Before moving to Netflix from
Britain’s Channel 4, “Lovesick”
was originally named “Scrotal
Recall,” a title so laughable and
eye-rolling it suggested the worst
qualities of a television rom-
com. Even the premise seemed
slight: A young Englishman
named Dylan (Johnny Flynn,
“Genius”) must seek out all
the women he slept with after
discovering he has chlamydia.
But don’t let the original title and
premise downplay its potential:
“Lovesick” is a remarkable gem
of a show.
With a neat balance between
snappy humor and poignant
drama, “Lovesick” comes into its
own in its third season. Creator
Tom Edge (“The Crown”) has
crafted yet another array of
episodes that will make you
cringe, laugh and contemplate
your own perception of love in
the 21st century.
After reconciling with his
girlfriend
Abigail
(Hannah
Britland,
“Rush”),
Dylan
struggles to conceal his feelings
for his best friend Evie (Antonia
Thomas, “The Good Doctor”), a
will-they-won’t-they
romance
that’s as intensely complicated as
Ross and Rachel’s. Meanwhile,
Dylan’s other friends — the
extroverted, philandering Luke
(Daniel Ings, “Instinct”) and
the neurotic, sprightly Angus
(Joshua McGuire, “Cinderella”)
— find themselves in their own
romantic entanglements. And
unlike the previous two seasons,
which depicted Dylan’s doomed
affairs with women that led to his
STD, season three of “Lovesick”
focuses more on the roots of
Dylan and Evie’s relationship,
and how it has blossomed over
time.
The most refreshing aspect
of “Lovesick,” and especially
with this season, is that the
subject matter is so utterly real
and
unapologetically
honest.
Underneath all of its whip-
smart dialogue and zany cringe
comedy, there is such heart
within each character and their
relationships to one another.
The tricky conflict that stirs
between Dylan and Evie — they
love each other, but don’t want to
ruin a good friendship — never
feels flat. Thomas and Flynn’s
performances
and
magnetic
chemistry
help
capture
the
muddiness and awkwardness of
their characters’ conundrum.
Luke
and
Angus
also
get
wonderful subplots this season:
Luke learns that he wants more
in a relationship than just a one-
night fling, while Angus worries
about starting his future with his
pregnant fiancée Holly (Klariza
Clayton, “Fox Trap”).
The show isn’t afraid to get
into the nitty-gritty of how our
desire for connection informs
our desperation for love, or how
our past experiences shape our
present
anxieties.
Everyone,
even the supporting characters,
gets a nuanced personal journey.
What’s even more alluring
about “Lovesick” is that it adds
a rare layer of depth that other
similar romantic sitcoms have
mostly failed to consistently
uphold. “Lovesick” mirrors the
extended flashback format of
“How I Met Your Mother,” but
devotes more time to fleshing out
character arcs than maintaining
running gags. It shares the
dysfunction
of
“You’re
the
Worst” but without any of the
misanthropy. The young cast
of
“Lovesick”
channels
the
charismatic,
hyper-specific
appeal of “Friends,” and, while
they haven’t reached icon status
yet, Dylan, Luke, Angus and Evie
are certainly on their way.
Had “Lovesick” been made
by the wrong hands — or even
maintained its original title
— it could’ve easily ended up
yet another formulaic, cheesy
and grating show about young
20-somethings figuring their shit
out. It could’ve kept the cookie-
cutter qualities of its archetypal
characters
—
the
insecure
protagonist, the womanizing best
friend, the nebbish acquaintance
and the manic pixie dream
girl love interest. Lucky for us,
“Lovesick” is not that kind of
show, as its third (and hopefully
not final) season is a testament to
streaming sitcoms.
Any travel guide, book, any
piece of media at all about
Brazil will tell you that the
country
lives
and
breathes
music and art. After all, it’s the
country of samba, bossa nova,
flamboyant soccer players who
don’t just play the game, but
elevate it into an art. Through
this
reputation,
Brazilian
musicians such as João Gilberto
and Antônio Carlos Jobim have
enticed people around the world
with the rhythmic, easy-going
nature of genres such as bossa
nova and tropicália. Milton
Nascimento’s Clube da Esquina
is less appreciated outside of
Brazil than many other similarly
important Brazilian albums, but
is one of the finest collections of
pop songs I have ever heard.
Clube da Esquina (“corner
club”) titled after Nascimento’s
musical collective formed in
the 1970s in the mountainous,
mineral-rich Brazilian state of
Minas Gerais (which is featured
in
an
episode
of
Anthony
Bourdain’s excellent TV show
“Parts Unknown”). It featured
Milton Nascimento, a musician
originally from Rio and Lô
Borges, another iconic Brazilian
musician, as well as some of the
country’s most talented session
musicians. Despite not coming
from some of the country’s
more glamourous regions, the
collective’s
first,
self-titled
double album eventually found
its way into the forefront of
Brazilian music.
Clube da Esquina is referred to
as an example of a genre known
as “Música popular brasileira”
(Brazilian popular music), but in
reality, it’s nearly impossible to
pin down the album to a specific
genre. While all the songs feature
distinctly Brazilian rhythms and
instrumentation, the influences
present on the record are all
over the map. “Tudo o Que
Você Podia Ser” kicks off the
record with excellent guitar
work and a meandering vocal
line from Nascimento, before
breaking into a groovy ending
from the entire band with
Nascimento crying out on top.
Two of the songs written by
Borges, “O Trem Azul” and my
personal favorite, “Um Girassol
da Cor do Seu Cabelo” are
rather Beatles-esque, with the
latter featuring a memorable
orchestral breakdown similar
to “A Day in the Life.” “Nuvem
Cigana” features dreamy guitars
accompanied by violins and
brass. Throughout the record,
one can hear influences ranging
from as far as progressive rock
to jazz.
Another
album
I
was
constantly reminded of while
listening to this record for the
first time was The Beach Boys’
Pet Sounds. Both are musically
ornate and lush, eschewing
the
sole
usage
of
guitars,
pianos and drums for grand,
orchestral
flourishes,
adding
an entirely new dimension of
richness. Borges’s fondness for
Anglophone popular music is
evident often, making Clube
da Esquina a great example of
popular fusion.
Although
the
lyrics
are
notably poetic and a large
part of what makes the album
legendary in Brazilian music, I
found that not understanding
Portuguese was not a major
hindrance
in
enjoying
the
record (and speakers of any
Romance language should be
able to understand part of it).
It helps that Portuguese itself,
especially the Brazilian variety,
is such an inherently musical
language. As to be expected
with a Romance language, it
flows extremely well and lacks
many of the guttural consonants
that make some languages such
as
German
“unattractive.”
Even conversational Brazilian
Portuguese
seems
to
have
a set of lovely shifts in tone
and
natural
elongation
of
vowels. Even if you know zero
Portuguese, simply listening to
the vocals and the language is
a rather pleasant experience,
especially with Nascimento’s
smooth-as-butter voice gliding
over the instrumentation and
rarely stagnating in one dynamic
level or tone.
Clube
da
Esquina
sounds
like the perfect soundtrack to
a pleasant dream or to a lazy
Sunday afternoon at the beach
or park. The songs are pleasant
yet tinged with melancholy, for
those relaxing yet reflective
moments where you are content
with life, but perhaps indulging
in nostalgia or remembering
people from a past life. While
not particularly revolutionary
or exotic, it is a near-perfect
collection of songs with top-
class musical talent featured at
every level. There are few better
albums to embark on a journey
with into the endless ocean of
world music.
Sayan Ghosh:
Portuguese pop fusion
WORLD MUSIC COLUMN
‘The Shape of Water’ is
spellbinding in few words
For a movie centered around a
woman who does not speak, “The
Shape of Water” has a strong voice.
Elisa (Sally Hawkins, “Maudie”)
is a mute cleaning lady at a
research facility in the 1960s. She
lives a lonely life, mostly limiting
her interactions to her closeted
neighbor Giles (Richard Jenkins,
“Step Brothers”) and coworker
Zelda (Octavia Spencer, “Hidden
Figures”). One day a mysterious
specimen arrives at the facility
along with an uber-masculine
security
officer,
Richard
Strickland
(Michael
Shannon,
“Nocturnal Animals”). Elisa offers
the Amphibian Man (Doug Jones,
“Hellboy”) — nicknamed the
Asset — kindness and friendship
and, in return, he provides the
companionship she misses. When
Cold War pressures threaten the
Amphibian Man’s life, Elisa takes
the matter into her own hands
with people who feel a moral
calling to help.
“The Shape of Water” has
breathtaking cinematography that
sets the fantastical mood. Director
Guillermo
Del
Toro
(“Pan’s
Labyrinth”) uses visual elements
to give a voice to two characters
who do not speak, Elisa and the
Amphibian Man. The clever use of
water to connect scenes creates a
flow to the film as it weaves among
the many sides that want control
of the unknown specimen and its
suspected powers. Del Toro also
immerses the characters in old-
timey films, settings and music to
add to the romantic atmosphere.
The soundtrack draws from
classics like “You’ll Never Know”
from the 1943 movie “Hello,
Frisco, Hello” and other nostalgic
songs. At times, “The Shape
of Water” plays like a musical,
complete with tapdance numbers
and a re-creation of the famous
dance between Ginger Rogers
and Fred Astaire. Despite limited
dialogue from its main character,
the film is still able to capture
the sentimental tone of a musical
without
the
constrictions
of
needing to break into song and
dance every other scene.
Since Elisa and the Amphibian
Man speak through sign language,
the supporting cast provides the
humor, fills the empty spaces
with words and gives helpful
interpretations of Elisa’s gestures.
Zelda and Giles give insight into
Elisa’s quiet demeanor, shielding
her innocent and good intentions
from evil forces. Every heartfelt
motion from Elisa is matched with
a well-timed quip from her two
friends. To balance out these kind-
hearted
characters,
Shannon’s
Strickland brings all the bearings
of toxic masculinity and abuse
of power. Shannon exudes this
toxicity with every calculating
stare and bite of his ever-present
green candies.
The supporting cast does a
tremendous job, but the majority
of credit goes to Sally Hawkins and
her spell-binding performance.
Unlike
previous
actors
who
have played disabled characters,
Hawkins turns Elisa’s muteness
into a strength, not a pantomime
— using her hand motions to
emphasize the tenderness and
courage of this woman. Purely
through facial expressions and
physical actions, Hawkins conveys
the loneliness of an outcast and
the joy of finding camaraderie in
unexpected corners of the world.
In fact, “The Shape of Water”
should serve as a playbook for
how to treat “others”: with love,
kindness and an open mind. This
message coupled with outstanding
filmmaking is why the final scene
will leave everyone breathless
with its pureness and beauty —
enough to believe for a second that
nothing evil could ever touch this
Earth again.
MEGHAN CHOU
Daily Arts Writer
‘Lovesick’ excels, grows
SAM ROSENBERG
Senior Arts Editor
“Lovesick”
Season 3
Premiere
Netflix
NETFLIX
SAYAN GHOSH
Daily World Music Columnist
FILM REVIEW
FOX SEARCHLIGHT
“The Shape
of Water”
Wide Release,
Michigan Theater
Fox Searchlight
TV REVIEW
6 —Monday, January 8, 2018
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com