bitdepth

Melancholia

Melancholia1

Melancholia is quite simply a film about depression that blends a person dealing with depression that expands out to the actual destruction of the Earth by another planet. Neatly divided into three parts with a super slow motion collection of set pieces at the beginning followed by two named parts (Justine and Claire), it dives deep into the end of the world as it puts the characters through stresses that reveal who they really are. It’s beautifully shot and well-acted and I saw it twice in the theatre and thoroughly enjoyed it both times.

I was hesitant in seeing it since I’ve found Lars Von Trier to be provocative to the point of distraction which also happened with this film, but the content and reaction to the film made me want to see it and I’m glad that I did. Europa was the first film by him that I saw and it was a great art-house experience for me and this seemed to be in a similar vein. His documentary The Five Obstructions is also one of my favourite films about the filmmaking process, so maybe it wouldn’t be as frustrating as the last Von Trier film I saw, which was Manderlay.

Visually Melancholia is quite stunning with seamless special effects. After seeing it I thought of how it touched on similar themes as The Tree of Life, but with a much darker view of the universe. A version of Malick’s film made by an atheist. While there is the overwhelming nature of the end of the world approaching (it’s not a spoiler since you see the end in the first 10 minutes of the film) what is fascinating is watching the characters deal with impending disaster. The first part of the film is the wedding of Justine which is a family disaster that sets the stage for the dynamics of the relationships between the key characters. After that disaster comes the second section which removes all the supporting characters from the mansion as the sky fills with the planet Melancholia.

The wedding of Justine (Kirsten Dunst) is carefully organized by Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg), but Justine is late and constantly subverts the precisely-timed events that make up the reception. We know that this is not going to end well and the transition between Justine’s part of the film and Claire’s occurs when Justine’s depression becomes incapacitating. Claire has to take care of her sister and things only get better when it starts to become clear that the world is going to end, which seems to comfort Claire as she embraces the approaching destruction while Justine finds it more and more difficult to deal with.

There are all sorts of metaphorical levels and details with allusions to other films and filmmakers, but it keeps the focus on the characters who provide a nice counterpoint to the much larger events happening outside of their control. The little visual nods to other films are touches that add texture to a film that inverts the disaster movie by staying with the people instead of the events. It’s bold and ambitious and it worked well for me and seeing it on a large screen was great in seeing the smallest concerns combined with the existence of all life on Earth. This is the type of film that makes me love going to the theatre.

December 11, 2011 film, melancholia, review

The Tree of Life

Terrence Malick makes unique and beautiful films with deliberate rhythms and a tantalizing (or some would say frustrating) ambiguity. With The Tree of Life he constructs a film that is both epic and intimate, almost an inverted version of Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey that is built around emotional moments that occasionally expand to form an entire universe. It’s ambitious, but also casual and funny. I’ve seen it twice and enjoyed it both times as it made me think and connected to me on several levels.

Just as the world that surrounds us is open to opinion, in the discussions I’ve read about the film and had with people, there is a wonderful diversity of interpretations. Overall it’s fairly simple, but the ways that everything connects and the small details are lovely. A discussion is like remembering things that have happened to you. Small clues or gestures that you have forgotten can change the way you see things. There is very little dialogue in the film (most of it is in the trailer), but there is a startling economy to the construction of the film, almost as if it were maple syrup boiled and distilled down to the sweetness.

While there is narration, it’s sparse and it provides an occasional nudge in one interpretative direction or another. Very few characters even have names, but it doesn’t really matter as we easily can figure out who they are. The film is incredibly beautiful and is shot fluidly with mainly natural light. The moments are perfect and combined with the editing, sound design and music it’s breathtaking at times. But this is a bit like talking about an amazing meal. It’s the experience and not just the ingredients that make it special. It’s social and nourishing and personal. How can you review that?

Malick directs his actors (both experienced and new) in a way that feels like a documentary. Much of what happens is internal. Maybe they are thinking something and maybe they aren’t. But we fill in the gaps and the emotions that they may have difficulty in expressing. Brad Pitt is great as the strict father who is filled with regret as he tries to figure out the world of nature and men. Jessica Chastain is angelic as the mother who provides joy and the way of grace and wonder. Hunter McCracken plays Jack as a boy (Sean Penn is the man) and most of the film consists of memories of his childhood and the relationship with one of his brothers and his parents.

Plot-wise there is a traumatic event that happens off camera in the first few minutes. It’s never fully explained, but it echoes throughout the entire film. The economy of storytelling is amazing and it provides an emotional punch to kick things off before a slight digression to witness the creation of the universe and the emergence of life. It sounds ambitious and it is, but it somehow remains remarkably human and personal with enough spaces to allow for reflection and connections with our own lives. It may not be for everyone, but it was one of the best films I’ve seen in the past decade. I may even see it again in the theatre.

July 14, 2011 film, review, tree of life

Source Code

The essential element in cinema is the reorganization of time and space. In the hands of a skilled filmmaker it makes you look at the world differently. In Moon Duncan Jones took a simple concept and made a film with a depth and heart that transcended the idea. At the core of both Moon and Source Code are explorations of identity and choice. Moon was one of my favourite films of the year when it was released. With a low budget, economical style of shooting and a great performance from Sam Rockwell it was a solid 70s style science fiction film. Now with a bigger budget and a larger cast Duncan Jones is back with Source Code which has a similar feeling.

Apparently the screenplay for the film was around for a while as one of the hottest unproduced screenplays of 2007. On paper it’s a challenging concept and it could have been kind of a silly film with explosions and cardboard characters. Duncan Jones gets great performances from Jake Gyllenhall and Michelle Monaghan as well as the always reliable Vera Farmiga and Jeffrey Wright. While the trailer lays out the whole concept of the film, the way that it’s revealed is much more interesting. The location is established (a Chicago commuter train) and the characters. Then, after 8 minutes comes the first twist and the template is established. Kind of like variations on a theme.

The title assigned to the military operation – Beleaguered Castle- is far more compelling and intriguing than the title of the film. The name is a variation of Solitaire with 8 rows of cards. These little geeky touches are scattered throughout the film and are fun without being distracting. While the name Beleaguered Castle sounds plausible (a logical name for a military operation) it is also quite evocative, which encapsulates the way the entire film works.

April 22, 2011 duncan jones, film, moon, review, sciencefiction, source code

In a Better World

In Susanne Bier‘s film In a Better World she examines male responsibility through the interlocking stories of two disrupted families and two young boys who become friends. With multiple stories and parallels between what is happening in a refugee camp in Africa and a small Danish town, it’s a complex and moving story that never takes the easy way out. It’s rare to see a film about interesting characters and moral choices that is told in a naturalistic way with an intimate style of shooting.

Bier excels with slightly unusual personal melodramas with her previous films Brothers (remade in an American version), and After the Wedding (one of my favourite films of 2006) she told complex stories about interesting characters in different parts of the world. She made an impressive leap to Hollywood with the underrated and beautiful Things We Lost in the Fire (featuring Halle Barry and Benicio del Toro). After seeing her previous films I was keen to see her latest effort.

With In a Better World, there is no easy way out as all of the characters try to figure out the right thing to do in the face of violence and bullying. The consequences of actions are followed and we see that things aren’t as simple as they are presented in films. While the film has a deliberate pace, it builds as the events escalate and the stakes become higher and higher. It’s a compelling drama with great performances and it will hopefully receive a wider release.

December 31, 2010 2010, film, in a better world, review

Never Let Me Go

While I haven’t read the novel, the film adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go by Mark Romanek is a melancholy and beautiful science fiction film that doesn’t focus on the technology, but the people.

Set in an alternate history world with an unpleasant secret, it follows three people as they grow up in that world and learn about who they really are. The casting is perfect with younger actors recognizable as the people they will grow into and the standout performances of the three leads, Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, and Keira Knightly make it a haunting film that has stayed with me. At the core of the film is a naivety as the children are raised in a sheltered and controlled environment that they do not question. They want to know who they are and we are given the same information that they are, so when the revelations come, they were powerful and surprising for me as well. Wrapped up with this is a love triangle that cleverly informs the other parts of the film. It’s gorgeously shot and the film seemed to move by quite quickly but lingered well after the credits rolled.

December 31, 2010 2010, film, never let me go, review

Mother

Mother One of the most interesting and surprising films that I saw in the past year was Bong Joon-ho‘s Mother, which is a unique thriller that constantly confounds expectations. Just like his previous film, The Host, it works within a genre and subverts it by moving outside of the parameters of it. The twists and turns of the film are delightful and it becomes an emotional roller coaster that turns us around so many times that I was surprised how my feelings about the characters changed. But the characters are at the centre of the film and Kim Hye-ja gives a nuanced performance as a mother who will do anything to protect her son and find out the truth.

The basic premise of the film is that a mentally-challenged young man is charged with murdering a young woman by incompetent police who want to quickly close the case. His mother wants to solve the mystery and starts to investigate. Several times I started to settle down for a solid thriller, but the film would shift tones and deliver a critical piece of information that would make you rethink everything you’ve seen before. The film had me from the first sequence which features Kim Hye-ja walking across a field towards the camera and dancing.

December 30, 2010 2010, film, mother, review

1 / 23