Midsommar (2019)

All non-Nolan related film, tv, and streaming discussions.
Posts: 55632
Joined: May 2010
BlairCo wrote:
August 7th, 2019, 8:34 am
I found this to be rather thematically muddled in places. It never felt like Aster was spear-heading his themes of grief in the same way he did with Hereditary. Maybe he didn't want it feel like he's retreading those same waters, but it resulted in a lot of hollow points that I felt didn't add up to anything resonant. Those problems lie manly within the first half. The second half is where it hits its stride, where I started to feel exactly what Aster was wanting to say, with a final shot that is so cathartic and beautiful. I wish the rest of the movie was on the same level as the final 30 minutes.
I'm going to be terribly obvious here, but there's a reason Greek drama is structured like a slow buildup to 'purification' aka 'catharsis' and there's a reason why Midsommar works exactly like a cinematic version of said slow, segmented buildup. The final shot wouldn't work without everything that came before it.
I also love how it's one big metaphor for a relationship that's about to break in two, and about finally letting go of the things that we love so much but also hurt us.

User avatar
Posts: 19859
Joined: June 2011
Location: The Ashes of Gotham
I got all that. I understood what it was a metaphor for. It just takes an extremely long time to get to that good stuff. It builds up and builds up, but rarely did I get a sense of where it ultimately wanted to go. Sometimes that works, like with Hereditary, but here it felt uneventful and rudderless. I loved the first 5 minutes and the last 30 minutes, while everything else inbetween felt like an endurance test.

I'm actually looking forward to seeing how this plays on home media, see how it plays with just me watching it because there were quite a few laughs in some really messed up places.

User avatar
Posts: 19209
Joined: June 2012
Location: stuck in 2020
Hereditary as well as Midsommar just were quite funny in some places. Maybe not intentionally so but at some moments I just can't help but laugh at either the bizarreness of the situation or the gruesomeness.

This film felt more cohesive it terms of story and directing than Hereditary. Pugh is indeed a great lead and I liked this films visual style so much more than Asters first film. I think Colette really was the only good thing about Hereditary.

User avatar
Posts: 20188
Joined: June 2010
Location: The White City
Midsommar is a black comedy. I laughed most of the way through it.


-Vader

Posts: 55632
Joined: May 2010
Vader182 wrote:
August 7th, 2019, 10:38 am
Midsommar is a black comedy. I laughed most of the way through it.


-Vader
Most definitely intentional.

User avatar
Posts: 5219
Joined: January 2012
One minor flaw of the film (I fucking loved it) was the Will Poulter character and his forced ''funny'' lines

I never notice ADR in a film, here it felt like 90% of his dialogue was offscreen and randoms one-liners. Like a rushed studio note to include more jokes a week before the release.

User avatar
Posts: 20188
Joined: June 2010
Location: The White City
really man?

the Poulter stuff was the funniest shit in the movie mostly. my whole theater ate it up.


-Vader

User avatar
Posts: 2197
Joined: January 2016
Yeah I thought Poulter's character was hillarious

Posts: 55632
Joined: May 2010
He was a classic comic relief.
and fittingly ended like a jester
Filled his role just about right.

User avatar
Posts: 5219
Joined: January 2012
In a completely empty theater for the Director’s Cut

Can’t wait but still can’t believe it has a genuine theatrical release

Post Reply