Anime, music, and foreign films, oh my: September 2023 media faves
To wrap up the month of September, here are my favorite cultural selections!
Film: Our father, the devil is a 2023 French psychological thriller about a woman escaping her past. Babetida Sadjo plays Marie, a talented chef working in a retirement home located in a small town in France. When a new priest comes to visit, Marie is certain that she knows him and that he’s not an innocent man of cloth. The film follows her emotional breakdown in carefully constructed scenes of expert tension, leaving the viewer to wonder whether the priest is a devil from her past, as Marie believes him to be, or whether he’s an innocent man trapped by a troubled woman. Without spoiling too much, the film’s nuanced exploration of trauma, perpetrators, and victims is electrifying. This is writer-director Ellie Foumbi’s first film (which she calls via Instagram an “ethical thriller”) and I’m excited to see her future work. Sadjo is truly excellent as Marie; she should win a César for her performance. I dare you to watch the trailer and not feel the immediate need to watch it in theaters, as I did.
Music: Feeling angsty, restless, listless? Do you ever feel like dancing around with your middle fingers cocked to the world? Even if you don’t, and you simply want to enjoy some good post-punk, rock music, I invite you to listen to Courtney Barnett’s “Pedestrian at Best,” a song that treats her tortured relationship with her fame and fans. I’m a sucker for art about being famous, in general, but this song is a cut above most work dealing with similar themes. Her wordplay is cheeky, playful, and commanding. This is the same artist with song titles such as “Avant Gardener,” let’s not forget. Enjoy the music video.
TV: What if everyone in the world, in an instance, suddenly turned to stone? And what if you woke up thousands of years later, fully conscious of the time that passed, intent on rebuilding the world and shooting through thousands of years of evolution in an accelerated time frame? Such is the premise of the anime Dr. Stone, based on the manga, but now, in its third season, venturing off on its own path. This show is not for someone hoping to explore the dark nature of humankind. It’s hopeful, optimistic, and good-natured. The thrill of the show is watching a character with an Einstein level of genius level (or, dare I say, higher?) coupled with the modern understanding of our current technological evolution trying to rebuild humanity. It’s not all fun and games, though. The first couple of seasons posit an interesting philosophical difference between two warring groups of humans: should one revive all humans, in the name of science? Or should one only revive the young and try to create a luddite utopia, to avoid the socioeconomic divisions established by the wealthy elite? The show will get you excited about the possibilities of science.
Let me know if you enjoy any of the above!