Showing Up

A bunch of self-obsessed assholes doing stuff.

A presentation of the struggle to maintain a private and a shared little cosmos by working with materials, without denying that, however admirable the aim, the individuals and the institutions are still prone to be anthropic, all too anthropic, in a small-scale, passive way that can be extremely frustrating to negotiate, and equally without denying that this struggle can also have its little victories. At times almost unbearable, but easily the most convincing work I’ve seen by this filmmaker.

Williams and Chau are great but this definitely feels like a minor Reichardt. It’s extremely slight and I don’t think we quite learn enough about Lizzy to fully understand why she’s such a grumpasaurus. Still, some lovely art and a beautiful ending.

What does it mean to be a creator when the world around you doesn't give a F and instead prevents you from your goals. How to deal with resentment and loneliness when you have this poetic gift in you. Our protagonist learns that resentment ceases when you can give "care" to a pigeon, "heal" it and "let it go". For this is how true art emerges as well. For that exhibition to mean something, it should be able let the pigeon fly out and let beings be. We have to show up, accept, and commit. Good.

I am starting to appreciate that the characters in Reichardt's films are not 'good' people, but neither are they 'bad' people. They're just people; in some moments likeable, and in other moments, unlikeable. She's one of the few current American filmmakers with a distinct and substantive cinematic style.

I love that this is how Reichardt follows up her most high-profile film to date. A rumination on low-budget art - relying on friends' favours, finding time for the work in between everyday life, feeling like you have to carry your creation in your own two hands, yet surrounded by people doing the same. This movie is so light in how it presents its bare-bones plot and its characters. There's big drama in there, but writ small; life doesn't fit neatly into 100 minutes. Leaves me refreshed.

Reichardt makes her version of Paterson, inverted. Lovely.

such a perfect title for the film! the way reichardt approaches the everyday is lucid and poignant as usual.

16 Juny 2024 - Personatges interessants, ben construit, bones relacions. Però massa lent. Potser per intentar massa realisme m'ha perdut una mica pel camí. És interessant veure com en un Q&A parla de la tria d'actrius basant-se en l'art que farien, però tot aquest realisme, com deia, diluia coses per mi més importants.

Pigeon broken wing recoveries, insufferable artists, Twilight Zone box sets, inconsequential conversations about nothing, cheese platter etiquette, and a broken water heater. The movie has it all! I can't imagine how many takes Reichardt had to do to get just the right amount of banality in every scene. The premier troll job of the year.

Mostly feels pointless, maybe I just did not get it. Understated look at a specific scene with relatively normal people (for artists).

Simple,Calm & Lovely!!!

You can’t go wrong with Kelly and Michelle, but man I don’t give a fuck about a pigeon. There were also a couple of times where I wasn’t sure if it was supposed to be funny that characters were looking in awe at a bunch of strings and wires hanging from the ceiling. But it’s still a Kelly Reichhardt movie

Yeeeah. Okay. This did not work for me. It made me just kind of think the whole art scene is useless, insular and self-centered, which I don’t think (maybe?) was the point. But it did make me appreciate Michelle Williams. To me, she was terrible in The Fabelmans, but here she is incredible. Probably one of the best performances of the year, utterly believable as a sullen, hard-to-like artist.

i'm no artist and i clearly see that this is an art scene

A solid but not quite spectacular '70s style character study/slice of life piece about a timid, sad, broken character played very well by Williams. It's all a tad too uneventful and without a real character arc for me to really get into, but it's a fine film.

A film that looks, exists in, and embraces the ordinary. About transcendence stemming from simple care and not ego, ambition. Reichardt nails the restrained tone needed to let the small moments hit like a ton of bricks.

Well-crafted and lovely low-key comedy about an artist trying to balance her job at an arts school, her own artistic voice -- she's about to open an exhibit of sculptures --, her troubled family and the few friends she's got. Cast (pigeon included) is just awesome, as well as the unromanticized depiction of arts scene -- it's just another work! --, daily shit that makes us go berserk -- no hot water! -- and the thin fabric that "separates" professional and personal relationships.

I liked the way the film explores themes of loneliness and creation from a pretty matter-of-fact perspective. At times, Michelle Williams' character feels pretty pedestrian, as all this chaos unfolds around her as she tries to find the quietude to create. There's some poignancy in these quiet moments and performances are all understated and real.

Decent low-key drama about east coast small-town artists and a pigeon.

Showing Up é um filme que só uma professora de artes, como é Reichardt, poderia fazer, dado aos processos, às incompletudes, aos acidentes de esculturas que queimam de um lado em fornos quentes. É um trabalho de artista em crise, seu Barton-Fink-Sunday-in-the-Park. E é lindo

Vaguely interesting, but mostly responsible for a persistent series of yawns, sighs and shrugs. The poster is misleading - she has a inquisitive attitude about her but it didn't show up anywhere in the movie.

So much impeccable work here in terms of character detail, tactile environments, and performances, but my biggest takeaway is that Kelly Reichardt’s films are so soothing. Even this one, with its incredibly prickly protagonist, was just something I relaxed into right away. This has been true of all the films of hers I’ve seen and it makes me very eager to explore the entirety of her back catalogue. (UPDATE: I've seen them all now. They're all great.)

There's a gentleness in the portrayal of these characters that has come to characterize much of Reichardt's work. As a result, we are drawn into knowing these characters rather than judging them, and over time we discover little mysteries in their lives that sometimes open up, and other times do not. I also appreciate the perspective on art-making, the vulnerability it requires, the need we all have to care for others, and the ways in which other creatures can draw us out of ourselves.