In this week\u2019s low-profile VOD releases, an Azerbaijani mother and a 1960s counterculture scenester take on the patriarchy, a survivalist and a yoga live-streamer face unknown threats, and a couple of doofuses encounter aliens in the desert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Catching Fire: The Story of Anita Pallenberg<\/em><\/strong> (VOD and select theaters May 3):<\/strong> If directors Alexis Bloom and Svetlana Zill intended this documentary to highlight the talents of model and actress Anita Pallenberg beyond her association with famous men, then they didn\u2019t quite achieve their goal, since the bulk of the nearly two-hour running time is devoted to Pallenberg\u2019s relationship with Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards. That leaves only about 10 minutes to cover the final 30-plus years of Pallenberg\u2019s life, but despite that lopsided focus, Catching Fire<\/em> is an often fascinating look at an unsung figure in 1960s counterculture, who participated in Andy Warhol\u2019s Factory, appeared in films by Volker Schl\u00f6ndorff and Nicolas Roeg, and sang backing vocals on \u201cSympathy for the Devil.\u201d Pallenberg died in 2017, but the filmmakers get her perspective via an unpublished memoir narrated by Scarlett Johansson, along with interviews with Richards and their children. The standard approach of talking heads and archival footage doesn\u2019t reflect Pallenberg\u2019s unique, chaotic personality, but it\u2019s a solid introduction to a woman who was too often undervalued and overshadowed. Grade: B<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Banu<\/em><\/strong> (Film Movement Plus May 3):<\/strong> The parallels between the efforts of the title character (writer-director Tahmina Rafaella) to secure custody of her son and the culmination of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War may not be clear to viewers who are unfamiliar with the political history of Azerbaijan, but the interpersonal drama is compelling enough even without that added context. Rafaella\u2019s film recalls the works of Asghar Farhadi and the Dardenne brothers in its naturalistic story about Banu\u2019s seemingly impossible quest to find someone to testify to her fitness as a mother, in divorce proceedings against her wealthy, abusive husband. The repeated rejections are heartbreaking but eventually become monotonous, and the outcome is a little too neat after all the anguish that Banu goes through. There are constant background news reports about Azerbaijan\u2019s imminent military victory over Armenia, which add to the sense of unease but may also muddle the urgent central narrative. Banu\u2019s determination in the face of monolithic patriarchal resistance is all Rafaella needs to hold the audience\u2019s attention. Grade: B<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n