Madly (2016) Movie Review

Original title: Madly

Year: 2016

Running time: 106 min.

Country:  United States

Director: Gael García Bernal, Anurag Kashyap, Bat for Lashes, Sebastián Silva, Sion Sono, Mia Wasikowska

Screenwriter: Gael García Bernal, Anurag Kashyap, Bat for Lashes, Sebastián Silva, Sion Sono, Mia Wasikowska, Mariana Chaud

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Review

Of the three, Kashyap's "Clean Shaven" is the most intriguing and subversive in terms of storytelling because it tackles traditional marriage constructs, inter-generational friendship, and the male-female divide in a refreshingly frank manner. Archana is a housewife and mother, accepting in the unequal power relationship with husband Sudhir. She has formed an intimate friendship in her leisure time with neighbor teenager Allwyn who is visibly in love with the woman, and though a virgin far more cognizant of the nude form than Archana.
Kashyap found just the right apartment to shoot it all, with its birdcage-style balcony reinforcing Archana's trophy-like status: She's meant to be seen - fully clothed, of course - but denied independence. Allwyn, probably only a decade younger but fluent in internet temptations, is carnally more aware yet lacks experience, plus he has youth's selfishness. Performances really come into their own during this segment.

"Afterbirth", on the other hand, is a far more sensual film by Wasikowska, telling the story of a young woman, played by Kathryn Beck, who is full of love for her newborn son but totally unprepared to be his mother. Lacking any know-how and apparently completely alone in the world, she looks with covetous wonder at other new parents. The helmer, in her second omnibus short, employs a montage style of impressionistic counterpoint, juxtaposing full-screen images in Academy ratio to convey mood and a sense of an interior life otherwise not obvious in this strange, and strangely quiet, woman. Musical choices, including Melanie Safka's "Brand New Key," perfectly suit the quirky material.
"Dance Dance Dance" is more straightforward, with occasional clumsy moments. Bronx teenager Rio (Lex Santos) meekly tries to kiss older show-off friend Diami (Antonio Stewart), who flips. Dejected, Rio returns home and blurts out to his religious parents that he's gay, whereupon his father (Marshall Brandon) kicks him out. On the street at night, Rio finds a homeless shelter, but the female supervisor (Jo Young) tries to sexually molest him until a protector comes along. Director Silva ("The Maid") has a vivid style, subtlety not his strong suit.

The same can be said for Sion Sono whose "Love of Love" is a very clean celebration of sexual subversion. Younger daughter Mio (Ami Tomite) is engaged to Shota (Dai Hasegawa) but they're not giving up their wild side, scandalizing her married sister Sayaka (Yuki Sakurai). That is, until Mio brings Sayaka and her husband Takuya into the Love of Love sex club, where pleasure and fulfillment are enjoyed by all. There's nothing genuinely outre in Sono's conception, just a candy-colored fantasy evocation of sexual hijinks, and while it's all mildly amusing, the emphasis is on the mild.

García Bernal's Buenos Aires-set "The Love of My Life" does an about-face back into emotional resonance by telling the story of a woman-Justina Bustos-and her older husband, Pablo Seijo, who sit in a café dissecting their crumbling relationship. A flashback, complete with the energy, hopes, and fears of her pregnancy, reveals García Bernal's sympathies for the young lady ever so nicely. Shot with great sensitivity to the golden light of the city, using an unsteadily carried camera, it's a short film that privileges tone over narrative.

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Behind "I Do," a very English tale of bride Nora -- played by Tamsin Topopski -- approaching her wedding day with trepidation until a chance encounter with an important figure from her past helps to balance her mind, is singer-songwriter-turned-helmer Khan. Attractively shot and nicely played, the entry has the feel of an extended music video, with symbolism of wild horses that should have been put to pasture ages ago.

The opening credits, with lurid neon and footage of vintage strippers, feels more hip than pertinent, although that could be said about many similarly conceived omnibus projects. Each short opens nicely with a montage that establishes locale.