Christmas, Again Film Review – This Laidback Tale of a Forlorn Christmas Tree Seller Has Genuine Charm
The constitutes a New York drama so laidback that it required a decade to reach the UK’s cinema screens. Initially unveiled in the US in 2015, it’s an ultra-low-budget debut 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; 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 Jaded Seller in 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, standing outside in the freezing cold and resting in a not-much-warmer caravan stationed beside the trees. Several patrons inquire after the girl working with him last year. But this year Noel works solo, heartbroken and working the night shift.
There’s an observational quality to many of the scenes, with customers posing idle and peculiar questions. A customer wants the same Christmas tree as the Obamas (the story is set in 2014). Noel looks frozen to the bone in body and spirit; he’s exhausted and disenchanted, though Audley’s subtle performance makes it clear that he wasn’t always like this.
Quiet Encounters and Glimmers of Connection
Frankly, the plot is minimal. Noel comes to the aid of a woman, Lydia (Hannah Gross), who has collapsed drunk on a bench. She pops up again later in truly poignant scenes as Noel drives around 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 a shame – it is unmatched for authenticity and fluidity, and it’s shot on beautifully grainy 16mm film.
The film of understated appeal and real atmosphere, portraying the loneliness and fleeting warmth of the season.
Christmas, Again opens in UK cinemas from 12 December.
