Sundance 2023: Unpredictable ‘Kim’s Video’ and ‘Cat Person’

Thanks to the availability of virtual screenings and diversity initiatives, we were able to receive press certification this year at the Sundance Film Festival, which coincided with Chinese New Year. This meant I didn’t have to neglect family obligations and had the convenience of remote viewing, so I could only watch 12 of her films and a few short films. . I wrote my impressions in four parts.

In this first part, I’ll discuss two of the most compelling movies I’ve seen. Looking at it, I had a hunch that anything could happen. It may seem strange to say this about documentaries and dramatizations, but the assumption of pre-determined events makes it all the more exciting when the unfolding takes a left turn.

Writer-director-editor duo David Redmon (also cinematographer and narrator) and Ashley Sabin kim’s video One of the best documentaries I’ve ever seen, if not the best. Like all good documentaries, this is not just a passive record, but one that actively leads the viewer to create a sense of discovery with each discovery. Unlike most filmmakers, the filmmakers here occasionally record the events that set them in motion. His four lawyers are named in the end credits, but it remains to be seen if these events were entirely legal.

In the late 20th century, Youngman Kim immigrated from South Korea and eventually opened a video rental store on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, accumulating 55,000 titles. In the face of his streaming, he offered to give his collection to an organization that would give him certain guarantees. Oddly enough, the offer he chose to accept came from Salemi in Sicily. The movie starts from there.

Photo credit: Sundance Film Festival

Redmon and Sabin are excellent documentary writers. So that even non-movie buff viewers will care, we start with Redmon’s biography and love of cinema, and tie it to the wider world of Manhattan moviegoers. The talking heads they interview are either former employees or customers of Kim’s Video, including celebrities in the film industry such as Robert Green, Alex Ross Perry and Sean Price Williams. And in a clever prophecy that also works to make the story much more personal, the film snatches up 58 movies that are meaningful to Redmon, plus a handful of unreleased films.

As you can imagine, the story takes unexpected turns and can be somewhat dangerous and even illegal at the climax. A happy ending is a victory for capitalism. It’s also subtitled in Italian, which Redmon doesn’t understand while in Italy, revealing his bureaucratic stupidity and (possibly malicious) incompetence, so it’s very funny. does not point the camera at the filmmaker and maintains an immersive and engaging feel for the viewer. From one video rental store, the film spans his three continents (heads to South Korea to find Kim) and traps government officials. Redmon said at one point: Even more mysterious. ”

The final third of Susanna Vogel’s work is imbued with a more terrifying sense of discovery. cat personwritten by Michelle Ashford based on By Kristen Loupenian New Yorker (produced by The New Yorker Studios), the only short story to go viral so far. The source material needs some freedom, but what remains is how provocatively it straddles the line between the perspectives of male and female characters.Emilia Jones is a feminist American. As Margot, a sophomore in college, you’re doing a very compelling job. Her Margot has internalized the traditional gender work of emotional labor when dealing with men, and here she is shown to be incessantly apologetic (Ava by Yuriko Her Hama Her designed wardrobe clearly conveys her personality). ); Nicholas Brown is an inexperienced older man who has absorbed so much patriarchal gender stereotypes that he can’t really relate to women, or (allegedly) others. You are doing an excellent job as well as Robert. They meet, date briefly, have incredibly bad sex, and break up. After that, the movie gets ridiculous.

Photo credit: Sundance Film Festival

The movie is a social comedy masquerading as a thriller and, if you think about it, a clever take on dating. The tone is set at the beginning by a title card containing a Margaret Atwood quote. Women fear that men will kill them. With that in mind, Margot’s tendency to imagine being killed by the men she’s interacting with is more understandable. Her second-wave feminist roommate and her best friend Taylor (Geraldine Viswanathan) is only adding fuel to the fire. (Yes, the minority actor is once again relegated to the role of best friend and adviser. Serial killer. Sometimes they seem oblivious to their sense of danger, like walking home alone with loud music blaring in their ears.

One aspect of the story that has been made abundantly clear by the film adaptation is how it is possible to have a parasocial relationship with someone you are actually in a relationship with, and how unhealthy it is. It’s how it’s obvious to everyone else. Margot’s delightful textual relationship with Robert is the hope she clings to during their awkward face-to-face encounters and his bad kisses. It’s bad sex that Margot finally dumped him.

As the story goes, sex scenes are the heart of the film.The sex performance itself is splendid with character work, and the scene But this is a big caveat, gimmicks are added to the scene to make sure the viewer gets the message. I thought it was a hilarious device, but some may find it priceless and half-baked.

is the movie good? I have no idea. It definitely does something more important. That’s what I can attest to in my laughter and hoarse voice.

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TNL Editors: Nicholas Haggerty, Brian Chow (@thenewslensintl)

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