After Yang (Kogonada, 2021)

[The Narrator Returns]

Forum golden boy Kogonada is making his second film for A24, starring Colin Farrell

[Persona]

Forum golden boy Kogonada is making his second film for A24, starring Colin Farrell

It's a cute short story but to make it into a full-length film... gonna have to be a pretty extensive adaptation.

[DarkImbecile]

::After Yang

[RIP Film]

::After Yang

Looks like well trod territory, but reviews are quite positive. Kogonada’s Columbus is probably my favorite film of the past five years so I’ll give it a look.

[RIP Film]

If you need a reprieve from villainous dictators and people being slapped, I might suggest After Yang. This is the sophomore film from director Kogonada, which I was surprised to find streaming on Showtime. Taking place in the distant future, it’s about an android who was purchased as a sibling for an adopted daughter, but stops working. It navigates some of the usual questions you’d imagine, such as: how much do we allow ourselves to care for something that isn’t strictly real. But it also goes further in subtle ways, intimating that things we normally associate with being human, like memory, are more universal and not exclusive to us.

I’ll admit I found the premise challenging, more than anything because I don’t believe we’re heading in the direction of a charming future that is balanced in its use of technology. But I came to see it more as a setup for the ideas unfolding than a prediction. While at times it can resemble an Apple commercial from the far off future, there are also hints that not everything is peachy, such as the main character’s (Colin Farrell) concerns over Yang having spyware. There is also much concern shown for the daughter who is essentially losing a sibling, but must endure seeing Yang like a broken appliance that needs to be fixed.

The film is quite beautiful to look at for being something of a chamber drama, with most of the locations being rooms within a house, video calls, or inside of a car. It gives the impression of having a higher budget than it probably did, with some smartly composited and natural looking CGI throughout. The cinematography is strong, conveying the hushed blues and greens of Spring time. There is something about Kogonada’s films which makes you feel nature in all of the negative space.

Columbus was one of my favorite films of last decade, so naturally comparisons will be made. I think After Yang is extremely well made, but may suffer from something Columbus was on the verge of, and that is being too airy, too slight. Something that evaporates not long after viewing it. For me Columbus managed to escape that with the grounded psychology of its characters and what they were experiencing. Though it may be that I just found After Yang not relatable enough, with its sci-fi setting and focus on parenting. It’s too early for me to make any judgements.

One random aside, while watching this I had the odd notion that this feels like a modern Star Trek: The Next Generation, but taking place on Earth. Make of that what you will.

[therewillbeblus]

There is something about Kogonada’s films which makes you feel nature in all of the negative space.

Columbus was one of my favorite films of last decade, so naturally comparisons will be made. I think After Yang is extremely well made, but may suffer from something Columbus was on the verge of, and that is being too airy, too slight. Something that evaporates not long after viewing it. For me Columbus managed to escape that with the grounded psychology of its characters and what they were experiencing.

This piece of your writeup more or less describes my own feelings- as well as where and why Columbus succeeded in comparison to After Yang. There were elements of this sophomore effort that moved me deeply (e.g. the memories Yang chose to hang onto in long term memory, which told a story when viewed in sequence that is as enigmatic as any of us trying to communicate to a stranger why ours might play out as it does, relatable on that spiritual plane of our collective uniqueness) but ultimately I felt some of the other philosophical meditations were forced and fruitless. The whole conversation between the wife and Yang about endings and beginnings and all that- primed for being a powerful moment- just fell flat due to that ethereal quality, which oddly is exactly the tone you want to concoct to explore some of these avenues! I don’t know, I liked this overall because he’s trying to hit a note that’s difficult to strike and the effort is admirable as is the batting average of success, but as a final product it didn’t leave a mark. I think you may be onto something when you compare the two films’ characters as anchors to allow this vibe to elevate rather than deflate the material, which is also strange considering Farrell gives a great performance. His characterization just doesn’t have enough dimensions to match it or invite us in beyond the peripheral existentialism of interest.