Movies

You need read only a small portion of “Capital in the Twenty-First Century,” Thomas Piketty’s towering 2013 economic and historical survey of the dynamics of inequality, to know that Piketty, a French academic, is not only a brilliant economist but also one with a gift for making complicated ideas accessible. But the text runs around 750 pages, and not everyone is prepared to plow through Piketty’s methodical analysis of capital-income ratios from 1700 to the near-present.Enter the documentary version — directed by Justin Pemberton and also called “Capital in the Twenty-First Century” — for those who prefer their econ illustrated with film and TV clips and a kaleidoscopic montage set to Lorde. Although Piketty is credited with the adaptation (along with Pemberton and Matthew Metcalfe, a producer on the film), the movie is best regarded as a supplement or potential gateway to the book, rather than a distillation. Many other academics — Kate Williams of the University of Reading in England; Suresh Naidu, an economic historian at Columbia University — get prime screen time, with Piketty, who appears as a talking head, often playing a supporting role in his own narrative.[embedded content]In the book, Piketty used examples from Jane Austen and Honoré de Balzac to explain how currencies and the investment value of land were understood during those authors’ lifetimes. The film opts for the cinematic correlative, excerpting movies like “The Grapes of Wrath” and “Elysium” to illustrate poverty in the past and a possible future. Piketty notes the risk that the declining share of wealth owned by the middle class could return it to where it stood a century ago, when what qualified as “middle” was almost as poor than the poorest.Much of the material is ancillary to the book. Williams gives a striking account of the acceleration of Christmas consumerism in the 19th century, when she says people would bankrupt themselves to celebrate the holiday. Once the movie reaches the Roaring Twenties and beyond, the purview becomes more erratic. Granular observations (Piketty explains how during the period of the world wars, bombings, inflation and regulations contributed roughly equally to the destruction of capital, transforming power relationships in society) share screen time with material that plays, more disappointingly, like an introductory overview — of Reagan and Thatcher’s anti-unionism, of the 2008 financial crisis, among other things.Pemberton, who has a habit of shooting his interviewees unnervingly centered in the wide frame, keeps everything engaging and clear, an accomplishment in a movie that devotes around a minute to explaining the “stagflation” of the 1970s. But the film necessarily lacks the thoroughness and interrogative qualities of Piketty’s written approach. More than the cutaways to Gordon Gekko and the Simpsons, it tends to be the economist’s own observations that satisfy the true wonk itch.There are other compensations. With fun graphics, Pemberton includes footage from a psychology experiment in which the predetermined winners of a rigged version of Monopoly started to act as if they had won on merit. And if that suggests a dark vision of human nature, Piketty ends the movie on an optimistic note. Creating a more equal society is possible from a technical standpoint, he says. The challenge is intellectual and political.Capital in the Twenty-First CenturyNot rated. In English and French, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 43 minutes. Watch on Kino Marquee. More

Set in the unfamiliar world of African-American backyard rodeos, Annie Silverstein’s “Bull” handles hot-button issues with a cool eye and a calming tone. Racism, opioid use, poverty and pain weave gently in and out of her story (co-written with her husband, Johnny McAllister) without distracting us from either its primary concerns or central relationship.Instead, there’s a matter-of-fact quality to the filmmaking, a rejection of melodrama and embrace of naturalism that slows the movie’s pulse and softens its edges. At its center is the unlikely bond between a white teenager, Kris (Amber Havard, in her acting debut), and a black rodeo wrangler in his 40s named Abe (a perfect Rob Morgan). Kris lives with her little sister and chronically ill grandmother (Keeli Wheeler) in a semirural neighborhood in Texas. Their mother (Sara Albright) is in prison, and Kris, with her quietly disengaged affect, appears beaten down before her life has barely begun.Abe’s bruises run deeper and are more debilitating. A former bull rider worn out by accumulated injuries, he now risks his life to distract the enraged animals and protect the fallen. Pills and alcohol help alleviate the pain, and ease the humiliation of clowning when he’s unfit for more agile duties. Yet he’s sympathetic to youngsters who have lost their way; when Kris and her friends trash his house one weekend, he’s willing to accept her cleanup help rather than have her sent to juvenile detention.[embedded content]Shot in a traditionally black cowboy neighborhood on the outskirts of Houston, “Bull” opens with a brutalized chicken and closes with the vague sense of wounds soothed. Between, Kris and Abe each make poor choices, suffer poignant disappointments and haltingly move forward.Yet while Silverstein’s commitment to authenticity is admirable (she spent years visiting backyard rodeos across Texas, talking with the participants), her narrative is too tamped-down and languorous to catch hold. The movie’s internalized emotions and elliptical style can allow small things to make large points — as when Kris rides, without comment, in the back seat of Abe’s truck rather than shotgun — but the overall mood rarely rises above dispiriting.Only in the rodeo scenes does “Bull” come alive. Shabier Kirchner’s dusty, electric shots of heaving beasts and bobbing riders, slicing horns and smashing hooves feel breathtakingly real. Watching, Kris can’t stop smiling: It’s an expression as foreign to her as hope.BullNot rated. Running time: 1 hour 45 minutes. Rent or buy on Amazon, iTunes and other streaming platforms and pay TV operators. More

Here are a few of the best events happening Thursday and how to tune in (all times are Eastern Daylight).Benedict Cumberbatch in ‘Frankenstein’2 p.m. on YouTubeNeed some Benedict Cumberbatch in your day, week, life? Same here. On Thursday (and Friday), the National Theater in London will air the 2011 performance of “Frankenstein,” directed by Danny Boyle and starring Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller, who alternate roles as Victor Frankenstein and the creature. (On Thursday, the creature is Cumberbatch; on Friday, it’s Miller.) In his review for The New York Times, Ben Brantley said the show was packed with “arresting visual imagery,” and wrote: “I can’t think of a more wrenching stage portrait of the terror and wonder of being born.”When: 2 p.m.Where: The National Theater’s YouTube channel.A Daylong Conversation With Ava DuVernay and Dozens of DirectorsNoon on TwitterThe Oscar-nominated director Ava DuVernay is hosting a Twitter takeover via her arts collective, Array. For more than 10 hours, over 50 filmmakers who represent multiple genres and perspectives — including Guillermo del Toro (“The Shape of Water”), Patty Jenkins (“Wonder Woman”), Jon M. Chu (“Crazy Rich Asians”), Jill Soloway (“Afternoon Delight”) and Matthew A. Cherry (“Hair Love”) — will convene to share information about their craft and latest projects, take questions from film lovers and encourage people to stay home for public safety. The event is Array’s fourth since 2015, and the conversation will use the hashtag #ARRAYNow.When: Noon to 10 p.m.Where: Twitter, using the hashtag #ARRAYNow.Remembering Amy Winehouse5 p.m. on InstagramThe Grammy Museum in Los Angeles will host an Instagram Live event to mark the 13th anniversary of the release of Amy Winehouse’s platinum single “Back to Black.” The hourlong event will focus on Winehouse’s impact on music and fashion, and feature those who worked with her and were influenced by her — including the pop-R&B artist JoJo and Winehouse’s stylist Naomi Parry. On Friday, the museum’s exhibition “Beyond Black — The Style Of Amy Winehouse” will go live on the Museum’s website. The virtual exhibition is a retrospective of Winehouse’s career, biggest influences and iconic fashion moments. It includes displays of some of her outfits, as well as never-before-seen handwritten lyrics and journal entries.When: 5 p.m.Where: The Grammy Museum’s Instagram page.‘Ode’ Makes Its Streaming Debut7 p.m. on YouTubeThursday is International Jazz Day, and to honor it Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will, for the first time, stream its performance of “Ode,” from Jamar Roberts, the company’s first resident choreographer. The work, about gun violence — which is set to music by the jazz pianist Don Pullen — was a New York Times critic’s pick in December. In his review, Brian Seibert called the performance “delicate, daring and heartbreaking” and said Mr. Roberts is a “choreographer with talent and guts.”When: 7 p.m., and it will be available through May 7.Where: The Alvin Ailey All Access website and the Alvin Ailey YouTube channel. Those who go to the website will get access to companion materials, including a conversation with Mr. Roberts.Peter Libbey contributed research More

Rishi Kapoor, a widely popular film actor from one of Bollywood’s most celebrated families, died on Thursday in Mumbai. He was 67.The family confirmed his death in a statement. Mr. Kapoor had been diagnosed with leukemia in 2018 and was admitted to a hospital in Mumbai on Wednesday, but the statement did not list a cause of death.The news rocked India just a day after another Bollywood hero, the veteran character actor Irrfan Khan, died.Mr. Kapoor was best known as a romantic hero, with a charm and charisma that quickly made him one of Bollywood’s leading men of the 70s and 80s. Later, he began taking on more supporting roles and notable character parts.Tributes from across the industry and country poured in on social media. Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted that Kapoor was “multifaceted, endearing and lively,” and that he was “anguished” by the death. In a tweet, Priyanka Chopra Jonas said, “My heart is so heavy. This is the end of an era.” The director and producer Karan Johar, who directed Mr. Kapoor in “Student of the Year,” wrote a tribute on Instagram, saying the death left “an irreplaceable void.”Mr. Kapoor came from a long line of Bollywood actors. His grandfather, Prithviraj Kapoor, was a pioneer of the industry. His father, Raj Kapoor, was one of the most influential actors and directors in Hindi cinema.Mr. Kapoor first appeared onscreen in his father’s films, “Shree 420” in 1955 as a child actor, and “Mera Naam Joker” in 1970. He won the Filmfare Award for Best Debut for his first leading role, in “Bobby” in 1973.He went on to star in nearly 100 films in his career, and received a Filmfare Lifetime Achievement award in 2008. At the time of his death, he was shooting the film “Sharmaji Namkeen.”His family’s statement requested that his fans honor the coronavirus lockdown and avoid gathering to honor him.“In this hour of personal loss, we also recognize the world is going through a very difficult and troubled time,” they said. “We would like to request all his fans and well-wishers and friends of the family to please respect the laws that are in force. He would not have it any other way.”Rishi Raj Kapoor was born in Mumbai on Sept. 4, 1952, the second son of Raj Kapoor and Krishna Raj Kapoor. His brothers, Randhir and Rajiv, and uncles, Shammi Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor, Prem Nath and Prem Chopra, were all well-known actors.Mr. Kapoor married his frequent co-star, Neetu Singh, in 1980.Mr. Kapoor is survived by Ms. Singh; his son, Ranbir, who is also an actor; his daughter, Riddhima Kapoor Sahni; and one granddaughter. More

Milena Jelinek spent her youth in Czechoslovakia learning to write under the tutelage of novelists like Milan Kundera and protesting Communism with friends like Vaclav Havel.She was thrown out of film school in Prague for a movie she wrote called “An Easy Life,” which was deemed subversive. After fleeing to New York, she became a tough-love screenwriting professor at Columbia University, where she was known to warn that becoming a writer makes you fat and a drunk.That mix of piercing critique, zestful living and an unflinching dedication to story defined Professor Jelinek’s life. She died of complications of the novel coronavirus on April 15 in Manhattan, her son, William Jelinek, said. She was 84.As a screenwriter, Professor Jelinek was best known for “Forgotten Light,” directed by Vladimir Michalek and released in 1996. The story of a young Roman Catholic priest’s effort to save his church from being closed during the Communist era and his love for a dying parishioner, “Forgotten Light” is regarded as one of the greatest Czech movies of the last three decades.Professor Jelinek influenced generations of students from all over the world with what a colleague at Columbia’s School of the Arts described as “a European combination of old-world elegance and postwar wariness.”Hope Dickson Leach, a screenwriter, director and former student, said Professor Jelinek had never talked down to anyone and had always sought to help students find their own voice. On the first day of class, the professor sought to allay the students’ insecurities by telling them to think of themselves as writers, not students.“She made it clear that the only qualification for being a writer was that you decided you were one, and you wrote,” Ms. Dickson Leach said.Professor Jelinek’s own path was one of Cold War twists and turns. The daughter of a sawmill owner, Milena Tobolova was born on Aug. 19, 1935, in Prestice, a small town about 70 miles southwest of Prague. She initially studied languages but transferred in 1955 to the Film and Television Academy (FAMU), where Mr. Kundera taught world literature.She first rose to prominence with the script for “An Easy Life,” whose depiction of a rock ’n’ roll-fueled student life, deemed decadent by the authorities, led to her expulsion from the film school. At its premiere in 1957, the director Milos Forman introduced her to a childhood friend, Frederick Jelinek, a pioneering computer engineer who would spend the next three years trying to get her out of Prague.When he succeeded in 1961, they married, started a family and settled in Ithaca, N.Y., where Professor Jelinek made three short, absurdist films about trapped housewives while her husband taught at Cornell University.They later landed in New York City at a moment when Mr. Forman and another Czech émigré, Frank Daniel, were building the graduate film program at Columbia. She joined its faculty in the 1980s, teaching writing and script analysis and guiding students to find the triumphs and flaws in everything from “Toy Story” to “North by Northwest” and “Tootsie.”Her son said she had usually started out every semester despairing about her students’ lack of talent, then came around to think they were all terrific — well, with the exception of one or two.He said his mother could always see the bleak and the beautiful. “Buck up,” she used to tell her grandchildren. “Tomorrow is never promised.” More