Archive for the ‘Film’ Category
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The National Parks Project
Sunday, July 3rd, 2011—FilmThe National Parks Project (Canada 2011, Documentary), Writer: Joel McConvey; Directors: Various
A few months ago, I interviewed the creators and producers of The National Parks Project—Joel McConvey, Geoff Morrison and Ryan J. Noth—for my website KickassCanadians.ca. You can read the article (please do!) for more on the project’s genesis, but in a nutshell:
Last year, on the eve of Parks Canada’s centennial, these three wunderminds sent 13 crews of filmmakers and musicians to a national park in each of Canada’s provinces and territories. The artists recorded the sights and sounds that were experienced and inspired in the natural landscape, and their footage and audio was used to create 13 short films. Together, these shorts comprise the feature documentary The National Parks Project.
While catching up with Joel and Geoff this Canada Day weekend, I picked up a DVD of the film and watched it the first chance I got. I was mesmerized throughout almost every short. What a way to celebrate the nation’s 144th birthday!
Some aspects of the documentary surprised me. I knew the shorts were largely experimental and featured mostly music, ambient sound and park footage. I was expecting ethereal shots, breathtaking scenery and transcendent instrumentals, and there was all of that in abundance.
What I wasn’t expecting was the unique artistic slants taken for several of the shorts. Many incorporated effects, titles and voice-over, often to create a somewhat linear story. Some of the shorts I wouldn’t necessarily classify as documentaries per se, but rather as experimental fiction shot in national parks. (In particular, Quand j’aurai vu les îles, shot in Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve, Quebec.) But I guess it depends on how strictly you define “documentary,” as almost every film has a story or slant, to some degree.
I won’t get into specifics on all 13 films, but suffice it to say that I very much liked almost every one, and loved three in particular: Night Vision, Prince Albert National Park, Saskatchewan; Sirmilik, Sirmilik National Park, Nunavut; and Kluane, Kluane National Park and Reserve, Yukon.
In Night Vision, you don’t see a great deal of the park, both because of the night vision shooting and because of the fact that what is shown are often close-up or abstract glimpses seen through the eyes of the young female narrator. But the film has a certain magic to it and ends with a lovely point about preserving the land (and the dream-like experience of visiting that land) without hammering the message home.
Sirmilik makes a similar point concerning climate change, but again, not throughout the entire piece and not with a heavy hand. I loved Sirmilik in the way it contrasts the stunning natural environment, both in close-up and landscape shots, with touches of civilization (e.g. polar bears spray-painted onto a corner store by the outskirts) and glimpses into the region’s culture, language and music.
Kluane makes it clear from the opening shot that it’s going to turn perspective on its head. It opens with an upside down tracking shot of the rocky terrain and frequently revisits that technique, along with jump cuts, fast motion, abstract imagery, underwater footage and spectacular landscapes, to create a moving still life of the unique and staggering beauty that is Yukon’s National Park.
That feat is something all the films collectively achieve. They take beautiful shots of the parks and bring them to life with motion, music and ingenuity, creating the most incredible album of moving portraits. The artists involved in The National Parks Project have empowered the parks with a voice, letting the landscapes do most of the talking. They’ve imbued each piece with their own flavour and ideas, but on the whole it’s the parks that shine through as the undeniable stars.
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I proudly dedicate this post to Joel, Geoff and Ryan. You’ve done a wonderful thing. Bravo!
For more on The National Parks Project and a full list of the filmmakers and musicians involved, please visit nationalparksproject.ca. The documentary is playing in Ottawa, Waterloo and Winnipeg this week. Click here for details on those and other screenings.
Hanna
Sunday, April 10th, 2011—FilmHanna (USA/UK/Germany 2011, Action/Adventure/Thriller), Writers: Seth Lochhead, David Farr; Director: Joe Wright
Once upon a time in Hollywoodland, a brilliant young actress named Saoirse Ronan re-teamed with her Atonement (see January 20, 2008 post) director Joe Wright to defy boundaries and conventions, and create a new twist on the classic fairytale. The result? A very twisted tale indeed.
Hanna is about a lovely girl with big blue eyes and flowing blond locks, who was raised by her father Erik (Eric Bana) in a Finnish forest to be the perfect assassin. Poppa is a former CIA agent with a score to settle. Hanna (Ronan) is grappling with the usual coming-of-age issues facing most young girls who have been brought up in isolation, exposed to the outside world through only Grimm’s fairytales and an outdated encyclopedia, trained to kill without hesitation or remorse, and ingrained with the mantra “Adapt or die.”
When Hanna hits the golden age of 16, Erik realizes she’s ready to step out into the world and complete her life’s mission: to kill CIA operative Marissa Wiegler (Cate Blanchett). Hanna flips the switch to adulthood—the one that also alerts Marissa to her whereabouts, and brings a torrent of armored gunmen to the snow-covered forest for Hanna’s capture—and the story kicks into high gear.
As she journeys through Morocco and Europe, Hanna encounters a series of oddball characters, many of whom are distortions of “classic” fairytale characters. (One is even called Mr. Grimm.) Through her coming-of-age adventure, she gets her first kiss, makes her first friend and completes her first human kill. In the reverse order. And usually in time to The Chemical Brothers’ psychedelic score.
Wright clearly had fun exploring how to incorporate fairytale allusions throughout the film. There’s an abundance of visual references to support the script, as well as a killer soundtrack. In his trippy and highly stylized approach, Wright somehow manages to make his heroine’s peculiar point of view seem normal when compared with the characters and scenarios she stumbles upon. From the hippie tourist family Hanna picks up with, to the manic, obsessive-compulsive Marissa, and especially to Marissa’s rogue henchman Isaacs (Tom Hollander), who plays very much like a sideshow ringmaster, nearly everyone Hanna meets on the yellow brick trail full of bread crumbs is a little… off.
The film takes risks. It throws genre conventions onto the chopping block, then tosses them all back into the bowl to serve up a unique blend of drama and satire, hyperrealism and caricature, simplicity and overkill. A tidily book-ended world of chaos. A bedtime story with bipolar mood disorder.
Hanna may be touted as “a fairytale gone wrong.” But it’s definitely a movie gone right.
Barney’s Version (feat. director Richard J. Lewis)
Thursday, February 24th, 2011—FilmBarney’s Version (Canada/Italy 2010, Drama), Writer: Michael Konyves; Director: Richard J. Lewis
I recently posted an article to my other website KickassCanadians.ca about Barney’s Version director Richard J. Lewis. It features a lot of inside information about the film, so rather than writing a separate post here, I’m offering up the link.
Having the opportunity to pose my questions directly to the source, rather than pondering them here in the ether, was an incredible experience. I hope you’ll enjoy reading the article as much as I enjoyed talking with, and writing about, Lewis.
Blue Valentine
Saturday, January 29th, 2011—FilmBlue Valentine (USA 2010, Drama/Romance), Writers: Derek Cianfrance, Cami Delavigne, Joey Curtis; Director: Derek Cianfrance
“You always hurt the one you love, the one you shouldn’t hurt at all….”
I expected to be gushing pink hearts and flowers after seeing Blue Valentine, but instead I’m just sort of reflective.
Blue Valentine examines Cindy (Michelle Williams) and Dean’s (Ryan Gosling) relationship by crosscutting between the hopeful early days and bitter final ones of their life together. I’ve been eagerly anticipating its release since I read an interview with filmmakers Derek Cianfrance and Joey Curtis last year about the movie’s genesis. Blue Valentine was more than a decade in the making, and involved a hugely collaborative process with its actors, including a one-month period in which Gosling and Williams lived together as a “family” with the actor who plays their daughter.
Now, having finally seen Blue Valentine, I’m somewhat conflicted in my feelings toward it. The film is heavily improvised, which sometimes leads to delicate, wonderfully nuanced delivery, and other times feels a bit self-conscious.
I really like the idea of contrasting the couple’s past and present, and of creating a story from only key moments or glimpses of a life. Cianfrance did a gorgeous job of showing how specific gestures and actions that are still technically the same can come across as sweet and tender in one instance, vile and hateful in another. But on the whole, it felt a little disjointed and I occasionally found myself wishing that there was a stronger narrative structure. Or maybe that the filmmakers had made slightly different choices in the moments they decided to show and omit.
I think Blue Valentine would be interesting as a series of installation pieces in an exhibit, with the various scenes—happy or horrendous, hopeful or hateful—playing out at the same time.
The moments that work (and most of them do) are so raw, real and loaded with truth that they’re often hard to watch. Both Gosling and Williams are incredibly well served by the intensive process Cianfrance put them through. I’m a huge Gosling fan (Lars and the Real Girl, The Believer), and he’s excellent here. But as much as he shines, Williams positively glows; her Academy Award nomination is richly deserved.
In addition to its occasionally flawed arrangement, Blue Valentine left me somewhat unsatisfied because I was expecting a story about how a good love can turn bad. Instead, it was more a story of what happens when two people who are poorly matched get married for the “wrong” reasons. I would be more interested in seeing the evolution of a couple who truly are head over heels in love and a lovely match to start, but for whom life and psychology get in the way.
Blue Valentine is smart, and lovingly put together by a talented filmmaking team. There’s a lot to like, and it’s cool to see the results of such a dedicated and unorthodox approach to moviemaking. I just can’t shake the feeling that it could have been tightened up a bit to work better as a feature film, making every one of the movie’s moments as impactful and resonant as its best.
“… and if I broke your heart last night, it’s because I love you most of all.”
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For LP, GR and MG: Ours will be pink. I promise.
Black Swan
Tuesday, December 21st, 2010—FilmBlack Swan (USA 2010, Drama/Thriller), Writers: Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz, John McLaughlin; Director: Darren Aronofsky
It looks I’m going to have eat my words a bit as far as Black Swan is concerned. Or at least chew them a little longer before I spit them out.
If you read my teaser about Black Swan and 127 Hours (see November 23, 2010 post), you’ll see that I’m a fan of director Darren Aronofsky’s and that I was looking forward to his treatment of psychological and physical deterioration in the world of the New York City ballet. In that regard, Black Swan didn’t disappoint. It’s an extremely visual film, and Aronofsky achieves many beautiful, even poetic moments. But its script is fairly unsubstantial, and the end result for me was an underdeveloped storyline with two-dimensional characters.
It doesn’t take much of a leap to see why the rigid, punishing life of a ballet dancer could easily lead to self-destruction. But too much of what Nina (Natalie Portman) puts herself through is left unanswered or unexplained. As she spirals further out of control in her quest for perfection—desperate to master both the innocent white swan and the dangerous black swan that are required of her performance—the movie starts to feel increasingly contrived.
Aronofsky has explored similar subject matter in previous films with far greater success. The Wrestler (see January 2, 2009 post) worked because its treatment of Mickey Rourke’s wrestler was clearer and less abstract than Portman’s Nina. Requiem for a Dream took its characters to some dark, confusing places, but it made sense given that they were heroin addicts. Because Nina’s turmoil isn’t fully examined or justified, Black Swan comes across as melodramatic and gratuitous.
Throughout Black Swan, I was reminded of David Lynch’s brilliant film Mulholland Drive (see October 31, 2010 post). Both movies combine dream, fantasy and reality to explore the main character’s psyche and portray her contradictions and inner conflicts. But with Mulholland Drive, confusing though it can be, everything makes sense. If you study the film, or even read its breakdown online, everything ties up neatly. There’s a satisfaction in that. By contrast, Black Swan feels messy and unfulfilling.
Aronosfky’s direction is great, so if you want to see stunning shots and sequences accompanied by Tchaikovsky’s music, there’s something to be gained from watching Black Swan. Portman is also a highlight, giving a very controlled performance that somehow manages to portray extreme intensity with an incredibly delicate touch. But all in all, I’m underwhelmed by Black Swan.
127 Hours
Saturday, December 4th, 2010—Film127 Hours (USA/UK 2010, Adventure/Biography/Drama), Writers: Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy; Director: Danny Boyle
I was really stoked to see 127 Hours and it absolutely lived up to my expectations. This movie is fantastic. As I mentioned not long ago in a teaser about the film (see November 23, 2010 post), it’s based on the book Between a Rock and a Hard Place, Aron Ralston’s real life account of the five days he spent trapped in a Utah canyon and the choice he had to make to survive: cutting off his right arm, which was pinned under a boulder.
I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that writer/director Danny Boyle and lead actor James Franco make 127 Hours a masterpiece. I’m wondering whether some of my love for the film comes from where I’m at right now, just as Into the Wild (see October 9, 2007 post) had a stronger impact on me because of the personal context at the time I saw it. But objectively, I think 127 Hours really is one of the best movies I’ve ever seen.
Boyle outdoes himself technically. His film is expertly structured, and visually and aurally stunning. He captures the glorious splendor of the land Aron tries to explore and conquer. Then, with seemingly equal ease, Boyle creates a tight, claustrophobic world where Aron is forced to look within himself and explore an entirely different realm than the vast canyons and mountains that had been his focus for so long. Not only does Boyle make Aron’s time in the crevice feel utterly genuine and believable, but Boyle also manages to bring thrills and excitement to those scenes. He does wonders with Aron’s hallucinations, dreams and flashbacks, not to mention his direction of Franco.
As Aron, Franco delivers what is easily one of his best performances. His portrayal is incredibly raw and completely without artifice. Franco lets us see Aron change before our eyes as he hangs from his (one)handmade sling, trying to stay alive and, in the process, finding a reason behind it all. When he breaks down in sobs, it isn’t just because he’s trapped at the bottom of a canyon. It’s because he’s finally realized just how isolated he’d made himself, and it took being physically prevented from returning to the rest of the world for him to see what a handicap that was. Every moment in his life—every unreturned phone call, every wall he put up between himself and those around him—led him to that canyon, beneath that boulder, with none of his loved ones having the first clue where to find him or even that he was missing. As he says, “I chose this.”
If 127 Hours wasn’t based on a true story, this premise could seem like a very convenient, if artful, metaphor. But it truly was lived by Ralston. He was in such a hurry to seek out what he thought would, or did, make him happy, that he buried and dismissed the cost of avoiding any real connection with the people in his life. (“These things that are pleasin’ you can hurt you somehow.”)
Aron’s story, as well as a number of other events that I’ve heard of or experienced in the past while, have had me wondering: How much of life’s events are laid out in advance as if to form a film or a novel? Whether you believe that things happen for a reason, or that you can draw lessons and create your own reason from what has happened, there’s a certain symmetry in life that I find hard to discount and impossible not to marvel at.
I won’t follow that thought much further so as not to give away more details about the movie. Many of the film’s other moments that struck a chord for me come in Aron’s reactions when he’s finally free of the rock and when he’s able to seek help, and although you know in advance that these things will happen, I don’t want to ruin the delivery. I will say that Boyle has tackled a challenging story and succeeded in creating an impressive, powerful and exciting film that inspires hope without ever being sentimental.
See this movie. Even if you can’t stomach gore. You can close your eyes when Aron parts ways with his limb (I did). But 127 Hours is a film not to be missed; it’s an important and amazing story told by incredible filmmakers working at their best.
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This post is for CDC and MDC. I always love their reason. Merci.
Black Swan and 127 Hours – Teasers
Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010—FilmBlack Swan (USA 2010, Drama/Thriller), Writers: Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz, John McLaughlin; Director: Darren Aronofsky
127 Hours (USA/UK 2010, Adventure/Biography/Drama), Writers: Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy; Director: Danny Boyle
Two movies are coming down the pipes that I’m VERY excited about… and that make me think I should put more effort into getting to film festivals so that I won’t be forced to wait so long before seeing works like these. The movies are Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan and Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours. You can see the trailer for Black Swan here and for 127 Hours here. Both gave me shivers the first time I watched them.
Aronofsky’s films always intrigue me. After glancing back at what I wrote about his fantastic 2008 film The Wrestler (see January 2, 2009 post), I’m reminded of the director’s penchant for exploring the depths of human misery, and how far obsession and the need for acceptance can drive people to spiral completely out of control. That may not make Black Swan sound like an appealing holiday flick, but if you’re interested in human psychology and pathology—as well as artful filmmaking—I think Black Swan is a very safe bet.
The film is set in the highly competitive, and evidently toxic, world of the New York City Ballet. When sweet Nina (Natalie Portman) is cast as the lead dancer in Swan Lake, her struggle to summon the darker, more sultry side of the role takes her to some very dangerous places. Everything about this movie entices me, from the tone to the subject matter to the cast. Portman is one of the most captivating and impressive people in the film industry. And I look forward to seeing what tricks of the imagination Aronofsky will pull this time around.
My reasons for wanting to see 127 Hours are similar, although the movies appear to be completely different. I hadn’t heard of 127 Hours until I saw its trailer before Howl, both of which star the outstanding James Franco. The energy and excitement of 127 Hours came across immediately. It’s based on the book Between a Rock and a Hard Place, Aron Ralston’s (Franco) real-life account of his experience getting caught between a rock (a boulder) and a hard place (a canyon wall) in Canyonlands, Utah, and having to choose whether to perish alone or amputate himself.
Given the performances Franco has been giving lately, he’s reason enough to get in line for 127 Hours. Milk (see December 14, 2008 post), Howl, even Pineapple Express—all showcase his talent, range and fearlessness. Then there’s director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire). He has all the creativity and cojones needed to take a book about a guy trapped alone in a canyon and make it an engaging movie. Boyle has proven he takes no prisoners when it comes to filmmaking, which both draws me to his latest effort and guarantees that I’ll be closing my eyes when it’s decision time for Aron. (People have reportedly been vomiting or passing out during the movie’s most intense moments.)
There’s a really interesting article by Peter Debruge in Creative Screenwriting Magazine about the evolution of 127 Hours. I can’t find it online, but it’s worth tracking down if you want to read more about how Boyle adapted the book for the screen, and how the challenges of the medium necessitated climbing even farther into Ralston’s psyche and personal life.
So, I’ll almost certainly be writing about these two films in the coming weeks, and will most definitely be watching them. Even without having seen the films, I can say with complete confidence that you should go; they will be worth the price of admission.
Mulholland Drive and Inception
Sunday, October 31st, 2010—FilmMulholland Drive (France/USA 2001, Drama/Mystery/Thriller), Writer/Director: David Lynch
Inception (USA/UK 2010, Action/Mystery/Sci-Fi/Thriller), Writer/Director: Christopher Nolan
A friend of mine loves borrowing movies from the library, and she often asks what I think of films I haven’t seen in years. She recently asked about Mulholland Drive and I found myself comparing it to a summer blockbuster that I hadn’t felt compelled to write about. Until now, that is.
When I saw Inception a few months ago, I was disappointed. I expected more from the mind behind 2000’s Memento, particularly when I learned that Inception was 10 years in the making. The film is about a team of professional dream weavers led by Cobb (Leonardo Dicaprio) that specializes in invading people’s dreams. The crew is hired to steal—and ultimately plant—memories, thoughts and ideas. It’s a fantastic premise, but the story itself wound up being surprisingly banal.
The biggest reason I didn’t write about Inception before now is that I read a review in The New York Times that summed up what I would have said, and then some. It’s a fascinating read, which you can find here if you’re interested. In a nutshell, I completely agree that Inception was engaging enough for the duration, but didn’t leave a lasting impression. And although the story has great potential, the plot—and particularly the content of the dreams themselves—is bland and pedestrian.
Mulholland Drive brought Inception to mind because I think Lynch’s film offers so much of what Inception is missing. Both films delve into the world of dreams and the subconscious, and teeter over the dividing line between fantasy and reality. Mulholland Drive follows Betty/Diane (Naomi Watts) through a mind-bending series of convoluted, often trippy events as she strives to turn some of her fantasies into reality (or is it the other way around) in her quests to become a Hollywood actress, find love and solve a dark mystery. Yes, the film can be confusing. But it takes chances, and has a depth and visceral quality that Inception barely begins to touch on.
Lynch did an incredibly artful job of weaving together a person’s dreams and reality, their conscious and subconscious wishes. It’s rich and layered, and always chooses symbolism over the obvious. One of the film’s most stunning scenes is when Betty and her lover Rita (Laura Harring) take in Rebekah Del Rio’s amazing Spanish version of Roy Orbison’s Crying. The performance is so moving that it leaves the women in tears, as it does me nearly every time. Even if you don’t understand the words literally—or the reason the women are being serenaded—the feeling and heart behind it are undeniable. (Click here to watch the clip.)
Mulholland Drive shows the kind of innovation and creativity that Inception should have had. Lynch took artistic risks with his film, and the end result is complex and profound, and appropriately confusing given its subject matter. Inception plays it safe, and for that reason it falls short in my book. Yes, part of my disappointment in Inception stems from the high expectations Nolan has set for me. But considering that the film explores such fascinating topics as constructing and invading people’s dreams, I see Inception as a missed opportunity.
Mulholland Drive, much more than Inception, leaves you wondering what’s real and what isn’t. And unlike Inception, Mulholland Drive has had a lasting effect on me. It plays like one of those dreams you can’t get out of your head, even years later. Inception, on the other hand, is more like one of those dreams you barely remember you had.
The Social Network
Monday, October 4th, 2010—FilmThe Social Network (USA 2010, Drama/History), Writer: Aaron Sorkin; Director: David Fincher
When I saw the trailer for The Social Network, I was immediately impressed. It was obvious that the movie was a slick production and that the lead performance by Jesse Eisenberg was a knockout. But then one of the characters mentioned “Facebook” and I thought, “How is that going to work?”
Here’s how: By pairing an incredibly visual veteran director with a screenwriter who has an uncanny knack for brilliant, rapid-fire dialogue, and equipping them both with a phenomenal cast (except for Justin Timberlake, but I’ll expand on that later).
Director David Fincher (Se7en, The Game, Fight Club) and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (A Few Good Men, TV’s The West Wing) did an outstanding job with The Social Network. They managed to tell the story of Facebook’s genesis in a way that’s both emotionally profound and stylistically sophisticated. The pair makes programming and depositions fascinating—even fun—through razor-sharp dialogue that features countless hilarious one-liners, and inventive direction/editing that continually references the social network Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg (Eisenberg) simultaneously tries to hack into and snub his nose at.
The movie recounts the creation of Facebook and the associated lawsuits brought against Zuckerberg. Eisenberg is spot-on as the bitter, socially inept young genius; I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t get an Academy Award nomination for his work here. In fact, almost the entire cast is pitch perfect—including Andrew Garfield as Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin and Rooney Mara as Zuckerberg’s very short-term girlfriend Erica Albright (both of whom seem poised for stardom with upcoming lead roles in Spiderman 3D and Hollywood’s take on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, respectively).
As I mentioned earlier, the only glitch in the cast is Justin Timberlake as Napster founder Sean Parker. Granted, Timberlake has great talent. But it lies in music, not acting. It isn’t that he’s terrible in the movie; it’s just that the other actors are playing in another league. To me, Timberlake was the only weak link in an otherwise flawless cast. But my youngest sister, who saw The Social Network with me, didn’t mind him; she “loved that it was JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE playing such a skeez.”
That got me thinking. While the credits rolled, I started to wonder how much of The Social Network was accurate, how much of the heartbreaking love story with Erica was manufactured to serve as tidy bookends to the movie. A quick search on Google reveals that the real-life Zuckerberg is engaged to a woman he met in his sophomore year at Harvard. He wouldn’t have been lamenting the loss of another woman when Facebook launched. In fact, the film isn’t based directly on Zuckerberg’s story; it’s based on Ben Mezrich’s book The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal.
But I realized it didn’t matter whether or not The Social Network was historically accurate, because it’s still true to life. Justin Timberlake, with his superstar lore that extends to Britney Spears in her glory days, represents who the fictionalized Zuckerberg wants to be, how he wishes he were seen. It becomes very easy to imagine how Zuckerberg could be seduced by someone like Parker. Seen in that light, I can understand why Timberlake was cast. His portrayal may not reflect who Parker truly is, but his stardom feeds into the representation of Parker as a beacon and a powerful influence in Zuckerberg’s life.
Just as Timberlake’s spin on Parker lends greater credibility to the character, so does the filmmakers’ take on Facebook bring added relevance and significance to the story. The Social Network is a representation of how one person’s loneliness and isolation could inspire him to create the world’s biggest social network out of vengeance. Whether or not the film really tells Mark Zuckerberg’s story, it’s still the very real story of what can happen when someone is ostracized and pushed too far.
As portrayed by Eisenberg, Zuckerberg is a profoundly gifted young man who is probably too smart for his own good. His keen insights into facts and figures are diametrically opposed to his understanding of human emotion and relationships. He’s desperate to connect, but seems to be doing everything in his power to push others away and make that connection impossible. Here’s a man capable of creating a brilliant means of enabling “connection,” but incapable of creating a framework in which he can love and be loved.
The Social Network is an unmitigated hit on all fronts. It’s fast, engaging and hard-hitting. It’s also incredibly timely, poignant and sad. It represents a fabulous collaboration in which all the parts are on the money and add up to much more than their sum.
Now, having watched the film, I can say that its trailer is one of the most apt I’ve ever seen. It’s an excellent snapshot of what The Social Network really is, starting with the, well, creepy rendition of Radiohead’s Creep that beautifully captures the sadness at the film’s core. In the end, both the trailer and the film leave us with this final thought: “I don’t belong here.” Does anyone?
And now, to post this on Facebook…
The Town
Saturday, September 25th, 2010—FilmThe Town (USA 2010, Crime/Drama/Thriller), Writers: Peter Craig, Ben Affleck, Aaron Stockard; Director: Ben Affleck
I just read what I wrote about Ben Affleck’s directorial debut, Gone Baby Gone (see November 2, 2007 post), and it’s pretty well in line with what I have to say about his sophomore effort, The Town. In a nutshell, The Town is a more sophisticated exploration of Boston’s criminal underworld, and offers a wonderful look at Affleck’s progression as a director.
Set in Boston’s Charlestown neighbourhood—a “breeding ground for bank and armoured-car robbers”—the movie follows a gang of “townies” who carry on the family tradition of lifting from area banks, and the FBI agents who are sworn to stop them. It opens with the crew of costumed thugs, including ringleaders Doug MacRay (Affleck) and James Coughlin (Jeremy Renner), making their latest hit. Led by Doug, the men rob the bank and make off with its manager, Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall), as collateral.
Claire is released physically unharmed, but suffers the obvious psychological and emotional trauma of being kidnapped by armed robbers. As Doug and his team plan their next hit, he keeps an eye on Claire to determine whether or not she’s a threat—a “loose end” that needs to be tied off. It isn’t long before Doug falls for her and the two begin a relationship, with Claire unaware of his true identity.
The Town is based on Chuck Hogan’s prize-winning 2005 novel Prince of Thieves. Affleck co-wrote the screenplay, teaming up again with his Gone Baby Gone co-writer Aaron Stockard. As bank heist tales go, The Town’s storyline is utterly predictable, but it’s well written with a keen ear for dialogue and dialect. As director, Affleck does a very good job at creating tension. I love his decision to cut between the security camera footage and the live event during the opening robbery. With The Town, he irrefutably proves to be just as comfortable directing action as intimate moments between lovers.
As with his first film, Affleck also shows a gift for assembling a fabulous cast and eliciting wonderful performances. The ensemble includes heavyweights Chris Cooper and Pete Postlethwaite, as well as two of my new favourite actors—Renner, who was phenomenal in The Hurt Locker (see February 17, 2010 post), and Hall, so very good in Vicky Cristina Barcelona (see September 1, 2008 post).
I have only a couple gripes about The Town. The first is Affleck’s decision to cast himself in the lead role. While he’s clearly got great promise as a director, his talent as an actor isn’t as strong. I feel badly saying that, because Affleck seems like a solid guy with a lot of heart, and he’s obviously passionate about acting (that’s evident from the performances he draws from other actors). But it’s not his greatest gift, and he does his film a disservice by taking on such a significant part.
My other complaint is that the film seems to miss the mark a bit. At its heart, I thought The Town was about what happens when people try to break free of the life that has defined them, and whether it’s possible to truly make that break. But this is somewhat glossed over to make room for the FBI investigation, the cool shoot-outs and the love story, and it has the overall effect of lessening The Town’s impact.
Still, it’s a solid film, one I’d seen again and one I liked even better than Gone Baby Gone. Affleck seems to have found his place in the industry, and it fits him very well. I look forward to his next film. And the one after that…