Wails of a Waning Friendship

Beginning with a limited release, The Big Sick took hold of the 2017 highest grossing theatre average take, giving the little independent-picture-that-could positive word of mouth, and just as importantly, momentum, going into its wide release this July 14th, 2017 weekend. Labelled as a romantic comedy. . . and there are most definitely many of those elements found within it, in many ways it is the emotional dramatic flourishes that stand out, and, when fused with those laugh induced moments, make for a nuanced, exquisitely crafted dramedy.

At its heart a story about a complex father/daughter relationship, with 2016's Toni Erdmann, writer/director Maren Ade charts her tale down a highly original course as the pair work out their many issues in the most unorthodox of ways. The German motion picture was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards this past year, with many seeing it as the outright favourite. . . it lost to the more politically relevant Iranian film The Salesman – Asghar Farhadi’s second win in this category. Winfried Conradi (Peter Simonischek) is an all-out kook – a prankster who loves playing games with everyone he meets. Like a child in a man’s body, we first meet Winfried as he receives a package from a courier. Claiming that it is his brother’s (and that he was just released from jail for putting bombs in the mail), he leaves, returning moments later with a new outfit and fake teeth, pretending to be his criminally eccentric sibling.

An intimate character study, 2016's Maudie, written by Sherry White and directed by Aisling Walsh, fuses familial drama with Canadian East Coast humour. Beginning in the 1930's, the story is based on the real life of Canadian folk artist Maud Lewis – the titular character is brought to vivid life by the ultra-talented Sally Hawkins. Born with a bad case of juvenile arthritis, Lewis is a woman of strong will due to her affliction. With a bad limp, awkward disposition and secret from her past, she is seen by the community at large as being different. . . also, a stain upon their family according to her holier-than-thou Aunt Ida (Gabrielle Rose) and overly patriarchal brother, Charles Dowley (Zachary Bennett). One example of his ways – he sells off their parents’ home soon after their death without even telling his sister beforehand.

A trenchant piece of social commentary, I, Daniel Blake could have been a one dimensional film filled with gloomy despair, but in the capable hands of director Ken Loach and first time actor and long time comedian Dave Johns, it is laced with deft, dry, sarcastic humour throughout – making it a relevant, multi-faceted dramedy. Written by Paul Laverty (a regular collaborator with Loach), the modern day tale, which is set in Newcastle, England, follows a fifty-nine year old carpenter named Daniel Blake (Johns), who, as the film begins, is frustratingly dealing with a government employee over the phone. They have denied his claim for ‘employment and support allowance’ – despite the fact that he has had a debilitating heart attack and his doctors vehemently state that he is in no shape to return to work. A wonderful piece of sardonic humour, this opening scene finds the man having to put up with a plethora of unrelated questions that have nothing to do with his particular condition. Highlighting the lack of common sense or logic found in the modern day governmental system, it is somewhat akin to a man continuously banging his head around the rim of a toilet seat (it hurts, is irritating and, in the end, gets you absolutely nowhere).

I have always been a big proponent of the education system teaching philosophy. When translated from its original Greek root words, we learn that it is best described as the love (philo) of wisdom (sophia), which is very much at the heart of the 2016 film Captain Fantastic – written and directed by Matt Ross. Towards the end of the motion picture, our main character, a multi-faceted father named Ben (Viggo Mortensen), is read a letter from his now deceased wife (her mother thinks he needs to hear it). At one point, she references the term ‘philosopher king’ – a concept adopted by Plato. For those of you who do not know of it, it was these people that he emphasized would rule his perfect utopia. Dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge and living a simple life, their ways were not that of bells and whistles (like most rulers, who live in extravagance and are catered to), but rather, to refrain from such things, educating themselves in the ways of wisdom and understanding the higher forms of knowledge.