In the Afternoon the Hope of the Morning Is Buried

Reviews of Time Out of Mind (film), A Coffee in Berlin, Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat, and the debut novel The Safekeep

Jan 09, 2025

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

“… in the afternoon the hope of the morning is buried.” – Franz Kafka, Diaries

AT LEAST HERE in upstate New York, the new year has plunged us into a cold and windy winter, making it the perfect time to snuggle up and catch up on recent and not-so-recent movies and books. Here are a few of the more noteworthy ones that I have stumbled across over the past few weeks.

Time Out of Mind (written and directed by Oren Moverman, 2015)

A gorgeously filmed, mostly quiet New York City drama starring Richard Gere as George, a man who has hit near rock bottom, to the point that he cannot even prove his identity (partly due to having lost all his possessions; partly due to memory loss presumably brought on by years of alcohol and/or drug abuse). Moverman’s camera is almost a stand-in for Gere’s character’s mind, with multiple reflections in many shots; its inability to focus a symptom of George’s own mental confusion.

The movie quietly traces George’s desire to connect, through a series of people he meets on the street, in a homeless shelter, and at various social service agencies. But this is not a documentary about the lack of a social safety net; rather, it is a poetic meditation on that desperate need to connect with one thing that, when all else is lost, can bring meaning to one’s life. A mostly bleak movie with an ending hinting at things turning around. In addition to Gere’s career-topping performance, the movie features a who’s who cast of indie performers – some with quick cameo appearances -- including Steve Buscemi, Jena Malone, Ben Vereen, Kyra Sedgwick, and Jeremy Strong. But any list of essential characters has to include Moverman’s eloquent camera and his mise-en-scène, especially his use of color.

A Coffee in Berlin (written and directed by German filmmaker Jan-Ole Gerster, 2012)

This gem of a quiet film is a reimagined version of Martin Scorsese’s After Hours as it might be directed by Jim Jarmusch, with a bit of Agnès Varda's Cléo from 5 to 7 thrown in for good measure. Originally titled Oh Boy and initially drawing comparisons to early Woody Allen (I really don’t see it) and Noah Baumbach, A Coffee in Berlin updates the French New Wave-style and early-1970s American existentialist tragicomedies for the 21^st century. The main character in the Griffin Dunne/John Lurie role is played by Tom Schilling as an antihero who would be a rebel if he weren’t such a slacker, bouncing from situation to situation over the course of one day as if the world is conspiring against him —and his elusive attempts to get a simple cup of coffee. Totally worth seeking out.

Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat (written and directed by Belgian filmmaker Johan Grimonprez, 2024)

A fascinating documentary exploration of the late-1950s/early 1960s battle for independence in the Belgian Congo (called Zaire for a time), juxtaposed with developments in American jazz at the time, and how the two seemingly disparate topics converged, both influencing each other, in large part due to the CIA’s covert meddling in the anti-colonial uprising. Contains copious archival footage of the revolutionary Congo leader Patrice Lumumba, along with the likes of Malcolm X, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, and jazz legends including Louis Armstrong, Abbey Lincoln, Nina Simone, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, and Max Roach. On paper none of this might interest you, but in its execution this film will make you feel and think while entertaining you.

The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden (Simon & Schuster, 2024)

This gripping debut novel by Dutch-Israeli author Yael van der Wouden touches on family dysfunction, history, memory, lies, inheritance, queerness, betrayal, and sex in a tightly circumscribed plot that, while intimate at first, opens up to reveal itself as one small but representative chapter in a world-altering event with earth-shattering implications. One-part psychological thriller, another part erotic love story, van der Wouden explores how two people can become intimately connected yet by withholding elements from their past remain unknowable to each other. One of six books on this year’s Booker Prize shortlist, The Safekeep introduces a remarkable novelist who writes a page-turner based upon emotional truths and simple descriptions of everyday life and objects while creating a world recognizable to all sentient creatures.

In solidarity,

Seth Rogovoy

“Well, I don’t want to go on the roof.” -- George Harrison

Everything Is Broken

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