LFF 2021: Language Lessons
If anyone wanted to see a film that showcased the powers-that-be in Hollywood have too much time on their hands and no real parameters to tell them that they were not God’s Gift due to their talents in the cinematic art form, Language Lessons would be that film. Produced and shot within the restrictions and lockdown of COVID-19, yet released in a world opened up, Language Lessons is a feature that belongs in the mortifying and embarrassing homemade NETFLIX series of shorts than it does of having a feature release.
It is challenging to start with the issues that this film entails, but first and foremost, from the moment Language Lessons opens, it becomes clear that this is a checklist of "elitist Hollywood" before contextually and subtextually speaking. Starting with the former, everything here is a checklist to a regimented derivative regime due to the social climate. Nothing is conceived naturally, nor does anything feel organic. The story and humanity of this piece are plastic and never feel reflective in an honest manner. Multiple instances of character are just preaching to the choir. While that should not be a problem with diversity, this ironically feels so forced and dependent on preaching itself to those very groups that it evokes a sense of being condescending and, at times, patronising.
Contextually within the plot, discussions arise about wage gaps, gender politics, and so forth that within the context of this plot are in no way natural. Natalie Morales' Cariño, within ten minutes or even less in meeting Mark Duplass' Adam, is having a conversation on the size of his house within the context of wealth. Ten minutes after meeting him. This is ultimately flatlined until much of the final act that then begins to touch on these very same sentiments after an emotional plea from one character to another. Nevertheless, Language Lessons then undermines this whole weight on both occasions by dropping this conversation entirely, which begs the question: why is it here in the first place aside to illicit its 'wokeness' upon its target audience but do little with said conversation?
This is the problem with these types of productions that try to appease the crowds they write for without doing anything of merit within, ultimately condemning itself to slacktivism and performative activism. This is not just an internal issue within the film but external for writer-director Natalie Morales and Mark Duplass, who in their respective positions within the industry think they have the audacity and right to discuss issues that reflect the working class, when after this hollow feature is finished are likely paid six figures, backend deals and move on to the next project; the irony and contradiction is certainly not lost. Only ever enforcing the elitist attitude of these people within the gatekeeper industry to begin with.
Enough of the duo's ignorance outside the feature; what about Language Lessons itself? Granted, the duo Morales and Duplass have engaging chemistry that will keep audiences entertained, but when the their screenplay wants to touch on the rougher and darker of emotional arcs, it is ultimately where the feature falls flat. This is due to two things: the first is that the depth of performance is not able to be extended with the nuance of character, which corresponds to the second major issue, which is that it is produced solely through webcams and ZOOM.
There is so little to describe with how this venture is shot because it never changes its emotive stance with a one-camera set-up that cuts back and forth or even, at times, produced in a split-screen to craft a conversation. While on paper, and to the duo’s egos, it would seem that the aesthetic of ZOOM would allocate a more freeing venture to tell this story – and while it does allow for narrative space and depiction – it limits the performance ten-fold to a degree in which the characters are unable to evolve, and what is left is ultimately poor execution of exposition that feels silly. However, that is as far as it goes within the merits of experimentation, and it is abundantly clear that, within just one year of its inclusion within the cinematic medium, ZOOM can not be evolved to any other degree as what audiences are seeing now.
Again, without perhaps Duplass utilising his range and tenderness of depiction, it would be quite tricky to truly measure this disaster, but Language Lessons is a feature that is plagued by ego and self-entitled personality and, on paper, may have seemed to be a compelling story but is sadly something relatively short of the intended reality. On a personal level, something also feels quite slimy that this is the way forward for so many filmmakers who have the urge to produce art in these times, yet the smaller entities of film production are unable to have health insurance or a paying job due to the limited amount of work in this current time.
