Look Through The Window
November 25, 2015
Room (2015).
D: Lenny Abrahamson. DP: Danny Cohen. W: Emma Donoghue. Starring: Brie Larson/Jacob Tremblay/Joan Allen/William H. Macy/Tom McCamus/Sean Bridgers. (NOTE: based on Donoghue’s book of the same name)
This year’s Oscar race will be a dense one in the best actress category. Between Saoirse Ronan’s performance in Brooklyn, Cate Blanchett’s performance in Carol, and this performance from Brie Larson it will be a competitive year. This is frankly, exciting! With television becoming the hot place for pithy and complex female roles it is great to see cinema stepping up again. Of course, all the leads are white actresses, but the racial imbalances of Hollywood deserves its own post (or you can simply look at The Hollywood Reporter‘s recent ridiculous justifications for this).
Room is based on Emma Donoghue’s novel with her also penning the screenplay. The novel is told from the perspective of five year old Jack, played in the film by Jacob Tremblay, as he lives in a singular room with his Ma (Larson). Naming all the things around him, he’s nurtured to believe this trap is all that exists. After his birthday Ma decides Jack is old enough to be told about the outside that lies beyond Room and the basic details of her kidnapping by Old Nick (Sean Bridgers). This leads to Ma and Jack’s escape plan for getting out of Room.
Donoghue’s script partially replicates this point of view as Jack provides voice-over, lending the audience to understand his wonder at the world and ignorance of it. As he climbs into the wardrobe to sleep and hide from Old Nick during his visits you feel the breath of the novel in the film. The snips and changes to the story work and the second chapter of the pair’s new life allows for great exploration of Ma’s mental state and family chemistry. Larson is given more to work with than the novel, which helps balance her adult trauma with her son’s.
Larson has been steadily working since she played Toni Collette’s daughter on the Showtime series United States of Tara created by Diablo Cody. Her starring role in the indie hit Short Term 12 was memorable and she’s been popping up in supporting roles in films like Trainwreck, Don Jon, and The Spectacular Now. Here she can truly shine handling Ma’s frustrations with her seclusion and repeated violations while also creating a safe space for Jack. Her generic looks allow Ma to remind you of any girl at university you might have known. Larson is all things at once, but with the pure subtly that allows the devastating circumstances of the story to ring true. She is well supported by Joan Allen who does a heart wrenching turn as Ma’s own mother.
I cannot rave enough about Tremblay as Jack who captures your attention from start to finish. He performs little and lives it all. A tracking shot over a truck as he attempts his escape will have you barely breathing for minutes. The camera aligns itself with Jack, not showing things his Ma shields him from. This works to build palpable tension and menace that director Lenny Abrahamson skilfully paces. Known for Frank and What Richard Did, he and cinematographer Danny Cohen build a sense of space and intimacy without merely using intense close-ups on their actors. Their atmosphere allows pain to live no matter the space it is confined to. The film is not trauma as spectacle, but rather as experience of character. Credit must also be give to Stephen Rennicks for the score, its placement lacks sentimentality only amplifying not indulging the emotional register of scenes.
Room has been on the festival circuit and will only reach UK cinemas at the end of January, but releases today in the US. A sure contender this award season it is simply a beautifully made film that joins the ranks of recent superb film adaptations. Hopefully the success of these lower budget films continues and we will see more films like this and less of the typical three act studio trauma sprawls of late.
Final Embers
November 22, 2015
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 (2015).
D: Francis Lawrence. DP: Jo Willems. W: Peter Craig & Danny Strong. Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Julianne Moore, Donald Sutherland, Woody Harrelson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Sam Claflin, Natalie Dormer, Elizabeth Banks, Willow Shields, Jena Malone, Jeffrey Wright, Stanley Tucci, Mahershala Ali, Michelle Forbes. (NOTE: Based on Suzanne Collins’ novel)
Another YA fiction adaptation comes to a close begging the question, what will be the next series? The Divergent series starring Shailene Woodley has not been able to compete at the box office with Hunger Games or Harry Potter or Twilight so it’s safe to say we are still looking for what’s next. However, regardless The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 wraps up this series nicely and provides the action packed punch the final installment needed.
Part 2 picks up from the previous film that ended with the rescuing of Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) from the capitol where he had been conditioned to kill Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence). Emotionally this sets up Katniss’ additional drive to infiltrate the capitol and kill President Snow (Donald Sutherland). Although asked to wait by her superiors and remain just the symbol of the rebellion, Katniss does what she does best and sneaks out anyway. Eventually Katniss will join forces with a special skilled group and enter into the capitol which is covered in pods that make it essentially another hunger games. This stretch of the film is the best as it’s action roots are what make the series its own. Katniss must act and react to what lies ahead of her, with fabulous bow and arrow use to boot.
This final film was shot in tandem with the previous one so the creative team stayed the same between the two. Director Francis Lawrence and cinematographer Jo Willems keep up the good work from Part 1, but excel at the action sequences. The emotionality of the love triangle cannot be sustained by the series, but this is not from lack of trying by Lawrence. Her teenager is all woman now, which arguably she always was, but still does not connect convincingly with Hutcherson. Their chemistry does not build impact and at this point in the story no one should have to be convinced of their connection.
Thankfully they are surrounded by new faces and action to help move the film along as death continues to be part of these games. The ending of the film provides twists and turns but if you have read the book these lack some resonance. That could also be because Katniss’ denial of any political position makes all her decisions emotional rather than tactical. Great when read by a YA audience, but maybe not the best ending for a cinema offering. Julianne Moore still suffers through a severe wig as President Coin and Philip Seymour Hoffman’s final scenes shimmer with their own kind of sadness.
The Hunger Games world keeps expanding throughout the series, but there is still not a clear sense of space defined visually. The size of Pan Am is hard to conceive and with the repetition of game-like narratives the films themselves are cyclical and non distinctive, except for the previous one. Seeing them as a set now their explorations of trauma and death as sport is a fascinating exploration of modern warfare. Despite its YA context Hunger Games does ask its teens to think and think beyond themselves. A great feat for any teenage set content. We shall see who steps up to the plate next.
Over and Done With
November 16, 2015
Spectre (2015).
D: Sam Mendes. DP: Hoyte Van Hoytema. W: John Logan, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade & Jez Butterworth. Starring: Daniel Craig/Christoph Waltz/Léa Seydoux/Ralph Fiennes/Ben Wishaw/Naomie Harris/Andrew Scott/Monica Bellucci/Rory Kinnear/Jesper Christensen/Dave Bautista. (NOTE: Based on Ian Fleming’s characters from his James Bond series)
Oh how the mighty do fall. The newest entrance into the James Bond cannon, Spectre, is quite literally a mess. Its theme song, title sequence, premise, script, and execution are all vastly inferior to 2012’s Skyfall. If Daniel Craig felt done with his portion of this franchise you will feel done with it as well after two and a half hours of this film.
Let’s start with the opening. The first sequence is actually strong. Dropped into the middle of Mexican festivities for the Day of the Dead our Bond (Craig) is already hot on the pursuit, no introductions needed. Yet this opening gives way to a scatterbrained title sequence that lacks any coherent theme or look even. The best visuals are of women made out of wispy smoke, but this is reminiscent of the sand and smoke of the title sequence of Quantum of Solace so not entirely new. Sam Smith’s song ‘Writing on the Wall’ is sadly made worse by the visual confusion of the credit sequence. The octopus imagery, which anyone would already be aware of from the trailer, is just too simple and by the end of the film lacks any significance. For a franchise whose theme songs and title sequence are legendary this is a major misstep.
Next we are subjected to rogue Bond on the run who quickly and superfluously seduces Monica Bellucci to gain minimal intelligence. Bond quickly learns that there are bigger forces at work that perhaps have been puppeteering his life recently. This is the first of many times the writers blatantly remind you of Craig’s bond films as a set and the time line of his character. Christoph Waltz’s villain lacks any originality as he merely serves this purpose of stringing all the films together. In other words, ‘hehe, it was me the whole time!’ Sadly Waltz becomes a caricature in this world. Some great hand to hand combat happens, but none of the action really comes from the villain. The final action act is a video game conclusion, save the princess and get out of the building in time. What a bore.
Bond is still supported by an excellently serious Ralph Fiennes as M and Naomie Harris as Money Penny. Ben Whishaw’s Q finally gets his do and breaks to the surface of the spyage with his gadgets and gizmos galore. Andrew Scott’s C is quite literally a less complex Moriarty, his character from the BBC Sherlock series. Type-casting if it ever needed a definition. Even gorgeous and brainy Madeleine Swann (Seydoux) cannot save Spectre. A character that could have been a cryptic comment on the Bond brand of misogyny gives way to Bond romance that sprouts in a matter of days. It’s so unbelievable it appears stupid rather than old fashioned. But what is bond without women who lay down for him? Maybe this character cannot work anymore.
Spectre is uninspired and slogs on so long you feel you have watched a few different films. Mendes is not coherent on a look or a story. like he was in Skyfall . Craig phones it all in and considering his publicly vented boredom with this character you wonder if the film should have been made at all. Also there is the inevitable comparison with the recent Bond homage Kingsman which narratively addresses technology and surveillance as weapons. This is simply bad timing, but really what everyone is waiting for the announcement of who the next Bond will be as Idris Elba rumors continue to spiral. I for one would love Elba as Bond, if you don’t believe me watch the BBC’s Luther. We shall have to wait and see, but maybe we all need a break anyway?
All That Shimmers
October 26, 2015
Brooklyn (2015).
D: John Crowley. DP: Yves Bélanger. W: Nick Hornby (based on Colm Tóibín’s novel of the same name). Starring: Saoirse Ronan/Emory Cohen/Domhnall Gleeson/Julie Walters/Jim Broadbent/Fiona Glascott/Jesscia Paré.
One of my many pleasures in reading is seeking out books that are to be adapted for the screen. This has lead me to read many a novel I would otherwise never pick up or indeed challenge myself to read a 900 page Russian novel (I’m looking at you Anna Karenina). Rarely am I pleased with an adaptation to the point where I might slightly prefer the film. This is the case with Brooklyn and Nick Hornby’s adaption of Colm Tóibín’s novel, which was long-listed for the Man Booker Prize in 2009.
Brooklyn is a story of homesickness, of being of two places, two minds, and of learning who you are, no matter where you live. The film, like the novel, is structured into three acts as Eilis (Saoirse Ronan) leaves her Irish village to live and work in Brooklyn, N.Y., but return home when a family tragedy occurs. Her emigration to the States is not an act of will or dreams of a her own, but rather the wish of her elder sister Rose’s (Fiona Glascott) desire for her to have better life. As revealed in the trailers, Eilis falls in love while in Brooklyn and is presented with another romantic option when she returns to Ireland.
Nick Hornby, who most recently adapted Wild, excels here with his adaption of the novel. The story is trimmed in the right places and is able to hit all the ranges of Eilis’ physical and emotional journey across the Atlantic. There are few actual changes, with the ending being the main one as it is dialed up to deliver a proper cinematic punch that the novel did not provide. Hornby’s fluency in fiction and clear skill at knowing what works in cinema is one of the highlights of this project. Director John Crowley and Canadian cinematographer Yves Bélanger (Wild, Dallas Buyers Club) make an excellent team focusing on Ronan’s face as the axis of emotional action for the film. Costume designer Odile Dicks-Mireaux works wonders with color and clothes so the 1950s remains a setting and not an overcooked look.
This is the first Irish set film for Irish actress Ronan, known for her brilliant child performance in 2007’s Atonement and subsequent films like The Lovely Bones, The Host and The Grand Budapest Hotel. Her eyes are a translucent cerulean blue that shimmer in an open round-face, that registers even the slightest flicker of emotion. In nearly every scene of Brooklyn Ronan is the compass, and delivers the audience the shades of Eilis’ journey. Her chemistry with Emory Cohen (who plays her Italian American love Tony in Brooklyn) is fabulous. Cohen’s smile brings Tony right off the pages of the novel. Domnhall Gleeson, whose career is on a fiery trajectory, gives a restrained performance as Jim, the Irish love option back ‘home.’ Julie Walters is also brilliant as the woman who runs the boarding house Eilis’ lives in; greater humor is given to the veteran actress.
Brooklyn will surely soar through awards season, and it is rightly deserved for a film with such a low budget it could only shoot two days in Brooklyn, its main location. Released at a timely moment in the UK with emigration a hot topic here, the film is ultimately an exploration of our definitions of home. What happens when you are no longer of the place you were born, but don’t quite fit into a new place yet. Languishing in this nebulous emotional space, the film remains true to the idea that people make our lives. All I can conclude with is, go see it.
A Room of One’s Own
October 8, 2015
I have delved back into reading a large stack of adaptations that are coming our way. I started with The Martian moved onto Brooklyn and am now reading Room. Written from the perspective of a five year old living in a solidarity room with his mum, the new film has already gotten acclaim from the Toronto film festival. Starring Brie Larson, a tremendous young actress, I am eager to see how Emma Donoghue adapts her own work. The film will be released in October in the US, but won’t make it to the UK until January.
Room
Man on a Planet
October 6, 2015
The Martian (2015).
D: Ridley Scott. DP: Dariusz Wolski. W: Drew Goddard (Based on Andy Weir’s novel of the same name). Starring: Matt Damon/Jessica Chastain/Chiwetel Ejiofer/Jeff Daniels/Kristen Wiig/Kate Mara/Sebastian Stan/Michael Peña/Aksel Henne/Mackenzie Davis/Donald Glover/Sean Bean.
Ridley Scott’s newest venture has sky rocketed in the box office over the weekend. The Martian will probably put Scott back on the sci-fi map, which is a credit to its source material and its star, Matt Damon. Even at nearly forty-five, Damon’s boyish charm and Jason Bourne determination make him an enjoyable force on screen.
I skipped out on Scott’s directorial effort Exodus: Gods and Kings last year and feel confident in that decision. Yet I did make time to see 2012’s Prometheus and even 2010’s Robin Hood. For me Prometheus was a mixed bag, but the lore of the Alien franchise was not something I was deeply connected to. Here in The Martian Scott is free from any baggage and seems to have a clearer hold on the story he wants to tell.
Based on Andy Weir’s initially self-published novel, The Martian is the story of astronaut and botanist Mark Watney (Damon) who is stranded on Mars following an injury during an emergency planet evacuation with his fellow crew-members. Thought to be dead, the crew starts their return home and he wakes up to the daunting task of feeding himself until the next Mars crew arrives in four years. Back on earth NASA eventually figures out Watney is alive and how to communicate with him and the rescue mission plans begin. The novel is a science heavy survival story with loads of humor that thankfully makes it into the film.
A difficult adaptation, Drew Goddard’s script does well in trying to balance Watney’s computer diary with the real rescue plan at home. Goddard previously adapted World War Z for the screen and co-wrote with Joss Whedon the fabulous Cabin in the Woods. Goddard’s script cannot match the wit of the novel, but that is simply because we cannot have a two hour film of just Damon making jokes. The best stick around, but the conventionality or studio glossing as I see it comes in back on earth, especially in a silly coda ending. The momentum is lost with Dr. Kapoor (Chiwetel Ejiofer) and a lot of the tension between the higher ups is diluted to humor and actor Sean Bean being able to say the Lord of the Rings joke from the book. Same can be said about the Mars crew, they aren’t given a chance to shine really, acting more as a catalyst for Watney’s escape possibilities.
The Martian however overcomes this with a visual palette that reiterates why mankind is so obsessed with space travel. Mars and Watney’s gadgets are a great backdrop for Damon’s exploration into how to really survive on the planet. Ultimately that is the joy of the film and the book. To see this character really figure out all the technology and science he needs to try to make it home. The Martian will surely continue to do well and makes me hopeful that Scott’s next movie might be even better.
Where The Money Is
September 22, 2015
Just announced as the closing film of AFI Fest 2015, The Big Short is an adaptation of the Michael Lewis novel. Lewis also penned the novels of The Blind Side and Moneyball, both films which made money and received critical attention. The film stars Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, Steve Carell, and Brad Pitt among a slew of other names. Following the bank crash in the US a few years ago, the film will be released at the end of the year. Will it be a contender?
The Big Short
This is For All the Girls When They Have Grown
August 21, 2015
The Diary of a Teenage Girl (2015).
D/W: Marielle Heller. DP: Brandon Trost. Starring: Bel Powley, Alexander Skarsgard, Kristen Wiig, Christopher Meloni, Abby Wait, Madeleine Waters, Austin Lyon, Margarita Leveiva. Based on Phoebe Gloeckner’s 2002 novel The Diary of a Teenage Girl: An Account in Words and Pictures.
Another Sundance darling is making its transatlantic appearance in cinemas. The Diary of a Teenage Girl is not to be missed. Writer and director Marielle Heller first adapted Gloeckner’s novel into a stage play. A self declared labor of love, Heller handles the material deftly and presents a first feature that is nuanced, complex and hybrid, like its source material.
The film follows Minnie, played by British newcomer Bel Powley, as she handles being fifteen and losing her virginity to her mom’s boyfriend Monroe (Alexander Skarsgard). Telling her story into microphone set into a tape deck, she recounts her experiences while the film takes us forward with the events that transpire through the affair. Minnie is a budding cartoonist like Gloeckner, and the film incorporates animation and drawings like the novel. These sequences and additions work seamlessly and help visualize a story told through Minnie’s eyes.
Thankfully, The Diary of a Teenage Girl deals with its subject and illegal underage affair deftly and tenderly. Powley is able to play a spunky fifteen whose body language literally straddles the world of children and adulthood. Her voice-over avoids sugary saturation and rather fluctuates with the intensities of first sexual experiences. Skarsgard handles Monroe well, not letting the relationship sink into predator land. Rather Skarsgard, who’s best performance yet is 2012’s What Maise Knew, gives sexuality and life to a man clearly at odds with himself. He is matched well with Kristen Wiig as Minnie’s mom. More a figure and sometimes an event than an active parent, Wiig’s vain Charlotte balances the adolescent wanderings of her daughter. She seems to not have grown up yet either.
The Diary of a Teenage Girl is set in 1976 San Francisco, which provides a specific moment in American history with drugs, fashion, and more. The film has a terrific sense of place, and Jonah Markowitz’s production design is layered and alive. The use of color is fabulous; it’s hard to forget the crushed velvet mustard colored blanket on Monroe’s bed. For a first time costume director, who is Heller’s sister-in-law, Carmen Grande is on point without pastiche. The look of the film is topical, not a bad moment for its marketing.
Here in the UK, the film is rated 18 and over. A fascinating contradiction to the fact it is told by a fifteen year old. Somehow ‘strong sex,’ which is listed as the only reason for the rating, prevents teenagers from actually seeing the film; whereas violence is nearly thrown at children in films rated PG. Compared to typical teen genre films, The Diary of a Teenage Girl actually works towards communicating the complexities of any teenage experience, especially a sexual one. (I think Perks of Being a Wallflower handled this well too). Certain things are universal yes, but certain films deal with characters, not archetypes, who make mistakes like we all do–blood stains and all.