By Eric McClanahan
WILDCAT
When one hears that Ethan Hawke has co-written and directed a feature film about celebrated author Flannery O’Connor and cast his daughter, Maya Hawke, in the lead role, one can easily fear a mess of nepotism and self-righteous academia that would be impossible to stomach. But one would be wrong. Wildcat is a delightful film, swimming in flowery dialogue that is light and fresh on the nose rather than pungent and heady.
Maya Hawke soars as Flannery, a headstrong young woman who knows her worth while doubting her faith, which is the main throughline of the film. Flannery envisions her stories throughout, casting herself as her heroines and her mother (a rapturous Laura Linney) in each matronly role, while the men are an endless parade of wicked demons in gentile skinsuits. The muted palette helps to tamper the Southern Gothic horror beneath every face, similar to Donald Ray Pollock’s dark vision in The Devil All the Time. This film has awards season on its radar and we would do well to keep an eye on it as that time draws near.
THE DANCING VILLAGE: THE CURSE BEGINS
The Dancing Village is the prequel to KKN Di Desa Penari, so one would imagine that it contains all the information one would need to make sense of this tale. And one would be wrong. The Curse Begins opens in 1955, then flashes forward to 1980, keeping the picture as a period piece throughout, and sees a typical foursome of young folk traveling to a faraway village as Mila, the protagonist, tries to help her mother recover from a mysterious ailment.
The source of her mother’s sickness is the evil Badarawuhi, a sinister spirit that frankly doesn’t seem all that sinister and dances through every scene she’s in. The scariest thing about her is how eerily similar her movement is to the cast of CATS, which is honestly pretty terrifying. Despite her needing a cursed bangle that she lost in the opening of the film, she’s still powerful enough to curse Mila’s mother from a distance, several other villagers, and command an army of ravenous shirtless men who demand dancing. It is this unexplained power that makes the tension and conflict seem manufactured.
Filmed in IMAX, the film is a visual feast and the atmosphere is spot on, but a complete lack of terror, one-dimensional characters, and a lackluster plot make this film a slog at over two hours’ runtime.
HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS
From the title alone, one can expect a wild ride with Hundreds of Beavers, and one would be pleasantly assured that this film is exactly that. Hundreds of Beavers plays out like the filmmakers grew up on video games, Chuck Jones animation, and Star Wars then decided to make a Buster Keaton film.
There is very little in the way of dialogue, a feat that appears effortless in the hands of lead actor Ryland Brickson Cole Tews, who plays Jean Kayak, the local proprietor of an Applejack brewery. When beavers chomp away at its foundations, the brewery is destroyed in catastrophic fashion, leaving Kayak to survive by his wits and strength as he discovers a new way of life.
The gags are hilarious, and repeated with perfect comedy chemistry, just shy of being overdone. Kayak contends with extreme cold, flies, woodpeckers, wolves, skunks, fish, and yes, hundreds of beavers. Using mixed media animation, some frames of the film look like Terry Gilliam tried to make Frank Miller’s Sin City, and the action is so superbly choreographed that the whole film is a delight to behold.
This movie is getting rave reviews everywhere it plays, and while that may seem incongruent with its name, it is a rich investment for any film lover who is looking for something different, wholly original, yet firmly rooted in the traditions of silent-era comedy. This might be the best film I’ll see all year, and I would liken its big heart and commitment to pure cinematic joy to Boy Kills World. Both of these films know exactly what they are, and if they’re your cup of tea, I beseech you to drink them down immediately.
No Rest for the Weekend 