Criterion Premieres: Magellan

[therewillbeblus]

I decided to watch Melancholia, and it didn't click - perhaps the diminishing returns are due to watching multiple Diaz films in close succession, but I think this one is just stripped too bare for me. I enjoyed the idea behind the reveal, and waited for more opportunities to turn that into a more novelistic narrative, but it kinda just rested without movement. I suppose this could be appropriate in reflecting the static states of traumatized individuals attempting to break free in new roles but really just stuck in a rote, delusional state. The ending is certainly powerful along those lines, but ultimately this film contained too little to chew on.

[hearthesilence]

Caught a screening with Lav Diaz giving a Q&A afterwards. I can't remember if I forgot this, but he makes films a lot like Terrence Malick even though their films are very different. 1) He uses available light. The only time they ever "lit" a scene was in the dream shots with Magellan's wife, which is obvious because they created that glow (I'm guessing with a filter as well). 2) Kent Jones brought this up before with Malick, but you can tell when an actor knows how to act (or "be") in Malick's films. The New World is an excellent example: Farrell is prone to just wandering, and one gets the impression from interviews that he was literally lost in the film, not sure what to do. On the other hand, Bale clearly took a lot of time to think about what a character like his actually does every single moment back in that era - i.e. how did they really live - and every time he's on screen, he immediately looks like someone who belongs in that time. He just naturally behaves in that way. Bernal approached Diaz about what he had to do, and Diaz told him something that he basically tells everyone - you've got to think about everything we're seeing while physically here, not just what's in the shot, so the entire physical world from the sky to the ground to the horizon, that's part of the world your character is inhabiting and you have to respond/behave in that fashion. Diaz doesn't do coverage, he has a shot in mind (typically a wide shot in a long take) and these shots/compositions aren't built around "your performance," i.e. we're putting you in this entire world and you got to think about it in those terms. (He says his actors typically get it.)

He says post-production is the worst part of the filmmaking process for him because that's when you start having doubts, you hate the guy sitting next to you, you're agonizing over a lot of minutiae....I'm not sure if I've ever heard a director single out post-production/editing as the worst part unless they're working with an insane amount of footage, but that wasn't brought up as a reason.

Finally, this film originally was supposed to be black & white, but they decided against it late in post-production. He then asked if we thought it worked (it didn't sound like the decision was made out of an abundance of confidence, much less enthusiasm, for the color) and we all said "yes." When the possibility of a black & white version was brought up, he nonchalantly said "sure," arguing that digital coloring tools made it so easy it wasn't a big deal - he seemed to imply that they basically changed it from black & white to color with one or two clicks of a button and could reverse it just as easily.

It's been a few years since I've seen his films, but this was highly (maybe unusually) accessible and I liked it quite a bit - it certainly would've ranked among my favorites from last year if they had released it a few weeks earlier.

[Black Hat]

Thank you for sharing HTS. You've been killing it on the board lately with your writing and sharing fascinating nuggets of information. I thought Magellan was close to a masterpiece, and I'm looking forward to seeing it a second time to confirm my first impressions. I'm surprised, given Bernal's in it, the subject matter, and being a relatively accessible Diaz film, that it hasn't gotten more press with Bernal not racking up nominations. I'm also confused as to why it's been farmed out only to IFC. Janus needs to step up their game because I find it hard to believe there's no market for this.

[FrauBlucher]

The only Diaz film I’ve seen is Norte, the End of History and I absolutely loved it. So looking forward to Magellan.

[Matt]

I think Janus wants this to be considered a 2026 film for awards submissions.

[therewillbeblus]

The only Diaz film I’ve seen is Norte, the End of History and I absolutely loved it.

I've seen four Diaz films now, and this is the only one I've loved so far. I hope there's another one out there!

[zedz]

Thank you for sharing HTS. You've been killing it on the board lately with your writing and sharing fascinating nuggets of information. I thought Magellan was close to a masterpiece, and I'm looking forward to seeing it a second time to confirm my first impressions. I'm surprised, given Bernal's in it, the subject matter, and being a relatively accessible Diaz film, that it hasn't gotten more press with Bernal not racking up nominations. I'm also confused as to why it's been farmed out only to IFC. Janus needs to step up their game because I find it hard to believe there's no market for this.

I agree it's probably the best chance at a 'crossover' film for Diaz to date, but I'm not surprised Bernal has been overlooked, since it's a long way from a 'star' performance (which would probably have broken the film).

[hearthesilence]

Thanks for the kind words Black Hat! I'm very surprised that it's only playing at IFC too - it's possible Lincoln Center got overwhelmed with bookings (I feel like everyone tries to get in during the fall/winter to qualify for awards and capitalize on any nominations) so maybe it'll play there later, but that also brings up awards - the film actually opened after the end-of-year deadline even though it had some festival and preview screenings before that, so I don't think it's eligible for any 2025 awards. It appears that Janus has decided against a marketing campaign that depends on awards, but it's a curious move given that the film is still playing right in the middle of awards season. Maybe someone else has better insight into this, but zedz does have a point - lead actor has always been one of the most competitive categories, and I don't think Bernal has ever been nominated for American awards before, so without something that's more of a traditional lead role, it may be too much to expect a SAG or an Oscar nomination. (All non-English performances, including Moura, were shut out of the SAG nominations, so Bernal probably had no chance at that one.)

[rrenault]

Thanks for the kind words Black Hat! I'm very surprised that it's only playing at IFC too - it's possible Lincoln Center got overwhelmed with bookings (I feel like everyone tries to get in during the fall/winter to qualify for awards and capitalize on any nominations) so maybe it'll play there later, but that also brings up awards - the film actually opened after the end-of-year deadline even though it had some festival and preview screenings before that, so I don't think it's eligible for any 2025 awards. It appears that Janus has decided against a marketing campaign that depends on awards, but it's a curious move given that the film is still playing right in the middle of awards season. Maybe someone else has better insight into this, but zedz does have a point - lead actor has always been one of the most competitive categories, and I don't think Bernal has ever been nominated for American awards before, so without something that's more of a traditional lead role, it may be too much to expect a SAG or an Oscar nomination. (All non-English performances, including Moura, were shut out of the SAG nominations, so Bernal probably had no chance at that one.)

Has anyone ever won Best Actor in a Motion Picture-Drama at the Golden Globes and missed out on an Oscar nomination for Best Actor? I know some Motion Picture-Musical or Comedy Best Actor winners have missed out on Oscar nominations.

P.S. I just looked it up. Jim Carrey won the GG for The Truman Show and didn't get nominated at the Oscars. And Omar Sharif for Doctor Zhivago.

[Peacock]

Diaz finally! Very light on extras though.

[Matt]

As is always the case with these Criterion Premieres discs. Not sure I’ll spring for the disc or wait to see if there’s a 4K digital version. If the film was even finished in 4K.

[aox]

Has anyone seen this? The reviews are almost universally positive. I hadn’t heard of it until this announcement.

[therewillbeblus]

Yeah, it even has a thread already

[zedz]

I just realized my micro-review wasn't in this thread but part of my "best of 2025" post:

MAGELLAN (Lav Diaz, Phillipines, 2025) – Wow! A sweeping historical epic, in vivid colour, with a commanding central performance from a major international star! (You haven’t seen any Lav Diaz films, have you?) Actually, the grand subject is crammed into Academy ratio; the colour is murky and misty – it’s raining and windy most of the time; and Gael Garcia Bernal is a distant, unlikeable presence, usually seen in long shot (i.e. perfect for the film.) The plight of the indigenous peoples getting duped and massacred is given equal weight as the colonial ‘adventure’, and everything – even Magellan’s ‘brilliant career’ – ends up sordid and compromised. This is pretty much exactly the film I would have expected from Diaz, but I can’t get enough of his thoughtful anti-spectacle and impeccably classical compositions in the tradition of Murnau and Ford.

[Lowry_Sam]

Now available for streaming on the channel.