The Aurora Film Society brings “Neptune Frost” to the screen at the Aurora Regional Fire Museum on November 16th at 7pm.
“In broad strokes, co-directors/life partners Williams & Uzeyman’s script focuses on a slow-burning cataclysmic conflict between hazily defined factions is a-brewing, though the stakes —nothing short of the soul of Africa, denuded of its resources & left by industrial concerns to wither —are evident. There’s a loose logic threading together the disjointed scenes with a handful of spontaneous eruptions into electro-pop musical numbers. Embellished by blacklit pops of purple & orange, occasionally filtered through an effect simulating a TV set’s screen, their world imagines the dystopia of “Mad Max”as a more specifically cyberpunk wasteland. Everyone’s surrounded by the ruins of gadget capitalism, with some repurposing the detritus into their fantastic costuming with a craftiness that places them in a long, accomplished tradition of African art defined by deprivation & innovation. Whether cooking whatever would grow in an arid climate or making music with anything on hand (many of the songs employ natural percussion & call-and-response repetition), the pattern of excellingby making do extends to the film’s triumphantly recycled production design. It’s a work of rich ideas & vibes so plentiful that the narrative obliqueness feels like an inviting challenge. It earns the attention it demands.”
(Adapted from Charles Bramesco’s review, Little White Lies Magazine [09/12/2021])
Check out our ‘Virtual Movie Club’. We’re discussing “Ararat” via Zoom at 7pm on November 23rd.
