Ad Astra

Directed by James Gray and written by Gray and Ethan Gross, Ad Astra is the story of an astronaut who travels to space to find his long-lost father who is believed to be found but conducting dangerous experiments that would threaten the universe. The film is a space adventure drama that follows a man whose devotion to his work forces him to deal with his father’s absence as he embarks on a journey to find his father and figure what he’s doing. Starring Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Ruth Negga, Liv Tyler, and Donald Sutherland. Ad Astra is an astonishing yet riveting film from James Gray.

A series of power surges is threatening the universe as an astronaut is tasked to travel to space all the way to Neptune where the surge is coming from as it is believed that the astronaut’s father is conducting strange experiments on a space station near Neptune. That is the film’s premise as it more plays into this father-son relationship where the son is dealing with trying to live under the shadow of his father’s legacy despite being his own man yet bears some issues as it relates to his father abandoning him and his mother many years ago. The film’s screenplay by James Gray and Ethan Gross is told mainly through astronaut in Major Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) who is a man devoted to his work yet it would cost him his marriage to Eve (Liv Tyler). During a routine repair job at a large space antenna, a power surge emerges and does damage to the antenna with McBride being able to survive as he’s asked by military personnel to go to Neptune where it is believed his father Dr. H. Clifford McBride (Tommy Lee Jones) is alive having been presumed lost during a mission known as the Lima project.

The Lima project that was led by Dr. McBride was meant to see if there’s any form of intelligence life outside of the solar system but something happened and Dr. McBride and his crew hadn’t been heard since until these power surges have emerged prompting Roy to take the mission. Much of the first act involves Roy learning about his father while taking on numerous psychological evaluations to see if he’s capable of carrying on this classified mission where he’s joined by his father’s old friend in Colonel Pruitt (Donald Sutherland) to the moon where they would get a ride to Mars yet they would encounter some trouble involving space pirates with Roy going on the trip via another crew as things become more troubling due to the surge. Arriving on Mars where he meets facility director Helen Lantos (Ruth Negga) who reveals that she met Dr. McBride as a child as her parents were part of his crew and they never returned as well. Yet, Roy becomes more troubled by more psychological evaluations by people on Mars prompting him to sneak on board a rocket to confront his father by himself.

Gray’s direction is definitely ambitious not just in scope and scale but also in its themes of existence and of the universe itself. Set in the near future and shot on location in Santa Clarita, California and on studio soundstages, Gray maintains some intimacy for scenes on Earth that include flashbacks of McBride’s life with Eve but also the disconnect they have as it relates to McBride’s devotion to his work. Through the usage of close-ups and medium shots, Gray does play into the emotional disconnect that McBride carries yet the mission he has to embark on forces him to become emotional where it would take a psychological toll on him eventually once he goes into space. The scenes set in outer space are quite vast with the usage of wide shots that captures the scale of McBride’s journey towards Mars and then Neptune. Notably as the world that Gray creates from the colony on the moon that looks a bit like a mall in its interiors while the underground facility on Mars is far more mysterious including the scene of McBride trying to sneak onto the rocket to Neptune.

Gray’s direction also has this air of mystery during its second act as it relates to the psychological interviews that McBride is doing as well as his attempts to contact his father. It’s a moment in the film that showcases McBride’s own revelations into his mission and what some are not telling him as there are only a few he can really trust. The film’s third act has Gray delve more into elements of surrealism but also isolation into the journey as McBride is forced to deal with himself as the film does bear a lot of visual and thematic elements that relate to other films yet Gray goes for something more emotional. The meeting between McBride and his father is emotional as it does play into their own disconnect with other people but also the fallacies of their own exploration although Dr. McBride does manage to find things that would be important to the universe. In the end, Gray crafts an intoxicating yet haunting film about an astronaut traveling through space to find his long-lost father.

Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema does incredible work with the film’s cinematographer as it is a massive highlight of the film with its usage of low-key filters for some of the interiors and colorful lighting including some scenes on Mars and in some of the spaceships as well as emphasizing on a natural look for some of the exteriors and interiors on Earth as the photography also include additional work from Caleb Deschanel. Editors John Axelrad and Lee Haugen do brilliant work with the editing as it help play into some of the dramatic suspense while being straightforward in some parts while creating some stylish montages in scenes that play into the flashbacks and what McBride is dealing with in his journey. Production designer Kevin Thompson, with set decorator Karen O’Hara and supervising art director Christa Munro, does amazing work with the look of some of the spaceship interiors as well as some of the exteriors of the places and facilities on the moon and on Mars. Costume designer Albert Wolsky does terrific work with the costumes from the military uniforms some of the characters wear on Earth to the spacesuits that astronauts wear.

Hair/makeup designer Nana Fischer does nice work with the look of Dr. McBride when he’s unveiled for the film’s climax along with the beard that McBride grows during his journey. Visual effects supervisor Allen Maris does fantastic work with the visual effects as it play into elements of realism but also in the way some of the scenes in space are presented along with some chilling scenes inside a space station involving baboons. Sound designers Douglas Murray and Gary Rydstrom do superb work with the sound as it play into the sounds of spaceships heard from the insides as well as the sounds of rockets and other gadgets including the low-key sound of the power surges. The film’s music by Max Richter is phenomenal for its ambient-based score that has elements of orchestral bombast and serene synthesizers while music supervisors George Drakoulias and Randall Poster provide additional music from Lorne Balfe and Steffen Thum that add to the serene yet mysterious tone of the film.

The casting by Douglas Aibel is wonderful as it feature some notable small roles from Sean Blakemore as McBride’s head escort at the moon, Donnie Kershawarz as a ship leader for McBride’s trip to Mars, Loren Dean as the Mars’ ship second-in-command, Kimberly Elise and Bobby Nish as a couple of astronauts for the Mars ship, LisaGay Hamilton and John Finn as a couple of military officials briefing McBride about the situation, Natasha Lyonne as a customs officer on Mars, and John Ortiz as General Rivas who briefs McBride about his father and the Lima project. Liv Tyler is terrific in her small role as McBride’s ex-wife Eve as someone who feels pushed away from her husband while she would get contact from him about his mission as she deals with his emotional troubles. Donald Sutherland is superb as Colonel Pruitt as an old friend of Dr. McBride who accompanies McBride to the moon as he admits to having issues with his father while wanting to help McBride reach his destination.

Ruth Negga is excellent as Helen Lantos as facility director at a base on Mars who reveals some things to McBride about his father as well as what happened to her parents as she would help McBride to board the ship to Neptune knowing that there are many who are trying to stop him from being involved. Tommy Lee Jones is incredible as Dr. H. Clifford McBride as a revered astronaut who led the Lima project that was meant to be something big only for things to go wrong where Jones brings a mysterious quality to his character as someone who is believed to have gone insane. Finally, there’s Brad Pitt in a sensational performance as Major Roy McBride as an astronaut who is tasked to find his long-lost father as he deals with the severity of the mission as it’s a performance where Pitt is restrained for much of the film as he doesn’t do anything to emote until later on as he plays into the flaws of his character as it is one of Pitt’s finest performances.

Ad Astra is a tremendous film from James Gray that feature great performances from Brad Pitt and Tommy Lee Jones. Along with its ensemble cast, stunning visuals, immense production design, evocative music score, and themes of exploration and isolation. It’s a film that play into a man’s journey to find his long-lost father while coping with his own faults and the sins of his father that he would have to carry. In the end, Ad Astra is a spectacular film from James Gray.

James Gray Films: Little Odessa - The Yards - We Own the Night - Two Lovers - The Immigrant (2013 film) - The Lost City of Z - The Auteurs #67: James Gray

© thevoid99 2019

Loving (2016 film)

Based on the 2011 documentary film The Loving Story by Nancy Buirski, Loving is the true story of a white man who falls for and marries a black woman in the 1950s that would cause a lot of controversy and eventually a case in the Supreme Court. Written for the screen and directed by Jeff Nichols, the film is an exploration of two people who fall in love but would get in trouble over the fact that they’re people of who different color when interracial marriage was considered forbidden in 1950s America as the couple of Richard and Mildred Loving are respectively played by Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga. Also starring Michael Shannon, Nick Kroll, and Marton Csokas. Loving is a somber yet evocative film from Jeff Nichols.

The film follows the true story of Richard and Mildred Loving who in 1958 drove to Washington D.C. from their home in a small town in Virginia to get married and thus would cause trouble in their home state leading to a nine-year battle for the right to stay married and stay in their home state. The film is a simple story of a couple where Richard is white and Mildred is black yet the two are in love and decide to get married when the latter becomes pregnant with their first child. Jeff Nichols’ screenplay doesn’t begin with how Richard and Mildred met but rather the moment they decide to marry as the former spends much of his time socializing with other African-Americans who see him as just another person to socialize with as his mother live in the same neighborhood that they live in. Though they hope by marrying in Washington D.C., nothing would go wrong as Richard and Mildred are just quiet and reserved people that don’t want to cause any trouble. Yet, the government in Virginia and many others see their action as something immoral as they would be forced to move to Washington D.C. with their growing family until they get the help from ACLU lawyer Bernard S. Cohen (Nick Kroll).

Nichols’ direction is understated in its approach to the story since it doesn’t try to go for any kind of lavish or grand visual statement. Instead, Nichols goes for something more intimate and dream-like in his direction as much of the film is shot on location on various locations in the state of Virginia where it does play into this period that is vibrant but also stuck between two different ideas with the emergence of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. There are some wide shots to play into the locations as well as the world that the Loving are in that would include shots of fields and vast farmland. Yet, Nichols would emphasize more on close-ups and medium shots to get a look into the family life of Richard and Mildred whether it’s in the streets of Washington D.C. or at the farms of Virginia. Notably as the dramatic elements are told in a very low-key presentation in order to avoid the many conventions of melodrama.

The historical context of the film is prevalent but only in the background where the Loving family would hear about the growing Civil Rights Movement but they feel at first that it doesn’t concern them nor do they want to be involved because of their reserved personalities. Even as the lead-up towards the third act where Richard and Mildred cope with the unexpected media attention as the former is extremely uncomfortable while the latter is willing to speak but is also reluctant to divulge too much. Nichols would show how overwhelming the attention is as well as some of the prejudice that the couple would face as Richard would get a bigger understanding of what African-Americans deal. All of which forces him and Mildred to challenge the idea of marriage in America but do it very quietly as an act of defiance from a loud resistance. Overall, Nichols crafts a tender yet intoxicating film about a white man and a black woman wanting to stay married amidst the racial strife of the late 1950s/early 1960s in America.

Cinematographer Adam Stone does excellent work with the film’s cinematography with its naturalistic and dream-like feel for some of the farmland locations in the daytime as well as some low-key lighting for some of the scenes at night. Editor Julie Monroe does terrific work with the editing as it is largely straightforward in terms of the drama with bits of jump-cuts in some parts of the film. Production designer Chad Keith, with set decorator Adam Willis and art director Jonathan Guggenheim, does brilliant work with the look of the homes that the characters live in as well as the look of the courtrooms and places of what they looked like in those times.

Costume designer Erin Benach does nice work with the costumes as it is largely straightforward for what many of the clothes looked like in the early 1960s. Sound editor Will Files does superb work with the sound as it play into the atmosphere of the locations as well as some of the scenes in a few drag races that Richard goes to. The film’s music by David Wingo is incredible for its low-key score that has elements of ambient music and soft string pieces that doesn’t play into any kind of bombast while music supervisor Lauren Mikus provides a fun soundtrack that features a mix of rock n’ roll, blues, and R&B of the times from acts like Ritchie Valens, William Bell, Jerry Butler, Earl King, the Empires, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Magic Sam, and Clarence Reid.

The casting by Francine Maisler is marvelous as it feature some notable small roles from Sharon Blackwood as Richard’s mother who is also a midwife, Terri Abney as Mildred’s sister Garnet, Alano Miller as family friend Raymond Green, David Jensen as a judge that orders Richard and Mildred to leave Virginia, Bill Camp as Richard and Mildred’s attorney Frank Beazley in their early court cases, Christopher Mann and Winter Lee-Holland as Mildred’s parents, Jon Bass as Civil Rights attorney Phil Hirschkop, and Michael Shannon in a small yet terrific performance as LIFE magazine photojournalist Grey Villet who would be invited Richard and Mildred’s home as he gets to see what their life is like without exploiting them too much. Marton Csokas is superb as Sheriff Brooks as a local sheriff who doesn’t like what Richard and Mildred are doing as he’s intent on getting rid of them yet doesn’t do it in an aggressive manner but still be calm yet threatening. Nick Kroll is fantastic as Bernard Cohen as ACLU attorney who takes on Richard and Mildred’s case hoping it would mark a change as well as see that they’re a couple that isn’t doing anything wrong.

Finally, there’s the duo of Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga in sensational performances in their respective roles as Richard and Mildred Loving. Edgerton provides a gruff yet low-key performance as a man that just minding his own business as well as be a good person to his wife and kids. Negga is just as reserved as Edgerton while being very soft-spoken in giving out interviews as well as be graceful in the way she carries herself. Edgerton and Negga together are a joy to watch in just how they display that sense of warmth and love for each that just feels right.

Loving is a tremendous film from Jeff Nichols that features incredible performances from Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga. Along with its supporting cast, gorgeous visuals, and a compelling story that play into the real-life events of this couple. It’s a film that showcases the idea of love and what it can do in having two people fight in the most subtle way to showcase their commitment to one another. In the end, Loving is a spectacular film from Jeff Nichols.

Jeff Nichols Films: Shotgun Stories - Take Shelter - Mud - Midnight Special - The Auteurs #58: Jeff Nichols

© thevoid99 2018