Anna Karenina (2012 film)

Based on the novel by Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina is the story of the titular socialite, who is the wife of a statesman, who begins an affair with an officer in late 19th Century Russia. Directed by Joe Wright and screenplay by Tom Stoppard, the film is a look into the life of a woman as she tries to find love only to be ruined by her affair as Keira Knightley plays the title role. Also starring Jude Law, Aaron Johnson, Alicia Vikander, Matthew McFayden, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly MacDonald, Ruth Wilson, Shirley Henderson, Olivia Williams, and Emily Watson. Anna Karenina is a beautiful yet vapid film from Joe Wright.

Set in 1874 in Imperial Russia, the film is an exploration into the life of this aristocratic woman who falls for a cavalry officer where their affair becomes scandalous. Yet, the film is an exploration into many ideas of love as well as infidelity where the latter showcases a woman’s decision in being with this officer named Count Alexei Vronsky (Aaron Johnson) where they fall in love despite the fact that she’s married to a statesman in Count Alexei Karenin (Jude Law). Yet, Vronsky is notorious for wooing many women including Anna’s sister-in-law Kitty (Alicia Vikander) who is also pursued by Konstatin Levin (Domhnall Gleeson) who tries to deal with his ideas about true love and such. All of which is told in a very broad but messy story that doesn’t hold itself together.

Tom Stoppard’s screenplay has this narrative where there’s a lot of characters involved where it has this unique structure that would play Anna’s fall from grace. Yet, it has these other subplots involving her brother Stiva (Matthew McFayden) trying to help Levin while having his own extramarital affairs as well the stuff involving Levin. The first act explores Anna’s marriage to Count Karenin where it’s one where there’s not much communication yet there is love until Anna meets Count Vronsky. The second act is about Anna and Count Vronsky’s love affair and the scandal that it creates where Karenin becomes embarrassed. The third act is about Anna’s attempt to return to society where she is disapproved by those around her while her relationship with Vronsky starts to fall apart.

Notably as the script reveals a lot about Vronsky’s appetite for women which adds to Anna’s insecurities yet neither character become interesting as they have range of emotions that drags the story. Even as the script would shift into what Count Karenin is doing as he feels humiliated as well as the stuff about Levin who feels lost as he tries to comprehend all of the ideas of love. Notably as there’s people like Stiva’s wife Dolly (Kelly MacDonald) who isn’t sure about wanting Stiva back or Vronsky’s cousin Betsy (Ruth Wilson) whose appearances would raise questions about Vronsky’s devotion to Anna. All of which just adds to the messiness of the script as it gets to the point where there’s too many characters to follow and how important they are to the story.

Joe Wright’s direction is unique in the way he presents the story where he wants to go for something that is theatrical where most of the film is presented in a theater. A lot of which seems to play into a world that seems artificial and sort of removed from reality to portray Anna’s idea of the world where things aren’t cold and such. Even in moments of the film where some of the action takes place backstage or above the stage where people will freeze while she and Vronsky are moving. It all plays to that world where Anna and those around her seem to thrive in where there’s even a horse race that occurs on the stage where Anna is watching from the booth. It’s these moments where the idea of fantasy and reality would collide as many of the moments set in the Karenin home is a mixture of that.

There’s also moments where the fantasy is replaced by reality which plays into the Levin’s plight as he goes to the country to deal with some family matters as well as resigning to the fate that might happen to him. These are moments that are all interesting but it also adds to the confusing nature of the story where Wright wants to do both. It unfortunately creates this idea of style over substance where there’s all of this gorgeous imagery with some amazing tracking shots and moments where everything happens in one take. Yet, it doesn’t do enough to really engage the audience into the story despite its emphasis on the themes of adultery and love where its end result is a bit mixed. Overall, Wright crafts a very lavish but lifeless film about a woman’s affair that led to scandal and the loss of her identity.

Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey does fantastic work with the film‘s cinematography from the gorgeous look of the exterior locations to some of the lighting in the theater stage and some of its interior settings. Editor Melanie Ann Oliver does excellent work with the editing from the use of montages and fast-cuts for the dancing scenes as well as some smooth transitions for the fantasy-reality scenes. Production designer Sarah Greenwood, with set decorator Katie Spencer and supervising art director Niall Moroney, does amazing work with the set pieces from the look of the Karenin home to the look of the stage where a lot of the action occurs.

Costume designer Jacqueline Durran does brilliant work with the costumes from the uniforms that Vronsky wears to the many dresses that many of the female characters wear including Anna. Hair/makeup designer Ivana Primorac does dazzling work with the hair/makeup to complement the different looks of the many female characters. Sound editors Craig Berkey and Becki Ponting do superb work with the sound to capture the intimacy of the theatrical settings as well as the broad sound of the scenes set at the train station. The film’s music by Dario Marianelli is spectacular for its heavy yet effective orchestral score to play out the romance and drama while also using some low-key moments and some themes for the different characters including a humorous one for Stiva.

The casting by Dixie Chassay and Jina Jay is terrific for the ensemble that was created as it features some notable small roles from Holliday Grainger as a baroness friend of Vronsky, Michelle Dockery as a friend of Anna, Shirley Henderson as a disapproving madam at a scene late in the film, Raphael Personnaz as Vronsky’s brother, Oskar McNamara as Anna and Count Karenin’s son Serhoza, Alexandra Roach as the Countess Nordstron that Vronsky tries to woo early in the film, and Emily Watson in a chilling performance as the Countess Ivanova who observes Anna’s behaviors as she would eventually tell Karenin about what is going on. Ruth Williams is wonderful as the mysterious Princess Betsy who tries to get her cousin Vronsky to steer him away from Anna while Olivia Williams is excellent as Vronsky’s mother Countess Vronskaya who is very disapproving about her son’s relationship with Anna.

Matthew McFayden is fantastic as Anna’s brother Stiva who tries to deal with the chaos in his own life while helping out Levin. Kelly MacDonald is superb as Stiva’s wife Dolly who deals with her husband’s infidelity while helping out her sister Kitty to find love. Alicia Vikander is remarkable as Kitty as a young woman who is supposed to marry Vronsky only to lose herself in a whirlwind of many prospects while being courted by the more kind Levin. Domhnall Gleeson is marvelous as Levin as a young man who is in love with Kitty only to lose her to her more revered prospects as he tries to deal with his idea of love as well as his family who are dealing with their own troubles. Jude Law is amazing as Count Karenin as a man who is devoted to his service for his country while trying to make time for his family only to learn the truth about what Anna is doing as he tries to comprehend everything as well as make some decisions about what to do for his son.

Aaron Johnson is quite bland as Count Vronsky where Johnson doesn’t do enough to make his character interesting as he spend some of his time being aloof or doe-eyed where it comes across as very uninspiring to watch. Keira Knightley is pretty terrible as the titular character as she spends some of her time either overacting in some of the dramatic moments or just underplaying where she often wears a veil and gaze. It’s a performance that doesn’t allow Knightley to really do more for the character as it has her just being sad and confused most of the time though she’s more effective in the happier moments as it’s not one of her best works.

Despite its amazing supporting cast and technical work, Anna Karenina is a very disappointing film from Joe Wright. Due to the uninspiring leading performances of Keira Knightley and Aaron Johnson as well as Joe Wright’s emphasis on style over substance and Tom Stoppard’s messy script. It’s a film that had all of the tools to be something quite grand and engaging only to end up being dull and flat. In the end, Anna Karenina is a very underwhelming film from Joe Wright.

Joe Wright Films: Pride & Prejudice (2005 film) - Atonement - The Soloist - Hanna

© thevoid99 2013

Hanna

While 2005’s adaptation of Pride & Prejudice and 2007’s Atonement made Joe Wright one of the hottest rising British directors. He went to America in 2008 to helm The Soloist with Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx. The film was delayed and pushed to an early 2009 release. Disappointing box office and lukewarm reviews hurt the film as it was also Wright’s most expensive at $60 million only drawing half of its budget through its worldwide box office gross. After some time off, Wright returns to Europe as he also decides to take on a different genre for a cat-and-mouse revenge thriller simply called Hanna.

Directed by Joe Wright with a story by Seth Lochhead and screenplay by Lochhead and David Farr. Hanna tells the story of a young girl who lives alone in the forest with her father as he trains her to be an assassin. When he takes a leave to Berlin, she is finally captured by the CIA where a corrupt agent goes after her following an escape. A change of pace from Wright’s previous period-drama films, Wright reunites with his Atonement co-star Saoirse Ronan who plays the title character as they go for a different kind of action film. Also starring Eric Bana, Cate Blanchett, Olivia Williams, Jason Flemyng, Jessica Barden, and Wright regular Tom Hollander. Hanna is a thrilling yet exciting action-suspense film from Joe Wright and company.

Living alone in a forest, Hanna has been taught by her father Erik Heller (Eric Bana) to kill and fight for her own survival. Erik also teaches his 16-year old daughter different languages though she is still curious about who she is and the world outside as she has no idea about what music is and such rather in their definitions. On a particular day, Erik brings a transmitter as it would reveal their location to the woman who killed Hanna’s mother (Vicky Krieps) named Marissa Wiegler (Cate Blanchett). Hanna turns on the transmitter while Erik leaves to go to Berlin as he hopes to meet her later.

Hanna is eventually captured by Wiegler’s associates as she is interrogated by a decoy (Michelle Dockery). Instead, Hanna deposes the decoy and other soldiers as she escapes the high-tech prison as she learns she is in Morocco after being found by a young girl named Sophie (Jessica Barden) who is traveling with her family. Hanna eventually catches up with Sophie and her family as she hides in their van as she finds herself introduced to a world that is very different from what she knows. Marissa meanwhile, goes on the hunt for Erik Heller as she also hires a mercenary named Issacs (Tom Hollander) to find Hanna.

With Hanna traveling with Sophie, her little brother Miles (Aldo Maland), and their parents (Jason Flemyng and Olivia Williams). Hanna finds herself drawn to them as she finds her first real friend in Sophie but wondering about the mysterious presence of Issacs. With Hanna wanting to go to Berlin as Sophie’s parents help her, Hanna sees Issacs as she tries to get them away from Sophie and her family. After evading Issacs, she travels to Berlin to find her father as the address that Erik has given her leads her to a home owned by a man named Mr. Grimm. While Hanna wonders about her own identity based on a DNA sheet that she took from the prison, she learns who she is as she confronts her father and eventually, Marissa.

The film is about this young girl who for all of her life has been trained to be an assassin of sorts while living with her father somewhere in the middle of a forest. She’s trained to become a super-soldier while every word she’s taught is only by its actual definition. The only idea of love that she has is in a picture of her mother and a book of fairy tales by the Grimm Brothers. Upon her capture and escape, Hanna is introduced to the real world where it’s different from everything she’s known. When she meets Sophie and her family, she gets a look of what family life is along with what music is and what it’s like to kiss someone.

There is something very innocent in a girl like Hanna who is just curious about this new world she’s in and when she’s confronted by people who want to get rid of her. She finds a reason to protect this new family she finds herself being accustomed to and learns to care for them. Even as she tries to find something about herself while wondering why this woman named Marissa is going after her and her father.

Eventually, there is a reason why Marissa is going after Hanna and Erik as she is a woman that is a corrupt CIA agent has a very sick demeanor. From the way she brushes her teeth to the shoes she wants to wear as she is kind of a traditional fairy tale villain. Then there’s Erik Heller who is a guy that is just wanting to protect Hanna from Marissa and her henchmen. Yet, he is also someone carrying a secret about Hanna and who she is.

Screenwriters David Farr and Seth Lochhead do a great job with character study on Hanna and Erik though the character of Marissa isn’t as developed. Yet, there isn’t a need since she is a slimy villain. Even as they use flashback for what Marissa did the night Hanna’s mother died. The screenplay definitely does an excellent job in mixing character study, action, drama, and also comedy. Even as it features moments that is very natural with the humor being strange but natural to who Hanna is.

Joe Wright’s direction is definitely marvelous as he definitely goes for a stylistic approach to the action where he does go into convention but also play along with it. Notably a great tracking shot that follows Erik from a bus to a subway where he’s followed and surrounded by men into a fight scene that is all in one take. Even as he has the action play to rhythms and such while creating great compositions to the confrontation scenes and action sequences. For the rest of the film including for the dramatic scenes in Morocco and Spain, it’s straightforward but also engaging since it’s shown from Hanna’s perspective.

Even as she is hiding in the van where she watches Sophie and her family singing David Bowie’s Kooks from Hunky Dory. There’s also some great humor to the film as includes a scene where Hanna and Sophie are hanging around with boys as a boy is trying to get closer to Hanna hoping to kiss her. It’s a very simple, comedic approach that recalls the era of silent films it plays off natural to the awkwardness of it. While all of the action stuff that happens mixed in with the more character-driven study does make the film a bit uneven. Still, Joe Wright does step up his game in terms of presentation and composition as he creates what is definitely a fun action-thriller.

Cinematographer Alwin H. Kuchler does a superb job with the film‘s photography from the snowy scenes in Finland to the varied locations in Morocco, Spain, and Berlin. Kuchler’s photography definitely captures a vibrancy to each location along with interiors including a scene of Hanna in her hotel room to dark lights of the Spanish docking bay where she’s being chased by Issacs and his men. Kuchler’s work is definitely the film’s big technical highlight.

Editor Paul Tothill does an excellent job with the film’s editing from the kinetic rhythm of the action scenes while maintaining a leisured pace for the more dramatic moments. Tothill’s cutting is straightforward while doesn’t lag in its pacing while continuing to keep up with the suspenseful tone of the film.

Production designer Sarah Greenwood, along with set decorator Katie Spencer and art director Niall Moroney, does a wonderful job with the set designs that includes the cabin home that Erik and Hanna lives to the slick world that Marissa lives in. Even as the real highlight of the art direction is Mr. Grimm’s home that is filled with lights and such as it’s definitely plays up to Hanna’s childlike fascination. Costume designer Lucie Bates does a very good job with the costumes from the rugged clothes that Erik and Hanna wear early to the slick, business-like suits that Marissa wears. Even to the bohemian-like clothes that Sophie’s parents wear as the costumes play up to Hanna’s growing curiosity with the world.

Sound designers Craig Berkey and Christopher Scarabosio do a phenomenal job with the sound work from the sparse world of the cold forest to the chaos in the cities and places that Hanna encounters. Particularly with the technology that Marissa surrounds herself with to communicate with other officials along with the intimacy in her world which is very cold.

The film’s score by the Chemical Brothers is a hypnotic yet frenetic score with its array of electronic textures and intense beats. Featuring some great themes that plays up to Hanna’s innocence as well as Marissa’s demeanor, the Chemical Brothers’ score is definitely a real highlight of the film. Even as the soundtrack includes pieces of flamenco, Eastern music, and pop music including David Bowie’s Kooks.

The casting by Jina Jay is amazing for its array of memorable appearances from actors (whose names can’t be found) for roles such as Hanna’s grandmother and the whimsical Mr. Grimm. Other notable small roles include John MacMillan as Marissa’s colleague Lewis, Michelle Dockery as the fake Marissa, Mohamed Majd as a hotel owner in Morocco, and Vicky Krieps in flashback scenes as Hanna’s mother. Aldo Maland is very good as Sophie’s little brother Miles while Jason Flemyng is also good as Sophie’s dad. Olivia Williams is excellent as Sophie’s mother who helps Hanna while being a bit of the lost maternal figure that Hanna never had.

Jessica Barden is superb as Sophie, a teenage girl who befriends Hanna as she helps introduce to a new world while being a bit snotty towards her parents over their bohemian lifestyle. Tom Hollander is great as Issacs, a slimy mercenary who can be a badass but also play it cool from the clothes he wears to his slick blond hair. Eric Bana is brilliant as Erik Heller, Hanna’s father who tries to prepare for a world where she’s chased as he is also a man that can kick ass but also has a warm side to him. While it’s a mostly serious role from Bana, he also allows him to be funny through subtle moments as it’s a fantastic role for the actor.

Cate Blanchett is phenomenal as Marissa Wiegler, a devilish CIA official hell-bent on capturing Erik and Hanna while doing anything she can to get the job done. With Blanchett sporting a Southern accent of sorts, it’s a very stylish yet fun role that Blanchett plays as she also makes her character cool and also, kind of likeable despite how bad she is. Finally, there’s Saoirse Ronan in a magnificent performance in her role as the titular character. Ronan truly sells the idea that a little 16-year old can be a supreme badass from the stunts she does along with her combat skills. Yet, Ronan manages to balance that dangerous side with someone who has a childlike fascination with things that are new to her while showing some subtle humor to how she does things. It’s a very remarkable performance for the young actress who is definitely becoming an actress to watch out for in the years to come.

Hanna is a fun, smart, and hypnotic action-thriller from Joe Wright that features a great cast led by Saoirse Ronan along with some amazing technical work and a brilliant score by the Chemical Brothers. Audiences wanting a different kind of action film that has some conventional ideas but something more will definitely want to see this. Fans of Joe Wright will be relieved to see the young British director refining his tricks while taking on something different as he broadens his range as a storyteller. In the end, Hanna is an excellent yet entertaining film from Joe Wright.

Joe Wright Films: Pride & Prejudice (2005) - Atonement - The Soloist - Anna Karenina

© thevoid99 2011

The Soloist

After two back-to-back successful films, British filmmaker Joe Wright was already one of the hot rising directors emerging into the mainstream. His 2005 adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice and 2007’s Atonement had helped established Wright as a director who can create lush imagery. For his third film, Wright went to Los Angeles to direct a true story about a journalist who befriends a homeless musician suffering from schizophrenia called The Soloist.

Based on the book and articles of Steve Lopez, The Soloist is the story of how the troubled Lopez meets Nathaniel Ayers. Ayers was once a cello prodigy who became troubled by schizophrenia by the time attends Julliard and eventually becomes homeless. Directed by Joe Wright and screenplay by Susannah Grant, the film is a dramatic tale of how a troubled journalist’s life is changed by the meeting of a gifted musician as Robert Downey Jr. plays Lopez and Jamie Foxx as Ayers. Also starring Catherine Keener, Stephen Root, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Nelsan Ellis, Rachael Harris, and appearances from Wright’s Pride & Prejudice co-stars Jena Malone and Tom Hollander. The Soloist is an interesting but lackluster drama from Joe Wright.

Despite being an acclaimed journalist for the Los Angeles Times, Steve Lopez is a man whose life isn’t going very well. Divorced from his wife/L.A. Times Mary (Catherine Keener), Lopez is trying to find some way to get himself back on good terms following a bike accident. During treatment for his accident, he hears a violin playing in a yard as he comes across a homeless man named Nathaniel Anthony Ayers. Learning that he was in Julliard, he tries to find information as he was a student in the early 1970s only to drop out after a two year stint. After calling Nathaniel’s sister Jennifer (Lisa Gay Hamilton), he learns about Nathaniel’s life as a child as his mother (Lorraine Toussaint) believes he will do great.

After writing an article about Ayers, an old woman suffering from arthritis gives Lopez her cello for Ayers to play. After seeing Ayers at a tunnel, he gives him the cello as Lopez hears Ayers play as he realizes that he and the cello need to be in a safe place. Convincing Ayers to stay at a homeless shelter, it turns out to be a good idea as a doctor (Nelsan Ellis) helps out while suggesting that Ayers should get an apartment later on. The friendship slowly builds as Lopez also works on other assignments as he also takes Ayers to a rehearsal though it wasn’t easy due to Nathaniel’s attachment to his shopping cart. With things moving slowly, Lopez gets an apartment for Ayers despite some reluctance.

After bringing in a renowned cello player named Graham Claydon (Tom Hollander) to see Ayers, Claydon agrees hoping to help Ayers through music. Though the lesson goes well, he realizes that Ayers is becoming attached to Lopez as Ayers has a chance to play a recital. Instead, it becomes a disaster due to Ayers’ mental illness as Steve blames himself for what happens. Even as he felt that Ayers is helping him with his own issues.

The film is about a journalist’s unexpected friendship with a mentally-ill musician that ends up helping both of them. While it’s an interesting yet captivating story, the problem is that the screenplay tends to over-dramatize the relationship between Lopez and Ayers while there’s additional elements in the screenplay that doesn’t really belong in the film. There’s also an underdeveloped storyline about Lopez’s own relationship with ex-wife Mary though the truth is that Steve Lopez never got divorced. Some of the dramatic liberties that screenwriter Susannah Grant take with the story to makes the film lose focus on what it’s supposed to be about. Even as Grant adds a bit of heavy-handed ideas about the issue with the homeless, though its intentions are thoughtful, as well as a character that spouses religious ideals.

Joe Wright’s direction definitely has a lot of flourishes that he’s known in tracking shots, wonderful zooms, and lots of amazing ideas. The problem is that he is given an uneven script that doesn’t play to his strengths. While he creates some wonderful sequences where Lopez just plays the music, some of it becomes quite unnecessary as there’s a scene where birds (ala CGI) fly around Los Angeles that really overdoes the dramatic tone of the music.

At the same time, he also has to shoot scenes involving the homeless where while it’s interesting and does provide insight into that world. It becomes a distraction as if he wants to make something about the homeless situation in Los Angeles when really, the film should be about these two men. Despite some interesting sequences and some chances to not over-dramatize events, Wright stumbles with his approach for this film.

Cinematographer Seamus Garvey does some excellent work with the photography in bringing some wonderful yet gorgeous shots of the nighttime exterior scenes of Skid Row Los Angeles. While there’s some great shots of Los Angeles in other places. Garvey’s work is definitely a highlight though it’s nothing really new in comparison to other films shot in L.A. Editor Paul Tothill does a good job with the editing that includes some wonderful rhythmic cuts that plays to the music despite some pacing issues that slows the film down at times.

Production designer Sarah Greenwood, with set decorator Julie Smith and art director Greg Berry do a nice job with the look of the L.A. Times office as well as Lopez‘s home and the apartment that Ayers eventually lives in. Costume designer Jacqueline Durran does a fine job with the costumes in creating casual clothing for most of the cast including the look for Ayers with his cap and such that is pretty unusual but fun to look at.

Visual effects supervisor John Moffatt does some exceptional work for a sequence where it‘s just lights and swirling visuals that play along to the music though the sequences of the birds flying around Los Angeles isn‘t one of those great moments. Sound designers Craig Berkey and Christopher Scarabosio do some wonderful work with the sound to create a chaotic atmosphere for Los Angeles though some scenes where Ayers hears voices in his head gets a little repetitive and overdone at times.

Music composer Dario Marianelli creates an amazing film score that plays up to not just the dramatic elements of the film but also something that infuses Ayers’ gift as a musician. Along with pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig Van Beethoven that helps drive the soundtrack as Beethoven is the most dominant piece of music in the film. Along with cuts by Stevie Wonder, Neil Diamond, the Temptations, the Carter Family, and Beenie Man that all appear in the background. The film’s music and soundtrack is definitely the real highlight of the film.

The casting by Francine Maisler is pretty good for some notable appearances that include Stephen Root and Rachael Harris as fellow journalists of the L.A. Times, Justin Martin as the young Nathaniel Ayers in the flashback scenes about his early life, Lorraine Toussaint as Nathaniel’s mother, and in a cameo appearance, Jena Malone as a Goth-like lab technician. Nelsan Ellis is very good as the homeless shelter doctor who offers Steve Lopez guidance about dealing with Ayers’ illness. Lisa Gay Hamilton is also good as Nathaniel’s sister who is desperate to want to contact him a wonderfully understated scene with Jamie Foxx. Tom Hollander is excellent as Gary Claydon, a musician who tries to help Ayers though approaches it the wrong way.

Catherine Keener is pretty good as Mary Weston, Lopez’s ex-wife and editor, who is a bit baffled by her ex-husband’s fascination with Ayers though her character seems underdeveloped due to the fact that there’s not much more about her life with Lopez. Even as Keener has a very embarrassing scene where she gets drunk at a gathering with Lopez. Jamie Foxx is wonderful as Nathaniel Ayers as Foxx doesn’t go into a sense of vanity into playing a troubled man who refuses to believe he’s schizophrenic. Even as Foxx proves to be a wonderful musician while making some fascinating ramblings and such as he has great rapport with Robert Downey Jr.

Robert Downey Jr. is superb as Steve Lopez, a brilliant but complicated journalist seeking some sort of idea to get his hazy life back on track. While Downey brings some humor to his character, he also adds a lot of dramatic weight to a man who is fascinated by this individual he encounters. It’s a remarkable performance from Downey in the way he brings sympathy to a guy like Lopez.

Despite an amazing cast and a stellar soundtrack, The Soloist is a middle-of-the-road drama that got some great ideas but poor execution in its screenplay and in Joe Wright’s direction. While it wants to be an inspirational story of sorts, it’s coddled up with lots of bad decisions about Ayers’ illness along with some dramatic liberties about Lopez’s own life. Though Joe Wright does display some nice sequences that keep the film from being a total disaster, he’s hampered by the shortcomings of Susannah Grant’s screenplay. In the end despite the superb performances of Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx, The Soloist is a disappointing film from Joe Wright.

Joe Wright Films: Pride & Prejudice (2005) - Atonement - Hanna - Anna Karenina

© thevoid99 2011

Atonement

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com at 1/20/08.

In 2005, an unknown director named Joe Wright brought another film adaptation of the beloved Jane Austen novel Pride & Prejudice to the big screen. With an all-star cast led by Keira Knightley, the film became an unexpected hit for the young director as Knightley herself received an Oscar nomination for her role as Elizabeth Bennett. Following the film's success, Wright's next plan was to adapt the beloved Ian McEwan about a love affair torn apart by a lie from a young girl who is trying to figure out her sins. The novel known as Atonement was a hit with critics and book readers as Wright chose to expand his ambitions into a huge film adaptation of McEwan's beloved novel.

Directed by Joe Wright with an adapted script by Christopher Hampton, Atonement tells the story of a young rich girl and the son of a housekeeper who fall in love only to be torn apart by a misinterpreted accusation of the girl's young sister. Following this supposed crime, the lovers try to come together during World War II while the young girl is trying to figure out her sins and the truth itself. Reuniting with Keira Knightley, Joe Wright takes a huge leap in making a film that is grander and more harrowing than his previous film. Also starring James McAvoy, Brenda Blethyn, Harriet Waller, Juno Temple, Patrick Kennedy, Benedict Cumberbatch, Danny Mays, with film director Anthony Minghella, and in the role of Briony, Saoirse Ronan, Romola Garai, and Vanessa Redgrave. Atonement is a rich, powerful study of sin and its effects from director Joe Wright.

It's the late 1930s as a young girl named Briony Tallis (Saorise Ronan) is completing a play she hopes to show when her eldest brother Leon (Patrick Kennedy) is set to return. Meanwhile, everyone is getting prepared as Briony wants to rehearse the play with her young cousins including Lola (Juno Temple) and twins Jackson and Pierrette (Charlie & Felix von Simson). Later that day, Briony talks to her older sister Cecilia (Keira Knightley) about the housekeeper's son Robbie (James McAvoy) who is set to go to medical school with help from Cecilia's father. During a botched rehearsal for Briony's play, Briony sees a moment between Cecilia and Robbie that led to Cecilia jumping into a garden-infested fountain.

Later that day, Leon arrives with a friend named Paul Marshall (Benedict Cumberbatch) who wows Cecilia's cousins with chocolates. With Robbie invited to the dinner by Leon, Robbie's mother Grace (Brenda Blethyn) is amazed at how he’s starting to have a great future as he tries to write a letter to Cecilia about his feelings. Yet, when he sees Briony playing in the garden, he asks her to give the letter to Cecilia but then realizes he makes a mistake when Briony reads the letter that she gave to Cecilia. The night starts to become troubling when Briony catches Cecilia and Robbie having sex. Things become more complicated when Briony's behavior towards Robbie is aggressive when she is asked by her mother (Harriet Waller) to fetch the twins. When the twins aren't in their rooms, everyone goes for a search where Briony sees an incident involving Lola that changes everything.

Four years later in the beginning stages of World War II, Robbie is a soldier in Northern France as he is joined by Tommy Nettle (Danny Mays) and Frank Mays (Nonso Anozie) during a mission in France. Robbie accepted to become a soldier to avoid further jail time for a crime he didn't commit due to Briony's testimony years ago. Robbie thinks about a meeting he had with Cecilia six months before as she has become a nurse with a promise to her that he will return to her. Walking to the north beach of France with Tommy and Frank, the ill Robbie finally reaches the beaches of Dunkirk hoping to be evacuated with the rest of wounded soldiers. Meanwhile, Briony (Romola Garai) has become a nurse in training. Trying to figure out what she saw those years ago, she is trying to write a story while hoping to have contact with Cecilia through unsuccessful attempts. Briony finally understands the horrors of war where at one moment, she tries to comfort a dying French soldier named Luc (Jeremie Renier) as she tries to come to terms with her own misinterpretations.

When she finally finds Cecilia's address where three weeks before Robbie is sent to France, she meets her older sister and Robbie as she reveals what she really saw and everything. Yet, with so much bitterness towards her, Briony remains haunted until by the time she becomes 77-year olds and as a writer, Briony (Vanessa Redgrave) reveals what she wrote and the result of everything that had happened as she comes to terms of these events in her final days.

While Ian McEwan's story of sin and its effects, the film is a study of morality and how simple mistakes and misinterpretations can ruin the lives of people and such. Screenwriter Christopher Hampton and director Joe Wright creates a film about perspectives in the style of what happened and such. The first example is the broken vase scene where Cecilia dives into the fountain to retrieve a broken piece. The first scene is from Briony's young perspective and then the second is from Robbie and Cecilia's. This is a style of storytelling that is made famous by the Akira Kurosawa 1950 classic film Rashomon about a rape & murder told from four different perspectives. It's really a psychological film where Hampton and Wright are trying to get the audience to think about what they've seen and such.

The film is also a character study of sorts from the mind of Briony. Here's a young girl who saw a few things she didn't understand and then, when a crime that she witnesses turns out to go wrong. The motions in event happen as everything falls apart where this girl turned into a young woman is trying to figure out what she really saw and how she can atone herself from these incidents that she caused. Hampton's study of character and sin is really engrossing as the sadness and frustrations in both Robbie and Cecilia for their love together and how these events are forcing them to be apart. While there's an abrupt shift in that moment from Briony's life in World War II to her present time. It conveys the sense of Briony's state of mind from the previous event she just saw as she begins to think about as a 77-year old woman. The script is definitely faithful to Ian McEwan's novel in some respects while it really serves as a film that is part romance and part mystery.

Director Joe Wright whose lush, stylized approach to directing that made his feature-film debut Pride & Prejudice such a delight to watch now takes a huge step forward into crafting his style. The presentations, the compositions he creates as well as the atmosphere from the dream-like world of the Tallis estate with its gardens and ponds to the harsh, desolate world of Dunkirk beach that included an unbroken tracking shot from a steadicam that conveys the sense of horror and sadness. What is clear is that Wright is becoming more confident as a director as he takes the audience back in time to a period where things are tense and such that included such moments of horror during the war. Even Wright's dramatic presentation is more intimate as directs the actor in a theatrical approach, particularly in the Tallis estate scenes and the sequence involving Cecilia, Robbie, and the 18-year old Briony. Overall, Wright has now become a director who is on his way to fulfill his potential.

Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey does some wonderful work with his lush presentation of the Tallis exterior daytime scenes with some intimate lighting in some of the darker, interior scenes in the estate. The nighttime sequences are wonderfully colorful as it conveys the sense of emotion while the war-time scenes are wonderfully shot to convey its horror. Notably a scene where Robbie with his fellow soldiers walk into the woods to see an act of horror that has McGarvey doing some amazing work. Editor Paul Tothill does some great cutting from the use of backwards movement to the perspective cutting. Tothill's editing is truly superb to convey the sense of emotion and action that goes on. Even through the very emotional scene of Briony, Cecilia, and Robbie that has a rhythm to confirm every moment of drama that goes on.

Production designer Sarah Greenwood with art director Ian Bailie and set decorator Katie Spencer do amazing work in the posh look of the Tallis estate with all of its period look in the furniture, antiques, and such while the war-time scenes are great to convey the dirty, working-class look. Even in the ruins of the Dunkirk scenes are wonderfully built to convey the sense of horror and tragedy. Costume designer Jacqueline Durran does great work in the period-style costumes from the swimsuits Knightley and Ronan wears to the dresses that Knightley wears at night and in the wartime scenes. Durran's costumes are wonderfully exquisite to the times as even the men whether in tuxedos or in army gear are great. The sound work of Catherine Hodgson, recordist Danny Hambrook, and mixer Paul Hamblin is wonderful in capturing the atmosphere of war in the arrival of the Dunkirk scene while it's in greater use to the Tallis estate scenes in some of young Briony's writing in mix with Robbie's writing a letter to Cecilia.

The film's music consists of operatic and classical pieces by Claude Debussy and Giacomo Puccini plus wartime music by Walter Kent & Nat Burton and the prayer piece Dear Lord & Father Of Mankind by John Greenleaf Whittier and Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry are featured. Yet, the music that dominates the film is the sweeping score of Dario Marianelli. Marianelli's score is truly one of 2007's best film scores with its huge arrangements and rhythmic orchestration that includes themes of Briony that is accompanied by a typewriter-rhythm while the more romantic score is very dramatic with flourishing arrangements. The music of the Dunkirk is also sweeping and dramatic with its sense of horror and tragedy as Marianelli creates a score that truly amazing in its own.

The casting by Jina Jay is superb with wonderful small performances from Belgium actor Jeremie Renier as a wounded French soldier, Nonso Anozie as Frank Mays who walks with Robbie in the woods of Northern France, Gina McKee as Briony's head nurse Sister Drummond, Alfie Allen as servant Danny Hardman, film director Anthony Mingella as the interviewer who interviews the 77-year old Briony, Charlie & Felix von Simson as Briony's twin cousins Jackson and Pierrette, and Pride & Prejudice co-stars Peter Wight as a police inspector, and Brenda Blethyn in a great performance as Robbie's caring mother. Harriet Waller is also good as Cecilia and Briony's mother who adores Briony's talents while in shock over Robbie's actions in the crime.

Patrick Kennedy is good as Cecilia's eldest brother Leon while Benedict Cumberbatch is excellent as the charming Paul Marshall. Juno Temple is also excellent as Briony's cousin Lola who manages to become a key player in an incident as she acts a precocious young teenager. One of the film's best supporting performances is Danny Mays as Robbie's fellow soldier Tommy Nettle who brings some humor with some comments but becomes the companion who tries to comfort Robbie in the dire of times.

Keira Knightley delivers a fine performance as Cecilia, a young woman who is deeply in love with Robbie though she couldn't show her feelings publicly. When the love is gone, she is a woman desperate for him as she refuses to have contact with her sister. While it's not as good as her previous collaboration with Wright in Pride & Prejudice, Knightley is at least proving that she's more than a pretty face. James McAvoy delivers an amazing performance as Robbie, a man with ambitions to become a doctor and Cecilia's lover who is good, kind man. When he’s accused of a crime he didn't commit and becomes a soldier, McAvoy's performance is just amazing for his observation and weariness as he sells the sense of frustrations and tragedy of his character. McAvoy and Knightley display amazing chemistry in the scenes they’re in as McAvoy has the look and presence of traditional leading men that came before him.

In the roles of Briony, the trio of actresses for the role are all superb in their performances. Newcomer Saorise Ronan is amazing as the 13-year old Briony, a young girl who has a crush on Robbie and has aspirations to be a writer as she conveys the misguided innocence of a young girl. Ronan's performances in the more dramatic scenes are great for her quick-wit reaction and angst that is displayed as her performance is just unforgettable. Equally as great as well as impressive is Romola Garai as the 18-year old Briony. Garai's performance is astonishing for her sense of restraint in how she tries to come to terms with her actions while not having contact with a lot of people.

Her scene in her attempt to atone for her actions is more surprising as she completely restrains herself from the more dramatic Knightley and forceful McAvoy. It's in that scene that Garai steals the show as she is proving to be one of Britain's finest actresses. Vanessa Redgrave is brilliant in her brief role as the 77-year old Briony who is still trying to find forgiveness in her final days as Redgrave's performance is just powerful for her look and weariness.

Atonement is a rich, powerful, and haunting masterpiece from Joe Wright and company helmed by fantastic performances from Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, and the trio of Saorise Ronan, Romola Garai, and Vanessa Redgrave. While fans of the book might have some issues with the adaptation, they will at least enjoy Wright's interpretation of the book. Those who loved Pride & Prejudice will be amazed in what Wright did as a director as his next film will definitely be one to anticipate for. In the end, for a rich film that questions sin and its consequences, Atonement is the film to go see.

Joe Wright Films: Pride & Prejudice (2005 film) - The Soloist - Hanna - Anna Karenina

(C) thevoid99 2011

Pride & Prejudice (2005 film)

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 12/5/05 w/ Additional Edits.

Novelist Jane Austen has been known for creating witty and fantastic romantic novels during the 19th Century. Several of them had become films like Sense & Sensibility in 1995 by director Ang Lee that starred Emma Thompson who won an award for the film's screenplay. Another film that received great reviews in 1996 based on an Austen novel was Emma starring Gwyneth Paltrow while a year earlier, a modern day version of that novel called Clueless was also popular. Another of Austen's famous novels is Pride & Prejudice that some said was the blueprint of what would become the romantic comedy. The story of five young women living in a poor area in 18th Century England where one of the daughters rebels the idea of marriage for money while falling for an introverted but conflicted man named Darcy.

Throughout the years, there's been several versions of Pride & Prejudice on film yet in 1995, a five-hour miniseries starring Colin Firth as Darcy is often considered to be the most quintessential adaptation of Austen's novel. Recently, there's been other variations on Pride & Prejudice including the Bridget Jones films that also starred Firth as a Darcy-like character and Gurinder Chadha of Bend It Like Beckham directed a Bollywood-inspired version called Bride & Prejudice. Now a new version has emerged where this time around, to play the novel's heroine of Elizabeth Bennett, they turn to one of the hottest young actresses around in Keira Knightley to play the role of rebellious heroine.

Directed by Joe Wright with a screenplay by Deborah Moggach (with additional treatment from Austen fan Emma Thompson), Pride & Prejudice is a love story that explores class, society, and marriage for love or money. Set in 18th Century England, it's a story of how the rebellious Elizabeth Bennett decides to change those rules while dealing with the more conflicted Mr. Darcy. Also starring a large cast of British actors including Brenda Blethyn, Judi Dench, Rosamund Pike, Talulah Riley, Carey Mulligan, Tom Hollander, Simon Woods, Peter Wight, Penelope Wilton and Matthew McFayden as Mr. Darcy plus American actress Jena Malone and Canadian actor Donald Sutherland as Mr. Bennett. This new film adaptation of Pride & Prejudice succeeds in bringing the Austen classic to life once again for a new generation of filmgoers.

While living in a modest farm with their own land and a small income, the Bennett family is awaiting some riches to come with Mr. Bennett destined to be gone soon. With Mrs. Bennett (Brenda Blethyn) knowing that if her five young daughters are to survive, they would have to be married to someone who is rich. For the second eldest daughter Elizabeth, it's an idea she doesn't really like. After the family is invited to a party, Elizabeth is introduced to the quiet, arrogant Mr. Darcy who is accompanied by Mr. Charles Bingley (Simon Woods) and his sister Caroline (Kelly Reilly). Elizabeth's older sister Jane (Rosamund Pike) is feeling very attracted to Mr. Bingley while Mrs. Bennett introduces the rest of the clan that includes the quiet and introverted Mary (Talulah Riley), the giddy and excitable Kitty (Carey Mulligan), and the youngest yet outgoing of the clan, Lydia (Jena Malone).

While Jane has fallen for Mr. Bingley, she is invited to meet with him more though despite being ill during her rainy trip. Elizabeth decides to meet Bingley where she finds herself not at odds with Bingley's snobbish sister but also the more prideful Mr. Darcy. Still with her sisters desire to be married, Elizabeth finds herself being courted by a young pastor named William Collins (Tom Hollander). Then during a trip to London with her sisters, Elizabeth finds herself attracted to a militia officer named Mr. Wickham (Rupert Friend) who knows Mr. Darcy despite a falling-out. After another party where she's forced to contend with Mr. Darcy and the courting of Collins, Collins proposes marriage to Elizabeth but refuses. Mrs. Bennett is upset at the situation as she tries to set up the engagement as in the end, Collins weds Elizabeth's best friend Charlotte (Claudie Blakley).

After realizing that Collins was more well-meaning while visiting Charlotte, Elizabeth joins the wedded couple to a dinner held by Lady Catherine de Bourgh (Judi Dench), who is the aunt of Mr. Darcy. Mr. Darcy is also at the dinner where despite his aunt's social prejudice, he becomes impressed by how Elizabeth manages to hold herself. When Elizabeth learns that Mr. Darcy tried to break the possible engagement of Jane and Mr. Bingley, she becomes very angry at him as Darcy tries to explain himself and professing his love for her. After a tiring period, Elizabeth decides to visit her relatives Mr. Gardiner (Peter Wight) and his wife (Penelope Wilton) where they visit the renovated Darcy home where Elizabeth runs into Mr. Darcy again as well as meeting his sister Georgianna (Tazmin Merchant).

While dealing with Darcy's behavior, Elizabeth decides to come to distressing news of Lydia running away to marry Wickham. Even after learning of the real nature of his falling out with Darcy, Darcy ended up giving in despite Elizabeth’s protests to the chagrin of her mother. When Elizabeth contending her feelings for Darcy and vice versa, she tries to confront herself about her own pride and prejudices about him as she tries to find way to satisfy herself and her family.

While adaptations are tricky to pull, especially a Jane Austen novel. Another issue is the many versions that came out where the most notable to rival in terms of purists is the 1995 miniseries. Still, Joe Wright along with screenwriter Deborah Moggach remain very faithful to the entire novel though its understandable that purists will be upset on what was cut. What really is surprising about the film for newcomers is the style of dialogue and the language its spoken where it is very rich within every word that gives the script a true sense of authenticity.

Even Joe Wright's directing that features epic film movements does some fantastic work with the camera movements as it focuses not on just the relationship of Darcy and Elizabeth but giving the smallest characters a moment to shine. Overall, the directing is very spot-on and proves itself to be very true to what Austen wanted. It's romantic, intelligent, deals with social issues, and it's also funny.

Helping Wright in his visual scope is cinematographer Roman Osin who does not just amazing work in giving the film an epic look in many of the exterior scenes but also some great lighting techniques in the film's night, interior scenes. Osin's work is gorgeous in giving the film the right look. Production designer Sarah Greenwood and supervising art director Ian Bailie also do great work in getting many of the film's interiors of housing, poor and rich to look and feel right that helps set the atmosphere. Especially some of the locations and the houses that got used which are wonderfully used to a great extent. Costume designer Jacqueline Durran also deserves great commendation for her work on the costumes, especially in the ball scenes where they all look very beautiful for all the women in the film. Editor Paul Tothill also brings in some nice cutting styles and giving the film a nice pace at a bit over two-hours where it doesn't feel slow or moves to fast. Just very leisurely.

The music of the film features not just old piano tunes of the day from those times but also the piano is used very proficiently into giving the story a sense of atmosphere or as some kind of emotional outlet, notably with the character of Mary Bennett. Even the orchestral score by Dario Marianelli helps convey that atmosphere while music supervisor Nick Angel also picks the right pieces for the film, even if they're performed imperfectly. It's a wonderfully rich film score that has memorable moments but plays more into conveying the tone of the story.

Now previous castings in film versions of Pride & Prejudice has been crucial in terms of giving the right notes and style of dialogue in the film. This cast for this version of the film is well-executed in every detail. Carey Mulligan is excellent as the naive, excitable Kitty while Talulah Riley is also brilliant as the more introverted Mary who has a great scene playing a piano which she messes up only to be comforted by her father. Peter Wight and Penelope Wilton are also good as Elizabeth's well-meaning relatives as well as Tazmin Merchant in her small role as Darcy's sister and Kelly Reilly as Bingley's snobbish sister. Claudie Blakley is also wonderful in her role as Charlotte, Elizabeth's best friend who gives good reasons into marrying Mr. Collins. Rupert Friend is good as the dashing but ambiguous Wickham while Simon Woods is wonderfully funny as Bingley.

Tom Hollander is a real standout as the well-meaning but naive Mr. Collins where he brings out many of the film’s laughs in a very straight manner as he delves into that role perfectly. Judi Dench is also great with her authority-driven presence where everything she says is really offensive in terms of its social standings while wanting to maintain control in her rich world only to receive a cold dose of reality. It's a great performance by the always wonderful Judi Dench. Jena Malone is perfect in her performance as what some would call the proto-teenybopper of Lydia. Malone manages to standout in every scene she's in while stealing the show from her co-stars including at one moment, Miss Knightley (where in reality, Malone is a year older than Knightley) as she plays up to all the selfishness and energy that Lydia provides. Rosamund Pike is also brilliant in her understated, anguished performance as the eldest Jane who had a chance for love only to have it taken away. Pike really provides the sisterly companionship to Knightley as she manages to give an amazing performance.

Donald Sutherland is outstanding in his role as the soft-spoken but open-minded Mr. Bennett as he provides the comfort that every child needs with their father while maintaining his role as the head of the family. Sutherland really conveys the freedom that Elizabeth needs as he and Knightley have great scenes together as it's a great role for the longtime veteran actor who has worked with the likes of Robert Altman and Fellini. Brenda Blethyn is perfect in her role as Mrs. Bennett where she not only has great scenes with the young actresses and great chemistry with Sutherland. She really provides a lot of the comic backbone of the film with her emotional outbursts, her desire to have her daughters married, and her necessity to fit in with the upper-class. There's never a moment where Blethyn gives a bad performance as her timing in comedy is just perfect in every note.

In the role of Mr. Darcy, Matthew McFayden must've had to live up to a lot of expectations where the role was played previously by Laurence Olivier and most of all, Colin Firth. McFayden however succeeds while having great chemistry with Knightley.  Even as McFayden provides the right sense of melancholia and pride into a character that is complex and vulnerable. It's a true breakthrough performance from Matthew McFayden.

In what is definitely the best performance of career so far, Keira Knightley does an amazing job as Elizabeth Bennet. Knightley brings the angst, rebellion, torment, and stubborn side of Elizabeth Bennett in every way while making her character grow. Knightley proves herself to be a very strong, dramatic actress while dabbling in a bit of humor but using her words and her feelings to bring that character to life. It's truly her best performance in many ways since her credibility as an actress is often overshadowed by extravagant action films.

While it may not live up to previous variations of the novel, the new version of Pride & Prejudice is an excellent film thanks to Joe Wright's direction and faithfulness to the novel led by a superb cast. Fans of Keira Knightley will be glad to see the actress display her talents while being supported by the likes of Matthew McFayden, Donald Sutherland, Brenda Blethyn, Jena Malone, Rosamund Pike, Tom Hollander, and Judi Dench. Another good thing that the film will do for those who had interest in Austen will not only make those new to her work interested in her films but also the novels themselves. In the end, for a good romantic film that is needed for the holidays in a flurry of weightless fluffs, Pride & Prejudice is the film to see.

Joe Wright Films: Atonement - The Soloist - Hanna - Anna Karenina

(C) thevoid99 2011