The film revolves around the Russian-born assassin who goes into hiding after violating the Sokovia Accords where she receives a mysterious package from her adopted younger sister as it relates to the Black Widow program and their training facility in the Red Room as the two reunite to destroy the Red Room with the help of the spies who were their adoptive parents. It’s a film that has Natasha Romanoff not just deal with demons from her past but also dealing with the mysterious figure known as the Taskmaster who is from the Red Room and can mimic the fighting moves of everyone including Romanoff and her fellow Avengers. Adding to the turmoil is a figure from her past whom she believed she had killed prior to joining the Avengers as he has an army of Black Widows under his control with a chemical that can free them from his control.
The film’s screenplay by Eric Pearson is largely straightforward yet it opens in Ohio 1995 where a young Romanoff (Ever Anderson) and her young sister Yelena Belova (Violet McGraw) are living with a seemingly-normal American couple when really they’re Russian spies in Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour) and Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz) as the former is a super-soldier figure known as the Red Guardian who was also the Soviet Union’s answer to Captain America. When the family becomes separated with Romanoff and Belova trained to be Black Widows, Romanoff would eventually go on her own as it leads to her becoming a fugitive following events that lead her violating the Sokovia Accords as she has been hiding in Norway with an old S.H.I.E.L.D. ally in Mason (O-T Fagbenle) helping her out. Yet, it would be a package from Belova (Florence Pugh) that would get Romanoff out of hiding as she meets Belova in Budapest as they deal with other Black Widows.
The script isn’t just about this story of revenge and redemption but it’s really a film about a woman reuniting with the family who raised her when she was young. It’s also about the fact that these two women who were raised as sisters when they were young were both taken away, trained, and tortured to be assassins yet Romanoff begins to realize that she should’ve taken Belova with her. Yet, Belova’s time as an assassin showed a woman that was lost and under control by a mysterious substance until she attacked a former Black Widow carrying vials of another substance in Red Dust that got Belova out of the control of the Red Room but made her a target of its leader including its mysterious soldier known as the Taskmaster. A major revelation for Romanoff involves a past assignment that lead to her defection to S.H.I.E.L.D. involved killing the Red Room leader Dreykov (Ray Winstone) who is alive and continues to run the Red Room. This forces Belova and Romanoff to break Shostakov out of prison as well as find Vostokoff for a tense family reunion filled with more revelations about their false family life in Ohio.
Cate Shortland’s direction is grand as it play into the world that Romanoff has been in and trying to run away from yet realizes she has to go back and destroy it once and for all. Shot on various locations including Norway, Budapest, and Surrey, England with studio shots in Georgia including parts of Atlanta and Macon, Shortland creates a film where Romanoff is on the run from the U.S. Secretary of State in Thaddeus Ross (William Hurt) who created the Sokovia Accords. The film’s opening sequence set in Ohio play into this world that has the young Romanoff and Belova playing as if they’re normal children yet it is followed by a chase from the authorities including a ride on a small plane as it showcase a world that Romanoff and Belova have to deal with as adults. Shortland’s usage of wide and medium shots to play into not just the locations but also these intense action set pieces such as Shostakov’s prison break that is full of action and humor with the character of Shostakov providing the latter as a man who has gained weight but also still sees himself as an iconic figure.
Shortland also maintains an intimacy and knows when to break from the action for character interaction where Romanoff and Belova both try to figure out what to do with Belova revealing that she didn’t have much of a life or anything under the control of the Red Room. The scene where Romanoff, Belova, and Shostakov reunite with Vostokoff who is a scientist for the Red Room is one filled with tension with its usage of close-ups but also humor as it plays into Shostakov trying to reconnect with his family where he sings a song that the young Belova loved. The film’s third act isn’t just about the unveiling of the identity of the Taskmaster but also revelations about Romanoff’s own past as it relates to her identity but also the events in Ohio that tore her family apart. While the film is focused largely on Romanoff, it does also focus on Belova who was robbed of having a normal life as well as a life that Romanoff had as its post-credit scene is about her and her future. Overall, Shortland crafts a thrilling and compelling film about an assassin who reunites with her adoptive family to take down the organization that tore them apart.
Cinematographer Gabriel Bernstein does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography with its emphasis on natural low-key lighting for a few exterior scenes at night along with some stylish lighting for scenes in the Red Room building. Editors Matthew Schmidt and Leigh Folsom Boyd do excellent work with the editing as it does some stylish fast-cuts to play into the rhythm of some of the fighting along with some inventive montage work for the prison break scene. Production designers Clint Wallace and Charles Wood, with set decorators John Bush and Jess Royal plus supervising art director Thomas Brown, do amazing work with the look of the Red Room building along with Vostokoff’s secret home and the trailer that Romanoff was living in Norway. Costume designers Lisa Lovaas and Jany Temime do fantastic work with the look of the suits that the Black Widows wear including a vest that Belova likes to wear as well as Shostakov’s costume as the Red Guardian.
Hair/makeup designer Paul Gooch does nice work with the look of Romanoff’s hair but also the look of Shostakov from his prime in the mid-90s to the many tattoos he would have during his time in prison. Special effects supervisor Paul Corbould, along with visual effects supervisors Geoffrey Bauman, Varuna Darensbourg, Gerard Diefenthal, and Sean Noel Walker, does incredible work with the visual effects from the design of the Red Room’s exteriors as well as the special effects in some of the action scenes that has an air of realism through the usage of practical effects in some scenes. Sound designer Nia Hansen and sound editor Daniel Laurie do superb work with the sound in the sound effects in some of the weapons used as well as its emphasis on natural sounds for some scenes on location. The film’s music by Lorne Balfe is wonderful for its bombastic orchestral score that help play into the suspense and action along with somber pieces for the dramatic moments while music supervisor Dave Jordan provides a soundtrack that includes pieces from SIA, Don McLean, and a cover of Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit by Thing Up Anger with Malia J.
The casting by Badr Balafrej, Victoria Beattie, Fouad Chaairi, Leo Davis, Sarah Finn, and Redouane Meftah is marvelous as it feature some notable small roles from Olivier Richters as an inmate of Shostakov, the trio of Liani Samuel, Michelle Lee, and Nanna Blondell as Black Widow assassins, Ever Anderson and Violet McGraw in their respective roles as the young Romanoff and Belova who both deal with the chaos of their true identities, and Olga Kurylenko as a Red Room official. O-T Fagbenle is terrific as Mason as a former S.H.I.E.L.D. official who helps Romanoff in getting supplies as well as being a comic relief of sorts since he and Romanoff used to be an item. William Hurt is superb in his small role as Thaddeus Ross as the U.S. Secretary of State trying to find Romanoff and bring her to justice for violating the Sokovia Accords.
Ray Winstone is fantastic as Dreykov as the head of the Red Room who controls everything as he hopes to maintain control in secrecy while also wanting to get Romanoff back in the fold so that he can have an Avenger on his side. Rachel Weisz is excellent as Melina Vostokoff as a maternal figure for Romanoff and Belova as well as a scientist for the Red Room who is reluctant to help out her family due to her work while also lamenting over the past and how it affected her as Weisz provides a sense of grace into the role. David Harbour is incredible as Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian as a former Soviet super hero who breaks out of prison following a betrayal from Dreykov as he is eager to reconnect with his adoptive daughters where he provides a lot of humor in his attempts to reclaim his glory days but also some warmth as a man in conflict of his fraternal role as well as the role of an icon.
Finally, there’s the duo of Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh in tremendous performances in their respective roles as Natasha Romanoff and Yelena Belova. Johansson’s performance as Romanoff is grounded in a woman trying to evade the authorities but also trying to deal with her demons as there’s a bit of humor in the performance but it is largely straightforward as a woman filled with regrets as well as trying to do things right. Pugh’s performance as Belova is a major scene-stealer as someone who has awoken from the Red Room’s control as she deals with being abandoned as well as trying to find some meaning where Pugh not only has some funny one-liners but also proves to be tough and powerful. Johansson and Pugh together are a delight to watch in the way they play as sisters where they get to banter a bit but also display a bond that keeps them both sane and full of heart as they’re a massive highlight of the film.
Black Widow is a remarkable film from Cate Shortland that features great performances from Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh. Along with its supporting cast, study of family and identity, dazzling visuals, intense action set pieces, and a gripping music score. The film isn’t just this sprawling and grand super-hero action/adventure film but also a film about redemption and family where a woman tries to mend the broken pieces of her family by going after the forces that tore them apart. In the end, Black Widow is a marvelous film from Cate Shortland.
Cate Shortland Films: Somersault - (The Silence 2006 TV film) – Lore - (Berlin Syndrome)
Marvel Cinematic Universe: Infinity Saga: Phase One: Iron Man - The Incredible Hulk - Iron Man 2 - Thor - Captain America: The First Avenger - The Avengers
Phase Two: Iron Man 3 - Thor: The Dark World - Captain America: The Winter Soldier - Guardians of the Galaxy - The Avengers: Age of Ultron - Ant-Man
Phase Three: Captain America: Civil War - Doctor Strange - Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 - Spider-Man: Homecoming - Thor: Ragnarok - Black Panther - Avengers: Infinity War - Ant-Man and the Wasp - Captain Marvel - Avengers: Endgame - Spider-Man: Far from Home
Phase Four: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings – Eternals – Spider-Man: No Way Home – Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness – Thor: Love and Thunder – Werewolf by Night - Black Panther: Wakanda Forever - The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
Phase Five: Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania - Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – The Marvels – (Deadpool & Wolverine) - (Captain America: Brave New World) - (Thunderbolts*)
Phase 6: The Fantastic Four: First Steps - (Avengers: Doomsday) - (Avengers: Secret Wars)
© thevoid99 2021
(Played at the Un Certain Regard Section at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival)
Written and directed by Cate Shortland, Somersault is the story of a 16-year old runaway who travels to Jindabyne from Canberra in Australia where she meets a young man who is unsure of his identity. The film is an exploration into the search for identity between two young people who are both in the trenches between childhood and adulthood. Starring Abbie Cornish, Sam Worthington, Erik Thomson, and Lynette Curran. Somersault is an ethereal yet enchanting coming-of-age film from Cate Shortland.
The film is a coming-of-age tale in which a 16-year old girl runs away from home after making out with her mother’s boyfriend as she lands in Jindabyne Lake in hopes to start a new life. Though she eventually gets a job and a place to live, she befriends the son of wealthy ranchers who is going through a sexual identity crisis of his own as the two have a relationship though neither are unsure if it’s love or just sex. It’s all about a girl who is in this state of transition of girlhood and adulthood where she can be mature at times and can fend for herself but she’s also hung up on things like partying and making scrapbook collages filled with unicorns and glitter. Even her name in Heidi (Abbie Cornish) is somewhat girlish though she doesn’t seem to act like a girl.
Cate Shortland’s screenplay doesn’t carry much of a plot in order to explore Heidi’s sense of wonderment as she travels from the suburbia of Canberra to the ski town in Jindabyne Lake early in the film. Heidi is this girl who wanders into every situation as she can be quite going but also very introspective when she isn’t surrounded by large groups of people. In Joe (Sam Worthington), Heidi finds someone she thinks who can love her and be with her but Joe isn’t very sure as he likes to wander around to. Even as he starts to have feelings towards his neighbor (Erik Thomson) who already admits to being gay. Though Heidi would befriend a co-worker in Bianca (Hollie Andrew), she has no clue how to befriend someone who is quite different from her as Bianca lives a very careful life with a little brother suffering from Aspberger’s Syndrome.
Shortland’s direction is definitely stylish in the way she presents the film as she incorporates a lot of dreamy images to the scenes that play out including moments where Heidi wanders around this small town through its pubs and such. While a lot of the compositions and framing is straightforward with some close-ups and wide shots, Shortland infuses a lot of strange camera movements to create this sense of dream world where a girl can wander around as it includes a lot of slow-motion shots and exotic images in the snow and rain. Even as the camera would create frames that are filled with these moments of surreal images to play up the sense of emotions of Heidi. Overall, Shortland creates a very mesmerizing yet captivating drama about a young girl growing up.
Cinematographer Robert Humphreys does brilliant work with the film‘s very colorful and entrancing cinematography filled with gorgeous usage of blue filters to play out the sense of dreaminess that Heidi encounters. Editor Scott Gray does amazing work with the editing as it has this array of style from jump-cuts and exotic frame speeds to play up Heidi‘s wonderment. Production designer Melinda Doring, with set decorator Glen W. Johnson and art director Janie Parker, does nice work with some of the set pieces such as the apartment flat Heidi stays at to some of the pubs and clubs that she and Joe frequent.
Costume designer Emily Seresin does terrific work with the costumes from some of the clothes that Heidi wears including the red mittens she buys at the BP where she later works at. Sound designer Sam Petty does superb work with the sound as it features some layers in the sound mixing for some of the parties and clubs along with the intimate moments in the more natural surroundings. The film’s music by Decoder Ring is fantastic as it’s largely low-key with its dreamy, ambient-based music while the soundtrack consists a mixture of pop and rock music in the clubs the characters encounter.
The film’s cast is excellent as it includes some notable small roles from Nathaniel Dean as Joe’s fellow ranch worker Stuart, Olivia Pigeot as Heidi’s mother, Damien de Montemas as the boyfriend of Heidi’s mother, Hollie Andrew as Heidi’s BP co-worker clerk Bianca, Erik Thomson as Joe’s neighbor Richard, and Lynette Curran in a wonderful performance as the hotel owner Irene who lets Heidi stay at her incarcerated son’s flat. Sam Worthington is superb as the sexually-confused Joe who is a young man that befriends Heidi as he isn’t sure if he’s in love with her or is just using her to fulfill his sexual needs. Finally, there’s Abbie Cornish in an exhilarating performance as Heidi as this young woman who is trying to find herself in a new town while dealing with her own identity as she is caught between the world of childhood and adulthood as it’s one of Cornish’s finest performances.
Somersault is a phenomenal film from Cate Shortland that features a brilliant breakthrough performance from Abbie Cornish. The film is definitely a visually-exotic as well as an evocative film that explores a young woman coming of age while meeting a young man who is also trying to find himself. It’s also a film that explores two people’s fascination with sex and its implications as they transition into adults. In the end, Somersault is a remarkable film from Cate Shortland.
Cate Shortland Films: (The Silence (2006 TV film)) - Lore - (Berlin Syndrome) - Black Widow (2021 film)
© thevoid99 2013
Based on The Dark Room by Rachel Seiffert, Lore is the story of a five siblings who are forced to travel through Germany during World War II after their Nazi parents had been taken by Allied Forces. Directed by Cate Shortland and screenplay by Shortland and Robin Mukherjee, the film is a look into the life of those who has been affected by the war as they struggle to survive and seek shelter during the final days of World War II. Starring Saskia Rosendahl, Kai Malina, Nele Trebs, and Ursina Lardi. Lore is a harrowing yet mesmerizing film from Cate Shortland.
History is often defined by those who won a war but it often leaves out to those who didn’t win the war. In this film, it is the story about a young woman and her four siblings who have to trek all across Germany from the Black Forest to a small town in Hamburg after her parents had been sent to Allied prisons in the aftermath of World War II. In this journey, the young woman known as Lore (Saskia Rosendahl) has to endure a world that is outside of what she knew as she lived a life that was quaint and safe where she and her siblings were part of the Nazi Youth group. Once the war is over and Germany has become a targeted for their crimes, Lore and her siblings are forced to travel by any means to find safety where they meet a young Jewish man named Thomas (Kai Malina) who would help them find safety through harsh means as well as the fact that they have to evade forces like the Russians who hate the Germans.
The screenplay by Cate Shortland and Robin Mukherjee doesn’t carry a traditional plot as it’s told largely from the perspective of Lore who is this young woman who has a hard time understanding about what Germany’s defeat in World War II means. She’s definitely prejudiced towards Jews while she believes everything that she had been taught as her mother tells her that she and her father will come to them. Yet, Lore eventually realizes that what her mother is saying about coming back is a probably a lie as her journey is one full of harsh truths about the ways of the world and how everything her parents were about was wrong. For her younger siblings in the teenage Liesel (Nele Trebs), her adolescent twin brothers Gunther (Andre Frid) and Jurgen (Mika Seidel), and their toddler brother Peter (Nick Holaschke), the reality of their situation is horrifying as they have no idea how to cope with their new situation.
The script would also play into the sense of development for Lore as she struggles with her feelings towards Thomas whom she’s supposed to despise yet doesn’t understand why he’s helping her. While Lore’s siblings are fond of him, Lore thinks she’ll get sick because he’s a Jew yet she’s also attracted to him. Lore and the kids need Thomas to get them on their way to Husum Bay near Hamburg as he’s the only person that can has a boarding pass that will allow him to cross the different zones in Germany. Especially as they have to evade the Russians who are much more crueler and have no care for Jews making Thomas’s mission just as important. Still, the journey would prove to be one Lore wouldn’t forget as well as the realities that she faces about who her parents really are and everything else she’s learned.
Shortland’s direction is very evocative in the way she presents a world that is very grim and in a state of transition where Germany is in ruins over what happened in World War II. Shot in 16mm film that is blown up into 35mm, Shortland creates something that is very beautiful but also very dreary as the characters have to walk through lands of ruin and despair. A lot of which is presented in wide and medium shots of the actual locations in Germany through its forests and rivers. Even as Shortland also uses close-ups of some of the elements of nature to show a world that is coming back in the wake of war though things are still uneasy.
The direction is also entrancing in the way Shortland frames actors in a scene as well as using close-ups and some shaky hand-held shots to play out some of the film’s emotional moments as well as the harshness of their journey. Particularly as these characters start off in the film walking in their journey with luggage and a baby carriage for the baby and eventually arrive at their destination with very little. Shortland also creates some interesting framing to express the attraction between Lore and Thomas through some simple glance shots while playing to the fact that they’re not supposed to like each other for who they are. The film’s ending is emotional but not in what is expected as it’s more of everything Lore went through in her journey and its outcome. Overall, Shortland creates a very gripping yet intoxicating film about survival and understanding in the aftermath of war.
Cinematographer Adam Arkapaw does brilliant work with the film‘s cinematography from the gorgeous look of many of the film‘s exterior scenes with its lush coloring of the forests to play up its beauty and despair as well as some scenes set in night. Editor Veronika Jenet does amazing work with the film‘s very unconventional editing with its emphasis on jump-cuts to create unusual rhythms for the film‘s action and dramatic moments. Production designers Jochen Dehn and Silke Fischer do excellent work with the look of the homes the characters encounter as well as places that are in stark ruin to establish the realities of war.
Costume designer Stefanie Bieker does nice work with the colorful dresses that Lore and Liesel wear to establish the background they come from as well as the more gritty clothes of Thomas. Sound designer Sam Petty does superb work with the sound to capture some of the intimacy of the nature scenes as well as some of the more unsettling moments involving groups of people. The film’s music by Max Richter is wonderful for its low-key yet understated orchestral piano score to play out the despair that the characters encounter.
The casting by Anja Dihrberg is fantastic as it features some notable small roles from Hans-Jochen Wagner and Ursina Lardi as Lore’s parents, Nick Holaschke as Lore’s baby brother Peter, and Eva-Maria Hagen as her grandmother at the end of the film. Mika Seidel is very good as the more introverted twin brother Jurgen while Andre Frid is wonderful as the more outgoing twin in Gunther. Nele Trebs is excellent as Lore’s younger sister Liesel who tries to figure out what is going on while questioning Lore’s motives. Kai Malina is great as Thomas as he brings a very understated presence to his role as a Jewish man who is trying to help Lore and her siblings trek through the different landscapes of Germany. Finally, there’s Saskia Rosendahl in a tremendous performance as the titular character as a young woman whose life is changed through the aftermath of war as she has to become a woman and be there for her siblings as they all look to her as it’s a very exhilarating performance from the newcomer.
Lore is a remarkable film from Cate Shortland that features a brilliant performance from newcomer Saskia Rosendahl. While it’s a very bleak film that explores the horrors of war and its aftermath, it’s also a captivating film that reveals a young woman coming to terms with the world she’s in and everything she encounters. In the end, Lore is a phenomenal film from Cate Shortland.
Cate Shortland Films: Somersault - (The Silence (2006 TV film)) - (Berlin Syndrome) - Black Widow (2021 film)
© thevoid99 2013
