Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: THE MOMENT [Berlinale - Berlin, Germany]
The aspect of fame has always been a reflection of whatever the zeitgeist is. Since the idea of what celebrity is (and continues to be) changes, the idea of those living it becomes wrapped in their own perceptions. Charlie xcx, who is mostly known to the younger generation with her "Brat Summer" overtake, has been interestingly ironic in her ways of interacting outside the fray with film media in the past half a year. She did a film called "Erupjca" (which this reviewer wrote about at the Red Sea International Film Festival) which had her cast as a free spirit who in trying to find what she what she wants to be removes herself from the idea of who other people might expect of her. It is a very meta element based around the timing of eruptions on earth. "The Moment" [Panorama] is not unlike this but in its mockumentary stylings speaks to the eruption of xcx as a commodity and how it might define her or threaten to alter her continued success. The film is interesting in how it skews reality but how it also embraces it. The key idea here interestingly enough is loss of control and change of focus with people pleasing. Charlie seems aware of what people want her to be but also the changing perspective of who her audience is now and who they might be down the line.
The film shows her creating her show with her creative director (and how they see her identity) when a hotshot video director (played by Alexander Skaarsgard plays his most skivvy kind of character) tries to undo, without saying, the idea of what Charlie's image needs to be. The record label executive (played by Rosanna Arquette) keys into what they want her to accept in terms of corporate such as branding and social posts. These two people are the only way one would know that this not a real documentary. Charlie's assistants and hangers-on play to the idea of "yes" people which is a constant with people talking for her especially her slimy assistant Tim. Most of it is done for uncomfortable laughs making it cringey but that is sort of the point. When Charlie heads out to Ibiza for a reset in the middle of her rehearsal tour, she runs into Kylie Jenner and that conversation and the way it deconstructs xcx in just a few minutes is borderline brilliant because you see the issues she has been dealing with: identity, body issues, complacency, control. While this is veiled in mockumentary it is actually extremely smart because it gives you a taste of the real her without being her and uses the music almost as an ironic musing of where things might yet go. The key is that it captures a moment in time with a bit of snark and intellectual volleyball without ever making it seem so. B
By Tim Wassberg
