The Streamer’s Guide To The 2019 New York Film Festival: What Non-Festgoers Can Watch At Home
In my six years of attending the New York Film Festival, I’ve grown increasingly appreciative of the unique position its organizers have carved out in the fall festival landscape. Ideally timed between the premiere frenzy of late August/early September and the mad dash for awards of November and December, NYFF keeps its focus solely on the films and their creators. For 17 days, the newly-branded Film at Lincoln Center invites New Yorkers to partake in a manageable, curated slate of favorites from across the global festival circuit. The 2019 edition of NYFF casts a particularly wide net, too — apart from the festival’s three big Friday night galas, the Main Slate features only one English-language feature.
But if you’re not going to be in New York to see these films, why not use the time to catch up on the back catalogues of the directors in the NYFF selection? This year’s Main Slate features both emerging international voices and widely recognized masters alike, presenting a unique opportunity to broaden your cinematic horizons. Below are ten films playing at the festival (some of which I’ve been fortunate enough to see prior to NYFF’s official kickoff) and ten films you may watch to prepare yourself from the comfort of your own home.
Marriage Story (Centerpiece)
NYFF has long committed to bringing the best of Russian cinema stateside, so it caught my attention when they used their programming clout to addBeanpoleto their lineup. As just a second feature from 28-year-old directorKantemir Balagov, the selection committee’s inclusion of the film in the Main Slate makes quite the statement about where they see his career going. And if this film is any indication, it is going places.Beanpoleis a staggering work of emotional depth that follows two women in the immediate wake of WWII in Leningrad. Balagov already possesses a command of color and mood that filmmakers twice his age still try in vain to exercise.
Can’t make it to NYFF? Watch this at home:Admittedly, Balagov’s debut featureClosenessprobably ranks at the lower end of the recommend streaming picks in this column. It’s still got a lot of first feature kinks and bugs, but the ambition and early signs of greatness are unmistakable. This story of a Jewish girl in post-Soviet eastern Russia who must deal with the consequences of a kidnapping in her family leads the film down many an unsavory, disturbing road – another reason why it’s tough to recommendClosenesswith enthusiasm. Just go ahead and get on board now so you can say you were on the Balagov train early.(Available to rent on Amazon.)
It’s likely that the nameKelly Reichardtneeds no introduction to fans of American indie cinema, as she’s been a strong voice in the landscape for over a decade now. But the director’s latest feature,First Cow, arrives with an imprimatur of quality likely to take her further than ever before: A24. The upstart distributor has been with the project since the beginning, and with the backing of producerScott Rudin, this looks like her biggest production to date.First Cowsees Reichardt back in her traditional stomping grounds of the Pacific Northwest, this time in an early-nineteenth century setting, and tackling an intimate story of how early American business functioned.
A Girl Missing
Since its founding, NYFF has programmed great Japanese cinema – their inaugural festival included Yasujiro Ozu! It’s always a good sign to be knighted by the selection committee, and that’s the case now forKoji Fukada.A Girl Missingmarks his sixth feature film, and it sounds like quite the follow-up to his international breakthrough,Harmonium. It centers around a middle-aged nurse, Ichiko, who finds herself caught up in the media firestorm surrounding the disappearance of a young daughter in the family for whom she cares. I’ve limited myself to knowing just the logline because the beauty of Fukada’s work lies in watching just how quickly one decision or one event can ripple outwards and cause waves elsewhere.
The Moneychanger
South American cinema often gets short shrift on the festival circuit, but NYFF delivers this year with a selection from a country that rarely registers in international cinema: Uruguay. I’m curious to dive deeper into their national cinema throughFederico Verioj’sThe Moneychanger, a decade-spanning tale of a crafty money launderer in Uruguay taking advantage of the country’s sluggish economy. Other South American films display a real unbridled honesty when dealing with sordid elements of their histories, and I hope thatThe Moneychangerfollows the same pattern.
Can’t make it to NYFF? Watch this at home:Veiroj is nothing if not ruthlessly economical with his runtimes, a feature that endears him to a busy writer like myself. His 2015 featureThe Apostateruns a slender 80 minutes, but it never feels rushed or short on action. The story of a Uruguayan man determined to expunge his baptismal records from the Catholic Church grapples with spirituality honestly, yet Veiroj also makes plenty of space for wry, ironic humor. It’s an odd work tonally, but the film proves quite fulfilling. And if you don’t agree, at least you didn’t waste much of your life watching it!(Available to stream for free on Netflix.)
Pain and Glory
A new film byPedro Almodóvaralways feels like an event, butPain and Gloryis something special even among them. As the iconoclastic Spanish filmmaker enters his later years, he’s getting a little more reflective. This film about a fictional aging director, clearly inspired by Almodóvar himself, gives his longtime collaboratorAntonio Banderasone of his meatiest roles in years. Come for how eerily well Banderas emulates Almodóvar, stay for the tender reminiscence of what matters in life and art.
Can’t make it to NYFF? Watch this at home:There is no shortage of Almodóvar/Banderas collaborations to recommend, luckily. To fully understand their shared history that forms such a crucial meta-text toPain and Glory, go back to one of their early films together. My recommendation would beMatador, an Almodóvar black comedy that provides an early glimpse at the fascinations that would pervade his entire career – sex, death and transgression.(Available to rent on iTunes and Amazon.)
#BongHive, assemble! South Korean filmmakerBong Joon-ho’s masterfulParasitehas taken Cannes, Telluride, and Toronto by storm and is now making its final grand stop on the festival tour at NYFF. While cinephiles and genre fans have long recognized Bong’s prodigious storytelling prowess,Parasiterepresents a real chance for him to claim the status of internationally recognized master — and perhaps even make a mainstream breakthrough. Experience this venal, twisting social satire as blankly as possible. The less you know, the more it will gob-smack you.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Film Comment Presents)
It might not be competing for the newly-renamed Best International Film Oscar, as France opted for Ladj Ly’sLes Misérablesas their submission, butCeline Sciamma’sPortrait of a Lady on Fireis the clear winner of the festival scene. As /Film’s Jason Gorberraved out of Cannes, “Every beat is earned, every glance deliberate.” After seeing the film myself, I came away with a similar appreciation for Sciamma’s tightly controlled and beautifully composed drama between an 18thcentury French woman reluctantly about to marry – and the portrait artist commissioned to corral her image who becomes smitten with her. Even in spite of the Oscars snub, Sciamma now stands clearly positioned as a major figure in French cinema.
After two well-received previous features, it’s now clear thatSynonymsmarksNadav Lapidas a major figure of Israeli cinema. And yet, ironically, the semi-autobiographical film that really puts him on the map primarily centers around a disdainful ambivalence for his home country. As embodied by a fearlessly physical performance from first-time screen actorTom Mercier,Synonymsgrapples with his feelings as an ex-pat in France left to sort through his frustrations and traumas from his time in the military. This is the kind of riveting, boundary-pushing work that lovers of cinema crave.
The Whistlers
The likelihood of a breakthrough from a director of the austere national filmmaking movement known as the Romanian New Wave is, admittedly, slim. But in such a world where it would happen, the director most likely to do so would beCorneliu Poromboiu. He’s back at NYFF withThe Whistlers, his most overtly genre-aligned film to date. It’s a raucous caper involving a crooked police officer willing to learn a secret “whistling” language in order to gain access to a drug dealer’s treasure. While not without its bumps, the film is raucous fun that points to exciting things ahead for this playful filmmaker.
