Christmas, Again Film Review – A Relaxed Tale of a Lonely Christmas Tree Seller Boasts Authentic Charm
The constitutes a New York drama so laidback that it required a decade to arrive on the UK’s cinema screens. Initially unveiled in the US in 2015, it’s an ultra-low-budget debut from debut filmmaker Charles Poekel, taking place largely on a 24-hour pop-up Christmas tree stall. Poekel’s style is far too genuinely independent and unaffected to get slushy or sentimental about Christmas; in his view Christmas tree lights flash like police lights. But in its own low-key way, he pitches his film just right for a little squeeze of festive warmth.
A Weary Seller Amid the Brooklyn Cold
Kentucker Audley portrays Noel (it took someone in the film to joke about his name before I twigged). Noel is back for his fifth year selling Christmas trees in Brooklyn, working outdoors in the freezing cold and resting in a not-much-warmer caravan stationed beside the trees. Several patrons ask about the girl working with him last year. But this year Noel works solo, broken-hearted and on the night shift.
There’s an observational quality to many of the scenes, with customers posing pointless random questions. A customer wants the same Christmas tree as the Obamas (this is 2014). Noel looks numb with cold physically and emotionally; he’s exhausted and disenchanted, though Audley’s understated acting clearly indicates that he wasn’t always like this.
Quiet Encounters and Glimmers of Connection
Frankly, not much happens. Noel rescues a woman, Lydia (Hannah Gross), who has passed out drunk on a bench. She pops up again later in truly poignant scenes as Noel travels through New York, delivering trees – and these sequences could spark a little flicker of good cheer even in the most cynical viewer. Poekel has not directed a feature since this, which is regrettable – it is unmatched for authenticity and fluidity, and it’s filmed on gorgeously textured 16mm film.
The film of quiet charm and authentic mood, portraying the solitude and fleeting connection of the season.
Christmas, Again arrives in UK cinemas from 12 December.