Yazz on Film: Columbus (2017)

“thanks…for everything” “thank you…for being here”

this film highlights that sometimes ‘everything’ is simply just being there.

i’d love to say that this film left me speechless, but in reality its the opposite - all i want to do is talk about it! this film is one of the most honest and natural pieces of art i’ve ever seen. the performances are so real it’s as though there just happened to be camera capturing the moment. yet, at the same time, it is edited so artistically; questions are answered with flowing rivers and natural imagery. the camera visits same settings multiple times adding to the verisimilitude of the film. this isn’t a big dramatic story of love or death, it’s just about life. (the semi-cyclical opening/near ending scenes highlight this too, i think).

columbus is a documentation of complex human relationships and the variety of experiences all of us have. it’s about being aware of your situation and being understanding of the situations of others. we learn about those who may (for)give too much and those who may need to learn to (for)give again. this film serves as proof that age doesn’t always mean wisdom, that in reality none of us know what we’re doing. our own experiences, thoughts and views are all we have and the best we can do is offer them as a story or form of guidance or comfort for others.

also, every aspect of this film is beautiful - the cinematography, editing, use of natural light, locations… we see clean and subdued colours which are contrasted with extremely bright and bold primary colours at times - whether this is to highlight the contrasting personalities and situations of the characters, i'm not sure. in addition, you can really appreciate that the placement of each and every object is intentional. nothing has been carelessly placed in shot, it is all meant to be there.

again, this isn’t really a review just me babbling. it’s safe to say i really, really appreciated this film and it will definitely stay with me for a long time. i would really, really recommend it, but only if you’ll give yourself time to fully absorb it and reflect on it afterwards.

my favourite scene: probably the dancing scene… as much of a ‘Write Your Feelings Out!!!!!’ person as I am, a big shimmy of anxiety and stress and anger accompanied by music is helpful too. it lets you shake the bad feelings off.

if you liked this, here are some other films to give a go:

- paterson

- boyhood

- a ghost story

- the meyerowitz stories