The Sight and Sound movie poll releases every decade, where a bunch of filmmakers and critics vote on what the best movie of all time is. Usually it’s something like Casablanca or Citizen Kane. But this most recent winner was a small Belgian Film from the 1970’s Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, a film for the most part portraying the beats of everyday living. Kelly Reichardt is the heir to Chantal Akerman (Jeanne Dielman’s director), content in portraying the beats of people going about their day and making that as cinematic as possible. Nothing explodes and no one dies over the course of Showing Up, but Reichardt’s script and direction are the highlight here, gently pointing out the beauty and art inside someone doing the work to keep the world moving. Ok, and making some lovely clay sculptures in the process.
Reichardt’s “Belgium” is somewhere in the Pacific Northwest in an artist commune of some kind. Lizzy (Michelle Williams), is getting ready for her big showcase in a week, prepping her porcelain sculptures very carefully. However, little things keep Lizzy from full concentration. Her college friend and now landlord Jo (Hong Chau) also has a show she’s prepping for, making Jo unable to provide Lizzy with hot water for her work and to simply take a shower. Plus, Lizzy’s also gotta check in on her dad Bill (Judd Hirsch) and his hippy “house guests,” her recluse brother Sean (John Magaro), and please her mother Jean (Maryann Plunkett) at work. While also taking care of her cat, Lizzy finds an injured pigeon she tries to get rid of, but ends up having to care for part time as well. Tough week to be an artist I guess.
Props to Reichardt for her perceptive eye towards humanity. Her depiction of family dynamics eerily parallels some of my own. We all want to be the Jo’s in the world: freed up to devote their life to whatever pursuit they want. They are quick to jump in and help an injured pigeon right away, or excited to converse and collaborate with others in their artistic endeavors. As charming as Jo’s and Sean’s are, they lack focus and follow through. Even though they are eager to create and help, they lose interest quickly, and pass the responsibilities onto others they clearly take for granted while they do something else. So shout out to the Lizzy’s out there. To the ignorant observer, they are wet blankets: constantly nagging about this or that to the Jo’s and Sean’s, incapable of happiness. But if you really pay attention, they stitch the world together. Jo’s pigeon care attempts aren’t thought out for example, and it’s Lizzy that learns what she needs to in order to nurse the bird back to health, annoying Jo with the details she never had the follow through to consider. Lizzy’s endless focus makes her irritable to outsiders, as she only has time for the important stuff to keep everyone safe and sound, and “pointless” activities like conversing or finding personal happiness are foreign to her out of necessity for the world at large. What results is an unresolvable character marriage which Reichardt mines for all sorts of “under your breath” sarcasm to the chuckle delight of the audience.
I know Michelle Williams got a lot of critical acclaim for her performance in The Fabelmans last year, but I’d 100% percent of the time show people clips from Showing Up in her personal highlight reel instead. Putting on a frumpy, understandably irritable persona, Williams’s Lizzy I recognized immediately. Williams makes the audience constantly feel for poor Lizzy, who wants to make her clay sculptures but cannot fully commit to them because everyone else are ignoring basic life tasks she takes on herself. In turn, that frees up others around her to have better artistic careers than she has, further frustrating her at their ignorance and her career “failures.” The best example of how great Williams’s acting can be is at Lizzy’s big show, where her desire for a perfect night overwhelms her ability to be in the moment and enjoy a rare artistic celebration of her craft. Supporting performances by Hong Chau, Judd Hirsch, John Magaro, Andre Benjamin, and Maryann Plunkett do a great job filling in the rich inner workings of an artist enclave filled with relatable people, the Reichardt wheelhouse for gentle character studies.
If you pay attention, Kelly Reichardt’s Showing Up is going to deliver the drama and entertainment you’ll need to sweetly wind down your day. It’s a perfect bedtime movie, with Michelle Williams comfortably tucking you in and murmuring to herself as you quietly drift off to sleep. So if you Lizzy’s of the world struggling falling to sleep in recent days, pop this baby on and enjoy the soothing Pacific Northwest chit chat that makes you seen, and give’s you permission to rest your weary heads for just an hour or two.