Like every red-blooded female within the ages of 18 - 100, I spent the last couple of weeks in June watching and re-watching the Netflix movie #365dni (365 Days).
Firstly, I watched it to satisfy my curiosity. Yes, my curiosity. There were some rumblings and gifs flying around my IG discover page so I thought, why not, we in quarantine anyway. Fell asleep during the first watch and couldn't make it through the entire movie that night.
Days later, I browsed through it again, carefully re-watching certain scenes to try to fill in some blanks that I had missed during the first viewing but the several memes and gifs online had highlighted quite so elaborately. Internet just does not miss a beat, I can tell you that, every plot hole, catchphrase, d*ck slip had been analyzed and TikToked to bits. While they analyze rather scrupulously and create screenshots, some of us fall asleep and miss some essential aspects of a plot (if you can call it that). I don't care, it's not like I'll be quizzed on this later.
Then, I watched it a 3rd time in its entirety as much as I could in one sitting without interruption. This was to reconcile all the material - think pieces, op-eds - I had read since my last watch with the actual viewing of the movie. In between the 2nd and 3rd viewing I did a lot of reading up on it. I just needed to know, what was this relative nonsensical movie and why was it taking over our conversation?
I use the term "nonsense" loosely because if you haven't seen the movie, at least know this, the plot is just derogatory, for lack of a better word. Granted we were not expecting Merchant Ivory or one of those classic subtitled European movies that sweeps the Oscars but still. 365 Days is a campy cheeky totally misogynistic take on love and sexual violence, that casts men as Alpha males set to arouse and win over submissive females. It's an European more daring version of Fifty Shades of Grey. If you've ever watched European movies you'll know that they do not shy from nudity and sex and are very open and expressive about it. So the entire boat scene, the spitting and ball shots did not faze me one bit, if anything I was rather underwhelmed. Have you ever seen Blue is the Warmest Color? I have...and that sh*t was intense. However this was a version of erotica that was a bit subversive in regards to consent. It represented women poorly and was a bit embarrassing as a woman yet delightful to watch - at least several times. Kept wondering at which point did Laura (our heroine) go from "No, how dreadful I've been kidnapped," to naked showers with her kidnapper while ogling his genitals. Makes women seem so easy, so flaky.
With the deserved critique thrown at it, #365dni was still taking over our conversation and had soon become the topic of several blogs, Youtube reaction videos and dedicated fan pages, with some folks screaming for a sequel ASAP while others were politely petitioning Netflix to kindly take down this nonsense from their lineup. I was on the side of the former - and I will explain that later.
I read up on how this story came to be. Whose warped idea was this? Written by a young Polish lady who was inspired by yep, you guessed it, 50 Shades of Grey. Maybe her twisted formulaic version. Actually a trilogy that was auctioned off to be turned into movies and this was just the first installment. How lucky were we that some more of this nonsense was to come our way soon enough?
Then the most interesting part of the movie. The Actors.
Well, in particular, the lead actor - Michele Morrone. No offense to the female lead - Anna-Marie Sieklucka who put in her share of work and was just stunning. However, this Italian god...was there a casting call for this role? He took the world by storm with this one performance. So many brooding looks, gratuitous nudity, half-baked acting, broken English in parts, chiseled bone structure and a neck grabbing here and there, and me and all the other women were hooked. Where has this Italian god been? Totally deserving of the role. This movie took him from sheer obscurity to total stardom. He literally has people booking tickets to Italy once Corona is over in hopes they'll meet many like him.
Browsed his IG page during my evening walk and scrolled down to his very first post about 5 years ago and worked my way up. Noticed that he kept at it. Then he had few followers and likes, most of them were his friends, fellow actors, few fans, but he didn't relent in his posts. He remained consistent. He would post a thirst trap here and there, every couple of days just to keep his (at the time non-existent) fan base updated. Pretty sure in those days no one remembered him. They must have thought this actor's dream was far-fetched but they supported him all the same. Nevertheless, he stayed the course. Stayed consistent. Sometimes that's the key.
Also noticed the humility in his tone when he announced the release of the project and he thanked, quite so humbly, the people he worked with for the opportunity. He must have been excited hoping everyone will see and like it. Then, of course, we did and all lost our shit, so to speak. It's always good to observe people when they're at that "stay humble, stay hungry" phase before stardom dismantles their sensibilities. He made me a fan and I will be watching this spot intently. Hope Hollywood comes a-knocking.
Needless to say, I am strongly on the side of leaving 365dni on Netflix. I actually had a conniption one night before viewing No. 3 when I noticed that it was no longer on my list. I am glad it came along because life was getting a bit heavy. COVID19 on one hand ravaging the global economy, job losses, lockdown, resultant cabin fever, Black Lives Matter marches and protests and looting, police brutality continuing even in the midst of the protests, televised funerals for Corona and police brutality victims, racist statues coming down, radical changes being effected in companies to reflect much-needed diversity, so much heaviness, life was/is weighted.
Leaning on this nonsense movie with the 2 gorgeous looking leads enjoying themselves on film represents a little lightness, distraction and I have to say, I am so here for that. I wish it had been released before my birthday would have been delightful viewing for my lockdown birthday tucked in with cake and wine, I can tell you that.
Can you imagine being on the marketing team at Netflix that suggested that the world needed something light and fluffy to refresh from all the extremities it was going through. Some may have said No, opting for more informative content. But it took one Yes. Sometimes that's all you need. I am glad for that Yes.
We need a little nonsense every once in awhile.
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