Homemade - Vol. 1
netflix
Throughout these dangerous times, one of the few entertainment companies that has found great success while others have had to delay their projects is Netflix. Constantly churning out content each week with no troubles, one may begin to think that they will run out of things to release sooner rather than later. However, in a time when many isolated creatives are desperate to get their own projects out into the world, Pablo Larrain and his production company Fabula partnered with seventeen names of international cinema to create an anthology short film collection that was made strictly from their own homes.
Yet, despite the inventiveness and unique ambition of the initial idea, Homemade doesn’t manage to avoid many of the pitfalls commonly seen in anthology collections. Apart from the narrative disconnect that would make it jarring to watch as a film (which Netflix cleverly avoided by changing their tune and releasing it as episodes in volumes rather than a complete film), the collection as a whole does suffer from inconsistent production values and, specifically, a lack of quality control from the producers. While this could be brushed off, unfortunately this disparity is heightened even further by the sheer absence of any ambition from many of the shorts. Mayroun and the Unicorn is an example of this, where the filmmakers five-year-old daughter is filmed for seven minutes straight and does nothing but ramble about nonsense. It would feel right at home at a cute family reunion, yet when presented as a short film, it results in a complete narrative and technical failure that has no right to be upheld as a stalwart of creativity. These problems can be seen (to an extent) even in some of the highlights of the collection such as Voyage Au Bout De La Nuit, which, despite having amusing dialogue, ends up playing like an infantile throwaway version of Sorrentino’s other films.
However, once the current situation that has befallen citizens around the globe is taken into consideration, it becomes clear that, in the context in which they were made, many of those same shorts thrive and their creativity can be noted much more than before. One of the primary examples of this can be seen in Sebastian Schipper’s (of Victoria fame) submission Casino, where a so-so story turns into an exciting yet passive showcase of creativity in its simplest – and purest – form. However, a select few shorts are somehow, against all odds, able to transcend their lockdown restrictions and show great promise as standalone productions. Apart from Antonio Campo’s Hitchcockian thriller that features a star on the rise in Christopher Abbott, the rest of the standouts are curiously made by two Hollywood fixtures who, previous to this, had not had a proper chance to express their directorial voices to this capacity. Both Maggie Gylenhaal’s Penelope (featuring husband Peter Sgarsaard) and Kristen Stewart’s Crickets are built upon premises with great narrative ambition. To the untrained eye, neither would even appear to be limited by the restrictions and challenges present in the fact that they were produced in isolation.
It is clear that, despite Homemade standing shakily on its own, when placed in the necessary context it can be seen as an incredible endeavor that is an exercise in perseverance, creativity, and determination. It shows that there is hope for the future of cinema made in isolation.