What do We see When we see sky?

What do we do When We Look At The Sky? Film review

So firstly, I’m typing this at 18:19. I want this, IM sure, until Sunday, but it’s essential to focus on what me and Dad, who chose the film, will be doing—watching Argentina vs. Mexico.
At this point, we have seen the result of France and Denmark. And I was delighted, but the future remains unknown.

This will dovetail nicely thematically with the film. But first, let’s assess the situation. My Dad, who we shall refer to as Raj Deb, chose this film about five weeks ago. I get the BFI brochure and ask him what he wants to see. I suspect it’s more to look at the books outside and make a fuss either in the cinema or the bar. But it will be one or another, and even if we walk out, I accept I did my bit in father-son time.

He has forgotten he chose this film. I ask him why he chose this film, he mentioned it was filmed in Georgia. We know nothing about this film.

I call my mate Jayson, with what little I know. Bearing in mind he knows my father walks out of films.
“It’s in german, ‘fuck off, it won an award in berlin ‘double fuck off’…its almost three hours long ‘…WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!’”
“ROB, IT’S GOING TO BE SHITTY ARCHITECTURE, A PILE OF BRICK WITH A FORLORN CHILD AND FUCKING JOY DIVISION, ALL IN BLACK AND WHITE “

I had only seen one image. It looked black and white. But not being my first rodeo, I made a point of buying tickets nearest the entrance/exit, being ready for him being bored, and just wanting to nut it off.

Ostensibly the film itself is a mild fairy tale. It’s about two people in Kutaisi. I wouldn’t know where it was, having an adorable meet cute and agreeing to a date. Their first date. It was young lovers in the heart. Sadly a curse is placed on them, changing their appearance. So they can’t recognise each other…even standing next to each other.

To compound the problem, both have their most incredible talents removed. Georgi’s football skills he used to teach with, and Lisa’s medical knowledge she used to help people.

This film is too long. for this story. They were further frustrated by an almost Rosencrantz and Guildenstern voiceover where all the fantastical and magical is left off-camera. Indeed, the critical changes leave us staring like a child at the corner of a table while adults do their business.

The world seems magical realism, where many people understand curses exist. Like chickenpox, no one seems to have conversations about the broader world. Indeed if your face had been changed for someone else, you would be running around going, “I am the doctor who.” also, the interminable way it was done…my Dad didn’t notice throughout the film what had happened and thought they had just ‘changed.’

My Dad was more interested in the doggies, one we see in the mise en scene, and spent most of part one of the film wondering where he was. The film is split in 2 is very wise if we had an interval, and I assume that was the theatrical intent.

The doggies and the schoolkids seem to occupy an almost 100 blows/bicycle thieves sort of affectation, with their cheekiness blending in well with the bright sunny world we see.
In the second half, especially with the upcoming world cup, there is a more incredible tempo of particular note. It’s a film of scenery and city more than the couple, which is its main feature. Both ouor leads find themselves working rather custodial, even menial jobs for a local entrepreneur. Fagin likes taking their vulnerabilities for his benefit.

The film itself is set in 2014 and sees a town gearing and centering for the world cup and Argentina’s ascent. as the film moves towards its almost predictable climax, which the narrator, the director, makes no bones about. We see the idolisation of Messi and many queries about the morality of football. How is it relevant in politics and art, and relationships? Yet it is.

The second half was more a respite than a rejuvenation. And the ponderous nature of the first half left a bitter pill once the tension and editing were loosened.
For my Dad, it’s important to say. He said it was alright. More polemic. And he enjoyed watching the cheekiness and the locations. Insisting I know a statue. And at one point, the kids were mentioned as being 11 kids. And there was a line-up, counting everyone out loud for those in the cinema who did not see them.

As I end this, the match was impressive. During it, Dad told me Stalin was from the same town that is set in. We discussed how relationships wain and can suddenly refract into a passion again. How the dynamic of relationships and dating change in countries and times. Oh, and I think of how Messi scored the first goal leading to Argentina being in the lead 60 minutes into the match. And how a film set 9 years ago would have kids painign his number on their own back. And our information was sticking Messi’s shirt up.
As I type this, I’m a celebrity throwing the cyclone at Matt Hancock. He gets to be a hero. Because every story has its moment and is just one more in the masses, it is a moral of the story. The stories my Dad just told tonight…kind of worth it.kind of. But as a film in and of itself

An artful curio for Netflix, maybe redeemed in two parts. But otherwise rather bland.