Bones and All, Devotion and The Menu on Monday Morning Diary (November 28)

by Sam Juliano

I trust that all our stateside readers enjoyed their Thanksgiving Day.  Many are now pivoting in the direction of the yuletide season.  Activities over the coming weeks will surely intensify, and I am wishing everyone good health and continued safety.

I have taken some baby steps with my third novel, Roses for Saoirse, but mainly to work on a general outline.  Still, I have reached the second chapter.  Meanwhile, Irish Jesus in Fairview is in possessions of my editors.  Our resident film essay writer extraordinaire, Jim Clark has penned another superlative piece, which will be publishing within a half-hour of this MMD’s posting.

Lucille and I saw three new releases in theaters this past week.

   Luca Guadagnino’s “Bones and All” Rating: 1.5 of 5.0

(Seen in Ridgefield Park on Saturday evening)

I absolutely get the metaphors and the audacious manner of exploring love in the rural American environs in the dreamy and nightmarish new film by Luca Guadagnino, titled BONES AND ALL, and found it easy to be seduced by the sublime cinematography and extraordinary musical score by a renowned twosome – and who, while watching the film could argue that Timothy Chalamee, Taylor Russell and Mark Rylance aren’t captivating in roles wildly disperate than any they have ever tackled, but the end result for me after watching the film last night, was disgust, revulsion, incredulity and downright anger. I spent over two hours largely being regaled by human depravity and ulra-violent set pieces (one in a cornfield and another in a bathtub that brought back horrifying images of HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER) and sickening domestic scenes right out of CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST which pop up shockingly in a visual scheme patterned on Terence Malick (the film has been compared to BADLANDS by some). Yes, there is a moral compass here for sure, and the film’s fans in the critical ranks have offered up superlative argumants in support of the film’s style, explicitly choreographed passion and metaphorical underpinnings. I respect that absolutely. But as they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and BONES AND ALL sickened me to my core. The price to pay for the exploration of the unthinkable outweighs the vile lengths of this off-putting and tedious experience.

“The Menu” and “Devotion”

Both films rate 3.5 of 5.0 (Seen in Teaneck and Ridgefield Park on Wenesday and Friday evenings)

My guess is that regular diners and inveterate foodies will find much to satiate their taste buds in THE MENU, a film that for me is a blend of Peter Greenaway’s 1989 “The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover” and the multiple film adaptations of Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None.” To be sure, this black comedy with an ongoing perverse undercurrent (that explodes into full-flavored perversity before all is said and done) showcases a markedly twisted restaurant, located on a secluded island, where tragic events and satiric happenings (a recall of Triangle of Sadness too) bring about the kind of emotion caught between laughter and revulsion. A star-studded cast sustain the affair and the ending is no-holds barred. I can’t deny the fun quotient.

Nothing in the Korean War film DEVOTION, directed by J. D. Dillard, and acted superbly by the two leads, is remarkable, and in some ways it is standard fare. Yet,, whether by design or by the safe presentation of its story of heroism and friendship, it succeeds in moving the viewer, which in these days of multiplex fodder is a substancial return on the time investment. The friendship is based on a real-life story, and it was wonderful to know the families stayed close over generations. I expected something much less that what I got.

Our family spent Thanksgiving at the spacious Butler, New Jersey cul-de-sac home of Lucille’s sister Elaine and her husband Jim Lampmann.  This was the 28th consecutive year we spent our Turkey Day there, and it was, like all the others, a memorable day.

Advertisement