海角社区官网

Five years later we have an answer of sorts with 海角社区官网writer-director Radwanski鈥檚 engrossing 鈥淢att and Mara.鈥� It鈥檚 an unofficial followup to the earlier film, although Campbell鈥檚 character is now named Mara and she鈥檚 a creative writing professor.

Matt is now a semisuccessful writer based in New York; his latest book, 鈥淩at King and Other Stories,鈥� is a collection of his 鈥渟harp takes鈥� on modern life, as the cover blurb attests.

Old friends who drifted apart, Matt and Mara meet again by chance 鈥� or is it something else? 鈥� outside the classroom of the 海角社区官网college where she teaches. She鈥檚 unsettled but also quietly thrilled by his sudden reappearance; we quickly intuit the two had a relationship that may have been more than platonic.

The spark Mara experiences seeing Matt 鈥� which he reciprocates, much more obviously 鈥� is the opposite of the disconnect she feels toward her husband, avant-garde musician Samir (Mounir Al Shami), with whom she has a young daughter (Avery Nayman). A sign of Mara鈥檚 disinterest in Samir comes at a party when she admits to him and their friends, much to their astonishment, that she never liked music of any kind. She鈥檚 also never told Samir about her friendship with Matt.

If this were a conventional romantic drama, the road ahead would be paved with caresses and tears.

That鈥檚 not how Radwanski works. An admirer of the relaxed naturalism and subtle ethical inquiries of the films of Eric Rohmer (whom he hat-tips twice in 鈥淢att and Mara鈥�), Radwanski is fascinated by the small and often unconscious choices people make in life that can have unforeseen consequences. He鈥檚 drawn to characters who are hard to love but impossible to hate. In Campbell and Johnson he鈥檚 found two eager conspirators and brilliant actors.

Radwanski is a filmmaker of great economy, not just in the brisk running time of his features but in his dialogue, speaking volumes about his characters and their back stories with a few well-chosen words. Matt refers to Mara as being 鈥渕ade of glass鈥� and having 鈥渢he soul of a child.鈥� She, in turn, says he 鈥渢akes himself a bit too seriously.鈥�

There鈥檚 also bit of professional rivalry. Matt鈥檚 writing career is going well enough that he can afford a New York apartment. His return to 海角社区官网has been prompted by concern for his ailing father (Simon Reynolds), who is in hospital.

Mara still considers herself a writer, too, but since she became a mom she hasn鈥檛 had the time or energy to pen much of anything.

Yet she and Matt are clearly comfortable together, teasing each other as they make day trips around Toronto. They react with humorous fury when a rude coffee shop manager boots them out at closing time, and pretend to be husband and wife while posing for passport photos at a convenience store.

Cinematographer Nikolay Michaylov helps maintain the air of mystery by framing characters from the side, prompting viewers to lean forward to try to read expressions on faces that are partially hidden.

This contributes to the will-they-or-won鈥檛-they suspense when Mara gets an invitation to attend a writer鈥檚 conference in upstate New York. Samir says he鈥檒l drive her but bails when his band schedules a gig.

Matt volunteers to take the wheel and attend the conference with Mara. The situation is ripe for an affair; Mara鈥檚 friend Emma (played by 海角社区官网writer Emma Healey) warns her that such gatherings are more about sex than scholarship.

This is Radwanski鈥檚 fourth feature; we should know by now that trying to predict its course or outcome is a mug鈥檚 game.

The central image from 鈥淎nne at 13,000 ft鈥� returns to the mind鈥檚 eye: that of being suspended in the air, enjoying the lift of the wind while contemplating the finality of gravity.