FILM REVIEWS:
HEATHER (USA 2022) **
Directed by Anthony Repinsky
HEATHER the film comes with the tag: “Be careful who you bully.” One of the bullied transitioned, so, she would not be recognized by the bully years later.
This transgendered-themed thriller is loosely inspired by a story told to Writer/Director Anthony Repinski by a friend who was bullied in high school. She later transitioned and then was reunited with her bully, who ended up becoming her lover.
A philanderer is lured into a kinky encounter by a provocative woman, only to discover she has undergone gender reassignment and was once the boy he terrorized in high school.
`This transgendered-themed thriller is loosely inspired by a story told to Writer/Director Anthony Repinski by a friend who was bullied in high school. She later transitioned and then was reunited with her bully, who ended up becoming her lover. Though the film follows the incident quite closely, it is no guarantee that the film will be credible or intriguing. The film’s most shocking scene, just as in Neil Jordan’s THE CRYING GAME, is when the trans woman pulls out his penis.
The second bullied man appears halfway through the film, the film then changes mode to more of a slasher film. It is all the point that the trans realizes that she has gone too far and has feelings for the bully.
The bully played by Nick Matthews is a sufficiently despised character and Trans actor Pooya Mphseni tries to look like the prettier thing on the planet as the trans woman, HEATHER.
HEATHER comes across as an exploitative horror schtick rather than a sympathetic look at the trans community, It also fails as a horror thriller lacking any real suspense or suspenseful set-pieces.
The film has a running time of 75 minutes and will not be rated by the MPAA. Buffalo 8 will release the film on digital platforms on November 8.
Trailer:
THE PIANO LESSON (USA 2024) **
Directed by Malcolm Washington
The Piano Lesson is a 1987 play by American playwright August Wilson. This is the second adaptation, the first being a television film in 1995. It is the fourth play in Wilson's The Pittsburgh Cycle. Wilson began writing this play by playing with the various answers regarding the possibility of “acquiring a sense of self-worth by denying one's past". The Piano Lesson received the 1990 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
THE PIANO LESSON is set in 1936 Pittsburgh during the aftermath of the Great Depression. It follows the lives of the Charles family in the Doaker Charles household and an heirloom, the family piano, which is decorated with designs carved by an enslaved ancestor. The play focuses on the arguments between a brother (John David Washington) and a sister (Danielle Deadwyler) who have different ideas on what to do with the piano. The brother, Boy Willie, is a sharecropper who wants to sell the piano to buy the land (Sutter's land) where his ancestors toiled as slaves. The sister, Berniece, remains emphatic about keeping the piano, which shows the carved faces of their great-grandfather's wife and son during the days of their enslavement.
The film centres on the siblings’ quarrel about what to do with the piano. Their uncle (Samuel L. Jackson) tries to mediate, but even he can’t hold back the ghosts of the past.
There are 2 climaxes in the film. One is the entrance of Michael Potts as Wining Boy Charles, drunk from too much whiskey. He then plunks an exceptionally Blues song on the piano crooning the lyrics at the same time, lifting the film from what is a over heavy laden tone, The other is the appearance of a spirit that apparently has come from the ancestors carved on the piano that rocks the house and send several meters thudding on the floor and walls. This last segment looks like a possession piece right out of an EXORCIT film and feels totally out of place with reference to the rest of the film. There is also a preacher sprinkling of holy water and quoting of the Bible trying to exorcist the spirits.
The film is a Washington family affair with Denzel producing and his two sons, Malcolm directing and John acting.
To the director’s and cinematographer Mike Gioulakis’ credit, the opening sequence set on a night in 1911 and other segments are well filmed. The above sequence is shot in alternative red and colour as the piano is taken from a house. The film is often stunning to look at, but the film suffers outstanding flaws including continuity and its staginess as it is based on a play and often feels like one. Performances are top notch and the music by Alexandre Desalt is exceptional. But good intentions aside, the film is a mixed mess.
THE PIANO ESSOn premiered at this year’s TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL opening at the TIFF Lightbox on November 8th and on the streaming g strive Netflix on November 22nd.
Trailer:
