The Film Christmas, Again Review – A Relaxed Story of a Forlorn Christmas Tree Seller Boasts Genuine Charm
The constitutes a New York drama so laidback that it required a decade to arrive on the UK’s cinema screens. First released in the US in 2015, it’s a micro-budget first feature from debut filmmaker Charles Poekel, set almost entirely on a 24-hour pop-up Christmas tree stall. Poekel’s style is far too genuinely independent and naturalistic to get slushy or sentimental about Christmas; through his lens Christmas tree lights flash like police lights. But in its own low-key way, he positions the movie perfectly for a little squeeze of festive warmth.
A Jaded Seller Amid the Brooklyn Cold
Kentucker Audley portrays Noel (it took someone in the film to comment on his name for the connection to be made). Noel is back for his fifth year peddling Christmas trees in Brooklyn, working outdoors in the freezing cold and sleeping in a barely warmer caravan stationed beside the trees. A few customers inquire after the girl assisting him last year. But this year Noel works solo, heartbroken and on the night shift.
There’s a documentary feel to many of the scenes, with customers posing idle and peculiar questions. One woman requests the same Christmas tree as the Obamas (the story is set in 2014). Noel looks numb with cold physically and emotionally; he’s weary and disillusioned, though Audley’s subtle performance clearly indicates that he wasn’t always like this.
Understated Moments and Flickers of Hope
In truth, 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 hasn’t made a feature since this, which is regrettable – you can’t beat it for authenticity and fluidity, and it’s shot on gorgeously textured 16mm film.
The film of quiet charm and real mood, capturing the solitude and fleeting connection of the season.
Christmas, Again opens in UK cinemas from 12 December.
