I also loved 'Peter Hujar's Day.' There's an old Broadway expression that if an entertainer is good enough, he or she can “read the telephone book/directory” and the audience will still be satisfied. Ben Whishaw falls into that category. His performance is the higher power of this little film that makes banality mesmerizing. You mention you felt it was "as rich and metatextual as a great European art film." I thought of 'Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles' (1975), directed by Chantal Akerman, and I wonder if you were thinking of it. Stateside, there's 'Stranger Than Paradise' (1984), Jim Jarmusch. Not one day exactly, but very deadpan and focused on the banal textures of time passing. And another I like is 'Cléo de 5 à 7' (1962) by Agnes Varda.
The other thing about 'Peter Hujar's Day' is that it's one great big list. In this sense, I thought of Sans Soleil (1983), Chris Marker, which is a kind of travelogue as conceptual list. (My favorite list-movie has nothing to do with any of these, but it's outrageous: 'The Draughtsman's Contract', by Peter Greenaway.)
I also root for Lathimos, but I haven't seen Bugonia yet. As much as I applaud him, I need to mentally prepare, the way you do to rip off a bandaid. :)
Love your review of Peter Hujar's Day, which I also recently watched. Captures what I liked about the movie quite well. The only immersion-breaking parts for me were some of the musical interludes. "Really, 'Lacrimosa'?" I thought. But mostly I agree with you that Whishaw is tremendous. I just saw the BBC Hollow Crown adaptation of Richard II, my conscious first exposure to him. What a talent.
Did you not think the "seriousness" you cite inre Bugonia was in the least undercut by the anemic, bargain basement quality of the ending? Did they get a deal on costumes from "Abbott and Costello Go To Venus"?
I also loved 'Peter Hujar's Day.' There's an old Broadway expression that if an entertainer is good enough, he or she can “read the telephone book/directory” and the audience will still be satisfied. Ben Whishaw falls into that category. His performance is the higher power of this little film that makes banality mesmerizing. You mention you felt it was "as rich and metatextual as a great European art film." I thought of 'Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles' (1975), directed by Chantal Akerman, and I wonder if you were thinking of it. Stateside, there's 'Stranger Than Paradise' (1984), Jim Jarmusch. Not one day exactly, but very deadpan and focused on the banal textures of time passing. And another I like is 'Cléo de 5 à 7' (1962) by Agnes Varda.
The other thing about 'Peter Hujar's Day' is that it's one great big list. In this sense, I thought of Sans Soleil (1983), Chris Marker, which is a kind of travelogue as conceptual list. (My favorite list-movie has nothing to do with any of these, but it's outrageous: 'The Draughtsman's Contract', by Peter Greenaway.)
I also root for Lathimos, but I haven't seen Bugonia yet. As much as I applaud him, I need to mentally prepare, the way you do to rip off a bandaid. :)
Love your review of Peter Hujar's Day, which I also recently watched. Captures what I liked about the movie quite well. The only immersion-breaking parts for me were some of the musical interludes. "Really, 'Lacrimosa'?" I thought. But mostly I agree with you that Whishaw is tremendous. I just saw the BBC Hollow Crown adaptation of Richard II, my conscious first exposure to him. What a talent.
Brave and true
Did you not think the "seriousness" you cite inre Bugonia was in the least undercut by the anemic, bargain basement quality of the ending? Did they get a deal on costumes from "Abbott and Costello Go To Venus"?