Earthquake Bird seems like a great movie.
It’s beautifully shot, hauntingly scored, and wonderfully acted. Alicia Vikander leads superbly, and Riley Keough and Naoki Kobayashi offer dynamic supporting performances. The 1980s Japanese setting is enticing, and nearly every scene seems fitting of an exquisitely rendered whole.
The problem here is the story, a slow-burn narrative of jealousy and betrayal that fizzles out in the final act.(Warning: Heavy spoilers to follow.)
Earthquake Bird centers on Lucy Fly (Vikander), a stony Swedish woman living in Japan. She’s strange, stand-offish, a kind of Amy Dunne wannabe minus the snappy monologues. Lucy meets Teiji (Kobayashi), a Japanese chef and photographer, with whom she is instantly enamored. Their conversations play out like chess matches, two vexing sapiophiles as interested in uncomfortable silences as they are in banging the hell out of each other.
Enter Lily (Keough). Lily is a vibrant American expat with an affinity for astrology, karaoke, nail polish, and casual gossip. Lucy reluctantly befriends Lily at the request of a mutual friend, and soon Lucy, Lily, and Teiji find themselves in a love triangle. Then, Lily goes missing.
Earthquake Bird, told nonlinearly, opens with Lily’s disappearance and spends 90% of its runtime heavily implying Lucy is the killer. Each conversation between the two mismatched women is tense, mirroring the psychosexual discomfort perfected by Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis in Black Swan. Lily’s tousled curls and chunky earrings seems to exist in defiance of Lucy’s blunt bangs and sleek pony. A brief disagreement over the validity of palm reading is enough to send a chill up your spine.
Teiji, a stand-in for the wills of men, waffles between his attraction to Lucy and his attraction to Lily. He’s not a particularly well-developed character, defined by his romantic connections and generally cagey demeanor. His lack of loyalty is maddening, and it makes perfect sense that Lucy would murder Lily over it. In fact, Lucy admits to it during an interrogation, claiming she beat Lily to death with a brick over their mutual love of Teiji.
Well, turns out Teiji killed Lily because he’s a serial killer? Or something?
I’m not usually one for dismissing a movie over an ending, but when every beat hypes up a conclusion, it’s hard to not feel cheated by something so out of left field.
In the final act, Lucy is cleared of wrongdoing by the police. It is explained that the body officials found in a nearby river belonged to someone other than Lily, and Lucy’s confession stemmed from hating Lily so much that she wishes she’d killed her. Then, Teiji admits to killing Lily for no good reason, so Lucy kills him for no good reason, and it’s a wrap.
It’s worth noting that Earthquake Bird is an adaptation of Susanna Jones’ novel of the same name, and it may play out better in that telling. (I haven’t read it, but gather the plot hasn’t changed much.)
Still, Netflix’s take on the story is underwhelming. It’s as if they built a portrait of a fascinating female killer and then chickened out, settling into the Lifetime “men are terrifying” model instead of exploring something more dynamic.
Earthquake Birdis now streaming on Netflix.
Topics Netflix
CAPAC Members Commemorate 22nd Anniversary of 9/11Remembering Historian Roger DanielsJACCC Welcomes Year of the Rabbit with 40th Annual KotohajimeJA Medical Assn. Offering ScholarshipsRemembering Those Who Passed in 2022VOX POPULI: LTCC Statement on FlyersOnline Luxury Watch and Jewelry Shop: Watches WorldOBITUARY: James Murakami, AwardPublic Input Sought for New JA Confinement Site Grant ProgramImagine Little Tokyo Editing Workshop with Writers Iris Yamashita and Gary Phillips on Jan. 19 ? Best free board game deal: Target Circle members can buy two board games and get one free When did it become OK to film strangers in public? NYT Strands hints, answers for November 17 'Dune: Prophecy': What does Tiran How to watch every single 'Alien' movie online in 2024 Best Black Friday gaming headset deal: Save $45 on SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7P X creators 'pleasantly surprised' by decent ad revenue Best Logitech deals: Get Logitech devices up to 40% off Board game deals [Nov. 18, 2024] Wales vs. Australia 2024 livestream: Watch Autumn Internationals for free
0.1614s , 9914.2421875 kb
Copyright © 2025 Powered by 【порнография лошадей】Netflix's 'Earthquake Bird' gets spoiled by a bad ending: Review,Feature Flash