Studies Suggest: Vol. 3

Studies Suggest showcases nice things that should be worth your time. It is a list of media I enjoyed recently or that I found interesting. There are no set rules for this. Maybe it’s a movie, an album, an interesting article or basically whatever I like.

Burning

Halfway through Burning, I kept thinking that its storytelling style and pacing strongly reminded me of Haruki Murakami’s work - probably my personal favorite fiction author. It often follows the protagonist in his seemingly mundane daily routine and very little information is revealed about the few characters involved. The plot about Lee Jong-su’s new girlfriend bringing home another “friend” from vacation is just plain weird and it is (almost) entirely told from his perspective only. There is an intriguing sense of an ominous mystery boiling under every line of dialogue and a deep melancholy seeping through most scenes. The story also incorporates some almost mythical elements which blur the borders between dream and reality at times. So it was not too surprising when I was told that the movie indeed is based on a Murakami short story. Of course, it is beautifully shot - especially the countryside sequences are stunning - and the performances are excellent as well. The suspenseful chemistry between Ah-in Yoo and Steven Yeun makes the mistrust and competitive energy between their characters almost physically tangible. Burning is a mostly slow and subtle film but when it hits it hits hard.

Ichiro Fujiya & Takeshi Kurihara - Elephant And A Barbar

This was a rare case of an album that delivered really good music after my interest being sparked by the cover artwork only, without knowing anything else about it or the artists. Elephant And A Barbar caught my eye in a series of similar animal-themed cover artworks by the Japanese record label/collective Musilogue and turned out to be a great collection of modern and soothingly beautiful jazz songs with the occasional ambient-esque minimalism. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you much more about it since I don’t really have the vocabulary for describing jazz music adequately. I just hope you listen to it and find it as relaxing and peaceful as I do.

Inherent Vice

Inherent Vice follows Larry “Doc” Sportello through Los Angeles in the 19070s as he investigates why his ex-girlfriend disappeared and how she might be involved in a conspiracy around her new billionaire boyfriend. Sometimes the extremely complex plot is difficult to follow but that is not a big problem because this movie presents great scene after great scene. Howard Hawks said: “A good movie is three good scenes and no bad scenes” and, like in most of his movies, Paul Thomas Anderson manages to deliver no bad scenes, many good ones, and even a handful of great ones. As always, he recruits a star-studded cast and gets excellent performances all around - Joaquin Phoenix might have one of the strongest resumes for the 2010s but that is an argument for another time. Doc’s journey is naturally funny, sometimes really emotional, and can occasionally feel like a hallucinatory fever dream. All these elements combined result in a truly original and creative interpretation of a film noir-style crime story.

Hiob - Abgesänge

Hiob Abgesänge Cover
Source: Juice

Sorry to anybody not speaking German, but this is a German rap album - and an exceptional one. Rarely had I anticipated a record within that genre as much as this one. Just to make clear how high my expectations were: I often describe Hiob’s Drama Konkret - the predecessor to this album - as “a German Illmatic”. It was an authentic depiction of a world I - as a middle-class kid living in a rural area - had not the slightest idea of whatsoever. An environment shaped by drug abuse, suppressed emotions, and a severe lack of perspective. Hiob’s poetic tales of a life dominated by alcohol, survival instincts, and the consequential violence when those two components collide as well as the resulting hedonistic and ostentatious coping mechanisms were deeply fascinating to me. To be fair, his unique flow and intonation might have been a little hard to get used to in the beginning. But once I took that hurdle I was in for an incredibly entertaining ride. When Abgesänge finally released in 2018, I initially felt quite indifferent about it unfortunately. I guess my expectations were just way too high to be realistically met. But just a few weeks ago I gave the album another listen after a long time and I finally found what I appreciated about Drama Konkret and was looking for the first time around. Savagely realistic storytelling over soulful production with great drums and a nodding guarantee. And even though I’m about 18 months late with this realization, this album is another piece of evidence that Hiob is one of Germany’s most innovative and proficient lyricists.

Elevator To The Gallows

Admittedly, sometimes I hesitate to watch significantly old movies (older than my parents in this case). I just find it difficult to immerse myself in them since I often find them to feel very unrealistic and staged - more like a play than what I understand as a movie. Luckily, this (actually dumb) bias did not keep me from giving this film a chance because I was really impressed throughout. I don’t know how else to put it, but Elevator To The Gallows is one of the coolest and most stylish movies I have ever seen. Mostly because of the sharp frame composition and the excellent score contributed by Miles Davis. The smooth and laid-back jazz tunes are a perfect match. They add a lot of soul, coolness, and atmosphere. That is just one of many aspects of the movie that indicates the director’s distinct and definitive taste as well as the confidence in his decisions. It makes it really hard to believe that this was Louis Malle’s first movie. In contrast to Inherent Vice, Elevator To The Gallows is a more “classic” or “common” film noir crime story. But keep in mind, this was released in 1958 and probably invented many of the style choices presented in it. Either way, the downward spiral that keeps evolving when the protagonist decides to murder his girlfriend’s husband keeps your interest from the first scene to last.

Thumbnail image: Burning still
Source: Capelight Pictures via Tagesspiegel