The Film Christmas, Again Review – This Relaxed Tale of a Forlorn Christmas Tree Seller Boasts Genuine Charm
The constitutes a New York drama with such a relaxed pace that it required a decade to reach the UK’s cinema screens. Initially unveiled in the US in 2015, it’s a micro-budget first feature from first-time director Charles Poekel, set almost entirely on a 24-hour pop-up Christmas tree stall. Poekel’s style is far too authentic-indie and unaffected to get slushy or sentimental about Christmas; in his view Christmas tree lights blink like police lights. But in its own low-key way, he positions the movie just right for a little squeeze of festive warmth.
The Jaded Seller Amid the Brooklyn Cold
Kentucker Audley portrays Noel (someone had in the film to joke about his name before I twigged). Noel is back for his fifth year peddling Christmas trees in Brooklyn, working outdoors in the freezing cold and resting in a barely 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 on 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 (this is 2014). Noel looks numb with cold physically and emotionally; he’s exhausted and disenchanted, though Audley’s understated acting makes it clear that he wasn’t always like this.
Quiet Encounters and Glimmers of Connection
Frankly, not much happens. Noel rescues a woman, Lydia (Hannah Gross), who has collapsed drunk on a bench. She pops up again later in some genuinely moving scenes as Noel drives around New York, making tree deliveries – and these sequences could ignite a small glimmer of good cheer even in the most cynical viewer. Poekel hasn’t made a feature since this, which is regrettable – it is unmatched for authenticity and fluidity, and it’s filmed on gorgeously textured 16mm film.
The picture of quiet appeal and real atmosphere, portraying the loneliness and brief warmth of the holidays.
Christmas, Again opens in UK cinemas from 12 December.
