Pandemic Picks “Streaming Deep-Cuts”
I return often to these words from late film critic Roger Ebert: “We all are born with a certain package. We are who we are: where we were born, who we were born as, how we were raised. We're kind of stuck inside that person, and the purpose of civilization and growth is to be able to reach out and empathize a little bit with other people. And for me, the movies are like a machine that generates empathy. It lets you understand a little bit more about different hopes, aspirations, dreams and fears. It helps us to identify with the people who are sharing this journey with us.”
I’ve made selections a bit off the “trending” beaten path of your various streaming platforms. I hope you find these particular passageways to empathy as deep and rewarding as I do.
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1. The Straight Story (1999, dir. David Lynch) Streaming on Disney+ An elderly man takes the driver’s seat of his riding lawnmower on three-hundred mile mission of reconciliation with his dying brother. The film follows the meditative and deliberate pace of its subject; often content to sit and dwell, and inviting you to do so as well, allowing the passing moments of grace to quiet your own internal noise.
2. A Serious Man (2009, dir. Joel & Ethan Coen) Streaming on Netflix The Coen Brothers often wrestle with the existential and theological in their work, perhaps never more so than with this darkly-comic film, which has become somewhat ignored in the company of their most popular (Fargo, The Big Lebowski, No Country For Old Men) but is my personal favorite. Larry Gopnik is an “ordinary” man whose life begins to unravel beyond his control, evoking the biblical story of Job; made to wrestle with the mystery of suffering and being met with more questions than answers. Not the most reassuring film, but one which feels very timely in this season.
3.The Tree of Life (2011, dir. Terrence Malick) Streaming on HBO Now Poetic, prayerful, and cinematically grand, Malick’s camera sweeps from the beginnings of Creation itself, and throughout the history of humanity, all through the prism of a young boy and his family in 1950’s small-town Texas. From the womb to eternity, it’s less a describable narrative than something to simply experience, to behold.
4. If Beale Street Could Talk (2018, dir. Barry Jenkins) Streaming on Hulu Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Corinthians 13:7) A young love is put to aching test in the face of racism and injustice in this adaptation of the James Baldwin novel. Facing charges in innocence, Fonny and Tish persevere in pain, while never relinquishing their dignity and hope. The photography, and particularly the score, are among the most stunning in recent years.
5. Leave No Trace (2018, Dir. Debra Granik) Streaming on Amazon Prime A veteran suffering PTSD and his young daughter live off-the-grid in the forests of the Pacific Northwest. When they are discovered, their self-sufficient existence is challenged, leading their bond toward an inevitable turning point. Humane and melancholic, the film explores the essential nature of human contact and connection; something extremely present on our minds right now.