Title: THE REMAINERS.
Director: Alexander Payne
Evaluation: ****
How great is cinema? Alexander Payne. Although what he tells us in the images is nothing more than a Christmas story in which three characters, struggling with loneliness behind them, atone for two weeks of forced coexistence: in principle, there is nothing new under the sun. So how does the director get us closer to these three entities: a grumpy and misanthropic teacher, a troubled student, and Paul Giamatti’s black boarding school cook, expertly played by newcomer Dominic Sessa and Da’ Vine Joy Randolph?
The first thing we must emphasize is that Alexander Payne wants us to feel like we are in a 1970 movie; in the opening credits of this film, it mimics the crackling sound heard on 35-millimeter celluloid due to wear and tear. In cinema times, our theaters were analog. The impeccable staging of the boarding school where the plot takes place and, above all, the extensive musical repertoire that accompanies it (both carols and a number of Christmas carols performed a cappella) provide the backdrop for an excellent screenplay by David Hemingson. We, the audience, get to know the characters behind the scenes. They are no less exciting because the person responsible for measuring the tempo and delivering information in sequence is a master of Payne’s stature.
The result is as expected. ‘The Leftovers’ is the first major premiere of 2024. It will add something to the purists. While ‘I Am the Captain’ sounds fake if you don’t watch it on VOSE (all the excellent Senegalese-speaking Valladolids come to squeal), in ‘Those Whos Stay’ our dubbing actors do such an excellent job that you can enjoy the film interchangeably in any version.
Alexander Payne reveals his humanist point of view, and the audience is saddened that there are so few directors left who can shoot in the classical style.