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The Babadook (2014)
A competent horror movie about grief and loss
In this psychological horror movie, a single mother tries to cope with her six-year-old son's aggressive behavior. He constantly fantasizes with monsters and eventually becomes paranoid about the Babadook, a character from a storybook read by his mother. Although she tries to convince the child that monsters are not real, the amnesiac mother starts to see disturbing visions of the Babadook. She becomes anxious and violent, as we watch the monster taking control of her body and soul. In the end, Amelia (the mother) and Samuel (the child) confront the Babadook, who retreats into the basement. They are finally able to live again, albeit knowing that the monster still lives in their house.
The Babadook presents vivid symbolism for the themes of grief and loss. Since its beginning, we know that Amelia's husband died during a car crash, which happened while they were going to the hospital for Samuel's birth. The monster can be interpreted as something internal to them and to their relationship. Only mother and child can see it and, as their paranoia grows, we visualize Amelia's resentment toward Samuel, who is blamed for their personal tragedy. She cannot overcome her loss but is also not able to talk openly about it with her son or anybody else. The Babadook is clearly a metaphor for denial, as it becomes stronger when she denies its existence. The final revelation that the Babadook is not dead has an obvious meaning: maybe we cannot really kill our monsters, but we must know how to nourish them and handle with their existence. Only by this daily challenge we can assure that they do not leave the basement and possess our lives.
In essence, The Babadook is a competent and worth watching thriller. One of its biggest qualities is the crude portrait of parenting relationship, pushed to its limits. However, the movie's meanings might be quite predictable as the plot is developed, since the monster is clearly presented as an extension of the characters' psychological structure.
Roma (2018)
Aesthetically beautiful, but empty in content.
Roma reminded me of a couple of other awarded modern "classics" in its structure and, let's say, intention. Movies like Manchester by the sea - also produced by Netflix - and Moonlight gave me the same feeling of frustration: a huge sensation of emptiness, contrasted by the aesthetical pretentiousness that their auteurs evidently have.
When I watched Roma, I was already aware that the technical elements were a must-see: Cuarón's cinematography, for instance, was said to be astonishing. Indeed, for a cinema amateur like me, these factors looked fairly enjoyable, and composed a great artistic atmosphere, stylistically speaking. In a nutshell, I can only praise this superficial aspect of the picture, and I agree with Roma's lovers that it make the movie, at least, watchable.
The big problem is that this perfection is not accompanied by emotional captivation. The point is not exactly the lack of storytelling - there are movies based on mere daily life that contain the necessary deepness, like the Brazilian picture Aquarius. None of the sub-plots Cuarón created managed to emotional catharsis, and this seems to be not due to the banality of the events themselves, but to the prioritization of the picture as shape. The director seemed more occupied with maintaining and expanding his recognizable trademarks, and not with developing the emotional conflicts of his characters - or making a comment about the implicit power relations between a maid and her boss.
To conclude, I couldn't forget to mention the contradiction of a movie that, intending to be an art project in its very physical meaning, was not done to be originally exhibited in cinemas, excluding exceptional sessions. To paraphrase Almodóvar's state about the Palme d'Or, it would be kind of paradoxical to give a Best Picture award at the Oscars to a movie which was not meant to be watched in the big screen.