We Live in Time (2024)
★★★★
This review may contain spoilers.
what a movie, gone up a half star to an 8 and I really think it deserves it,
the pensive score here plays so well as it bounces back and forth between time, I am unsure if it was intentional to have the piano melody bounce back and forth or if I am assign my own meaning to it but I think it works and works well, there are scenes where more instruments join and they are still kind of just bouncing back and forth between the same motif, which makes me feel like it was an intentional choice.
the warm lighting that this film has is amazing like each scene is lit by a warm reading lamp, it gives this soft glow to the film that is amazing.
the acting from Andrew Garfield as Tobias works so great here, a caring, methodical note taker, who works on his faults and tries to become better around every corner, learning from conversations and arguments to help articulate himself better, it seems like he lives his life almost evaluating his actions in order to make himself better but slowly that note taking disappears and he learns that he needs to start living, that all this is going to disappear if he spends life taking notes in that book. but for sure the stand out for me is Florence Pugh who is truly a marvel in this film, dealing with grief from her father as she watched him get Ill she has those feelings from that but now she has to watch herself get ill and sick, we watch as she tries to fight this, not really accepting what is going on until the big argument between the two, the underlying and very low key sadness that she has for her family when they talk about her dad like he is forgotten is played so well from her, they work so well indecently knowing exactly the kinds of characters that they are playing but together that is when the sparks fly and we see the characters pushing one another an argument early on that starts off Garfield saying you were just being rude gets brought back in an in genius way later when Almut says it but he shuts it down expressing that he is trying to understand her situation logically but can't, because she isn't acting based on logic she is acting based on emotions, how she feels, how she will feel, there is so much more to say about the film but I'll save it for another day.
the only negatives that I have for the film is the shot selection, I noted several times where it feels like there is a camera setup that seems like it was intended to last longer than the amount of screen time it ends up with, for his next film it would be intriguing for him to play with this a little bit and really explore these shots, a scene that allows for the camera to sit on the phone that is far away from where they are doing the acting and then when the character grabs the phone we are pulled closer in with them as the information, the intimacy as we see the appreciation for her note taking in the look from Garfield would allow for a more cohesive and bolder visual storytelling, or the first argument scene which allows us to sit wide with this wall between our characters to see both characters presenting there perspective only growing closer to them as there points and arguments and insults grow more personal, leaving with Garfield.
I end by saying what do I know I just write movie reviews, take everything I saw with a grain of salt.
notes below
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- I do like the quietness in the kitchen, very realistic.
- again I reiterate from my first watch, the fact that the film makes you guess what time we are in there lives based on costumes and sets is very nice, love not having a 2 years earlier.
- I like the sound design in the car garage, the reverb is nice
- again starting us off with the second round of cancer diagnosis allows for us to not feel the emotions of the first one.
- love that trilling of the score when he is going to the store to buy pens and snacks.
- did she sleep with him hoping that would help convince him to let her try out?
- there are camera setups like this car scene where he is attempting to pull out of the parallel park that seem like they were shot with the intent to be a long shot and I think that it would work better as such, instead of cutting to the inside the car, I feel like we could stay wide and still have the conversation, I don't think it would break immersion.
- think about time like as in a commitment, to settle in take this serious, it's ironic she is saying this considering that she is thinking of this comp as like she needs to do this as quick as she can, not saying she isn't taking this seriously, just that from knowledge later we know she is doing this to prove something.
- that shot with both of them leaning on the door is so great, the music in that scene is great.
- when he is confronting her about wanting kids, we start wide, this amazing shot with the two of them on opposing sides with a wall literally in the middle of them, it's a great shot with much dynamic stuff going for it, but then we cut to a med. close which is fine but we immediately restrict our movement the second we cut close, we don't allow the actor to act in the environment in this gorgeous house set.
- I like this juxtaposition between him confronting her about not wanting to have kids vs when he confronts her about this cancer treatment, it's much more thought out, he learns from this previous interaction and learns a way to communicate.
- "looking ahead instead of right in front of me. at you." Tobias learning this before she does is crucial, because there fight later becomes fundamental to this point.
- the cutting of the hair makes it real for her, the treatment too but the hair going puts things into perspective, solidifies her plan.
- also how does he say cool hair to Almut and ignore how cool Jade's hair is??
- do you think that she told her previous boyfriend about her figure skating? figuring skating feels joyless, do you think her loosing her dad made her not want kids? then the first cancer scare re-put all that in perspective.
- the scene where she talks about the phone call that she got from the hospital is another scene where I think we were suppose to stay wide on the phone and then follow her back over to the couch.
- a review for this movie I watch, said you can't feel tension for them wanting to have a baby when we know they already have a baby in the future but I think they missed the point of the film, it isn't about that, it's about these moments in time with our characters, we celebrate there successes and failures - side note I had a big cheeky smile on my face during this sequence where they are trying to have a baby.
- this whole birth scene is amazing, like how to craft a scene, tension, character development, amazing
- the way the film builds high and lows especially towards the end, juxtaposition the birth next to learning the cancer isn't shrinking is great.
- is Almut's relationship with her father defined by his declined, those were the last moments with him and is that all she can see, is that why she can't figure skate anymore?
- love the score during the cook off, when it jumps to the repeated bouncy flute and clarinet
- to some degree she had to prove herself to herself, of course it was about Ella too but also about her, she needed to prove that she could still do the cooking so that she could have this ice skating moment with Ella.
- I love how silent the film comes in after that skating scene, I almost wish there was more silence, longer time around the house before the dog enters.
★★★½
This review may contain spoilers.
liked this a lot, haven't seen a whole lot of films in theaters this year but I feel like this one might be my favorite of the year, It's not perfect and I acknowledge that for sure but there is something so intoxicating about it, the slow way it moves, the score, the lighting, some really great scenes.
don't skip this one for sure.
notes below
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- love the stringy piano motif, it bounces back and forth kind of like time.
- I like that the opening scenes have the needed emotions but they aren't asking the audience to feel those emotions yet, for we don't know the characters yet.
- the lighting in the film is very beautiful, it is shot with a lot of soft lighting setups , which adds to this very emotional film, even the kitchen set feels like they are shot with this cloud over the sun feel.
- like how the film cuts back and forth, but doesn't treat you like you are dumb, it doesn't have a title card "4 years earlier" or anything it allows you to figure it out, through the context of how they are sleeping and who they are around, how the set is setup, it's pretty awesome to not have a film tell us when we are.
- like the set design, very decretive, very home-y.
- like the muffled affect used in this scene where he is waking up from car crash.
- wish there was a bit more intercutting between the scenes, we get a lot of door closes then cut to car driving then person enters door, we could just cut out the middle man and cut straight from door close to door close, it would give it a bit more style.
- interesting thought here" Always Looking Ahead and the film is presented as looking from the past to the future, cool structure plays into the theme a bit.
- there is a scene where Almut is throwing up after her first treatment of chemo, I like the rush direction that we get, the quick cuts, the low to high angle shot, this was some nice editing.
- there is a fight scene, where Almut and Tobias are arguing, it's the big moment, love the silence that radiates the film here, each word they speak feels powerful, like each of them have been holding on it, more Tobias than Almut here, but it is a very well made scene, hats off to whoever decided to not put music here, too allow for the cut to just show the emotions of the actors here.
- BEING FORGOTTEN AND LEGACY are big focuses here, Almut doesn't want to be forgotten she wants to be remembered, more to that she lost her father and I think that she feels her family has mostly forgotten them at least that is the sense that I got or that they don't remember him the way that she remembers him and so she is stuck in this thought of how do I be remembered if I am dying so young in my daughters and my husbands life. GRIEF AND LOSS are big focuses here as well, we learn that Tobias has lost his mother and that Almut lost her father and those play big into the characters that they are today and it's interesting to see the dynamics of who they are in retrospect to those thoughts but more importantly LIFE is a big theme, living life to the fullest, not looking towards the future or the past but living in the moment as the title suggests, it feels very Arrival esq in the presentation that it is showing.
- the birth scene is amazing, a true how to craft a scene I feel, it's a good example, should be used how to present tension, performances.
- it was also great to see Kerry Godliman love her
- the movie does have some flaws mainly the directing, the directing is fine here, the performances are Steller, the blocking is clever in some scenes, but it just needs more confidence IMO, there are some great scenes in here that would have been made better by not cutting to a close up or a med. close up but staying in a wide and allowing for the character and us to breath in it and play in it, my main example is the scene where she tells Tobias that she has cancer and has notes on her phone, it would have been cool to hang on her phone until she grabs it like the shot maybe intended just giving the actors some space to play in, they have a whole room after all lol. that is my main complaint.
- better cinematography, it is fine and there are some really great shots in here, along with some really great lighting setups and colors but I think this film would have benefited from a bit dynamic shots, or longer shots, we cut to close ups and med. close ups a lot but are only wide a few times, which I feel kind of goes against what the film is trying to say, we live in time but we are never given the breathing room to live in the space that we exits within, just a personal thought.
