The conflicts Jin (John Cho) and Casey (Haley Lu Richardson) are going through couldn't be more different, though they both result in each of them feeling lost and unsure of where they should go in the future. Jin has traveled from South Korea, where has a job translating books, to help his critically ill father with whom he shares an estranged relationship with. Meanwhile, Casey is working at a local library and torn between her desire to go off to a far-off college and the responsibilities she has in taking care of her mother, Maria (Michelle Forbes). Jin and Casey meet by chance, but they're soon constantly reuniting as they try to help each other overcome their individual quarries.
In order to film this close-knit character-driven drama, director Kogonada has been open about heavily channeling the filming style of Yasujiro Ozu. Ozu was famous for, among other facets of the camerawork in his movies, filming his mid-20th-century projects in a style that had the camera lingering on characters for extended periods of time. Back-and-forth conversations and pieces of mundane action would all transpire in the span of an elongated single take that allowed the emotions of the scene to seep into the viewer. It's a visually distinctive method of filmmaking that Kogonada replicates in Columbus to tremendously effective results.
The assortment of conversations Jin and Casey share are frequently shown in the aforementioned style of extended single takes while a further homage to Ozu is seen in how there's a good deal of difference of space in between the camera and the characters in a given scene. Ozu didn't want the frame to be cramped, he wanted the characters and their environment to be fully visible to the viewer and Kogonada replicates that here in a lovely fashion. Impressively, Kogonada doesn't just rely on channeling Ozu's style of directing, he also adds a number of impressive traits to the way Columbus is filmed, namely in the clever way he frames certain conversations, such as a conversation Jin has about his feelings towards Casey that the viewer only see's through the reflection of a mirror.
Ozu's style of filming was so impactful because, among other reasons, of course, of how much of an emphasis it placed on the characters and the rich performances of the actors portraying them. Also keeping in tradition with Ozu's work, the performances of Columbus are certainly top-notch stuff. John Cho does his best work as an actor yet, showing off commendable dramatic chops in believably portraying a guy torn on how to approach his relationship with his father in these dire times. Importantly, he has fun chemistry in his multitude of dialogue exchanges with Haley Lu Richardson, who, in her first lead role in a feature film, leaves her own impression thanks to the way she makes her characters own form of uncertainty so distinct from the one Jin is going through. I also must commend Michelle Forbes in her supporting role, if only because she gets the most emotional moment of the entire motion picture when she's reminiscing with her daughter about all the things she wishes she had done with Casey.
The actors are all delivering lines coming from a screenplay written by Kogonada who shows a knack for penning pieces of dialogue that are memorable ("So does your mother do meth?") while also ensuring that the myriad of conversations sound realistic. Such an accomplishment renders this an impressive writing debut for Kogonada and the memorable visual look of Columbus ensures that it's also a noteworthy directing debut for this filmmaker as well. Though it channels the visual style of a noteworthy filmmaker of the past, Kogonada knows that Columbus must stand on its two feet separate from its influences and he ensures that it does just that by making these architecture-fixated characters such rich and compelling creations.
No comments:
Post a Comment