Triskele Press: Issue 1

dealings with terminal lung cancer. This subplot rarely forced, and in
fact does very well to provide the film with a slightly darker tone that
sets it apart from other young adult films.
It is very easy to call The Young Kieslowski “just another
young adult movie” or even “just another accidental pregnancy comedy”,
and there would certainly be truth to those statements. This being
said, in the grand scheme of young adult cinema, there are hardly many
films anywhere near as genuine in their message and unpretentious in
their dialogue.
Tig
October 10, 2015
Runtime: 1 hr 35 min [8/10]
A combination of “funny” and “tragic” has never been very
easy to strike in a film, usually leading to fans of one side disappointed.
One could argue that a documentary has the greatest ability to strike this
balance. After all, the best example of comedy and tragedy wrapped up
as one can be found only in reality itself.
And “Tig” may very well be the best example of translating
that concept to film. Rarely cheesy or emotionally manipulative, the
documentary chronicles the series of unfortunate events in comedienne
Tig Notaro’s life, all leading up to one of the most acclaimed comedy
sets of all time. It’s unimaginable tragedy that results in similarly unimaginable
comedy.
“Good evening, hello. I have cancer.”
It’s important to note that the description above is only representative
of this film’s first half- and what a first half it is. Notaro is first
diagnosed with a bacterial illness after collapsing on set. Only a week
later however, her mother is killed in a tragic accident. It only takes a
few more months however before the final tragedy hits: her diagnosis of
stage 2 breast cancer. But “Tig” is not a movie about cruel nature of life,
but rather how incredibly resilient a human being can be.
And resilient Tig Notaro is. Only a few days later, the comedienne
steps out on stage and begins her set with the simple quote above.
Her set continues into a collection of stories- funny and sad- that pushes
the limits of how much humor can be found in the situations most would
rather shove under the rug. It was a set that, as the film depicts exceptionally,
had the crowd in tears and several other comedians in awe of
her achievement.
The film certainly has downtime however, and the second
half is where most of it can be found. It would be unfair to not admit
that the segments of Tig’s “crush” on a co-star of hers aren’t quite as
exciting and engaging as those regarding her comedy or her cancer. This
said, it takes reaching the end of this film to realize that there is a time
and a place for the serious stuff, and for “Tig” to put the comedienne’s
emotional and romantic life on display shows that she is just as human
as the rest of us, despite being a superhero in every other way.
But for how much the second half’s content exposes Notaro’s
sensitive side, many of these segments are still undeniably pockets of
stasis that could have flowed better. Regardless, “Tig” is an absolute
must for those who love to see an individual get back on their feet when
it seems most impossible.
Two Days, One Night
October 14, 2015
Runtime: 1 hr 35 min [9/10]
There is something to be said about a film that can thrill its
audiences without the prevalence of an action-packed narrative. “Argo”
is a great example of a mainstream film that had viewers on the edge of
their seats despite a gunshot at no point ever even being fired.
“Two Days, One Night” however takes this idea further into
that extreme. Nothing about this film is overtly thriller-like. A woman
who has recently been laid off needs to convince the majority of her coworkers
to vote to keep her on the job in lieu of a staff-wide bonus- and
she only has two days and one night to do it.
“Put yourself in my shoes.”
And despite nothing painting this film as thriller-like on the surface, the
film is still bound to receive the edge-of-seat reaction that any other action-packed
thriller might. Sandra is faced with an incredible challenge
in convincing her co-workers that her continuing to have a salary to
support her family is anywhere near more important than all of their bills
effectively paid for an entire year. It’s a treacherous task with a ticking
clock, which fits the bill of a thriller quite nicely.
It is important to note however that the use of the word thriller is only
in regards to the edge-of-seat feeling the audience is bound to have with
this film. The film moves in a very similar manner to the Dardenne
brothers’ previous film “The Kid with a Bike”, albeit significantly more
dynamic. This is very fortunate as merging the simplicity of that film
with a more dynamic and snappy pacing is quite the winning combination.
One could however almost argue that every winning aspect of this film
is put to shame by the moving performance of Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard.
The terrific actress is able to play her role in such a manner that
the viewer will not just sympathize with her in her worst moments,
but will rather feel her pain in an almost surreal way. It could be that
the fear of being laid of resonates with the general public, but whatever
the reason, Cotillard does a fine job of bringing such a situation to life.
Despite the film moving in some odd directions towards the film’s
conclusion, “Two Days, One Night” is quite the thrilling feat. With a
variegated cast of co-workers and a great performance by Sandra’s supportive
husband, this is a film that gives its all and rarely ever fails.
Editor: Reyaan Shah
Reyaan (Rey) Shah is a high school senior in Coppell, Texas.
Although primarily planning to study Mathematics in college, Rey
is passionate about writing about music and film of the independent
and mainstream persuasion alike, having written numerous
independent film reviews for Triskele Press. In his spare time, he
leads a team of young aspiring journalists in writing indie music
news and album reviews for his website Popchata.com, a venture
he plans to pursue further into his higher education alongside his
mathematics studies.
TRISKELEPRESS.COM • FEBRUARY 2016
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