Here’s what’s new to Netflix Instant for the week of June 16.
Top Picks
2 Autumns, 3 Winters (2013)
Directed by Sébastien Betbeder
Mumblecore meets Woody Allen in the French film “2 Autumns, 3 Winters,” which chronicles a year in the life of four Parisians. Arman, played with a sincere and goofy likability by Vincent Macaigne, is tired of feeling stagnant. He decides to take up running and meets Amélie (Maud Wyler), starting off a relationship that becomes the through line of a series of vignettes that offer a relaxed take on modern relationships. Betbeder is stylish in his direction – borrowing influences from the aforementioned as well as the French New Wave – but doesn’t get bogged down in the conventions of any particular genre. He takes care to ensure that the form serves the subject: when Arman breaks the fourth wall mid-scene to make a dry or self-deprecating quip, it’s less a grab for laughs than a quick burst of character development, and an observation of how often we can find ourselves in our own head.
Jane Eyre (2011)
Directed by Cary Fukunaga
Charlotte Brontë’s famous novel has been adapted innumerable times, to screens both big and small. Cary Fukunaga’s interpretation is the latest addition to a Netflix “Jane Eyre” catalog now totaling three films – including the 1943 version starring Orson Welles and scripted by Aldous Huxley – and a TV series. This time it’s Mia Wasikowska playing the eponymous lead character, in a performance rife with her characteristic blend of restraint and nuance. Her chemistry with Michael Fassbender (as master-cum-love interest Rochester) shines, but she elevates every scene with the lonely sadness of her gaze, regardless of co-star. Fukunaga shoots interiors and exteriors alike in a gorgeously gloomy fashion, and early traces of the style he would later apply to True Detective are readily visible. The script plays it quite loose with the original thematic content – which may prove more pleasurable to those not familiar with the source material – but retains most of the plot in a commendably fresh reworking of a well-worn classic.
Rapid Fire
Oldboy (2013)
Directed by Spike Lee
This remake of the 2003 Park Chan-Wook revenge mystery wasn’t as well received as its predecessor; now that both are available to stream, viewers can easily judge for themselves.
Grand Piano (2014)
Directed by Eugenio Mira
Elijah Wood and John Cusack star in this tense one-room thriller about a concert pianist who finds out that he’ll be shot if he plays a single note incorrectly.
Gold (2013)
Directed by Thomas Arslan
A western-style film set deep in Canada’s arctic region (a northern?), “Gold” has drawn comparisons to “Meek’s Cutoff” for its sparse portrayal of a travelling group pitting their resolve against the elements.
Double Exposure: Maps to the Stars
AFF 2014: Day Eight
Review: Tracks
