2017’s Columbus, directed by Kokonada.
Starring John Cho, Haley Lu Richardson, Parker Posey,
Michelle Forbes, and Rory Culkin.
What is it about?
Columbus takes place in the architecturally rich town of
Columbus, Indiana. Living there her whole life, is Casey (Haley Lu Richardson),
who works at the library with Gabriel (Rory Culkin), while on the home front
she looks after her addict mother (Michelle Forbes). Intersecting Casey,
arrives Jin (John Cho), in town to help out Eleanor (Parker Posey), assistant to his renowned architect father, who has gone into a coma. Casey’s love of the
plethora of modernist architecture in the town lets her play tour guide for
Jin, and the 2 of them spend time together as observers to self discovery.
Why is it worth seeing?
Kakonada is a film critic/essayist who has done works
praising the works of Japan’s Ozu (renowned for Tokyo Story), and the
influence here shows. Columbus is one of the best composed films of the year,
a confluence of people gracefully placed in their environment. Although the
city’s widespread architectural monuments feature prominently,
there’s also many shots of nature as well, all framing the characters throughout
this lovely drama.
Framed around a mass of spires and angles and buttresses,
Cho and Richardson display a tangible but patient chemistry, the 2 of them
wandering through lovely landscapes like Linklater by way of Baraka/Samsara. It’s
gentleness and airy ways carry a type of spirituality that is profound as it is
quiet.
As our 2 main characters wander through the environment,
things seem predictable- until they aren’t. Another of Columbus' charms are
not going with the grain, in a movie where everything seems to function in
harmony with the environment. Kokonada even does some Soderbergian experiments
with space and time for the characters dialogue, a feature typically welcome.
Detractors will claim Columbus' pacing is glacial, its static
modern environments overblown and alienating when framing its characters, and
the dialogue too self aware at times- but its compositions' feng shui can
be transcendent, and its whispers speak loudly amongst spires.
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