Ari Aster's MIDSOMMAR (2019)

Huh?

I said I saw his last movie, and even though I know she doesn't like that kind of movie, I thought she'd like to hear about it. my point with that comment was there's a lot less to describe about this movie than that movie.

Just fancied a cheap shot, nm - he was a bad boyfriend tho

Hah.

I don't know. I wouldn't date the dude myself, but then again, that's something I brought up before: why are they even a couple? The implication of the movie is that they've been together for years at the start of the film, and for years he's been helping her with her sister's breakdowns, and her own breakdowns, and he's starting to find it wearing. And yet - he stays with her. He takes her calls. He leaves his friends (who all want him to break-up with her). He lets her invite herself to his dudes getaway. When she says she doesn't want to take mushrooms, he, admittedly disappointed, agrees to wait with her as well ... until she relents under pressure from vape dude. Boyfriend is not happy, but she's not happy, either. Like, what is he getting out of the relationship? He sticks with her out of sympathy, which is not a healthy reason to be in a relationship but does not necessarily make him a particularly bad boyfriend, worthy of death, just the wrong boyfriend.

Btw, speaking of shock and (lack of) meaning, I did see a profile from last year that compared Aster to ... Todd Solodz.

Hard not to think of Solondz when you watch his first short

Yeah thats why I dont really get the reading of this as an empowering revenge narrative, its very thin soup in that respect. They're in an unhealthy codependent relationship thats past its shelf life, they're both kind of checked out and inattentive, and the empowering result of her discovering her agency is not that she finds the strength to stand up to him or finally face the truth and break up with him, its that she puts him in a situation where other people will immolate him after torturing & paralyzing him. That would be satisfying as genre if he had been set up as more of a heavy, but when both characters are just these sort of wishy-washy blah people it doesnt really track for me. Thats what I mean when I say it felt procedural for me, the characters' choices seem so meaningless, like theyre just going through the motions bc we need a certain number of characters to lead us through the horror setpieces that we all know we need to get to.

Is this the “good guy” defense?
Just because he sucks at a lower frequency than we expect means he’s not THAT bad?! I’ve heard this one irl, not just in the movies!

He sucks as a person. And her entire family was just murder-suicided so I’d hardly say her character or circumstances were merely blah.

This film would not have been better if she were a ~badass~ imo, nor if he were a heavy

I have to say, and maybe this is a me thing, I pretty much never care whether a fictional character’s actions appear “unmotivated”. It’s just not a concern for me and that’s kinda why I enjoy horror movies and also why I enjoy art movies

I think that maybe there’s a little too much pressure on Aster to be meaningful this early in his career? Reading interviews about his student movie, he seemed to deliberately be angling himself toward to problematic, for no purpose but to be shocking— perhaps the essence of horror. Not so much apolitical but unpolitical, decisions deliberately made to annoy and discomfort on all levels. Still haven’t seen this yet, though I rewatched Hereditary again after a director was liberally using the score as temp— the final cue over the Hail Paimon sequence is some excellent film music, very cool decisions

― flamboyant goon tie included, Wednesday, July 10, 2019 11:32 AM (forty-four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

I'm probably harder on someone like him because he shows real talent and skill as a director and also appears to be severely lacking as a writer. I love that he has a new movie out only a year after his breakout hit debut. It would be awesome to see him keep up the pace, and as much as I like his two features (I don't love them), I do wonder if he can get by without an exploded face or decapitated head. I certainly hope so! But it remains to be seen.

I mean I could really see this guy making a movie about death and suffering in the same galaxy as Cries and Whispers, which is saying something. It's a lot harder without blood.

Also just realized that if he successfully mated with the village girl, his awesome genes will live on as part of this community. Bummer for them!

I’m less interested in the director and more in the movie. Tbh for this type of folk horror I think Wicker Man is way way way better in every way, including musically. (Though I did genuinely enjoy the music in Midsommar)

xpost
http://www.asharperfocus.com/images/Cries10.jpg

xpost Oh, I agree, he's really talented. And "Wicker Man" (and lots of similar) is better. And I really liked "Hereditary," just not this one so much.

And her entire family was just murder-suicided so I’d hardly say her character or circumstances were merely blah.

This is another reason I didn't give a shit about him or their relationship! Like, prioritize your healing, Dani.

"A death metal version of Cries and Whispers" has to be my favorite blurb yet. #Hereditary https://t.co/mF07hvFo4X

— Ari Aster (@AriAster) June 1, 2018

Elsewhere:

Cries and Whispers strikes me as the most painful and beautiful film about death . . . and sisterhood. I screened it for the crew when we were making Hereditary, which is also a movie about suffering. Bergman was always wrestling with the big things—family dynamics, one’s relationship to God—but he did it in such an accessible way. His films are entertainments—they’re fun, and they’re beautiful. I feel like he has a reputation for being a forbidding director, but I find him to be as inviting as a filmmaker like that could possibly be.

many xp to Lechera - what can I say, I guess my bar for paralyzed immolation is a touch higher? I can only speak for what he does in the movie, but he just seems like an emotionally unavailable mid-20s dip? Like yeah he obv sucks, but they all just seem like mid-20s ppl in 2019 who suck at communicating with each other. But if imagining an offscreen backstory for him where he's probably a fucked up monster helps you enjoy this movie then great I guess?

The way he sucks would probably not be justification for murder irl yes

This...is a film

He trash talks his girlfriend behind her back, he is too cowardly to break up with her and just goes through the motions of pretending to still love her, which lead him to do things like plan a trip to Sweden without ever telling her he committed to go, and forgetting her birthday.

Anytime she tries to have a serious conversation with him, he tries to get the upper hand by threatening to go home, because he knows she will back down.

Even like when they are taking their drugs and she wants to do it later, he makes an offer (to wait for her) that he knows won't work and the guys will balk at because he knows she'll cave to avoid upsetting anybody.

That screams "bad boyfriend" to me. Maybe he's not a monster of a human being but uh he sucks at the relationship part of life.

*watches phantom thread* now that’s hardly a solid basis for a successful relationship, total plot hole

Xpost Doesn't mean he deserved death either but again...what wins said

Glad to hear its just a film - I was worried those kids were really watching Austin Powers

But he's already at the tail end of the relationship! He wants out! And by all indications he would have broken up with her had her family not died horribly. So yeah, he's a coward, but, like, would breaking up with her after her tragedy had made him ... a better boyfriend?

I don't see him trying to get the upper hand, and see him trying to find a way out, even though he couldn't be more clear about the signals he is sending. Like, she literally imposes herself onto his (not easy!) dudes trip he planed without her knowing, with people she doesn't even like and who definitely don't like her. Who does that?!

But yeah, he did forget her birthday, so death justified, I guess.

Wait, this was a movie?!

*Smart Hulk spreads arms* "Midsommar!"

this thread has been jic'd

It’s been jfc’d at least

*jumps off cliff*

Well, I had to ji see it first, but mission accomplished.

*watches phantom thread* now that’s hardly a solid basis for a successful relationship, total plot hole

ftr im not demanding slavish realism from this movie or knocking it for being 'unrealistic' or w/e, i get that its a surreal art horror movie, just specifically quibbling w/the arguments that part of why its good is that its narratively satisfying to watch that guy die.

tbf seeing anyone in a bear costume is innately satisfying.

also can't go wrong with crones chanting, pastoral setting, processional music, rituals, costumes etc -- there are a lot of things to like about this movie that make me not care whether or not he actually deserved to die or was a bad boyfriend. he was a mediocre disappointment of a boyfriend.

at the end i don't think she was getting "revenge on her monster boyfriend" as much as reveling in whatever bizarre trip her life had become since losing her family all at once. at least that's what was on my mind when i saw her smile. her disappointment of a boyfriend getting burnt (inside a bear corpse!) was just the latest development.

should have ended with her turning to the camera and shrugging.

lol, same ending credits song though :)

gotta admit when they cut to him with his face sticking out of the bear mouth my first thought was "wow, perfect fit!"

Anyway, I see he's started working on his next film.

This is an r/relationships post from the SA peanut gallery thread because the original was deleted. You will not regret reading this one although you might scream. 🐀🐀🐀🐀 pic.twitter.com/nIt12atnqI

— Horrendous Jake Kablooie (@JakeMHS) July 10, 2019

http://www.magiclanternpodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/wm_cat_masks_window_eep.jpg
"We can't wait!"

Aster's writing is sloppy and pretty horribly paced, and this was way overlong, but I didn't care. So thematically and symbolically rich, and wonderfully executed on every level. And lingeringly unnerving.

I do wonder if his starting point was to take some of the least threatening things imaginable, incredibly pleasant Scandanavian people and sunny fields, and make them sinister.

Her boyfriend was a huge fucking dickhead by the way.

I watched this last night and I'm going to give it 3 bags of popcorn. Maybe throw in a soda for the trippy visuals.

A musical thought: Know what this movie was missing for me? Trad Gras och Stenar/international Harvester/Parson Sound Swedish hippies playing droney jams. Did I miss them far off in a corner somewhere? Don’t these ppl like to zone out?

Zz

The druggy bonhomie that they first experience upon arrival had a definite euro raver vibe, so I expected bangin dance music of some description rather than underground free folk.

yeah i thought so too -- that vibe does not last very long. maybe it is a joke about burning man?
idk

You all will have to wait for Gaspar Noe's Midsommer.

How about Noe

One thing I've been amused by in the published talk around the film is the occasional mention of the 'amazing Scandinavian landscape' or the like. Setting, yes, but the filming was in Hungary -- as I realized as soon as the credits rolled and approximately 8000 Hungarian names appeared at once. (I did like how the credits were laid out, BTW -- also, a quiet point, has anyone said anything about the specific choice of Frankie Valli's "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore" instead of the Walker Bros?)

Yes, why that version and why that song?

what does it mean Ned!

GREAT MYSTERIES.

(Choice of song seems obvious lyrically? Busted up relationship, sunshine, etc.)

I figured it was an oldie to lighten the mood