The Rider (2018)
The Rider
”A cowboy's search for identity after a near fatal injury in America's heartland.”
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Why watch this film?
After her debut with 'Songs My Brothers Taught Me', 'The Rider' is the second feature from Chinese filmmaker Chloé Zhao (who would go on to win an Oscar for 'Nomadland'), and also the one that really put her on the map of American independent cinema, with a Cannes prize, four Spirit Award nominations and a Gotham statue (Best Film). This is the story of a talented rodeo rider, whose career is interrupted by an accident that prevents him from getting back on the saddle, so he must rediscover the meaning of being a man and find a new purpose for his life. The film marks the perfection of Zhao's naturalistic style, once again employing non-professional actors to closely tell a story based on real events, a sensitive western with documentary elements that, although sometimes falling into unnecessary sentimentality when exploring the meaning of masculinity and the cowboy myth.
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Plot summary
After suffering a near fatal head injury, a young cowboy undertakes a search for new identity and what it means to be a man in the heartland of America.
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From the same director
Nomadland
Chloé Zhao has been standing out in recent years. After all, the director has been proving to be a name to be followed, with an extremely authorial work and a singular view of the reality of the American dream, in addition to the large portion of the population that is swallowed up by the ideals of freedom. As in her previous film, 'Nomadland', Zhao focuses her gaze on the heart of the United States, the forgotten and abandoned, people who live as nomads, looking for a way to escape the capitalist rat race, which deprives individuals of their personality. To do this, in addition to the spectacular Frances McDormand, who delivers an extremely intimate and touching performance, Zhao works mainly with non-actors, which places the film in a unique space between fiction and reality. Real people with real stories, marginalized and ignored by society who receive the opportunity of a dignified portrait, without glamor or romanticization, but understanding and welcoming. Thus, 'Nomadland' is consecrated as a powerful realistic drama, which gives voice to the ignored and reminds of the vastness and plurality of the country and its people.
Songs My Brothers Taught Me
This is the feature-length debut of director Chloé Zhao, who would go on to gain recognition for 'Nomadland' and an Oscar for 'Nomadland'. Nominated for the Camera d'Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, 'Songs My Brothers Taught Me' already exhibits many of the characteristics we would see in the director's later films, such as the use of non-professional actors to tell a melancholic story about life on the margins of society, with a texture that feels like a documentary. In this case, it's about a young man and his younger sister, who live with their mother on an Indian reservation called Pine Ridge. He is about to leave for Los Angeles, but his plans change when his absent father dies and he fears leaving her alone. It's essentially a coming-of-age story, but in a much subtler and more melancholic tone.
Eternals
One of the best superhero movies of 2021 and the most conventional from Oscar winner Chloé Zhao - if you're looking for a 'Nomadland' or 'Taming the Destiny' you'll be surprised by the result of 'Eternals'. Those who thought it would be a slow production due to the director's history were wrong: she managed to adapt a story as Marvel Studios likes and left her mark on the big comic book blockbusters. Despite this, 'Eternals' is one of the most differentiated films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), it breaks away from standards, is extremely inclusive and also shows more daring, taking away that image that superheroes are not humanized and do not nurture desires. The discussions are mature and the plot is a breath of fresh air for bringing something new. Without losing the jokes and the greatness of the studio, Zhao does a good job and shows that she can lead a heavyweight cast - in her previous films, she did not work with professional actors, except Frances McDormand in 'Nomadland'.
Drama
Raspberries with Mustard
Meeri Ehrlich, 13 years old has three problems. First: She is in love - with the wrong person - and has butterflies in her tummy. Second: Her mother passed away and she misses her a lot. Third: her father - owner of a funeral home - is looking for a new partner. But Meeri has something that is only hers, something very special - she can fly.
Underdog
In its effort to raise awareness about the precarious social reality of certain sectors of the population, Mexican cinema tends to fall into miserabilism (or so-called "poverty porn"), whether in documentaries or fiction. The quest of Mexican cinema for new creative and narrative horizons is ongoing, and in the case of Underdog (Correr para vivir), director and co-writer Gerardo Dorantes opts for what, in its conventions, is an action and crime thriller extrapolated to the context of the Rarámuri (or Tarahumara) indigenous people of northern Mexico, famous for their running tradition (and their extraordinary talent for it). The plot follows two brothers: Omero (Vladimir Rivera), who dreams of being a runner; and Capó (Manuel Cruz Vivas), who is more talented but also troubled. Both are dragged into a life of service to the drug trade when Capó, in an attempt to provide for his pregnant girlfriend, fails in a cocaine delivery. To be honest, it's a good attempt to steer Mexican cinema towards other directions that are not the typical exploitation of social dramas or anthropological documentaries. However, the film ends up falling into the same vices, representing Rarámuri culture from a superficial and idealized exoticism, creating entertainment from a real social context with little sensitivity.
Downtown Owl
'Downtown Owl' - Searching for a break from her cosmopolitan life in Milwaukee, Julia Rabia (Lily Rabe), arrives in the closeknit Reagan-era town of Owl, North Dakota for a one-semester high school teaching job. But when the small town turns out to be a wonderland of second-string poets, smoldering Marlboro Men, and a social hierarchy that echoes high school, Julia doesn't know if she's come to town to get away from home or to find it. Ed Harris, Vanessa Hudgens, Henry Golding, and Finn Wittrock also star in this Great Plains dark dramedy directed by Lily Rabe and Hamish Linklater. Based on the novel by Chuck Klosterman.
Baby
After his release from a juvenile center, Wellington finds himself homeless in São Paulo. At a porn theater, he meets Ronaldo, who mentors him in street survival. Their bond evolves into a turbulent affair.
