Synopsis
When her teenagers head off to camp and her husband abruptly leaves her to begin a new family, Lila is left to her own curious and chaotic devices for a summer in her rural home in the Catskill mountains.
South Mountain
2019 Directed by Hilary Brougher
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"South Mountain" was part of the lineup at last year's SXSW but I don't think it got a theatrical release, which is a shame. But in these COVID times, many smaller independent films are streaming so I was glad I caught it. The story of a breakup of a marriage and the complicated relationship between the parents and their two daughters, it's primarily character-driven and shows the complexity of relationships that both bind and hurt.
Shot on a small budget and set in New York State's Catskill Mountains (where I also live), it features a fascinating performance by Talia Balsam as Lila, the mother. I mainly knew her from a recurring role she had on "Mad Men", but she's a…
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It’s basically confirmed at this point in our culture that moviegoers adore self-discovery films featuring flawed, recently-divorced female protagonists reinventing themselves over the course of a clear, 120-minute character arc. They adored Julia Roberts when she traveled worldwide to miraculously find herself in Eat, Pray Love and empathized with Diane Lane as she impulsively bought a picturesque Italian villa in Under The Tuscan Sun, but would moviegoers have felt the same if these ladies just stayed home? Writer-director Hilary Brougher begs this question in her quiet and introspective film South Mountain, as recent divorcee Lila (Talia Balsam) navigates infidelity, rage, and acceptance within the tranquil confines of the Catskill Mountains.
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on 7th of May 2020
i watched that film and gave it one star
on 26th of April 2022
i re-watched it and gave it three stars
i think two years ago i didn't know a thing about letting go, acceptance or moving on.
even now i'm learning it the hard way.
The hard way 😢 -
all I could think about a review I read online about the movie that called it a hippie mid-life crisis
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A strong lead performance from Talia Balsam isn't enough to save this from feeling like a middle of the road indie film festival drama.
[5.0/10]
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Life is terrible and people are awful. Do I really need a film to tell me that?
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A divorced woman due to some clearly established distance between husband and wife early on the film goes on a journey of self discovery and reinvention. Caught in the middle are their two kids, and the film tracks the relatioship between the disjointed and dysfunctional (and now fractured) family.
It's not bad, but I had a really hard time connecting to and caring for any of the characters. Which poses a real problem for a film that hinges on these character dynamics. This I find is the problem with these kinds of stories in general. The decline of social restraints leads to the liberation of the individual, leaving the film feeling slightly superficial in its attempts to locate some kind…
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The scene where the daughter gently asks for 13 sugar cubes in her tea is the most deranged moment in a 2020 movie
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A family in flux. A few meaningful themes and conflicts. Characters that tried. But nothing and no one I could really warm up to.
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Hilary Brougher svemu prilazi realistično i bez ikakve pompe. Protok vremena je potpisan karticama sa datumima, a razmaci su neregularni, nekada je pauza dan ili dva, nekada i po deset. Lila nema monologe, čak se ni ne poverava u tančine prijateljici, novom prolaznom dečku ili budućem bivšem mužu, nego prolazi kroz etape žalovanja, od zatvaranja oči, preko besa i depresije, pa do prihvatanja novonastale situacije. Za to vreme se i ona i svi oko nje upuštaju u pasivne i mikro-agresije. Sve to je snimljeno ručnom kamerom u nešto dužim, ali opet odmerenim kadrovima i u prirodnim bojama.
Od ovakvog materijala i pristupa najviše profitiraju glumci. Talia Balsam je uglavnom aktivna na televiziji, uz poneku epizodnu ulogu u filmovima, a tip…