Christmas, Again Review – This Laidback Tale of a Forlorn Christmas Tree Seller Boasts Genuine Charm
The is 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 an ultra-low-budget debut from first-time director Charles Poekel, set almost entirely on a 24-hour pop-up Christmas tree stall. Poekel’s style remains decidedly authentic-indie and unaffected to get slushy or sentimental about Christmas; in his view Christmas tree lights flash 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 in the Brooklyn Cold
Kentucker Audley stars as Noel (someone had in the film to comment on his name for the connection to be made). Noel is back for his fifth year selling Christmas trees in Brooklyn, working outdoors in the freezing cold and resting in a not-much-warmer caravan parked next to the trees. A few customers ask about the girl assisting him last year. But this year Noel works solo, heartbroken and working the night shift.
There’s an observational quality to a lot of the scenes, with customers posing pointless random questions. A customer wants the same Christmas tree as the Obamas (the story is set in 2014). Noel looks numb with cold in body and spirit; 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, the plot is minimal. Noel rescues a woman, Lydia (Hannah Gross), who has passed out drunk on a bench. She reappears 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 in the grinchiest of hearts. Poekel hasn’t made a feature since this, which is regrettable – it is unmatched for authenticity and fluidity, and it’s shot on gorgeously textured 16mm film.
The picture of understated appeal and real atmosphere, capturing the solitude and fleeting warmth of the season.
Christmas, Again opens in UK cinemas from 12 December.
