Best Laid Plans, Gone Awry
New films: "Erupcja," "Zi," "Robert Wilson and the Civil Wars." Plus: Polish food in Greenpoint.
One is a French New Wave/mumblecore indie that stars Charli XCX. The other is a documentary that follows avant-garde theater director Robert Wilson as he embarks on an ambitious project. In addition to sharing a 1.33:1 aspect ratio, both feature a man whose grand plans are waylaid by extenuating circumstances.
Also: a quick word on Kogonada’s newest film, which has been undeservedly pilloried, and some recs for Polish food in Greenpoint.
Erupcja
Now playing in NY & LA, with further expansion to follow.
Most people who have heard of Erupcja know it as “the other new movie that stars Charli XCX,” and will probably have two questions. For starters, is she any good as an actor? (I’d say so; Charli is decidedly not brat here, but her naturalistic, subdued performance befits a naturalistic, subdued film.) And how exactly do you pronounce “erupcja,” anyway? (“Eh-roop-tsyuh,” per a helpful press agent. Or “ɛˈrup.t͡sja” if you can parse IPA.)
The film’s title comes from the Polish word for “eruption,” which happened on Mount Etna in August 2024. Meanwhile, Ohio-born filmmaker Pete Ohs had arrived in Warsaw to make a movie. Arriving with half of an outline and a small group of collaborators, the day’s scenes were written each morning in collaboration with the four principal actors.
The story centers upon the friendship between Nel (Lena Góra), a Warsaw local who inherited her mother’s flower shop, and Bethany (Charli XCX), visiting from London with her boyfriend Rob (Will Madden). The bond between the two women subsists on brief but intense reunions. They only see each other every few years or so, but every time they do, a volcano erupts somewhere in the world. Surely that has to mean something. (Surprisingly, this is not a metaphor for sex; their relationship stays strictly platonic. I’m not sure whether that comes as a relief or is frustratingly underexplored subtext.)
During the course of the film’s brief runtime, there is a scuttled marriage proposal, an ill-advised night out at the club, and a fortuitous encounter with an amiable American painter (Jeremy O. Harris, the award-winning playwright recently liberated from a Japanese prison). The principal concern appears to be taking the common desire for relationships to be the result of fate and dismantling that notion. We find out that volcanoes erupt, on average, once a week. An extraordinary friendship may be quite ordinary. And perhaps a steady, low-key boyfriend is the right partner for a 365 party girl.
Overall, this is a pretty solid movie, but its methods lead to it feeling a bit too unpolished. This scenario seems to have deeper layers to explore, but the improvisation inherent to this filmmaking process does not lend itself much to introspection within the story. Equally indebted to the French New Wave and American mumblecore, Erupcja is much like visiting a European capital for the weekend: a fleeting pleasure where the potential for further profundity remains unresolved.
Tasting Notes
Rob makes reservations at some fancy looking spots in Warsaw. He and Bethany never end up eating at either: Kieliszki na Próżnej, which has a Bib Gourmand, and Opasły Tom, which was noted by the shadowy organization behind those “World’s 50 Best” lists. Next month I’ll be in Warsaw for a few hours on an extended layover. Maybe there will be time to dine at one of those restaurants.
The most notable food actually consumed on-screen? Buckets of KFC.
I did my research: According to Setlist.fm, Charli XCX has performed four times in Warsaw, Poland, but zero times at Warsaw, Brooklyn.
She did make a brief appearance at the now-shuttered Schimanski nightclub, on the border of Williamsburg and Greenpoint. The latter, you probably know, is a historically Polish neighborhood whose community is on the verge of becoming vestigial.
I asked my buddy Byron, who lives in Greenpoint, for his favorite Polish spots:
Pierozek – Best quality (I second this rec, especially the cheap infused vodka shots)
Karczma – Best vibes
Pyza – Best value
Kiszka – Best deli/butcher. Look no further for kielbasa.
Zi
Screens April 30 at the Museum of the Moving Image for a New York premiere. Seeking distribution.
In many ways, Erupcja reminded me of Zi, the new “back to basics” film from director Kogonada.
After breaking out with Columbus and After Yang, he made a foray into big-budget filmmaking. A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, which starred Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell, was widely considered to be a misfire. In response, he decamped to Hong Kong with a crew of close collaborators to make a movie. Like Ohs, he largely wrote the story on the fly.
The sci-fi inflected plot follows a violinist (Michelle Mao) who is plagued with visions of her future self. While anxiously awaiting the results of a neurology test, she makes a fateful encounter with a lonely American expat (Haley Lu Richardson) on her own quest for belonging. As with Erupcja, the French New Wave influence is apparent. The inciting incident in Zi quotes Cléo from 5 to 7. But Kogonada also owes a considerable debt to Wong Kar-Wai (as every artsy movie set in Hong Kong does) and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
I had the chance to watch this a couple months ago during virtual Sundance, and it currently has one of the lowest Letterboxd ratings of the entire lineup. I think I’m one of the five people who unreservedly love it. But it was built in a lab to appeal to me: sad hotties wandering through a neon metropolis where the protagonist finds catharsis by singing karaoke.
If this write-up piques your curiosity, Zi is receiving its New York premiere on April 30, thanks to the Museum of the Moving Image’s First Look festival. Kogonada, Mao, and producer Christopher Radcliff will be in attendance. I don’t believe this has yet secured distribution, so it may be awhile until you get another opportunity to watch.
Robert Wilson and the Civil Wars
Now playing in NY at the BAM through April 23.
No, this is not a movie about the mid-aughts folk duo who had an apparently acrimonious breakup.
This 1985 documentary, directed by Howard Brookner, follows experimental theater director Robert Wilson during his attempt to mount what would have been his magnum opus: a six-part opera tied to the Los Angeles Olympics. The ambition is admirable, but the endeavor collapses amidst a fundraising shortfall; it was not, it turns out, safe and sound. Adding insult to injury, the Olympics themselves wound up with a budget surplus ten times the amount that Wilson needed.
Gazing upon the concept art for the thwarted project, his best laid plans destined for a storage unit, Wilson laments, “Imagine all this, for something that didn’t happen.” For someone who creates some very avant-garde stuff, he comes off as remarkably relatable. He does care about his art being seen by the widest possible audience. There are a lot of documentaries that track the making of a grand artistic project; what makes this one so remarkable isn’t just that it was unsuccessful, but it was halted by capitalist forces.
This new restoration premiered at last year’s New York Film Festival as part of the Revivals section. And it truly was a revival: long unseen, the original negative was lost after Hurricane Sandy. Brookner’s nephew located a surviving 16mm print and audiotapes containing the soundtrack.
Go deeper: If you’re intrigued by Wilson’s work, as I am, his production of Moby Dick (we see some clips in the doc) is being performed at the BAM from April 29 to May 3.
I'm glad to read positive thoughts on Zi here or there, but it played to me like a faint wisp -- I couldn't get a handle on it, it felt too ethereal, too distant. I wouldn't mind seeing it again under better circumstances.