July 16, 1945 is a day many physicists, scientists, and the world will remember in the project known as Trinity where a weapons test was held in the deserts of New Mexico 200 miles south from the Los Alamos area where many of these scientists would create the atomic bomb. A day that was overseen by J. Robert Oppenheimer and his team as they would create a weapon that had the ability to destroy cities and thus create a world of destruction as it would also set a chain of events leading to the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union that went on for nearly 50 years but also terror that would engulf the world in how it can destroy itself. The film is about the man who would help create the atomic bomb as Oppenheimer is a man filled with complications as someone who had theories about quantum physics and what it could do while is also someone with political views that leaned towards communism as it would later get him in trouble in the 1950s as he would endure a hearing in the era of McCarthyism.
Christopher Nolan’s screenplay doesn’t follow a traditional narrative as it is largely non-linear as it focuses on Oppenheimer’s early life, working for the Manhattan Project in the 1940s, his chaotic personal life, post-war life, and two hearings in the 1950s that would also involve Lewis Strauss as the latter revolves around Strauss at a Senate confirmation hearing as it relates to the former who is questioned over being a communist. The script also showcases a world in which Oppenheimer would see things as it relates to quantum physics while also going into a world where he becomes part of a social circle in the late 1920s/1930s involving those with communist views including a young woman in Jean Tatlot (Florence Pugh) whom he would have an on-off affair with while later marrying Katherine Puening (Emily Blunt) who would stick by him despite his affair with Tatlot that would end in the early 1940s. Oppenheimer’s work through quantum physics and its theories that included collaborations with Ernest Lawrence (Josh Hartnett) and Edward Teller (Benny Safdie) as it gets the attention of the American military as they learn about stories of the Nazi Germany creating their own nuclear weapon program under the supervision of German theoretical physicist Werner Heisenberg (Matthias Schweighofer) whom Oppenheimer met in the 1930s in Switzerland.
Working with General Leslie Groves (Matt Damon) and his then subordinate in Lt. Kenneth Nichols (Dane DeHaan), Oppenheimer would work with the military as they chose a remote area in the New Mexico deserts that would become Los Alamos as they also recruited many scientists, theorists, and others to create the atomic bomb. Even as there would be other places around the country including a location in Chicago headed by Enrico Fermi (Danny Deferrari) and David L. Hill (Rami Malek) who would have their own ideas as they would meet with Oppenheimer outside of their respective bases. Nolan would also play into Oppenheimer’s own personal issues as it relates to the fallout of his affair with Tatlot and the chaos in his marriage to Katherine as well as the aftermath of World War II as he becomes the advisor for the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission headed by Lewis Strauss only for Oppenheimer’s ideas to restrict nuclear weapon development has him at odds with Strauss who has a storyline about his 1959 Senate confirmation hearing.
Nolan’s direction is definitely stylish as it plays into recurring images of water, stars, and fire that play into the mind of Oppenheimer who thinks about the destruction that he’s created. Shot on various locations at New Mexico, California, New Jersey, and bits of Switzerland on 65mm large-format film and IMAX 65mm film in both color and black-and-white film stock. Nolan creates a film that plays into a world that is ever-changing while using its non-linear narrative to move back and forth into stories that relates to Oppenheimer’s life as well as the 1954 security hearing and Strauss’ 1959 Senate confirmation hearing. Notably as Nolan uses a lot of wide and medium shots to cover the vast look of the locations as well some of the hearings with the latter providing a sense of claustrophobia for Oppenheimer’s hearing as it also include these close-ups that add to the drama. There are also elements of surrealism for scenes at Oppenheimer’s hearing that includes him having to talk about his affair with Tatlot as they’re having sex at the hearing with Katherine watching in horror.
Nolan also maintains this sense of drama as it relates to Oppenheimer’s post-war life and the emergence of the Cold War such as a scene at a posh restaurant that is presented in both black-and-white and color as it relates to mood in how it would affect later events. Notably as Oppenheimer also deals with figures such as Boris Pash (Casey Affleck) and William L. Borden (David Dastmalchian) who would try and discredit Oppenheimer in different periods of time as Nolan’s direction would have his camera not show their faces at first or re-show a shot from a different perspective as it plays into the drama. The Trinity sequence of that famed bombing is among one of the key moments in the film as it is about where the camera is as well as those watching from afar where the bomb is about to drop. There is also this tense moment as the countdown occurs as there is a lot of tension but also moments such as Oppenheimer and General Groves having a moment despite their own differences. It all leads to the bomb exploding as it is a key moment in the film but it is followed in this aftermath including a surreal moment in what Oppenheimer realized what he had created.
Nolan’s approach to the hearings as it has all of this drama where Strauss’ aide (Alden Ehrenreich) pieces everything that Strauss had been talking about as it relates to Oppenheimer. Even as it plays into the drama over Oppenheimer’s past as well as Katherine’s past due to her own brief affiliation with communism where the hearing is this chilling moment where Katherine is being grilled by Roger Robb (Jason Clarke) only for things to backfire. Even as it would parallel with Strauss’ hearing where it would play into some surprising revelations into why he and Oppenheimer had a falling out. Its ending plays to a scene as it relates to Oppenheimer meeting Albert Einstein (Tom Conti) that is shown early in the film but its conversation isn’t revealed until the end. It all relates to a quote about Prometheus and what he brought to the world as it alludes to the troubled legacy that Oppenheimer would bring to the world. Overall, Nolan crafts a gripping yet intoxicating film about the man who would bring the world a weapon that would destroy it.
Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema does phenomenal work with the film’s cinematography with its emphasis on natural lighting for the scenes in Los Alamos and New Mexico including its usage of low-key lighting for the interior scenes at night while the black-and-white footage has a richness that play into the world that Strauss sees. Editor Jennifer Lame does incredible work with the film’s editing as its usage of montages, jump-cuts, and other stylish cut add to the drama as well as the usage of parallel moments in its non-linear narrative as it is a highlight of the film. Production designer Ruth de Jong, with supervising art director Samantha Englender plus set decorators Claire Kaufman, Olivia Peebles, and Adam Willis, does brilliant work with the look of the Los Alamos base including its houses, labs, and the tower where the bomb would drop for the Trinity project as well as the places that the characters lived in including the office where Oppenheimer has his hearing. Costume designer Ellen Mirojnick does excellent work with the costumes that play into the period of the time as well as the suit and Fedora hat that Oppenheimer wears as well as some of the dresses that Katherine and Tatlot would wear.
Prosthetic makeup designer Luisa Abel does terrific work with the makeup effects for a key scene in which Oppenheimer sees a young woman’s skin starting to peel away in a surreal moment as it relates to what Oppenheimer has done. The special effects work of Scott R. Fisher and Laurie Pellard, along with visual effects supervisor Andrew Jackson, do amazing work with the visual effects with the usage of practical effects to create the sense of realism in what Oppenheimer sees as well as the explosions in the tests he and his team would create. Sound designer Richard King does remarkable work with the sound in the way certain gadgets would sound as well as the immense explosion of the Trinity bomb as it is a major highlight of the film. The film’s music by Ludwig Goransson is phenomenal for its mixture of eerie orchestral pieces as well as some electronic-based bits as it plays into the dramatic suspense and tension that looms into the film as well as the sense of dread as Goransson’s score is a major highlight of the film.
The casting by John Papsidera is marvelous as it features some notable small roles and appearances from Flora Nolan as the young woman Oppenheimer sees at an event following the Trinity project whose skin gets peeled by the bomb, Danny Deferrari as the Italian physicist Enrico Fermi who works in Chicago, James Remar as the then-Secretary of War in the 1940s in Henry Stimson, Emma Dumont as Oppenheimer’s sister-in-law Jackie, Macon Blair as Oppenheimer’s lawyer during the security hearings in Lloyd K. Garrison, Matthias Schweighofer as the German theoretical physicist Werner Heisenberg whom Oppenheimer meets in the 1930s, Jack Cutmore-Scott as Security Officer Lyall Johnson, James Urbaniak as the philosopher Kurt Godel whom Oppenheimer would meet in Switzerland, James D’Arcy as the experimental physicist Patrick Blackett whom Oppenheimer studied from at Cambridge back in 1926, Hap Lawrence as U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, Louise Lombard as Teller’s lover Ruth Tolman, Josh Zuckerman as one of Oppenheimer’s first students in Giovanni Rossi Lomanitz, and Gary Oldman in a superb one-scene appearance as U.S. President Harry S. Truman.
In roles as members of the team that helped Oppenheimer in creating the bomb include Michael Angarano as Robert Serber, Devon Bostick as Seth Neddemeyer, Olli Haaskivi as Edward Condon, Alex Wolff as a former student of Oppenheimer in Luis Walter Alvarez, Harrison Gilbertson as Philip Morrison, Jack Quaid as Richard Feynman, Josh Peck as Kenneth Bainbridge who would push the button for the Trinity bomb explosion, Gustaf Skarsgard as German-American physics theorist Hans Bethe, Christopher Denham as Klaus Fuchs who would later revealed to be a spy for the Soviet Union, and Olivia Thirlby as the lone woman in the team in Lilli Hornig who would play a key part in the development of the Trinity Project as they’re all fantastic in their roles with Angarano, Peck, Wolff, and Thirlby being the major standouts.
Other notable key small roles include Matthew Modine as Vannevar Bush who helps create the Manhattan Project, David Krumholtz as Oppenheimer’s friend Isidor Isaac Rabi who is also a physicist who is worried about the moral implications in creating the bomb, Dylan Arnold as Oppenheimer’s younger brother Frank who would help find the site for Los Alamos, Jefferson Hall as Haakon Chevalier as a friend of Oppenheimer with ties to communism, Tony Goldwyn as Gordon Gray as the head judge at Oppenheimer’s hearing, David Dastmalchian as William L. Borden as a government official who would write a letter to the FBI accusing Oppenheimer to be a spy for the Soviet Union, Dane DeHaan as General Groves’ subordinate Kenneth Nichols who would also try to discredit Oppenheimer in the 1950s, and Alden Ehrenreich as Strauss’ senate aide who accompanies Strauss during the hearing while trying to piece together Strauss’ relationship with Oppenheimer.
Tom Conti is excellent as Albert Einstein as the famed physicist/scientist whom Oppenheimer goes to advice over calculations as he would later meet Einstein years later in the 1950s as he laments over what Oppenheimer has created. Jason Clarke is superb as Roger Robb as a prosecutor at Oppenheimer’s hearing who is intent on bringing Oppenheimer and his associates down while Josh Hartnett is fantastic as Ernest Lawrence as a colleague at Berkeley who is aware of what Oppenheimer is creating though the two would later fall out for a time. Benny Safdie is brilliant as Edward Teller as the famed theoretical physicist who is a key figure that collaborates with Oppenheimer as well as coming up with the idea of the hydrogen bomb despite Oppenheimer’s views on nuclear weapons. Kenneth Branagh is amazing in his small role as Niels Bohr as the Danish physicist who is fascinated by Oppenheimer’s theories as he would be a mentor while also getting a look into Oppenheimer’s work.
Rami Malek and Casey Affleck are great in their performances in their respective small roles as physicist David L. Hill and Colonel Boris Pash with the former who worked in Chicago as he would later play a key role at Strauss’ hearing while the latter is a military official who tries to discredit Oppenheimer. Florence Pugh is incredible as Jean Tatlot as Oppenheimer’s lover in the 1930s who had communist views as they would have an unusual relationship only for things to disintegrate following his marriage to Katherine as their affair would later get troubling. Emily Blunt is marvelous as Katherine “Kitty” Oppenheimer as Oppenheimer’s wife who deals with her husband’s role and his affair as well as the things said about him where Blunt has a great moment upon being confronted by Robb at her husband’s security hearing as she destroyed him. Matt Damon is remarkable as General Leslie Groves as a military official who works with Oppenheimer despite their own differences as he sees the potential of what they’re creating as he also knows what is at stake during World War II.
Robert Downey Jr. is phenomenal as Lewis Strauss as the head at U.S. Atomic Energy Commission who would bring Oppenheimer as an advisor only to feel humiliated by Oppenheimer as he would have a falling out with Oppenheimer as he would later have a Senate confirmation hearing where he would talk about his issues with Oppenheimer as Downey shows restraint in his performance but also a lot of complexities into the character. Finally, there’s Cillian Murphy in a tremendous performance as J. Robert Oppenheimer as the famed theorist physicist who is called the Father of the Atomic Bomb as he is man that is filled with complications as he tries to figure out how to create something only to realize that he has created a chain of events that would trouble him. Murphy’s performance is filled with a lot of restraint but also anguish into a man who deals with a legacy that would haunt him as it is a career-defining performance from Murphy.
Oppenheimer is an outstanding film from Christopher Nolan that features a spectacular leading performance from Cillian Murphy. Along with its ensemble cast, immense technical work, a screenplay that explores a man’s troubled life and what he created, and Ludwig Goransson’s eerie music score. It is a film that is unlike many bio-pics as it focuses more on exploring the legacy of a man who would create a weapon for the world to destroy itself and the morality he would endure for his part in that creation. In the end, Oppenheimer is a magnificent film from Christopher Nolan.
Christopher Nolan Films: Following (1998 film) - Memento - Insomnia (2002 film) - Batman Begins - The Prestige - The Dark Knight - Inception - The Dark Knight Rises - Interstellar - Dunkirk - Tenet - The Auteurs #13: Christopher Nolan
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Five years following an assassination attempt in Italy, James Bond is coaxed out of retirement to find a scientist as it leads to something much bigger involving a mysterious figure who has gained access to biochemical weapons that would go after specific targets. It is a film in which the secret agent doesn’t just deal with a new foe who wants to go after Bond but also those close to him as well as his enemies including Ernst Stavros Blofeld whom had been involved in not just the assassination attempt on Bond but also another incident several years prior that involves this madman in Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek) who has a major grudge against Blofeld and his organization in Spectre. The film’s screenplay opens with a scene involving a young Madeleine Swann (Coline Defaud) who witnesses the murder of her mother (Mathilde Bourbin) and her own near-death experience from Safin as it then cuts to her as an adult (Lea Seydoux) who is vacationing with Bond in Italy where things went wrong as Bond believed that Swan betrayed him to Blofeld.
Much of the story takes place five years after Bond’s assassination attempt as he had retired in Jamaica when Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright) asks for his help following a break-in at a MI6 lab where the Russian scientist Valdo Obruchev (David Dencik) had been kidnapped as he had created a bioweapon with nanobots for MI6 called Project Heracles that was intended as an off-the-books project in the hope that it would kill intended targets. Instead, it goes in the wrong hands where M sends Nomi (Lashana Lynch) who is the new 007 to Cuba where Bond meets the novice CIA agent Paloma (Ana de Armas) who helps him retrieve Obruchev to Leiter but something goes wrong due to Leiter’s new partner Logan Ash (Billy Magnussen) who causes trouble for Bond and Leiter leaving Obruchev to escape. The second act revolves around not just revelations for Bond about Swann, who gets an unfortunate meeting with Safin, but also what happened in Cuba in what Bond and Paloma saw as the former meets with Blofeld as they both learn that they have a shared enemy. Yet, Bond’s journey leads him back to Swann who has another surprise that only add more stakes to what Bond is facing as well as what Safin is planning in the film’s third act.
Cary Joji Fukunaga’s direction definitely has an air of style in the way he presents the different locations Bond is in but also a world that is about to be in danger once again as Bond has to save it. Shot on various locations in Norway, Italy, Jamaica, the Faroe Islands, and London with some bits shot in Pinewood Studios in Britain. Fukunaga definitely plays into a spy that has been through a lot but he is also coping with loss and betrayal as he is unsure about returning to the world in general as it is often ever-changing. Fukunaga does make the sets feel important such as the scenes at Matera in Italy that includes a big chase scene that is captured through wide and medium shots where Bond and Swann are dealing with cars and motorcycles with the Aston Martin DB5 being the weapon to deal with these assassins. The scenes set in Cuba that were shot on location at Pinewood are also filled with these medium and wide shots but also this sense of movement and where the cameras are placed as it adds that air of location where there are moments of humor from Paloma but also moments that play into the suspense.
There are also close-ups in some of the film’s emotional moments where Fukunaga play into Swann’s own fear as it relates to Safin but also this meeting between Bond and Blofeld as it adds a lot of suspense and drama. Fukunaga definitely aims for something straightforward for these non-action scenes that also includes the scene where Bond discovers a major secret from Swann which add a lot of what is at stake for Bond. Notably as Safin is someone whose background as it relates to his family and what they’ve done for Spectre shows exactly why he wants revenge and sees Bond as an equal in the fact that they’re both killers yet Safin is just trying to tidy things up for a new world. Fukunaga’s approach to Safin’s island and the factory/lab he has definitely echoes a lot of Bond films of the past while he also creates some unique tracking shots for a key scene up the stairs where Bond deals with Safin’s soldiers. The film’s climax is immense with a lot at stake but there is so much more as it relates to not just the world in general but also Bond himself as it relates to Swann as well as everything he had went through. Overall, Fukunaga crafts an exhilarating and gripping film about a spy who deals with a new foe who is creating a bioweapon that would wreak havoc on the world.
Cinematographer Linus Sandgren does incredible work with the film’s cinematography with its usage of low-key lights for some of the interior/exterior scenes in Cuba to the natural lighting for scenes in Italy as well as some stylish interior lighting for the scenes at Safin’s island. Editors Elliot Graham and Tom Cross do amazing work with the editing with its usage of jump-cuts and rhythmic cuts as well as knowing when to let shots linger as well as to help create suspenseful moments. Production designer Mark Tildesley, with set decorator Veronique Melery and senior art director Mark Harris, does brilliant work with the look of the cabin home that Madeleine lived in as a kid as well as Safin’s island as well as his lab and factory. Costume designer Suttirat Anne Larlab does excellent work with the costumes from the clothes that Bond wears as well as some of the stylish clothing of Nomi and Swann and the robes that Safin wears.
Hair and makeup designer Mark Phillips, with prosthetic makeup designer Brian Gower, does fantastic work with the look of Safin from his disfigured look as well as the look of Blofeld following what happened to him previously. Special effects supervisor Chris Corbould, along with visual effects supervisors Yael Majors and Charlie Noble, does terrific work with the effects from the stunt work and set pieces as well as some of the visual effects that involve some of the bioweapon that Safin is developing. Sound designer Brian Bowen, with sound editor James Harrison and Oliver Tarney, does superb work with the sound in the way some of the gadgets sound as well as the way explosions sound and other sparse moments.
The film’s music by Hans Zimmer is phenomenal for its soaring orchestral-based music score that also feature elements of other compositions of past movie themes including the song We Have All the Time in the World from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service while the titular song by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell that is performed by the former is this moody and somber song that is actually a really good song that does play into the drama. Music supervisor Randall Poster does create a wonderful soundtrack that includes We Have All the Time in the World as well as a French pop song from Dalida and some reggae for scenes in Jamaica.
The casting by Debbie McWilliams and Jemima McWilliams is marvelous as it feature some notable small roles from Hugh Dennis and Priyanga Buford as a couple of scientists who worked with Obruchev, Mathilde Bourbin as Madeleine’s mother, Coline Defaud as the young Madeleine, Dani Benssalah as Safin’s henchman Primo who wears a mysterious fake eye, and Lisa-Dorah Sonnet as a young girl named Mathilde. Billy Magnussen is terrific as the CIA agent Logan Ash who is Leiter’s assigned partner who annoys both Bond and Leiter as he has ulterior motives of his own. Rory Kinnear is superb as M’s chief of staff Bill Tanner who aides Bond in getting the chance to interrogate Blofeld as he also question M’s motives over the Heracles project. David Dencik is excellent as the Russian scientist Valdo Obruchev who created Heracles as someone who is this slimy yet comical villain who is willing to help Safin. Ana de Armas is fantastic in her brief role as the novice CIA agent Paloma who helps Bond in retrieving Obruchev as she has some funny lines while also being a total badass as she is just so fun to watch.
Christoph Waltz is brilliant in his brief role as Ernst Stavros Blofeld as the head of Spectre who is in prison as someone who is still running his operation as he becomes aware that he and Bond have a shared enemy as he also toys with Bond about Bond’s own motives. Ralph Fiennes is amazing as M as the head of MI6 who is reluctant to have Bond back on board while also revealing about his intentions for Heracles as he realizes that it was a bad idea as he hopes Bond can stop it from happening. Jeffrey Wright is incredible as Felix Leiter as a CIA agent and Bond’s friend who coaxes Bond out of retirement as he is aware of what Obruchev has created and hope that the project is stopped as he is also suspicious about Ash whom he’s not fond of. Naomie Harris and Ben Whishaw are remarkable in their respective roles as M’s secretary Moneypenny and the quartermaster Q as the two who stick by Bond with the former being a no-nonsense secretary who knows something is up and wants Bond to handle while the latter brings a lot of wit as someone who has a love-hate relationship with Bond as he would also uncover some deep secrets that involve Safin.
Lashana Lynch is phenomenal as Nomi as the 007 who Bond meets in Jamaica as he sees her as a threat of sorts though he realizes that she is a damn good spy as well as someone who doesn’t take any shit as Bond is aware of her worth. Lea Seydoux is tremendous as Dr. Madeleine Swann as a psychiatrist who is carrying secrets about her own past and her time with Safin as well as something that adds to the stake where Seydoux brings a lot of complexity to the character that play into a woman filled with regret and loss but also some hope for Bond. Rami Malek is sensational as Lyutsifer Safin as a madman who is trying to destroy Spectre as well as see Bond as a threat as he has this creepy presence to him as someone who wants to clean up the world but through nefarious means. Finally, there’s Daniel Craig in an outstanding performance as James Bond as the famed spy who is eager for a life outside of being in her majesty’s secret service only to deal with a much more sinister plot as Craig maintains that brooding persona but also someone who has humor and knows what is at stake as it is a fitting finale in the famed role as Agent 007.
No Time to Die is a sensational film from Cary Joji Fukunaga that features a tremendous performance from Daniel Craig in his final outing as James Bond. Along with its ensemble cast, riveting suspense and action, high-grade stakes, gorgeous visuals, and an incredible music score and soundtrack. The film isn’t just this sprawling and eerie spy-suspense film but also a film that plays into a man having to save the world with much more for him to deal with as it is also one of the finest films of the James Bond film series. In the end, No Time to Die is a spectacular film from Cary Joji Fukunaga.
James Bond Files: The EON Films: Dr. No - From Russia With Love - Goldfinger - Thunderball - You Only Live Twice - On Her Majesty's Secret Service - Diamonds are Forever - Live and Let Die - The Man with the Golden Gun - The Spy Who Loved Me - Moonraker - For Your Eyes Only - Octopussy - A View to a Kill - The Living Daylights - Licence to Kill - GoldenEye - Tomorrow Never Dies - The World is Not Enough - Die Another Day - Casino Royale - Quantum of Solace - Skyfall - SPECTRE
Non-EON Films: Casino Royale (Climax! TV Episode) - Casino Royale (1967 film) - Never Say Never Again
Bond Documentaries: Bond Girls are Forever - True Bond - Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007
Cary Joji Fukunaga Films: Sin Nombre - Jane Eyre (2011 film) - (Beasts of No Nation)
© thevoid99 2022
Directed by Bryan Singer and screenplay by Anthony McCarten from a screen story by McCarten and Peter Morgan, Bohemian Rhapsody is the story about the life of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury from the formation of the band Queen to their legendary performance at Live Aid in July of 1985. The film is bio-pic that play into a man’s rise into becoming a star only for him and the band to become big while dealing with the many trappings of fame as Mercury is portrayed by Rami Malek. Also starring Lucy Boynton, Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy, Joseph Mazzello, Aidan Gillen, Allen Leech, and Tom Hollander. Bohemian Rhapsody is a drab and un-exciting film about one of the greatest vocalists of the 20th Century told in such poor style by Bryan Singer.
The story of Queen is probably one of the finest stories ever told in the history of rock n’ roll as a band that featured a flamboyant vocalist in Freddie Mercury along with the soaring guitar work of Brian May (Gwilym Lee), the bass work of John Deacon (Joseph Mazzello) and the thunderous drumming of Roger Taylor (Ben Hardy) as they fused glam rock, hard rock, and progressive rock early in their career. Then in 1975, the band released A Night at the Opera that included the song Bohemian Rhapsody as they would become massive superstars in their native Britain and around the world while would spend the rest of the 70s and early 1980s reaching a worldwide audience and continue to do so until Mercury’s death in November 24, 1991 of bronchial pneumonia due to the cause of AIDS just 24 hours after he announced to the world he had AIDS. While the band’s story would be tailor made for a feature film to showcase the band’s early struggles and their many rise and falls that they would endure, this film unfortunately manages to play by the numbers and schematics expected into a bio-pic which is the opposite of what Queen are.
Anthony McCarten’s screenplay focuses mainly on Mercury from the time he was working as a baggage handler at Heathrow while following a band called Smile that would feature May and Taylor in 1970 to the band’s legendary performance at Live Aid in 1985. It plays into the traditional schematics of a wannabe singer with dreams of being a band, meet the people he would form the band, fall in love with a girl or a guy, they become successful, egos become inflated, one wants to make a solo record, break-up, everything goes to shit, and the eventual reunion/redemption. Queen doesn’t follow that formula but McCarten’s script not only relies on that schematic but would also make Mercury’s life story dull and take away some of the edges that he was known for in his personal life as many of sexual exploits are only hinted superficially and not any further. At the same time, McCarten’s script seems lost in what story to tell as it relates to Mercury’s personal life and the people whom he’s close with whether it’s longtime on/off girlfriend Mary Austin (Lucy Boynton) and Jim Hutton (Aaron McCusker) whom Mercury would meet at a party as he sees Mercury for who he really is.
Then there’s Paul Prenter (Allen Leech) who was Mercury’s personal manager/assistant as he is a figure that would be a source of conflict between Mercury, the band, and those close to Mercury though he is first presented as an assistant to the band’s first manager John Reid (Aiden Gillen). Prenter is someone who is an enabler to Mercury’s vices as he would also do things to drive the wedge between Mercury and the band whether it’s through creative issues or lifestyle issues. It’s a dramatic crutch that loses sight of the real story that relates to Queen’s continuous rise but the script doesn’t dwell on the early struggles while taking some dramatic liberties into the conflict within the band over creativity. There are also moments that are baffling as it relates to historical inaccuracies and a lot of anachronisms.
If the script is a mess in its inability to find a focus on what part of the story to tell, it is nothing compared to the chaos that is in Bryan Singer’s direction. Shot mainly in Britain, the film tries to capture the spirit of the band in terms of its flamboyance and over-the-top presentation which they were known for but in all of the wrong places. Notably in the fact that Singer doesn’t do enough to make the film be dangerous as he’s confined by the PG-13 rating which is too tame for a band like Queen while he also makes some bad visual choices and dramatic moments that never felt genuine. As great as those songs are, Singer unfortunately create moments of how they create this song or that song where it felt more like sketches rather than real scenes as an excuse for those songs to be played. Even in a sequence in the creation of the film’s titular song as it is played for humor that never felt funny and instead is portrayed as awkward.
Due the chaotic presentation of the film and its inability to be unconventional, the film would have some tonal issues in the presentation where it wants to be entertaining and dramatic. Part of the reason for its tonal inconsistencies is due to the fact that Bryan Singer was fired just weeks before principal photography was finished and was replaced by Dexter Fletcher who seemed to try and create a film that is at least engaging. Unfortunately, Fletcher couldn’t clean up much of the film’s stench in some of the compositions that Singer created that includes the sequence where Queen meets with John Reid for the first time with Prenter also at the meeting. The usage of medium shots, wide shots, and close-ups in that fast-cutting style is a key scene of how bad the presentation is as it is clear Singer is trying to create something fast and to the point but it felt so wrong. Especially for the fact that the scene is set in the early 1970s just as the band had released their first album when in reality, Queen wouldn’t meet Reid until 1975 around the time they were making A Night at the Opera while Mercury and Queen wouldn’t meet Prenter until 1977 as he was part of the band’s circle until 1986 when Mercury got rid of him for good.
It’s these historical inaccuracies that really irks anyone who is familiar with Queen as Singer, Fletcher, and those involved in the post-production definitely play it safe and suggest that Queen was a success in the early years following the release of their hit single Killer Queen in 1974. That’s not exactly true as Queen didn’t become a big deal in the U.S. until a year later due to the fact that their early U.S. appearances had them opening for Mott the Hoople which was cut short due to illnesses in the band. In that sequence of them playing in the U.S., the song Fat Bottomed Girls is being played even though the song wasn’t created until 1978. The anachronisms and historical inaccuracies, which includes claims that the band broke up in 1984 which was false though they took a hiatus the year before to do other projects, definitely kill the film’s enjoyment yet it’s nothing compared to the climatic performance in Live Aid as it is extremely underwhelming in its entire presentation.
Famous for its 20-minute set of six songs, a sea of arms filling out Wembley Stadium as they clap in unison to Radio Ga-Ga. Only four of the six songs are presented while the scene which is shot in an air force base, as Wembley Stadium is no more, feels very small. Plus, its emphasis to get the perspective of the audience in the stadium, pubs, and at the homes of several people including Mercury’s family makes it an awkward experience. Overall, Singer, Fletcher, producer Graham King, producer/Queen manager Jim Beach, and 20th Century Fox create a poor and inconsequential film about the life of one of the greatest singers of the 20th Century.
Cinematographer Newton Thomas Siegel does some fine work with the film’s cinematography in creating some of the lighting for some of the shows performed in arenas as well as some low-key lighting for a few dramatic scenes in the film. Editor/music composer John Ottman does terrible work with the film’s editing as it plays too much into chaotic editing styles where you get a few seconds of a shot rather than let a shot play out for more than 10-15 seconds including that scene of Queen meeting John Reid as it’s an example of what not to do while Ottman’s music score is mainly a collage of music from Queen as it is never memorable nor does it stick out. Production designer Aaron Haye, along with set decorators Anna Lynch-Robinson, Sarah White, and Sarah Whittle plus art directors David Hindle and Stuart Kearns, does excellent work with the look of the clubs and some of the places the characters go to including Mercury’s homes in London and Munich. Costume designer Julian Day does fantastic work with the design of some of the clothes that Mercury wear to sport his evolving fashion from the flamboyant to the leather look he would have in the early 80s.
Hair/makeup supervisor Rebecca Cole does terrific work with the evolving hairstyle and look of Mercury from the 1970s to the 1980s though the prosthetic overbite teeth that Malek has to wear as Mercury at times is visually distracting for the wrong reasons. Special effects supervisor Manex Efrem, along with visual effects supervisors Ana Grgic and Paul Norris, does some OK work with pyro for some of the stage performances though the visual effects for the crowd and the recreation of Wembley Stadium doesn’t feel right as it’s not as big to play into the magnitude of Queen’s legendary performance at Live Aid. Sound editor John Warhurst has some good moments in the sound in some of the non-musical scenes yet the way the music is mixed with the live audience never feels right nor does it feel like a live sound as it really hurts the film. Music supervisor Becky Bentham does decent work with the film’s soundtrack as it feature a bit of music from May/Taylor’s pre-Queen band Smile along with some of the music at the times though the usage of Rick James’ Super Freak at a party scene set during the late 70s when the song hadn’t even been made yet just adds to the jarring tone of the film.
The casting by Susie Figgis is wonderful in some spots as it feature some small appearances from Michelle Duncan as a journalist asking Mercury some personal questions during a press conference, Neil Fox-Roberts as Mary Austin’s deaf father, Max Bennett as Austin’s boyfriend late in the film, Jack Roth as Smile vocalist/bassist Tim Staffell, Dermot Murphy as Live Aid co-organizer Bob Geldof, Tim Plester as music producer Roy Thomas Baker, Dickie Beau as BBC radio DJ/future comedy legend Kenny Everett, Priya Blackburn as Mercury’s sister Kashmira Bulsara, Meneka Das and Ace Bhatti as in their respective roles as Mercury’s parents in Jer and Bomi Bulsara, and current Queen vocalist Adam Lambert in a lame cameo as an American trucker Mercury meets in the U.S. with all sorts of horrific beard, mustache, and trucker looker as he looks so unconvincing to play a trucker.
Mike Myers’ cameo as EMI music executive Ray Foster is one that is just distracting as he is just there to give Queen a lot of shit and be used as a plot device to motivate them to release Bohemian Rhapsody with a reference to the film Wayne’s World as it never works and only feels like useless cameo. Aaron McCusker is pretty good as Mercury’s life-partner in his final years in Jim Hutton though only appears in two scenes such as their lone meeting during the second act at the aftermath of the party and just before the film’s climax at Live Aid. Allen Leech is OK as Paul Prenter as an assistant to manager Jim Reid who would become Mercury’s personal assistant/lover who would also be Mercury’s enabler as he’s someone who is never really defined as a true person but rather a caricature that doesn’t have any redeeming qualities. Aiden Gillen is terrific as Queen’s first manager Jim Reid as someone who would help them be successful though he is underused. Tom Hollander is superb as Jim “Miami” Beech as the band’s second and permanent manager who started off handling the band’s financial, legal, and other business issues and later help them deal with conflicts and such.
Lucy Boynton is fantastic as Mary Austin as Mercury’s on-off girlfriend/muse as someone who was supportive of Mercury and helped him find himself through fashion while also being the one person to try and ground Mercury later in the film. Joseph Mazzello and Ben Hardy are excellent in their respective roles as bassist John Deacon and drummer Roger Taylor with Mazzello as the more reserved Deacon who shares Mercury in his love for funk while Hardy displays the energy of Taylor but also someone who isn’t afraid to show his opinions on things. Gwilym Lee is brilliant as guitarist Brian May who is shown as someone a bit reserved but also has some things to say as he also tries to maintain some order in the band despite some of the issues they have. Finally, there’s Rami Malek in an amazing performance as Freddie Mercury as the Queen vocalist who is a man of charisma and grandeur as Malek is able to capture all of those nuances of Mercury performance-wise but is hampered by the script in the way Mercury is presented behind the scenes at never gets the essence of who he is as it’s a flawed performance only because of the script and the shortcomings of the direction despite Malek’s effort to make Mercury interesting.
Despite some of the performances of the cast and the music of Queen that is presented, Bohemian Rhapsody is a film that is a total disservice and a major slap in the face to the legacy of Queen and its late singer in Freddie Mercury. It’s a film that plays way too by the book to create any standout moments while never doing enough to go into the edges and some of the funnier and seedier stories of the band. Plus, it’s a film that die-hard fans of Queen no question will be insulted by for its inaccuracies and dramatic liberties as it tries to do so many things only to end up being quite boring in some parts. In the end, Bohemian Rhapsody is just a tremendously horrible and insulting film from Bryan Singer and everyone else who had a hand in creating another lame bio-pic.
© thevoid99 2019
Written and directed by David Lowery, Ain’t Them Bodies Saints is the story about a man who goes to prison for his wife after she had shot a police officer. Years later, he escapes prison in order to reunite with his wife while being pursued by the law and other forces. The film is an exploration into love as it plays to a couple who made a mistake as they deal with the forces who are after them. Starring Casey Affleck, Rooney Mara, Ben Foster, Rami Malek, Charles Baker, Nate Parker, and Keith Carradine. Ain’t Them Bodies Saints is a chilling yet evocative film from David Lowery.
Set in Texas, it’s a film where a man tries to return to his wife and the daughter he never met as he escapes prison. Serving time for wounding a police officer and other offenses though he took the blame for shooting the officer as his wife was pregnant at the time. Yet, it’s a story where Bob Muldoon (Casey Affleck) is eager to see Ruth Guthrie (Rooney Mara) and their daughter Sylvie (Kennadie and Jacklynn Smith) who is about to turn four as he would get warnings from an old friend in Skerritt (Keith Carradine) to not see Ruth. Though Bob would trek around different states to reach Texas and see Ruth as he knows there’s a price on his head.
David Lowery’s screenplay doesn’t really go for plot but it’s more about a man wanting to redeem himself and be there for his wife. Yet, the officer his wife shot in Patrick Wheeler (Ben Foster) checks on Ruth as he would befriend her and her daughter while he goes on the search for Bob. Unlike the intentions of the law and some bounty hunters that tried to give threaten Skerritt, Patrick has very different intentions to meet Bob. Much of the script involves a lot of letter-writing from Bob to Ruth in his attempts to maintain contact with her where Ruth would eventually receive the letters but she’s more concerned with her daughter and to live a good life. Bob’s impending return only causes a lot of grief and some regret for her actions as she has a hard time meeting Patrick as she is unaware of Patrick’s real intentions.
Lowery’s direction is truly mesmerizing as it recalls a lot of the visual language of Terrence Malick. Much of it involves a lot of images that play into a dream-like tone as well as shooting on locations around the hills of Texas as there is no real definition of when the film takes place. Lowery’s compositions in its use of wide-shots, medium shots, and close-ups has this loose yet enchanting quality that makes the film very engaging while playing up to the sense of naturalism that on display. Lowery also maintains that air of suspense in not just the sense of what would happen if Bob gets caught but who will catch him as well as what would happen if he does finally reach Ruth. It adds to that sense of what might happen or what might not happen as well as Patrick’s growing attachment towards Ruth and his intentions into meeting Bob. Overall, Lowery crafts a very gripping yet somber film about a man trying to come home to his family.
Cinematographer Bradford Young does brilliant work with the film‘s very understated yet gorgeous cinematography from the use of low-key lights for the interior and exterior scenes at night while playing to the use of natural lighting for many of its exteriors including one key scene at night. Editors Craig McKay and Jane Rizzo do amazing work with the editing with its use of dissolves and jump-cuts to create a sense of style in some of the narration when Bob is writing a letter to Ruth as well as some intense cuts for some of its suspenseful moments. Production designer Jane Healey and set decorator Adam Willis do nice work with the look of the house that Ruth lives in with Sylvie as well as the antiques shop that Skerritt runs.
Costume designer Malgosia Turzanska does terrific work with the costumes where it plays to a certain period in time but also has a realness that makes it much more ambiguous. Sound designer Kent Sparling does fantastic work with the sound from the way some of the voice-overs are presented to some of the moments in the film‘s locations. The film’s music by Daniel Hart does incredible work with the film’s music as it is largely based on string instruments ranging from folk to country with some orchestral string flourishes as it plays to the suspense and drama as it’s one of the film’s major highlights.
The casting by Vicky Boone and Avy Kaufman is superb as it includes some notable small roles from Rami Malek as a driver that Bob meets, Nate Parker as an old friend of Bob whom he lets crash in his place, Charles Baker as a brooding bounty hunter, and in the role of Sylvie, Kennadie and Jacklynn Smith as they do wonderful work in playing the young girl. Keith Carradine is excellent as the old town leader Skerritt who watches over Ruth while warning Bob not to go see her. Ben Foster is amazing as Patrick Wheeler as the man who got shot by Ruth four years earlier as he goes on the search to find Bob while looking out for Ruth and befriend her.
Rooney Mara is brilliant as Ruth Guthrie as a young woman who committed a sin in shooting Patrick as she tries to deal with what Bob has done for her while wondering if him returning would be good for her and their daughter. Finally, there’s Casey Affleck in a great performance as Bob Muldoon as this man eager to get back to his wife no matter what the cost is as it’s an entrancing yet somber performance of a man just wanting to come home and see the family he lost.
Ain’t Them Bodies Saints is a remarkable from David Lowery. Featuring tremendous performances from Casey Affleck, Rooney Mara, and Ben Foster, it’s a film that is a smart and compelling crime-drama that doesn’t play by the rules while focusing on its characters and themes of redemption. In the end, Ain’t Them Bodies Saints is a phenomenal film from David Lowery.
David Lowery Films: (Pete's Dragon (2016 film)) - (A Ghost Story) - (The Old Man & the Gun) - (The Year of Everlasting Storm) - The Green Knight - (Peter Pan & Wendy)
© thevoid99 2014
Written and directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, Short Term 12 is the story about a young foster-care facility supervisor for young teens as she deals with her own issues in her life while becoming attached to a troubled young girl. The film explores the world of parentless children who are trying to find a family as it’s told from the perspective of a young woman who was also a foster child as she deals with the world that these young kids are going into. Starring Brie Larson, John Gallagher Jr., Kaitlyn Dever, Rami Malek, Stephanie Beatriz, and Melora Walters. Short Term 12 is a touching yet powerful film from Destin Daniel Cretton.
The film is a simple story about a young woman who supervises a foster-care center for young kids as she deals with her own issues as well as a new arrival in a young girl whom she connects with. While she has a boyfriend who also works at the place as he does the same thing she does while showing a new employee how to do things. The two also deal with a kid who is about to turn 18 as he is reluctant to leave the facility as he becomes angrier. All of which plays into a woman trying to be there for these kids as they’ve been abused, abandoned, or somewhere where they don’t have a home to go to. All of which is largely told from the perspective of its protagonist Grace (Brie Larson) who knows what these kids go through as she and her boyfriend Mason (John Gallagher Jr.) both were raised in foster care.
Destin Daniel Cretton’s screenplay does contain a lot of dialogue including a few funny monologues that Mason has whenever he’s trying to prepare his new co-worker Nate (Rami Malek) about what to expect and how to connect with these kids. Especially as Nate has to be careful about what he says which would relate to the very moody Marcus (Keith Stanfield) who is set to leave but doesn’t want to. When Jayden (Kaitlyn Dever) arrives as she is only supposed to stay briefly until her father can return from a business trip. Grace is connected to her as she learns about Jayden and her moodiness as Grace seems to know what Jayden is going through which relates to Grace’s own past which she is trying to not to reveal to anyone including Mason. It all plays to the drama as it starts off as something light-hearted with some heavy drama while the third act becomes more intense as it relates to Grace’s past as well as how much she cares for the kids.
Cretton’s direction is very simple in the way he presents the film as it’s mostly shot on location with a few sets in California. Much of it has Cretton going for a hand-held style which is very engaging as the film opens with Grace and Marcus running after a boy who constantly runs away only to get captured. Cretton does go for some unique framing devices in the way he maintains an intimacy between characters that includes some striking medium and wide shots. Even the use of close-ups are intriguing in the way Cretton tells the story as it all plays to the drama as well as the sense of restraint that Grace is holding on to as she eventually becomes ravaged by her past and her attempts to repress it. All of which play into the film’s third as the direction becomes more intense in the drama while not going overly sentimental or into very heavy melodrama. Overall, Cretton creates a very captivating and mesmerizing film about a young woman trying to help young foster-care kids deal with the world.
Cinematographer Brett Pawlak does excellent work with the film‘s cinematography in maintaining a very naturalistic look for many of the film‘s day interior and exterior scenes while using some lights for the film‘s nighttime interior and exterior scenes. Editor Nat Sanders does fantastic work with the editing where it is straightforward in some cases while has a flair of style in its use of jump-cuts, montages, and some slow-motion shots to play into some of the drama. Production designer Rachel Meyers and art director Grace Alie do amazing work with the look of the facility Grace and Mason work at with different decorations for the look of some of the kids who live at the place.
Costume designers Joy Cretton and Mirren Gordon-Crozier do wonderful work with the film‘s clothes where it‘s mostly casual to play into the world the characters live in. Sound designer Onalee Blank and co-sound editor Braden Spencer do superb work with the film‘s sound from the way things sound at the facility as well as some of the places outside of the facility. The film’s music by Joel P West is terrific as it’s mostly a mixture of indie-folk and ambient music to play into some of the drama that occurs in the film.
The casting by Kerry Barden, Rich Delia, and Paul Schnee is brilliant as it features some notable small roles from Diana-Maria Riva as a nurse Grace meets early in the film, Frantz Turner as Grace and Mason’s boss, Lydia Du Veaux as a young orphaned girl named Kendra, Alex Calloway as the boy Sammy who constantly runs away and likes to play with small dolls, Kevin Hernandez as the teenager Luis, Stephanie Beatriz as the supervisor Jessica, and Melora Walters as Grace’s therapist Dr. Hendler. Keith Stanfield is excellent as the 17-year old Marcus who is reluctantly to leave the facility as he starts to lash out. Rami Malek is terrific as the new facility worker Nate who is trying to learn how things work where he eventually connects with the kids through a very simple act.
Kaitlyn Dever is fantastic as the troubled teenage girl Jayden who didn’t want to go to the facility as she would act out and only express herself through her drawings where she would find someone to talk to in Grace. John Gallagher Jr. is superb as Mason as a fellow supervisor who always talk to the kids as he’s always got something funny to say as he is very close to Marcus whom he can be very trusting to. Finally, there’s Brie Larson in an absolutely phenomenal performance as Grace where Larson puts in a lot of energy as well as emotional weight to a young woman who understands these young kids as she can talk to them while dealing with her own issues as it’s really a total break-out performance for Larson.
Short Term 12 is a remarkable film from Destin Daniel Cretton that features a tremendous break-out performance from Brie Larson. Along with an excellent supporting cast and strong stories about taking of care of orphaned children. It’s a film that explores a world where children can confide in people who know what they’re going through as they reveal that some adults have a hard time figuring things out as well. In the end, Short Term 12 is a sensational film from Destin Daniel Cretton.
Destin Daniel Cretton Films: (I Am Not a Hipster) - (Glass Castle) - Just Mercy - Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
© thevoid99 2014
Written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, The Master is the story of a troubled sailor who meets the leader of a newly-created faith organization as he becomes the leader’s right-hand man. Based on the founding of Scientology and its leader L. Ron Hubbard, the film explores a man finding meaning in his life through religion where he eventually starts to question its teachings. Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Laura Dern, David Warshofsky, and Kevin J. O’Connor. The Master is a provocative yet captivating film from Paul Thomas Anderson.
After serving as a seaman in the Navy during World War II, Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) struggles to maintain a normal life as he continues to booze around from place to place while causing trouble in whatever place he works at. Unable to find a place in the world and in a drunken stupor, Quell suddenly boards on a boat where a party is happening. When the boat leaves San Francisco on its way to New York City, Quell meets a man named Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who is the leader of a new faith-based organization known as the Cause. With Dodd’s wife Peggy (Amy Adams) on board as well as the rest of Dodd’s family and fellow followers, Quell is intrigued by this world as he makes some booze for Dodd. Dodd would also have sessions with Quell to see what makes him tick and what he’s afraid of as he welcomes Quell to the Cause.
Arriving at New York City for a party where Dodd wants to present his ideas to society, a man named John More (Christopher Evan Welch) asks questions that starts to annoy Dodd leading to Quell to respond by throwing food at him. Forced out of New York society, Dodd and his followers go to Philadelphia to stay at the home of Cause member Helen Sullivan (Laura Dern) where Dodd is trying to complete his second book. After Dodd is arrested for supposedly extorting money where Quell tries to fight off the police, Peggy and family members think about kicking Quell out of the group. Dodd decides to let Quell stay in order to help him as Quell deals with Dodd’s teachings to get better. Though Quell manages to be helpful for Dodd and the Cause as it leads to the publication of Dodd’s second book. Quell is still troubled by his own demons as he suddenly flees during a test as he later meet Dodd one last time.
Whenever someone feels out of place in the world and wants to find somewhere that will allow him to be part of something. They’ll do anything to fit right in whether it’s part of a cult or something that is bigger than themselves. For a man like Freddie Quell, here is someone who is completely out of sorts with the world at large. He is obsessed with sex and boozing as he has a hard time holding down a job or be part of society that expects him to conform to the ways of the world. By stumbling onto a ship, he would discover a world that is unique and that will allow him to be part of something. Allowing him into this world is its leader Lancaster Dodd. Here’s a man who has been around the world and has experienced a lot while wants to help people who are troubled by their past and such.
While Dodd’s methods are definitely questionable as some like his own son Val (Jesse Plemons) among many others including Helen Sullivan later on at a convention. There is no doubt that Dodd is just trying to help someone as unhinged as Quell by asking him some simple questions and wonder what is troubling Quell. It would lead to answers about who Quell is as it eventually leads to more unconventional methods that would force Quell to confront many things. While what Dodd’s teaches may help Quell, not everyone feels like Quell is responding to Dodd’s methods as it leads to many questions.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s screenplay definitely explores many themes that he had done in the past such as the idea of family and belonging to something. Yet, he also explores alienation in the form of Freddie Quell as he is desperate to belong somewhere. However, there’s people like Peggy Dodd who is uneasy about Quell as she does try to help him with mixed results. The Dodds are this unique family who are trying to express their views on the world and faith as they want to offer something. While Peggy is a much more fervent believer of the Cause as she is sort of like a second-in-command to her husband. Lancaster is not as aggressive but will be if he’s pushed.
With Quell being part of this group of people, he does seem like he is now family where Dodd becomes a father of sorts to him. Still, there would be ways for Quell to undo these things as it plays into the third act of the story. At this convention where Dodd presents his new book to his followers, there’s a party that is happening where everyone is having fun but Dodd isn’t there. A follower (Kevin J. O’Connor) briefly talks about the book where Quell would later assault this man as it’s followed by a scene where Helen is confused by Dodd’s new ideas in the book. It would later show that both Quell and Dodd are both aiming for something that is very similar but are taking very different paths to this destination that would ultimately lead to the two have one final meeting.
Anderson’s direction is grand in its scope as he definitely takes full-advantage of the canvas that he uses for this film. With gorgeous images of the sea and deserts to help create these amazingly hypnotic wide shots, Anderson is definitely yearning to recreate a type of cinema that had been lost for some time in the form of the epic film. Not epic in terms of stories that are larger than life but rather epic in terms of its visual scale. Shooting in locations around California as well as the Mare Island, Anderson still aims to create a film that is larger just as it’s set in postwar America in the late 1940s and early 1950s as it’s about to enter something that would modern.
While many of the exterior locations and shots of the sea have this majestic look that plays to the world of old-school epic cinema, Anderson still maintains an air of intimacy in the story that he presents. With a lot of striking compositions in the way he frames the actors in a shot. Anderson creates something that is more grounded in humanity as he is interested in these two very different men just trying to find answers about how to live life in the universe. Even in the film’s final moments such as Dodd and Quell’s final meeting where he places the camera in a wide shot as both men are at the edge of the frame. It’s to establish how far apart they are in the world they live in as both seem to have an understanding about each other but both are aware of their own failings as men. Overall, Anderson creates a film that is just visually-spellbinding as well as engrossing its exploration of faith and humanity.
Cinematographer Mihai Malaimare Jr. does spellbinding work with the film’s cinematography to capture the beauty of the locations in California such as the sea, the desert, and the vegetable groves along with lush interiors for the scenes in the Sullivan home with some low-key lighting schemes to help set the mood for those moments. Editors Leslie Jones and Peter McNulty do brilliant work with the editing to play up Quell‘s manic issues while slowing things down for a methodical pace as he gives in to Dodd‘s teaching with a few amazing montages to help establish these moments. Production designers Jack Fisk and David Crank, along with set decorator Amy Wells, do fantastic work with the set pieces to create the look and feel of postwar America as well as the look of the boat and places the characters encounter.
Costume designer Mark Bridges does superb work with the costumes to play up the look of postwar America from the dresses the women wear along with the suits that Dodd wears to express his very warm personality. Sound designer Christopher Scarabosio and co-sound editor Matthew Wood do excellent work with the sound to capture intimacy of some of the locations along with the raucous nature of the party scenes that happen in the film.
The film’s music by Jonny Greenwood is phenomenal for its unconventional orchestral score that features jazzy bass lines, crackling percussions, soaring string instruments, and themes that are at times calm but also unsettling to play up the dark tone of the film. Music supervisor Linda Cohen does terrific work with the music as she uses lots of pieces of the time including a few standards that are sung by Philip Seymour Hoffman along with songs sung by Ella Fitzgerald, Jo Stafford, and Helen Forrest to set a mood for the scenes in the film.
The casting by Cassandra Kulukundis is incredible for the ensemble that is created for this film. In small but notable roles, there’s a cameo from Melora Walters as singer in the convention, David Warshofsky as Philadelphia policeman, Kevin J. O’Connor as a follower of the Cause, Christopher Evan Welch as a man who tries to scrutinize Dodd, Amy Ferguson as a salesgirl Quell tries to hook up with early in the film, W. Earl Brown as a man that Quell fights at the mall, Madisen Beaty as Quell’s ex-girlfriend Doris, and Lena Endre as Doris’ mother. Other noteworthy small roles include Jesse Plemons as Dodd’s son Val, Rami Malek as Dodd’s son-in-law Clark, Ambyr Childers as Dodd’s daughter Elizabeth, and Laura Dern as Dodd’s colleague and friend Helen Sullivan.
Amy Adams is tremendous as Dodd’s wife Peggy who displays a sweetness in the way she presents herself as a supporting wife as well as a dark edge in making sure her husband succeeds as well as dealing with Quell’s erratic behavior. Philip Seymour Hoffman is marvelous as the very charismatic Lancaster Dodd by displaying a lot of energy and wit to a character that has a lot of questionable methods but is very engaging in the way he presents himself. Finally, there’s Joaquin Phoenix in a chilling yet evocative performance as Freddie Quell by creating a man who is on the brink of collapse as there’s a dark sense of humor to Phoenix’s role as well as something grand to his character in the way he displays himself physically as well as emotionally as it’s definitely Phoenix at his finest.
The Master is an outstanding film from Paul Thomas Anderson that features top-notch performances from Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Amy Adams. While it is a far more complex film than anything Anderson had done, it is still very intriguing for the way he tackles the world of faith and alienation set in a very tense time in American history. Particularly in how the world of religious cults might’ve been formed and the intentions they had once promised before it became more subject of scrutiny. In the end, The Master is a remarkable achievement from Paul Thomas Anderson.
P.T. Anderson Films: Hard Eight/Sydney - Boogie Nights - Magnolia - Punch-Drunk Love - There Will Be Blood - Inherent Vice - Junun - Phantom Thread - Licorice Pizza
Related: The Shorts & Videos of P.T. Anderson - The Auteurs #15: Paul Thomas Anderson
© thevoid99 2012
