| Flicks

FLICKS: The Innocents & The Shallows

Posted on 15 July 2016 by LeslieM

By “Cinema” Dave

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

An entertaining big screen epic with efficient storytelling, Hunt for the Wilderpeople expands distribution this weekend. This film is an old-fashioned summer movie that deserves to be seen on the big screen. With his fourth movie under his belt, director Taika Waititi has proven his mettle and will be directing the next Disney/Marvel Superhero movie, Thor Ragnarok.

With a far more somber tone, The Innocents opens tomorrow. An official selection from the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, this film is a European drama told with English subtitles. Whereas Hunt for the Wilderpeople is an outdoor Disney-style family epic, The Innocents feels like an acclaimed Ingmar Bergman drama with deep themes. It is set in Warsaw, Poland in December of 1945.

While performing their morning prayers, a Polish nun slips out of the cloister and seeks medical assistance. After receiving directions from some street kids, the nun enters a Red Cross M.A.S.H. unit and asks Mathilde (Lou de Laage), a French female doctor, for assistance. The French doctor refuses, but later spies the Polish nun on her knees praying in the snow.

Dr. Mathile visits the nunnery and uncovers many secrets under the cloth. The brutality of the soldiers are a given, but the Head of the Cloister hides many secrets that are both hypocritical and life-affirming.

While our local weather has been beach friendly, The Shallows will make one question if it is safe to go to the beach. A modest mainstream box-office success, this film is the spiritual sequel to Jaws that audiences always wanted.

While escaping the grief of losing her mother, Nancy goes to a secluded Mexican beach to surf. While waiting for one last wave to take her into shore, she spots a dead whale. She investigates and runs afoul a man-eating shark. With echoes of The Old Man and the Sea, All is Lost and The Deep, The Shallows presents a showdown between an intelligent protagonist and a primal antagonist.

At one hour and 25 minutes, The Shallows is a simple story with enough visualization to feel like an epic experience. Director Jaume Collet-Serra provides visual clarity with sly use of special effects. As the main protagonist, Blake Lively gives a low-key performance full of intelligence and fear. The director is smart enough to slow down the film’s pace to simply allow his leading lady moments to sit and think. This film is better experienced because of these directorial choices.

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