Moving on, glad Keith appreciated Blitz! I don't quite get the accusations of anonymity; it seems in line with McQueen's previous video art pieces (at least with the poppies) and it's interested as much in the harshness of the moment as it is in the come-together of it all.
It almost plays like and extension of Small Axe to me: Take a specific moment in British history, particularly British history as experienced by non-white characters and tell a story within it that captures something bigger about the times.
I’m glad I made an effort to see BLITZ on the big screen because I can’t imagine some of its scenes (like that opening with the deadly firehose) having the same impact at home. The same goes for Pablo Larraín’s MARIA, which is getting a limited release next weekend, but most people will be seeing it when it drops on Netflix two weeks later — that is, if they manage to catch it before it’s swallowed up by the churn.
While I enjoyed Emilia Perez quite a bit more than Scott, I will confess that none of the musical numbers wowed me as much as the ones in Blitz (notably NOT a musical). Man, between the Cafe de Paris scene and the one with Rita and Marcus out dancing at a club (not to mention the fantastic Lovers Rock from a couple years ago) is there currently anyone better than Steve McQueen at investing music scenes with more FEELING?
the flashback club scene with Rita and Marcus is worth the price of admission. Just stunning — and also made me think of Lovers Rock in how well McQueen stages musical numbers/sequenecs.
Saw BLITZ with a friend last week on the big screen (Toronto!) where it was really made to be seen. While we both enjoyed it we thought that the purely episodic nature of it was a bit of a problem, there's no real underlying story-line (aside from surviving the Blitz) to carry it through. George's bi-racial nature would seem to be the obvious hook for that, but it's kind of resolved half-way through with his talks with Iffy (Benjamin Clementine steals the film).
Also I thought that McQueen went a bit over the top with *everything* George and his mother go through, it felt like a speedrun though every possible Blitz experience over the course of a few days.
But the performances are excellent and many of the scenes were masterfully staged. Absolutely worth watching.
The opening shot of Blitz really is that good (I also loved the static then floral black and white bookends). We should expect nothing less from McQueen, who, despite directing a Best Picture winner, feels a little unheralded in the popular consciousness at this point. Maybe it's because Small Axe (still not television) seems to have been lost to particularly cavernous depths of Prime. Shamefully, I still haven't caught up with Occupied City or actual television series Uprising.
I was unusually at ease with the idealistic, bordering-on-simplistic speech — McQueen's project to reframe our conceptions of the British experience has been so thorough and thoughtful he has license to put a fine point on it.
Really a wonderful review Keith! Curious if anyone has links to great British writing on the film?
I saw a musical clip from Emilia Perez a couple weeks ago, and I literally thought I was being punked. I'd like to believe it's better in context, but based on the review here..... it's not likely
Just seen Blitz on the big screen, which is where it should be seen, and it’s a compelling watch. But its perspective is too simplistic, which is ironic given that a key theme is that the stereotype of a city united in its resilience is too simplistic. The trouble is that all the characters are either saintly or ghastly and McQueen leaves no cliche unturned in its portrayal of heroes and villains
I'm really interested to see what everyone's making of BLITZ. While I really admired what it was trying to do (and show), it really didn't work for me. As Donald Simmons points out elsewhere in this thread, the sheer volume of incident is overwhelming, and after a while it feels like we're trapped on a trauma carousel. I also found the cutaways and flashbacks to be unnecessarily disruptive; anytime some momentum is starting to build, McQueen slams the breaks to add context that's already understood. That tendency to over-explicate comes through in the script, too, which has a "very special episode" quality that feels at odds with the harsh, lived-in textures of the images we're seeing. More than once, I felt like writing was reaching out through the screen to smack me on the head. That said, I really do like what it's shooting for, and parts of it are legitimately breathtaking. I'll need to give it another shot sometime.
small editorial note: it should be "Talk To Her".
Moving on, glad Keith appreciated Blitz! I don't quite get the accusations of anonymity; it seems in line with McQueen's previous video art pieces (at least with the poppies) and it's interested as much in the harshness of the moment as it is in the come-together of it all.
It almost plays like and extension of Small Axe to me: Take a specific moment in British history, particularly British history as experienced by non-white characters and tell a story within it that captures something bigger about the times.
I’m glad I made an effort to see BLITZ on the big screen because I can’t imagine some of its scenes (like that opening with the deadly firehose) having the same impact at home. The same goes for Pablo Larraín’s MARIA, which is getting a limited release next weekend, but most people will be seeing it when it drops on Netflix two weeks later — that is, if they manage to catch it before it’s swallowed up by the churn.
I agree. Really a shame it hasn’t gotten a wider release.
A total shame. Plenty of streams will still be fuzzy, ramping up the bitrate as the firehose tosses about 💩
While I enjoyed Emilia Perez quite a bit more than Scott, I will confess that none of the musical numbers wowed me as much as the ones in Blitz (notably NOT a musical). Man, between the Cafe de Paris scene and the one with Rita and Marcus out dancing at a club (not to mention the fantastic Lovers Rock from a couple years ago) is there currently anyone better than Steve McQueen at investing music scenes with more FEELING?
The musical number in Blitz is weirdly one of the things that stuck with me most. You can tell McQueen is having a lot of fun with it.
the flashback club scene with Rita and Marcus is worth the price of admission. Just stunning — and also made me think of Lovers Rock in how well McQueen stages musical numbers/sequenecs.
Saw BLITZ with a friend last week on the big screen (Toronto!) where it was really made to be seen. While we both enjoyed it we thought that the purely episodic nature of it was a bit of a problem, there's no real underlying story-line (aside from surviving the Blitz) to carry it through. George's bi-racial nature would seem to be the obvious hook for that, but it's kind of resolved half-way through with his talks with Iffy (Benjamin Clementine steals the film).
Also I thought that McQueen went a bit over the top with *everything* George and his mother go through, it felt like a speedrun though every possible Blitz experience over the course of a few days.
But the performances are excellent and many of the scenes were masterfully staged. Absolutely worth watching.
The opening shot of Blitz really is that good (I also loved the static then floral black and white bookends). We should expect nothing less from McQueen, who, despite directing a Best Picture winner, feels a little unheralded in the popular consciousness at this point. Maybe it's because Small Axe (still not television) seems to have been lost to particularly cavernous depths of Prime. Shamefully, I still haven't caught up with Occupied City or actual television series Uprising.
I was unusually at ease with the idealistic, bordering-on-simplistic speech — McQueen's project to reframe our conceptions of the British experience has been so thorough and thoughtful he has license to put a fine point on it.
Really a wonderful review Keith! Curious if anyone has links to great British writing on the film?
I almost wish you guys reviewed Educating Rita to complete the Rita trifecta...
Looking forward to Blitz - I can't believe Ronan just turned 30 this year - she's more like 50 in terms of cinema quality/quantity output.
I saw a musical clip from Emilia Perez a couple weeks ago, and I literally thought I was being punked. I'd like to believe it's better in context, but based on the review here..... it's not likely
Just seen Blitz on the big screen, which is where it should be seen, and it’s a compelling watch. But its perspective is too simplistic, which is ironic given that a key theme is that the stereotype of a city united in its resilience is too simplistic. The trouble is that all the characters are either saintly or ghastly and McQueen leaves no cliche unturned in its portrayal of heroes and villains
I'm really interested to see what everyone's making of BLITZ. While I really admired what it was trying to do (and show), it really didn't work for me. As Donald Simmons points out elsewhere in this thread, the sheer volume of incident is overwhelming, and after a while it feels like we're trapped on a trauma carousel. I also found the cutaways and flashbacks to be unnecessarily disruptive; anytime some momentum is starting to build, McQueen slams the breaks to add context that's already understood. That tendency to over-explicate comes through in the script, too, which has a "very special episode" quality that feels at odds with the harsh, lived-in textures of the images we're seeing. More than once, I felt like writing was reaching out through the screen to smack me on the head. That said, I really do like what it's shooting for, and parts of it are legitimately breathtaking. I'll need to give it another shot sometime.