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Movie review
Netflix and Trentino are flying over this Israeli director, and you can understand why
"Fire Dust Milkshake," Navot Popushdo's first English-language film, is a special chicken: a bloody action thriller that makes you want to call your mom and give her your love.
No wonder that despite its weaknesses, Hollywood has recognized the potential of the film and the director
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Navot Popushdo
Quentin Tarantino
Netflix
Avner Shavit
Thursday, 15 July 2021, 00:49
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Trailer for the movie "Milk Shake Burning Dust" (Red Cape Distribution)
(Photo: Shai Librovsky)
Even before settling in Israel, Quentin Tarantino extended his patronage to two local directors: Navot Popushdo and Aharon Keshels. The two broke out at the beginning of the previous decade with "Rabies," which is considered the first major Israeli horror film, and then took a few more steps forward with "Who's Afraid of the Bad Wolf?" Which came out in 2013 and gained international resonance. Among other things, it was screened at the prestigious Busan Festival in Korea, and the American director saw it there and was quick to announce that it was the best film of that year, no less.
This announcement probably attracted a lot of attention, but the two's international careers suffered from a variety of delays on the runway. In addition, the duo he still knew in the film department decided to split his ways. And so it turns out that each of them is releasing this year separately his first film in the English language.
Cushles' film will arrive later this year.
Popushdo's "Burning Dust Milkshake," on the other hand, is coming right now.
In the United States, the film was purchased by Netflix and will go directly to the streaming service in North America and Scandinavia, but here and in many other countries it is coming up in theaters.
A look at his list of credits reveals that Cushles is still signed to him as a producer, and also that Popushdo co-wrote the script with Ehud Levsky.
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To the full article
A jacket that deserves to become a collectors item.
From "Fire Dust Milkshake" (Photo: Red Cape Distribution)
Like many action movies today, this script centers on a female character - a move that often seems cynical and opportunistic (remember that now?), Especially when it comes from male directors and producers, but "Milk Shake Dust" has enough theoretical and emotional depth to believe it Comes from the depths of Popushdo's heart.
The story written by Popushdo and Levsky builds a modern mythology, which presents us with a family of assassins. The dynasty begins with Scarlett, played by the remembered Lena Heidi from "The Games", who due to a professional incident was forced to burn bridges and abandon her daughter Sam at the age of eight. The daughter, for her part, herself became an even more polished and skilled assassin than her mother. She is played by Keren Gillan, one of the most prolific stars of recent years, best known for her roles in the Marvel and Jumanji films and here she does her most challenging and best cinematic role to date.
As usually happens in these movies, Sam kills the wrong person, and so she finds herself persecuted by the whole world and his sister, and reunites with her mother and her assassin friends to fight back a hair-raising war. In addition, the protagonist is also required to spread her wings over an eight-year-old girl who found herself alone and lost within this world war.
Amidst all the shootings, explosions and chases, and there are an infinity of these, parenting and especially motherhood are the heart of the film. The battles here are almost never individual, but in a family setting. The villains have their own clans, and the assassin gang also runs like an alternative family. In addition, while she reconnects with her biological mother and mends the wounds of the past, the protagonist also becomes a kind of adoptive mother of the girl she protects.
In addition to Karen Gillan and Lena Heidi, the film has other familiar names: Angela Bast, Michelle Yao and Clara Gujino play the assassins, and veteran Paul Giamatti also plays a significant role.
Alongside them should be mentioned a lesser-known name - Chloe Coleman, 12 years old in total, who charmed a year ago in "Practice in Spyware," in which she did her first major cinematic role, and here continues to be revealed as a child prodigy.
Navot's milkshake brings everyone to the yard.
From "Fire Dust Milkshake" (Photo: Red Cape Distribution)
But there are many characters in the film, and sometimes they are played by less successful actors, to say the least. "Milk Shake Dust" was purchased by Netflix but not produced by it, and its modest budget is considerable - both within the casting limits and the production limits. Some of the action scenes are filmed in small spaces, probably relative to the width of the sheet that Popushdo seeks to encircle.
These production values initially embody the steps of a “fire dust milkshake,” but he manages to overcome them and rise, and gets better as the plot progresses. The Gillan Foundation is an asset to every film, and here too; The monochromatic colors are beautiful, adding a tinge of melancholy; Most of the action scenes, especially those from the second act and beyond, are superbly staged, and Popushdo also makes good use of editing and music to combine the action and drama in an overwhelming and moving way. The soundtrack includes past hits, led by one Mercury rabbi, and original music written by Frank Ilfman, with whom the director has already worked on "Who's Afraid of the Bad Wolf."
Like that movie, "Milk Shake Dust" is influenced by Trentino, and earlier films that influenced the American director himself.
It's easy to spot here, for example, winks at John Woo's groundbreaking action thrillers, Stanley Kubrick's "Killing" and "Mechanical Orange" and Luke Besson's "Nikita," among others.
All this indicates the cinematic education of Popushdo and its good taste, but also the fact that this action thriller operates in quite familiar and corny districts.
But as the film progresses, it becomes clear that it is more than just an imitation or a gesture.
First of all, because it has its own style, which is reflected not only in the big brush strokes, but also in the small things.
The jacket the protagonist wears, for example, deserves to become a collectors item.
A mother's love stronger than any army.
From "Milkshake Dust Sings" (Photo: Red Cape Distribution)
There are stylish ribbons that are nothing more than cellophane packaging that covers hot air, but that is not the case. If one goes into the inevitable comparison between Popushdo and his American patron, this is the place to mention that Trentino is not only a master when it comes to the visual side, but first and foremost a smart and deep person, who ponders in his films interesting questions.
In his spirit, "Milk Shake Dust" uses his straw to tread all the way on one question: the uniqueness and power of the bond between mother and daughter. The battle scenes and intimate dialogues reveal here that every army in the world will end up being less powerful than Mother Love, and that makes the film a special fly - a bloody action thriller that evokes the desire to call your mother and give her your love.
The film is about what mothers and daughters have, and what non-mothers do not have.
We can not elaborate too much, but it is said that in a dramatic climax, it becomes clear where the arch-villain's frustrations come from: from everything he lost because he is a father, not a mother.
It's a very powerful moment, script-wise and emotionally, but it also reveals the inherent weakness of "Milkshake Burning": it's a film written by two men about several women, so it's no wonder that in the end, the strongest scene is in a man's voice.
A great discovery.
Chloe Coleman in "Fire Dust Milkshake" (Photo: Red Cape Distribution)
The weaknesses in the film do not prevent it from becoming a beautiful, sweeping and exciting work.
Nor did they prevent Netflix from recognizing the potential, his and the director's.
It's easy to bet that Popushdo has big and besieged prospects in Hollywood, at least if he knows how to play his cards right, and next time he might even get a little closer to Trentino's budgets.
Now all he has to do is move to the old north, become part of Zvika Pick's family and learn some Hebrew.
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