_Submergence_
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septimus_millenicom@q.com@21:1/5 to
All on Wed Sep 5 22:50:31 2018
We sat grown quiet at the name of love;
We saw the last embers of daylight die,
And in the trembling blue-green of the sky
A moon, worn as if it had been a shell
Washed by time's waters as they rose and fell
About the stars and broke in days and years.
W.B. Yeats, "Adam's Curse"
I think Wim Wenders has taken a step back with _Submergence_. His _Every
Thing Will be Fine_ is a soulful exploration of a writer's life and guilt,
and the boy and women who cross his path. It is anchored by spectacular
work by the veteran actresses Marie-Josee Croze and especially Charlotte Gainsbourg. It is set in Montreal and is Wenders' "snow film" -- the cinematography and compositions are amazing.
_Submergence_ is based on a novel which tries to find convergence between
the rarefied lifeforms deep undersea, and the jihad-infested coastlines
of Africa. I have a hard time buying into the supposed profundity of this
high concept (probably a fault with the source material, not the director).
It must be said that the settings (Somalia coastlines, Normandy, and
deep beneath the ocean) are as visually spectacular as the previous film.
But James McAvoy, a supposed MI6 agent, is strangely inert, a passive
victim of jihadists who have captured him. Alicia Vikander is a very
bland and technically limited actress that for whatever reason finds
prominence in current cinema. She plays a scientists who dives in a
deep-sea sub to explore lifeforms that grow near underwater "smokestacks." (This is made out to be some revolutionary discovery, but is actually
extremely well-known; smokestacks are frequently speculated to be the
origins of life on Earth.) But there isn't a spark, an inquisitive intelligence to Vikander's PhD scientist whatsoever. Rachel Weisz's
Hypatia in _Agora_ she is not.
Another unkind comparison is Alona Tal, who plays a professor having
a fling with a Seal Team commando in TV's "Seal Team." That TV
series is quite pedestrian, but Tal is so much more convincing as
a professor. Incidentally, Tal did an unforgettable recital of Yeats'
"Adam's Curse" in the very forgettable amazon prime series "Hand of
God." Vikander and McAvoy recite lots of literature, but neither
has the charisma and soulfulness of the Israeli-born Tal, who should
be a much more of a household name. It is revealing that both lead
characters' lives in _Submergence_ are constantly in danger, but
there seems so much less at stake than in the excellent _Every
Thing Will be Fine_.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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