The film is about actress Beatrice Dalle trying to make a film about witches starring Charlotte Gainsbourg as she is trying to deal with the chaos in the production while she converses with Gainsbourg about witches. It is a film with a simple premise but there is not much plot as it plays into a production going into total chaos with an ending that is just insane in terms of its visuals. Noe’s script would feature text and quotes from filmmakers Carl Theodor Dreyer, Luis Bunuel, and Rainer Werner Fassbinder as it plays into the idea of film as art and their approach to telling the stories about witchcraft. Noe’s script also plays into Dalle and Gainsbourg’s friendship as it opens with them having a conversation while there are those who want to make sure that Dalle gets ousted from the film as it does play into elements of misogyny from her producer and a cinematographer. Even those acting with Gainsbourg are troubled by the production with Abbey Lee Kershaw feeling exploited by men who want to see her nude while another actor in Karl Glusman tries to get actors to onboard for his own project.
Noe’s direction is stylish where it opens with footage of Dreyer’s 1943 film Day of Wrath as it plays into the idea of witchcraft with text from Dreyer about what film should be as a form of art. It then cuts to a scene where it is shot in split-screen where Dalle and Gainsbourg are having a conversation as it is shot inside a studio set with hand-held cameras following the former as she walks through the sets that included a hand-held camcorder where a young man follows her every move. Notably as it plays into a producer trying to do whatever he can to see her fuck up as it is her own film. While Noe does use some wide shots including for the film’s climax, much of Noe’s direction emphasizes on close-up and medium shots with the hand-held cameras often moving around as tracking shots. Noe also plays to this element of chaos where everything does feel intrusive such as scenes of models including Kershaw getting dressed while they are in the nude as there’s a couple of men outside of the window getting a peep which upsets Kershaw.
The film’s climax relates to a scene that Dalle is trying to create which involves three witches being burned at the stake with Gainsbourg and Kershaw playing the witches. Noe would create this sense of tension that would emerge, and it is where the film’s final 10 minutes would be this moment that is terrifying. Before the film even begins, Noe would post a warning for people with epilepsy relating to what they will see as these final ten minutes are something that people with epilepsy should not watch. What happens is total chaos through flickering colors and images that is intense in its overall presentation. Even as its aftermath has this element of dark humor as it relates to a quote from one of the directors that Noe cites for this film. Overall, Noe crafts a disturbing yet entrancing film about two actresses trying to make a film about witchcraft and witch burnings.
Cinematographer Benoit Debie does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography with its array of lighting and flickering lights as it adds to the film’s visual look including some natural interior setting for the scenes at a fireplace where Dalle and Gainsbourg are conversing. Editor Jerome Pesnel does excellent work with the editing as it has some straightforward cuts to play into the suspense along with some jump-cuts for a few bits. Set decorator Samantha Benne does amazing work with the look of the sets in all its artificiality to create the mood of a film set. Sound editor Ken Yasumoto does superb work with the sound in playing up the atmosphere of the set where voices can be heard from afar as well as some of the overlapping dialogue. Music supervisors Steve Bouyer and Pascal Mayer do terrific work in creating film soundtrack that features a lot of music played on locations including classical and electronic music.
The film’s wonderful ensemble cast include some notable small roles and appearances from Maxime Ruiz as the cinematographer who hates Dalle, Yannick Bono as the producer who is hoping to sabotage Dalle, Mica Arganarz as a stand-in for Gainsbourg, Felix Maritaud as an actor on set, Karl Glusman as himself trying to pitch a project for anyone interested, Clara 3000 as another actress on set, and Abbey Lee Kershaw as herself as someone starring in the film while also dealing with men leering at her when she’s nude. The performances of Beatrice Dalle and Charlotte Gainsbourg as fictional versions of themselves are incredible with Dalle as an actress trying to make her first film as a director as she becomes overwhelmed with people trying to sabotage her as well as get her own ideas for her first directorial film. Gainsbourg is the more reserved of the two as someone trying to get ready for the role while also dealing with the chaos on set as well as her family life outside the set.
Lux Aeterna is a remarkable film by Gaspar Noe that features amazing leading performances from Beatrice Dalle and Charlotte Gainsbourg. Along with its simple presentation, gorgeous photography, and sense of chaos as it relates to filmmaking and the idea of witchcraft. It is a film that is not for everyone other than anyone interested in the idea of what goes during a film shoot. Anyone who is epileptic however should not see this for the sake of their own health. In the end, Lux Aeterna is a marvelous film by Gaspar Noe.
Gaspar Noe Films: Carne - I Stand Alone - Irreversible - Enter the Void - Love (2015 film) - Climax - Vortex (2021 film)
Related: Day of Wrath - The Auteurs #48: Gaspar Noe
© thevoid99 2024
Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn and screenplay by Refn, Mary Laws, and Polly Stenham from a story by Refn, The Neon Demon is the story of a young and aspiring model who travels to Los Angeles where she is part of a modeling agency only to raise the ire of other models over her youth and beauty. The film is a study in the world of glamour and what will women will do to maintain their beauty and fight those to earn a coveted spot. Starring Elle Fanning, Jena Malone, Karl Glusman, Abbey Lee Kershaw, Bella Heathcote, Desmond Harrington, Christina Hendricks, and Keanu Reeves. The Neon Demon is an eerie yet evocative film from Nicolas Winding Refn.
The film follows the life of a young and aspiring model whose key to success is her beauty where she is signed to a modeling agency despite being underage where she finds herself having to compete with older models who despise her. It’s a film with a simple plot yet it doesn’t play by any rules in terms of conventional narrative as it’s more about what this young girl is encountering as well as the people she meets. The film’s screenplay by Nicolas Winding Refn, Mary Laws, and Polly Stenham doesn’t just explore the dark and demanding aspects about the modeling world in terms of its cynicism but also how this young girl with a pure sense of beauty and innocence threaten those who doesn’t just need work but also try to maintain their own beauty as they’re getting older. For the character Jessie (Elle Fanning), she is someone who came from a small town in Georgia as she meets a young photographer who takes some photos and somehow managed to get connections with the biggest and best people in the business.
Jessie is someone that is truly the embodiment of innocence as she is someone that lives alone in a seedy motel in Los Angeles run by a strange and mysterious man in Hank (Keanu Reeves). When the makeup artist Ruby (Jena Malone) takes notice of her, she becomes this guardian of sorts for Jessie as she would introduce her to a couple of models in Sarah (Abbey Lee Kershaw) and Gigi (Bella Heathcote) who are both still beautiful but are struggling to get work as they see Jessie with disdain. Aside from Ruby, the only other person that Jessie meets who treats her kindly is a young photographer named Dean (Karl Glusman) whose photos would give Jessie the connections in the world of modeling. Still, Jessie encounters things that are odd as it play into her innocent persona which would descend as the story develops. Especially as her descent would lead her to dark places as well as the people she meets who have an agenda towards her.
Refn’s direction is definitely stylish not just in the compositions that he creates but also in this world that is quite surreal in its overly-stylized setting. Shot on location in Los Angeles where it is a character in the film as this world of glamour and beauty that is entrancing but also has this air of darkness as it is set in the highly-competitive world of modeling. Refn’s usage of the wide shots would play into that world of glamour as well as capture some of the chaotic events of the modeling world with the usage of tracking and dolly shots while he would also use medium shots for scenes involving multiple characters in a conversation. Refn’s framing and how he puts his actors into a composition are key such as the scene in the bathroom between Jessie, Ruby, Gigi, and Sarah where Refn as Jessie at the edge of the frame to emphasize how much of an outsider she is. There are also these weird moments in the film that add to the surrealism that Jessie encounters such as a cougar in her motel room, the things she dreams or sees on the runway during a show, and some of the offbeat behavior of the people in the modeling world including Gigi and Sarah.
Refn would also create some ambiguity into the characters that Jessie meets such as Ruby and Hank. The latter of which is very creepy as he’s only in a few scenes yet is someone that is quite unsettling for how he presents himself and the things he says as it is something Dean would be shocked by. Then there’s Ruby as she is kind of this maternal figure of sorts in the film for Jessie but she too is offbeat. Notably for what Refn reveals in the other job that she has as it’s also even more unsettling to great extremes as it reveals how far Jessie has descended into the world she’s in. The film’s climax is definitely eerie and definitely plays into something that is very violent as it play into the horrifying cynicism of the modeling world as a key character states some harsh truths on beauty. Overall, Refn creates a rapturous yet scary film about a young model’s arrival into a very dark and brutal world.
Cinematographer Natasha Braier does brilliant work with the film‘s very colorful and evocative cinematography with its usage of many colored lights and mood including neon lights as it help play into the high-octane modeling world for many of the interiors as well as the exterior scenes at night while going for something natural and beautiful in other exterior scenes in the day and night. Editor Matthew Newman does excellent work with the editing as it is stylized with some rhythmic cuts while maintaining some moments that are straightforward including a few montages. Production designer Elliott Hostetter, with set decorator Adam Wills and art director Austin Gorg, does fantastic work with the look of the studio sets as well as the seedy motel that Jessie lives and the home that Ruby is house-sitting at. Costume designer Erin Benach does amazing work with the costumes to play into the high-octane world of fashion with all of its designs including in the casual clothes the women wear.
Special makeup effects work by Ruth Haney, Kristy Horiuchi, and Dean Jones, with hair stylist Enoch H. Williams IV, do superb work with the makeup from the macabre look of Jessie‘s first shoot as well as some of the things she and the other models had to look as well as in the hairstyles. Visual effects supervisors Peter Hjorth, Sunit Parekh, and Tonni Zinck do terrific work with the visual effects as it only play to a few scenes such as a few things that Jessie sees as it relates to the surreal elements of the film. Sound designers Anne Jensen and Eddie Simonsen do incredible work with the sound as it has these unique textures and mixes as it play into the suspense and horror as well as some of the surreal elements as it is a highlight of the film. The film’s music by Cliff Martinez is phenomenal for its eerie yet haunting electronic score with the layers of synthesizers and ambient textures as the soundtrack would also feature some cuts by other electronic acts as well as pop singer Sia.
The casting by Nicole Daniels and Courtney Sheinin is wonderful as it feature some notable small roles and appearances from Jamie Clayton as a casting director for a shoot, Charles Baker as Hanks’ assistant Mikey, Houda Shretah as Sarno’s assistant and Alessandro Nivola in a small yet terrific role as the fashion designer Robert Sarno who has some very biting and cynical ideas about the world of fashion and what beauty really is. Desmond Harrington is superb as the photographer Jack McCarther as this professional who is creepy but also has an eye for talent while Christina Hendricks is fantastic as the modeling agent Roberta Hoffman who sees the beauty in Jessie as well as give her some advice about how to forge ahead in the world of modeling. Karl Glusman is brilliant as Dean as a young photographer who takes photos of Jessie for her first photo shoot as he is one of the few kind characters in the film that becomes taken aback by the cynicism and narcissism of the fashion industry.
Keanu Reeves is excellent as the motel manager Hank as this very creepy and lecherous individual who seems to be more concerned with money than one’s well-being as he gives this great monologue of sorts of the kind of business that he does. Abbey Lee Kershaw is amazing as Sarah as model who is quite bitchy as she is desperate to get back in the game and get work as she has a real disdain towards Jessie because of what Jessie is able to get. Bella Heathcote is remarkable as Gigi as another model who is the nicer of the two as she is someone obsessed with trying to look good as she would also do a lot of plastic surgery as it play into the harsh reality of beauty at all costs.
Jena Malone is incredible as Ruby as a makeup artist who is this strange yet offbeat maternal figure of sorts for Jessie as she is someone who had seen a lot but also carries a very dark secret. Malone’s performance is also quite complex where she is very kind and warm to Ruby but there are elements that are quite scary as she does things that are very extreme as it is very chilling performance. Finally, there’s Elle Fanning in a spectacular performance as Jessie as this young 16-year old girl who knows the only thing she has in the world is her beauty as she starts off as this embodiment of innocence as her naivete is key to that performance. By the second half as she encounters these surreal elements, Fanning does become a big darker but also anguished as someone who sees that she is growing up too fast as well as thinking maybe there is a real cost to natural beauty as it is a career-defining performance for Fanning.
The Neon Demon is a tremendous film from Nicolas Winding Refn that features phenomenal performances from Elle Fanning and Jena Malone. Along with a great ensemble cast, gorgeous visuals, an eerie music soundtrack, and gripping themes on beauty. It’s a film that showcases the world of modeling at its most cutthroat as well as going into great lengths into what women will do to remain beautiful in a very dark world. In the end, The Neon Demon is a magnificent film from Nicolas Winding Refn.
Nicolas Winding Refn Films: Pusher - Bleeder - Fear X - Pusher II - Pusher 3 - Bronson - Valhalla Rising - Drive - Only God Forgives - The Auteurs #12: Nicolas Winding Refn
© thevoid99 2016
Directed by George Miller and written by Miller, Brendan McCarthy, and Nico Lathouris, Mad Max: Fury Road is the story of a drifter in a desert wasteland as he helps a woman flee from a cult leader who is trying to retrieve his wives. The film is another post-apocalyptic film where it is set in a desert world as Max Rockatansky is in another adventure as he is joined by a mysterious woman in a world that is completely chaotic. Starring Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Riley Keough, Zoe Kravitz, Abbey Lee Kershaw, Courtney Eaton, and Hugh Keays-Byrne. Mad Max: Fury Road is an astonishing grand and enthralling film from George Miller.
Set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland where civilization is on the bring of extinction, the film revolves around a survivor who is captured by a cult as he finds himself in a chase after a truck driver steals a cult leader’s group of wives as he would later help them find freedom. It’s a film that where the character of Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy) is once again trying to find something in his life as he remains haunted by failures and loss. All of that sense of encounter of terror and chaos forces him to fend for himself and go on his own where he eventually finds a reason to do something in helping this rogue truck driver named Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) who is trying to drive to her old homeland with the wives of the cult leader Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne).
The film’s screenplay doesn’t carry a lot of exposition nor does it have a lot of dialogue though it does open with some bits of exposition of where Max had been through for so many years as he is just a survivor. He is constantly haunted by the image of a child he was unable to save as he is first seen captured by a sickly group of young men in white known as War Boys who are part of Joe’s cult. Since Max has blood that can help some of these boys, he is attached to one of them in Nux (Nicholas Hoult) who wants to impress Joe as he joins them on the chase with Max in tow. Yet, the screenplay showcases exactly what the world has come to where Joe has complete control of the water where the people could only get as little as possible while gasoline and milk. Joe also treats people as slaves including women which is a big reason why his five brides are fleeing him and ask Furiosa to drive them away from Joe. Once Max learns what Furiosa is doing, he isn’t sure if he should trust her but realizes what is at stake.
Part of the script’s success isn’t in the fact that there’s an element of feminism that isn’t heavy handed but also reveals that these five wives of Joe are real characters that all have something to say as they’re sick and tired of being objectified and used as slaves. Most notably in a shot where one of the brides is trying to get a chastity underwear out as another one is using bolt-cutters to unchain her. During this chase where Max and Furiosa are taking turns in driving this massive war rig, the script allows these women to be fleshed out as they all want something where they are able to live good lives. The film’s third act isn’t just about these characters trying to reach the destination but also wonder if there is a world where there is hope as Max would be the one to give Furiosa an idea and help her as if they are partners without the need to make out or have sex.
George Miller’s direction is very grand not just for the setting he creates for the film but also in the way he stages the chase scenes and the sense of chaos that surrounds it. Shot on location in Namibia as well as parts of Australia, the locations set in the deserts, swamps, canyons, and mountains do serve a purpose as it establishes a world that is very unforgiving and with a sense of the unknown. Since it is largely a chase film that goes throughout the desert, Miller does use a lot of wide shots to capture the vast look of the locations where it does play into something that feels like a post-apocalyptic world where civilization doesn’t exist. Even as Miller knows how to put his actors in a frame and be part of this vast location where they feel like they’re lost and trying to find something.
The direction also has an element of realism in the way the chase scenes are presented as well as the cars and trucks that are used where Miller definitely goes for an old-school approach of using actual effects rather than heavily rely on computer-based visual effects with the exception of a few scenes. Miller’s usage of close-ups and medium shots do play into the sense of a community trying to come together and help each other as well as stand up for something in a world where order has ceased to exist. Even as it would lead into this extravagant climax where so much is at stake while it is not afraid to delve into moments that are scary but also engaging. Overall, Miller creates an intense yet monstrous film about a drifter who aid a group of women to find hope in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
Cinematographer John Seale does brilliant work with the film‘s very exotic and vibrant cinematography with its emphasis on the sunny desert look to play into its location along with some usage of blue-filters for some scenes at night with some inspiring lighting cues in the film as it among one of the film‘s technical highlights. Editor Margaret Sixel does amazing work with the editing by not just playing into the sense of chaos that occurs with some fast-cutting but also know when to slow it down for the non-action scenes and using fade-outs to help structure the story. Production designer Colin Gibson, with art directors Shira Hockman and Jacinta Leong and set decorators Katie Sharrock, Lisa Thompson, and Gena Vazquez, does incredible work with the set design from the look of the Citadel canyons where Joe runs his cult as well as the design of the trucks and cars that occurs through the chases.
Costume designer Jenny Beaven does excellent work with the clothes from the look of Joe and his gang as well as the other cults to the bridal-look of Joe’s wives. Hair/makeup designer Lesley Vanderwalt does fantastic work with the look of the characters from the war boys to the look of Joe as well as the hair and makeup of their cult. Visual effects supervisors Andrew Jackson and David Nelson do superb work with the look of the grand winds and tornados along with creatures as they keep things to a minimum in order to play into more practical effects. Sound designers Christopher S. Aud, Julian Slater, and David White, along with sound editors Scott Hecker, Mark A. Mangini, and Wayne Pashley, do phenomenal work with the sound to play into the sense of terror that looms over the film as well as some of the music that is played on location from Joe‘s cult including a guitarist with a guitar that is also a flamethrower. The film’s music by Junkie XL is spectacular with its mix of bombastic beats and orchestral flourishes along with elements of guitars and electronics to play into the chaos and thrill of the chases.
The casting by Nikki Barrett and Ronna Kress is wonderful as it features some notable small roles from Joy Smithers, Gillian Jones, Megan Gale, and Jennifer Hagan as a group of women Furiosa knows, Melissa Jaffer as a woman who has provided a source for the future that one of the wives befriends, John Howard and Richard Carter as a couple of ruthless gang leaders, Nathan Jones as Joe’s strongman son Rictus Erectus, and Josh Helman as Nux’s fellow war boy Slit. In the roles of the five wives, Courtney Eaton is terrific as the more scared Cheedo the Fragile who often thinks about going back to Joe for safety while Abbey Lee Kershaw is superb as the Dag who connects with one of the old women in its third act as she would also start to yearn for something that might bring some hope.
Zoe Kravitz is excellent as Toast the Knowing as a wife who aids Max in reloading the weapons and often observes everything Riley Keough is fantastic as Capable who would befriend Nux while being the one who can help fix the truck. Rosie Huntington-Whiteley is amazing as The Splendid Angharad as a wife of Joe who is pregnant as she is the one in most danger as she is eager to not have a child that would become a slave or a warlord like her husband. Hugh Keays-Byrne is brilliant as Immortan Joe as this cult leader who rules the wasteland as he goes on a chase to retrieve his wives and ensure his legacy.
Nicholas Hoult is marvelous as a sick war boy named Nux who is trying to prove his loyalty to Joe as he endures many situations where he proves to be a reliable person for Max and Furiosa. Charlize Theron is phenomenal as Imperator Furiosa as this rig truck driver with a prosthetic left arm that decides to defy Joe and do what is right without the need to explain herself as it’s a very chilling yet enthralling performance that has Theron be a full-on badass. Finally, there’s Tom Hardy in a remarkable performance as Max Rockatansky as a drifter who finds himself in a troubling situation as he struggles to find some good and meaning in his life as Hardy largely gives a silent performance with few words while not afraid to be overshadowed as he and Theron act as total equals that deliver and more.
Mad Max: Fury Road is an outstanding film from George Miller that features top-of-the-line performances from Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron. Along with a great supporting cast, spectacular stunts and special effects, enthralling music, and dazzling visual effects. It is a film that doesn’t just act as a full-on action blockbuster that entertains but does so much more as it manages to be a feminist film without the need to say anything big. In the end, Mad Max: Fury Road is an astounding and rapturous film from George Miller.
George Miller Films: Mad Max - Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior - (Twilight Zone: The Movie-Nightmare at 20,000 Feet) - (Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome) - (The Witches of Eastwick) - (Lorenzo’s Oil) - (40,000 Years of Dreaming) - (Babe: Pig in the City) - (Happy Feet) - (Happy Feet Two) - (Three Thousand Years of Longing) - Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga - (Mad Max: The Wasteland)
© thevoid99 2015
