Foremost Film’s Movie Recommendations for Spring
The Young Girls of Rochefort, Watership Down, Riddle of Fire
After the seemingly endless gloom of winter, spring has finally begun in the northern hemisphere. As the first flowers and trees start to blossom and cover the earth in a layer of pollen, what better way to shield yourself from seasonal allergies than to stay inside and watch a movie? Through its visual component –– its most potent feature –– cinema has always possessed the power of harnessing eras or moments in time, so the seasons captured on film have always been in rich communication with the temporality of nature and its constant evolution. With its abundant sunshine and vibrant blooming colors, springtime has been a proven favored backdrop for filmmakers and their work: continue reading to check out ten of Foremost Film's recommended movies to screen this spring season!
'Ema' dir. Pablo Larraín
Music Box Films
With its release positioned between Jackie and Spencer, Ema is often overlooked in Larraín’s prolific filmography despite being one of his most fascinating works. In the titular role is Mariana di Girolamo, a young dancer whose existence is thrown into disarray when her adopted son commits a tragic act that she and her husband Gastón (the eternally alluring Gael García Bernal) simply cannot endure. Picking up the pieces of her life, Ema turns to the vibrant street dancers of Valparaíso, Chile, to reclaim her autonomy and transform into the mother she wants to be. Sexy and subversive, saturated in radiant color, Ema reflects the youthful exuberance of Valparaíso but also works as an interesting addition to a spring watchlist thanks to its themes of rebirth and renewal, manifested through Ema’s inextinguishable spirit and perseverance to get what she wants from the world.
‘Howl’s Moving Castle’ dir. Hayao Miyazaki
Released in 2004, Howl’s Moving Castle is one of the most romantic and uplifting works of Miyazaki’s iconic career. Set in an alternate universe reminiscent of the European Alps, the film follows Sophie, a hatmaker who seeks the aid of a powerful wizard called Howl when an evil witch’s curse turns her into an elderly woman. As Sophie comes to understand Howl’s tremendous might and brooding soul, she falls in love with him against the backdrop of a war between feuding kingdoms that grows increasingly dangerous. Anyone who has ever seen a Miyazaki film understands the animator’s penchant for capturing the resplendence of the natural world, and Howl’s perfectly embodies this concept, particularly when illustrating the characters framed within the flower and lake-speckled landscapes both Howl and Sophie turn to for moments of reflection.
‘Late Spring’ dir. Yasujirō Ozu
The first segment of the master filmmaker’s “Noriko Trilogy,” Late Spring features Ozu muses Chishu Ryu and Setsuko Hara as a widower, Professor Shukichi Somiya, and his grown daughter, Noriko. Caught between cultural tradition and the evolving destiny of Japan, Noriko’s father and relatives pressure her to settle down to marry, since she is twenty-seven and nearing the “late spring” of her years as a “desirable” wife. As with much of Ozu’s work, Late Spring contemplates the development of post-war Japan and the push and pull between the past and the future, existential questions that humanity –– and cinema –– continue to grapple with nearly eighty years since the film’s 1949 release.
'Marie Antoinette' dir. Sofia Coppola
A 1980s Punk/New Wave take on France’s most infamous female royal, Coppola’s singular spin on a historical biopic lives on brightly in the hearts of her devoted fans almost two decades after its original release. Starring Kirsten Dunst as Antoinette and shot on location in the Palace of Versailles, the film drips with unparalleled style from the first shot to the last, with Coppola’s aesthetic appreciation moving from the grandeur of the chateau itself to its stunning natural surroundings as the film unfolds, particularly as Antoinette settles into her pastoral fantasy world at the Hameau de la Reine toward the latter part of her reign. While much of Coppola’s work centers around the intricacies of female adolescence, Marie Antoinette does so with hues of pastel candy-coated loveliness that exemplify the delicate hues of springtime.
‘Old Joy’ dir. Kelly Reichardt
Criterion Channel
Shot on 16mm between Portland and its verdant mountain surroundings, Old Joy stars Daniel London and Will Oldham as Mark and Kurt, two thirty-something friends whose relationship has devolved as the years have gone by and their lives have taken them in different directions. One weekend when Kurt is passing through Portland, he phones up Mark, and the two embark on an overnight trip to visit a remote natural hot spring outside the city. Traveling further and further into the lush wilderness of the Pacific Northwest, the two men’s intentions of rekindling some part of their shared past are quickly dampened by the inevitability of time and how it has worked to change them both. Old Joy is an accessible entrance point for any audience unfamiliar with Reichardt’s work: at just 73 minutes in length and featuring a beautiful score from Yo La Tengo, the film’s thoughtful ruminations on the passage of time and evolving friendships are deeply sensitive and unpretentious in the most impressive of manners.
'Rafiki' dir. Wanuri Kahiu
The first ever Kenyan film to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, Rafiki stars Samantha Mugatsia and Sheila Munyiva as Kena and Ziki, two young women living in Nairobi who embark on a powerful forbidden romance á la Romeo and Juliet. Filled with creative expression through its style and music, Rafiki conveys the director’s championing of “Bubblegum Afrofuturism” as a movement that platforms the joy and cultural richness of contemporary African art. Rafiki’s celebrations of young love make for a moving film to watch any time of year, but particularly in the spring as nature and humanity alike reemerge to appreciate the true joys of the world.
‘Riddle of Fire’ dir. Weston Razooli
Yellow Veil Pictures
In Riddle of Fire, three scrappy children embark on a Homeric journey across the slopes of the Rocky Mountains with one objective: to make a blueberry pie. Enchantingly charming, the movie is like a breath of fresh air, a throwback to children’s adventure films of yesteryear, with the raucous addition of dirt bikes, paintball guns, and foul-mouthed youngsters. While the movie uses no serious exertion to step outside its overall comfortable, jaunty tone, Riddle of Fire’s humor, craft, and joyous design make it an excellent specimen of cinema to escape into for a few hours. Filmed on Kodak 16mm, the film captures the dazzling sun, brilliant greens of the forest, and dynamic peaks of the Rocky’s Uinta range with a painterly gaze that supports its neo-fairytale thematics.
'Scarlet' dir. Pietro Marcello
“No one believes in magic anymore. No one sings anymore except you.” These are words spoken by a forest sorceress to a young girl called Juliette, the charming and caring heart at the center of Scarlet. Loosely adapted from Scarlet Sails by the Soviet-era novelist Alexander Grin, the French language film is a lush, whimsical lullaby that taps into the dark and light of the world, much like its fairytale-esque source material. Serving as a continuation of the director’s fascination with a bygone era where artisans were revered and people still used their handcrafted talents to create the most beautiful facets of their lives, Scarlet boasts a tactility and beauty that reflects the peaceful, bucolic springtime landscapes of the French countryside where it was shot.
‘Watership Down’ dir. Martin Rosen
Criterion Channel
Released in 1978 and based on a novel of the same name, Watership Down tells the riveting journey of a warren of rabbits in the British countryside who set off to find a new residence when one amongst them begins to see visions of horror and destruction descending upon their current home. Boasting gorgeous animated artistry that combines impressionistic landscapes with flourishes of religious and tribal influences, the movie intriguingly balances the innocence of its cotton-tailed protagonists with the violence they face in the natural world as animals of prey. In part due to its rural setting and animal characters setting off to find a secure life away from human impact, Watership Down makes for the perfect addition to your spring watchlist.
'The Young Girls of Rochefort' dir. Jacques Demy
Criterion Channel
One of the most influential French musicals of all time, The Young Girls of Rochefort stars real-life sisters Catherine Deneuve and Françoise Dorléac as two creative twins longing to leave their seaside home of Rochefort to find love and success in 1960s Paris. Scored by the legendary Michel Legrand, the film flaunts all the style and scale indicative of Demy’s brilliant filmmaking career: every color of the rainbow is showcased under the dazzling sunny skies of Rochefort, where chance encounters, missed connections, and romances of a lifetime prosper for the film’s spirited leading ladies.
Watch ‘The Young Girls of Rochefort’ with a Criterion Channel subscription.