Christmas, Again Review – This Relaxed Story of a Forlorn Christmas Tree Seller Boasts Genuine Charm
This constitutes a New York drama with such a relaxed pace that it required a decade to arrive on the UK’s cinema screens. First released in the US in 2015, it’s a micro-budget first feature from debut filmmaker Charles Poekel, set almost entirely on a 24-hour pop-up Christmas tree stall. Poekel’s style is far too genuinely independent and unaffected to get slushy or sentimental about Christmas; through his lens Christmas tree lights blink like police lights. But in its own low-key way, he pitches his film perfectly for a little squeeze of festive warmth.
The Weary Seller Amid the Brooklyn Cold
Kentucker Audley portrays Noel (someone had in the film to comment on his name for the connection to be made). Noel returns for his fifth year peddling Christmas trees in Brooklyn, working outdoors in the freezing cold and sleeping in a barely warmer caravan parked next to the trees. A few customers inquire after the girl assisting him last year. But this year Noel works solo, heartbroken and working the night shift.
There’s a documentary feel to many of the scenes, with customers posing idle and peculiar questions. One woman requests 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 hadn't always been like this.
Understated Encounters and Flickers of Connection
In truth, not much happens. Noel comes to the aid of 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 spark a little flicker of good cheer in the grinchiest of hearts. Poekel has not directed a feature since this, which is regrettable – you can’t beat it for authenticity and fluidity, and it’s filmed on beautifully grainy 16mm film.
A film of quiet appeal and authentic atmosphere, portraying the solitude and fleeting warmth of the season.
Christmas, Again arrives in UK cinemas from 12 December.
