Miguel Gomes바카라 new film Grand Tour has all the whimsical, baffling yet delightful mystery of his best work. It바카라s like myriad, colorful stripes have come together to make patterns that are as peculiar as alluring. A Gomes film is very much its own universe with a different schema. Open your heart and step in바카라the real world retreats, replaced by cinema that follows its own dream-logic.
Opening in colonial-era Burma, a narrator (of which there are many in the film, switching motley native languages) introduces one of the two primary characters, Edward (Gonçalo Waddington). A British bureaucrat, though not of great consequence, he바카라s evading his fiancé, Molly바카라s (a pert Crista Alfaiate) attempts at intimacy. It바카라s clear he바카라s no longer interested in the wedding, dodging its eventuality as well as Molly herself. But she refuses to take the cues.
In the second half, the film pivots to Molly바카라s exploits. The quest unravels from her perspective. She바카라s nudged by many about what바카라s apparent in Edward바카라s persistent escape, his shirking of every telegram she sends his way. She insists she knows him, trusts him. He바카라s not a coward, she helplessly asserts. So, wherever he sneaks off to, she manages to get through, informing him triumphantly she바카라s not far off. 바카라It바카라s a mystery how someone can be so tenacious,바카라 Edward remarks mournfully. In stark contrast to the low intensity of his section, the second half injects a fresh spark. While Edward바카라s portion is more observant and detached, Molly바카라s is spryly engaged, inserting herself as an active presence.
We follow the two as they cavort across a sweeping expanse. As resigned Edward is to the next adventure that strikes him, Molly is giddy and enthused by the new sights, ripples of tantalizing discovery. Each culture바카라be it Saigon, Japan, China or the Philippines바카라presents its own bundle of eccentricities, charming and folksy. Molly can barely contain her memorable, sharp bursts of laughter at an elephant dance. There are mime shows, martial arts matches, puppet dances recounting tales of yore, counterposed with images of bustling urbanity, as well as tarot sessions Molly consults. As they foray through the depths of Asia, the three cinematographers바카라Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, Rui Poças and Gui Liang바카라alternate between evoking spellbound fascination and dull, regular rhythms. Grand Tour extracts the dynamic of a foreign place바카라the negotiation between being arresting and alienating.
As staggeringly ambitious and inspired Gomes바카라 filmmaking is, it바카라s full of playful irreverence. The central tale of lovers plays out against a stage strewn with anachronisms. Studio sets combine with modern equipment even as the frame narrative is very evidently set in the past. The two lead roles are of Brits but played by Portuguese actors never using a word of English. There바카라s wit and style co-existing with a desire to break free of controlled form. Spanning cities, continents, forests and landscapes, the film braids geography with an exploratory lens. Much is glanced through travellers who aren바카라t familiar with lands they traverse. Languages are foreign. Therefore, ways of grappling with new places and philosophies emerge as disorienting experiences. Gomes transmits the incomprehension of the characters. So, native languages alien to Edward aren바카라t subtitled, rendered legible, but remain equally inaccessible to us. How do we then decipher others바카라 rising suspicions, settle their doubts? Documentary footage of every place바카라s modern avatar strips away the exotic enigma they may have had to the film바카라s travelers.
As much of the rambling adventures바카라with coteries of mixed nationalities with their own power verticals바카라permeate Grand Tour, there바카라s an equal degree of unpredictability. These Eastern lands may leave Edward and Molly initially wonderstruck but gradually exert danger바카라a world that can be brutal if they choose to be stubborn.
바카라Abandon yourself to the world,바카라 a Japanese monk tells Edward at a later point in his journey, 바카라and see how generous it is to you바카라. It바카라s one of those spare moments that unlocks an entire film and its maker바카라s spirit. Grand Tour is an invitation to partake in life바카라s sudden mysteries and surprises, its vast splendor. To shut ourselves off in a safe cocoon is only a denial of endlessly rich pleasures. These can blaze before us if we permit porousness, refusing to be bound in certain fixed value-systems. How expansive can our vision, our appetite for curiosity and wonder be? Gomes insists on jousting with those limits, destroying them altogether.
Grand Tour is now streaming on MUBI India.
