Silence is nice

Gentle understanding.

Sometimes you watch a film about a girl who destroyed everything, and you feel that it is about you.

Can one laugh at sadness? Yes, and it can be really, really sweet and heartbreaking at the same time.

The sadness of identities.

Sometimes a film becomes meaningful because others make you see it through their eyes.

I cannot wait for an opportunity to rewatch (and screenshot all of) this film, which I loved so, so much because I knew every second of it.

The wonderful Thomas Schubert as Leon - and also as a version of some of the most beautiful people I know - in Christian Petzold's Afire (Roter Himmel), 2023

Belatedly marking the birthday of one of the great ones (who I only now noticed used to resemble someone I know when he was young).

And what film did you find sexy & beautiful but boring?

Passages, Ira Sachs, 2023

Sometimes films are gentle because people they portray are gentle (and you wish you could share them - the films, not the people - with other gentle people).

Sometimes little things can reveal a lot.

Sometimes you rewatch a film with others, and they open up so many new dimensions to it.

More cinema that I am not sure what to do with.

When I first saw this film, I was required to rate it (something I truly dislike) and I gave it 2 out of 5, because I felt it was impossibly cruel: it humiliates one of its protagonists in front of the viewers at the will of another, which I so disliked. I have on second viewing not really changed my mind, but I see it with a little more nuance. This quote in particular almost tries to redeem the (really sad) title character, as if it wants to say: it wasn't entirely his fault either, he too was a victim. It is a fair point - underlined also by the choice of actor, as Adnan Omerović is the face of tenderness beaten and bruised by life, all soft hair and soft eyes and soft voice. But still, was all this necessary for the audience to see?

Another film I didn't enjoy that everyone else seems to be finding great. I found it superficial, and I didn't care about the main character, which is a problem when the whole film is about her inner turmoil of failing at finding who she is. Ah well...

This happened today. And I liked it.

Can we hurt others out of love for them - and if we can, (how) can we make things right?