Visages villages: Faces Places

Agnes Varda is a French director and photographer who was part the French New Wave Cinema.  JR is a French photographer and artist who is best known for street art: pasting large photographs onto buildings.  Agnes and JR team up to travel through villages in France.  They want to meet the people, take their pictures, and use the portraits to decorate old buildings.

Agnes is in her 80s and JR is in his 30s.  She has eye disease and sees the world blurry, while he always wears sunglasses and sees the world dark.  Their art and stories are different but both want to capture real moments in their art.


Prior to seeing this documentary, I was not familiar with the work of Agnes Varda or JR.  This documentary is about these two artists, who appreciate and enjoy each other and their art.  They travel around France to hear stories and take photographs.  It also has some quiet conversations between Varda and JR, where they talk about their past and future.  Both are slightly eccentric artists, with strong opinions... but the film is about their art and finding stories / truth.

Despite its short running time, the story moves at a slow and meandering pace, but it works here.  The film is in French, with subtitles.

This documentary was nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature in 2017 (Icarus won).

Visages villages: Faces Places (2017) 89 minutes
Director: JR & Agnes Varda
Starring: Agnes Varda
JR

After the Ball (2015)

"What would you do if you were in my shoes?"

"Get new shoes."

Kate Kassell (Doubleday) is a young fashion designer.  Her work is impressive, but no one will hire her due to her family's reputation.  her father, Lee (North), owns a retail company that remakes fashion looks.  With nowhere else to turn, she accepts Lee's offer to work at the company.  Her stepmother, Elise (Holly), runs the company and resents Kate's presence.  Kate is put to work sorting buttons in the stockroom, while Elise's daughters Simone (Hopkins) and Tannis (Krill) get large offices and the opportunity to design for the company.

Kate quickly befriends designer Maurice (Michael) and catches the eye of shoe designer Daniel (Grondin).  But Simone and Tannis ruin Kate's reputation and get her fired.  She turns to her godparents, Bella (Kuzyk) and Richard (Rota), who own a vintage clothing store.  They encourage her to fight back and save the company.  With her knowledge of fashion, Bella's knowledge of Lee, and Richard's coaching, Kate returns to the company as Nate.  Can she save the day and get the guy?


This film is a modern retelling of Cinderella, but writers Kate Melville and Jason Sherman also added some elements of William Shakespeare's "As You Like It."  The Cinderella elements are clear - the girl forced to do menial tasks for her stepmother and stepsisters, aided by her godmother and the man in her life gives her a shoe.  But Kate taking action and posing as a man is the plot of Shakespeare's "As You Like It."  The two elements work well and keep the story interesting.

I stumbled onto this film on Netflix a few years ago and added it to my queue.  It is an enjoyable diversion.  It isn't a big budget film, but it holds your attention and the cast is good.  The costumes / fashion works well.  I enjoyed it and would definitely watch it again.

After the Ball (2015) 101 minutes
Director: Sean Garrity
Starring: Portia Doubleday as Kate Kassell
Marc-Andre Grondin as Daniel
Chris North as Lee Kassell
Lauren Holly as Elise Adams Kassell
Anna Hopkins as Simone Adams
Natalie Krill as Tannis Adams
Mimi Kuzyk as Bella
Carlo Rota as Richard
David Michael as Maurice
Colin Mochrie as Frost

The Mystery of Mr. Wong

Priceless sapphire The Eye of the Daughter of the Moon was stolen from China.  The jewel is cursed, condemning it's possessor to death.  The gem ends up in the hands of antique dealer Brandon Edwards (Wallace), who knows the legend and expects to be murdered.  That evening he hosts a party along with his wife Valerie (Tree).  During the party he meets with private detective James Lee Wong (Karloff).  He knows someone will try to kill him and written down the name of the culprit, which is only to be read after his death.  Edwards locks the letter and the jewel in his office, and they return to the party.

Edwards is shot and killed during the party.  The police, led by Captain Sam Street (Withers), arrive to investigate the death.  Street and Wong discover that the jewel and the letter are missing, and suspect foul play.  The suspects include Valerie, who was afraid of her husband, his secretary Peter Harrison (Reynolds) who is in love with Valerie, singer Michael Strogonoff (Lebedeff), maid Drina (Long), and butler Sing (Gan).  Wong asks his friend Professor Ed Janney (Herbert), who was also a guest at the party, to help investigate.  Can Wong find the Eye of the Daughter of the Moon and the killer before more bodies appear?


The character of Mr. James Lee Wong first appeared as a series in Collier's Magazine.  Hugh Wiley wrote 12 short stories about Mr. Wong for the magazine from 1934 to 1938.  The character was popular enough for Monogram Pictures to make 6 films about him (Mr. Wong, Detective 1938, The Mystery of Mr. Wong in 1939, Mr. Wong in Chinatown in 1939, The Fatal Hour in 1940, Doomed to Die in 1940, and Phantom of Chinatown in 1940).  Five of the film were directed by William Nigh, with Boris Karloff in the title role.

The majority of the fine is confined to the Edwards home.  You know the murder was committed by someone in the house, and everyone remains in the house for the duration of the film.  The film is short and keeps your attention.  The mystery is good and gives the audience a pool of suspects with strong motives.  Boris Karloff is great as James Lee Wong, creating a compelling and intelligent character.  The rest of the cast is fine.  Grant Withers, who plays Captain Street, and Chester Gan, who plays Sing, are the only characters who appeared in this film and the previous Mr. Wong film.

Entertaining, but not great.

The Mystery of Mr. Wong (1939) 68 minutes
Director: William Nigh
Starring: Boris Karloff as James Lee Wong
Grant Withers as Police Captain Sam Street
Dorothy Tree as Valerie Edwards
Craig Reynolds as Peter Harrison
Ivan Lebedeff as Michael Strogonoff
Holmes Herbert as Professor Ed Janney
Morgan Wallace as Brandon Edwards
Lotus Long as Drina
Chester Gan as Sing
Hooper Atchley as Carslake