jack and Grace. Drip feeding information helps to give some suspense. For example, we barely get to see Jack’s face for a while so when the camera finally moves in and we can see what he looks…
Paced Perfectly.
This is one of those movies where you have to just breathe in and enjoy the experience without being overwhelmed too much.
Set in New Zealand’s deep south, Dustin Feneley’s feature debut is a tender exploration of both interior and exterior remoteness, the former in the shape of a relationship between two damaged ‘strays’ who don’t speak much, and the latter captured through Ari Wegner’s (The Power of the Dog, Zola) distant, patient lens.
NZIFF 2018: Film #3
Kiwi filmmaker Dustin Feneley's debut feature is an auspicious rural character study of isolation and alienation, in the vein of Kelly Reichardt and Steve McQueen. Beautifully shot by Lady Macbeth cinematographer Ari Wegner and featuring two excellent central performances from Arta Dobroshi (whom you might recognize from the Dardennes brothers' Lorna's Silence) and newcomer Kieran Charnock, it is a sparse and haunting work of minimalism that foregoes any kind of musical score for entirely diegetic sound and a heavy use of silence.
There are long stretches without dialogue, during which we are heavily focused on the anguished faces and bodies of the two leads as they reckon with past trauma (which for the most part is…
NZIFF 2/5
You know that moment just after you've waken up after a good sleep. That in between phase where one sits, ponders, reflects or prepares for the journey ahead. Strangely, this is what Stray felt like to me. Perhaps it's because of the repetition of 'waking up' scenes, but the sheer amount of atmosphere created through silence creates a great deal of weight that is placed upon the viewer. But I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. From the musty quiet to the crisp alpine air, there's so many sights, sounds and feelings to take in that it's almost hard to know what to do with it, or how to interpret everything.
This movie is so intensely textural…
With pacing set firmly at "Rooney Mara eating a pie in A Ghost Story", Stray is in no rush to tell its slight story. However, as is often the case in these sorts of films, small expressions feel like they hide worlds of history and emotion.
It's definitely not for everyone, and I'll admit it felt like an endurance test at times, but then I was at a late showing a week and a bit into the film festival.
That said, Stray looks absolutely gorgeous, and the leads perform well. I actually appreciated its slow cinema approach overall. It meant that the smaller narrative movements (as well as the larger ones) hit with an extra layer of intensity.
It’s arty with a capital F, so you’ve been warned. It’s also bloody well constructed. Some will be turned off by the sparse dialogue and the slowness, but by muting the characters and setting the pace to ‘miserable’, it really places you in the chilly and isolated South Island. Also appreciate storytelling that treats me like a goddamn adult every once and a while.
[Viewing Medium: Plane (New Zealand Airlines)]
“Can I just get the fish?!”
If I were to boil down a 500-word diatribe to it’s most fundamental thesis, this review would read as follows: This film is boring (and I live for slow-burn character studies). I feel quite guilty writing this, as I’m something of a pathological optimist, and I never relish reducing something as interesting as the medium of film down to an adjective so simple and dismissive. Yet this film begs for little more.
To be clear, I do admire many of the qualities Strays expounds. Foremost Feneley has harvested some of the most breathtaking New Zealand landscapes I’ve seen since
LOTR, yet does so in a remarkably understated manner,…
Pleasantly unambitious drama, well worth watching for its patient and accomplished performances.
i wasn’t really connecting with this, and maybe it was just my mood, but then the last 15 minutes happened and it was wonderful and exactly what i wanted from the film
