'Fremont' Is An Engrossing Character Study With A Familiar Ending
There's a heart in Fremont, but it's nothing groundbreaking or hypnotic. It's perfectly fine for what it is, a story about love and hope, but not much of it feels entirely earned. It's a story that's rushed in its final act, which works to varying degrees but seems out of character for its protagonist, who has trouble trusting people. For all it's worth, Freemont can't free itself from its familiarity, but that's not entirely a criticism, as the film has some cleverness. It's the same thing I found in To Leslie, where a story that seems like a never-ending pit of cinematic despair ends on a hopeful note that feels a bit too convenient for the film's overall narrative.
The story of Fremont follows the path of Donya (Anaita Wali Zada), an Afghan immigrant who resides in a motel in Fremont, California. Her path to citizenship isn't detailed in the narrative but left to the imagination. It's merely explained by Donya's dialogue with her psychiatrist, Dr. Anthony (Gregg Turkington). Donya is employed at a fortune cookie factory working for a Chinese restaurant. To spell people's fortunes on a piece of paper, the factory Donya works in feels far from a fortunate place to make money at. It's an interesting choice for a place to work. So many of us open fortune cookies every day. Yet none of us think about the people who write up those messages or how they get delivered in their cookies. We only see the end product.
Most of us would imagine the fortune's meanings are written in some large office on the top floor being delivered to the ground level of a glamorous building located in a large metropolitan area. We never see what the building Donya works in looks like. Instead, it's only communicated that she works in San Fransisco when driving from her Fremont motel. It's a long drive between locations, but Donya does it to break from the mundanity of Fremont.
Everyday life is a daily chore for Donya. The camera never moves, nor does its characters. Everyone's stuck in an environment of sameness. Only the slightest hints of change are highlighted in the film. The movie has a striking amount of minimalism that works to its advantage. Fremont has a delicate sensibility to it. The score is played through only a trumpet. Most of the picture has no music at all.
The cinematography is like something from a Yasujirô Ozu film. The framing is simple. The camera never moves, staying static to fit its protagonist's mindset. There are no standard over-the-shoulder shots. Almost everything is filmed from a straight angle, making us interpret what Donya is feeling by trying to read her face. There's not a lot of coverage, either. The movie picks each of its shots very specifically and sticks with them to convey what Donya feels at any moment.
In one instance, when Donya is in Dr. Anthony's office, the camera gives Donya a large amount of headroom, and the wall behind her shows all the degrees Dr. Anthony contains. To the viewer, the accolades present an amount of judgment from the doctor, as if Dr. Anthony can determine what's wrong with a patient without being personally in their situation to truly identify with them. However, we find out that's not the case, as Dr. Anthony cares very much for his patients but is so socially awkward he can be off-putting initially.
Donya was once a translator for the United States government. Why she left the job or works at a fortune cookie factory isn't revealed. Donya doesn't talk about her feelings much, although everyone around her wants her to open up, whether it be her co-worker, boss, or psychiatrist. Donya isn't interested in spilling her guts out, and why should she be?
Donya may have experienced PTSD as a translator for the US military, even if she says she has not. There's a clear element of suppression that Donya must let go of. Unfortunately, everyone wants to get in her head, while Donya wants to be left alone. At least, that's what the movie seems to be conveying until it reaches its third act, which is uncharacteristically sudden for its protagonist.
Donya finds hope. How she finds it feels like it works more to the benefit of finishing a script with a happy ending rather than developing something that seems believable to its main character. However, it's not entirely a critique, as it's nice to see such a dry film end with an inkling of hope. Fremont is not searing, nor is it forgettable. It rests somewhere in between cinematic artistry and familiar Indie film conventions. There's enough heart in Fremont to warrant it a watch in your local arthouse cinema. If you're in the Chicagoland area, you can catch Fremont at the Music Box Theater on Friday, September 8th.
