Awards season is over and now it's time to play catch-up in the privacy of your home or a friend's living room. For your enjoyment, here is a compilation of some of our favorite foreign and American indie films currently in DVD release:...
Celeste and Jesse Forever - This is a film that breaks the mold of traditional romantic comedy. Celeste and Jesse are the perfect couple, until six years into their marriage, they find that they have grown apart and value different things. They decide to call it quits. The problem is they're still best friends at heart and can't stay away from each other.
Holy Motors- It's a cinematic thrill ride that's sometimes hard to follow, but Holy Motors is surely one of the most inspired works of artistic vision to hit the world of film in a very long time. Director Leos Carax painted a mesmerizing canvas around actor Denis Lavant in one of the most electrifying performances to be ignored at the Oscars this year. Sometimes it takes a while for people to appreciate sheer genius.
The Master - Yet another work that is so far out of the mainstream that it will take a while to win the appreciation it's due, The Master tackles life's big question on a human scale. Joaquin Phoenix delivers a career-best performance as Freddie, a lost soul who finds his way via the unlikely path espoused by a charismatic cult leader. It may be hard to understand Paul Thomas Anderson's work, but you're always sure to see great performances.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower - This is a film that captures the wonder of the teen years, without shying away from the hard truths. Logan Lerman and Emma Watson play new friends who discover their attraction to one another arises as much from tragedy as from the bonds of love and friendship. This is a break-out role for Watson. She's not Hermione anymore.
Robot and Frank - Frank Langella again proves that age is not slowing him down, as he delivers one of the year's best performances as a former criminal who struggles to cope with declines in health and mental acuity during his twilight years. The robot that Frank's son provides as a servant turns out to be more of an aid than anyone imagined.
The Sessions - Based on an auto-biographical article by Mark O'Brien, a 30-year-old, polio-stricken writer decides to have sex for the first time and seeks out the services of a sexual surrogate to provide him with the experience. It's a life-affirming story about sex that mines the depths of purest love, with yet another outstanding performance by John Hawkes.
...And Releasing this Week:
The Intouchables - In one of the most internationally popular films of the year and France's official Oscar submission, Francois Cluzet and Omar Sy star as a quadriplegic man and his caregiver. They come from entirely different worlds, but together form a bond that transcends ethnicity, culture and class. It's a beautiful film with a beautiful story that continues to resonate around the world.
Writer-director Ben Lewin has strayed from his roots in network televison (Ally McBeal, Touched by an Angel) to bring audiences a life-affirming story on the subject of sex that mines the depths of purist love.
Originally titled The Surrogate when it debuted to appreciative audiences at Sundance earlier this year, The Sessions is based on an autobiographical article by writer-poet Mark O'Brien about his experience using the services of a sexual surrogate to have sex for the first time. This is a challenge because Mark contracted polio at an early age and has spent his entire adult life dependent on an iron lung for survival. He can only remain outside the device safely for up to three hours. Although Mark can feel sensation all over his body, he is paralyzed from the neck down.
John Hawkes
Mark is played by John Hawkes with all the authenticity we have come to expect from this Oscar-nominated actor. After he finds himself turned on by a young, sexy caregiver, he decides that it's time to overcome that limitation to a normal, fulfilled life. While on assignment to write an article about how persons with disability experience sex, he learns about a sexual surrogate named Cheryl (Helen Hunt), who works with the disabled. Mark decides to take the plunge.
Cheryl informs Mark that her approach is clinical, and to mitigate against too much emotional attachment from her clients, they will be limited to six sessions, hence the title of the film. What Cheryl doesn't see coming is that she is the only one she should be concerned about.
Mark is the type of protagonist who doesn't change much during the course of the story. He changes the people who come into contact with him. Their defenses are down because they see a vulnerable person deserving of their sympathy. They don't expect any real bond to form with this helpless man. In their minds they see themselves as doing a good deed and making the miserable deprivations of this man's life a little easier to bear. But then they find themselves drawn in by Mark's sincerity and emotionally generous nature. At that point it's all over. They are unexpectedly and permanently attached to him.
Helen Hunt
Hunt is in her best form as she portrays a woman who sees herself performing a valuable service, but in a compartmentalized way that keeps her emotions in check. She allows us to see and experience the erosion of those emotional defenses as her sessions with Mark progress.
Mark is a devout Catholic who seeks guidance and counseling from his parish priest for his life decisions and even sexual adventurism, the latter of which puts Father Brendan, played by William H. Macy, in the awkward position of advising Mark in his pursuit of premarital sex. Macy is responsible for many of the film's lighter moments and biggest laughs as he works through Mark's life challenges. Like everyone else who gets close to Mark, Father Brendan himself will be changed by the experience.
William H. Macy and John Hawkes
If you find yourself doubting the human capacity for love in these perilous times of political contention and economic uncertainty, get to your local theater as soon as possible to see this wonderful film, and replenish your capacity for faith in humanity.
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