The Film Christmas, Again Film Review – This Relaxed Story of a Lonely Christmas Tree Seller Has Genuine Charm
The constitutes a New York drama with such a relaxed pace 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 unaffected to get slushy or sentimental about Christmas; in his view Christmas tree lights blink like police lights. But with its subtle approach, he pitches his film just right for a little squeeze of festive warmth.
A Weary Seller Amid the Brooklyn Cold
Kentucker Audley portrays Noel (someone had in the film to comment on his name before I twigged). Noel is back for his fifth year selling Christmas trees in Brooklyn, standing outside in the freezing cold and sleeping in a barely warmer caravan parked next to the trees. Several patrons ask about the girl assisting him last year. But this year Noel works solo, broken-hearted and working the night shift.
There’s a documentary feel to a lot of the scenes, with customers posing pointless random questions. A customer wants the same Christmas tree as the Obamas (the story is set in 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 Moments and Glimmers of Connection
Frankly, the plot is minimal. Noel rescues a woman, Lydia (Hannah Gross), who has passed out drunk on a bench. She pops up again later in some genuinely moving scenes as Noel travels through New York, making tree deliveries – and these moments could spark a small glimmer of good cheer in the grinchiest of hearts. Poekel has not directed a feature since this, which is regrettable – you can’t beat it for naturalness and ease, and it’s filmed on beautifully grainy 16mm film.
The picture of quiet charm and authentic atmosphere, portraying the solitude and fleeting warmth of the holidays.
Christmas, Again opens in UK cinemas from 12 December.