Set in a remote Mennonite colony in 2010, the film revolves the aftermath of an incident involving an attempted rape where one of the women attacked her attacker as a bunch of them discuss about what to do as many of the men have left the colony to bail out the attacker. It is a film that explores women as they talk about what had happened but also what they’ve experienced as they discuss what to do next in this remote community as well as the idea of whether things will change after what had happened. Sarah Polley’s screenplay is largely straightforward in its narrative though it is told by a teenage girl in Autje (Kate Hallett) to an unseen character where it mainly revolves around this meeting in a barn where a group of women plus a couple of teenage girls and a male schoolteacher. They all discuss about what to do after this violent incident as all of the women took a vote, despite being illiterate, on what to do as the choices were to do nothing and beg for forgiveness, stay and fight, or to leave the colony. The latter two choices led to a tie with some of the women discussing whether to stay and fight or to leave the colony into the unknown.
Throughout the course of the film, the women talk about their options as one of the elders known as Scarface Janz (Frances McDormand) who voted to do nothing believes that if they resist. They will bring more trouble and would be judged in the afterlife as she leaves the meeting early with her daughter and granddaughter who are both resistant of doing something. Salome (Claire Foy) is the one who had assaulted an attacker as she wants to fight after what had happened while her sister Ona (Rooney Mara) was raped and is currently pregnant is unsure though she has suggestions on what to do if they do stay and fight. The schoolteacher August (Ben Whishaw) records the meeting on paper as two of the elder women in Greta (Sheila McCarthy) and Ona/Salome’s mother Agata (Judith Ivey) take part in the meeting along with Mejal (Michelle McLeod), Greta’s granddaughter Autje (Kate Hallett), another teenager in Neitje (Liv McNeil), and Greta’s daughter/Autje’s mother Mariche (Jessie Buckley) are also in the meeting with Mariche is also unsure due to its possible outcome. Even as they receive news that Mariche’s husband is returning to get more bail money as the women do whatever to reach a decision on their fate.
Polley’s direction is definitely mesmerizing in not just its overall presentation but also the intimacy it has as it is shot on location near Toronto as the location itself with its harvest fields, barns, and houses in this farmland is a character in the film. Polley uses a lot of wide shots for the locations what include scenes of children playing in the fields and crops as well as Greta’s own stories about her own horses and the small amount of freedom she has driving her buggy. Much of Polley’s direction is set inside the second floor of this barn where the women talk about what to do with August moderating the whole thing as he is the only person that knows what the world outside of the colony is like despite the fact that his family had been excommunicated. Polley’s usage of close-ups and medium shots are key to the film as it does feature a few humorous moments while a lot of it is straightforward in its drama with arguments and such along with anecdotes on the idea of forgiveness.
Blood is a recurring image throughout the film as the first show is a shot from above of Ona waking up with blood and bruises around her crotch along with brief flashbacks of women waking up in bed with blood on the bed. There is also a shot from bird’s eye point of view in the barn that plays into the meeting as well as these intense discussions about what to do as well as making the ultimate decision after learning that Mariche’s husband is returning later in the night. The film’s third act is about this decision with many of the women aware of the consequences as well as the risks and sacrifices they’re taking as it also play into August’s own sacrifices as he is the only man that listened to the women as it relates to the young men and boys who are expected to carry on the ideals of their fathers in this remote community where August has to teach guide them to realize there’s more out there. Overall, Polley crafts a chilling yet intoxicating film about a group of women discussing the aftermath of a sexual assault incident in a Mennonite colony.
Cinematographer Luc Montpellier does amazing work with the film’s cinematography with its low-key naturalistic lighting along with a bit of desaturation in some of its exterior/interior daytime scenes along with low-key natural lighting for some of the scenes at night. Editors Christopher Donaldson and Roslyn Kalloo do excellent work with the editing as it features a few montages that play into the horror that these women endure while also using some straightforward cutting to capture the rhythm of the conversations. Production designer Peter Cosco, with set decorator Friday Myers and art director Andrea Kristof, does fantastic work with the look of the barn where the women have their meeting as well as some of the interiors of the homes they live in. Costume designer Quita Alfred does amazing work with the dresses that the women wear as well as the overalls that the men and boys wear as it play into the look of the colony as well as the details into the culture of the Mennonite.
Key hairstylist Antoinette Julien and makeup artist Ashley Rocha do terrific work with the makeup from the scar on Janz’s face as well as some of the bruises that the women have on their bodies. Visual effects supervisor Kevin Chandoo does nice work with some of the film’s minimal visual effects in bits of set dressing for some of the wider shots to showcase the world outside of the colony. Sound editors David McCallum and Jane Tattersall, along with sound designer Siamak Omrani, do superb work with the sound in the way some of the natural sounds appear on location as well as things sound from afar. The film’s music by Hildur Guonadottir is incredible for its mixture of orchestral textures, dissonant percussive arrangements, and folky instrumentation as it plays into the drama as well as a few of the film’s suspenseful moments while music supervisor Mandy Mamlet cultivates a soundtrack that features a few traditional hymns and the Monkees’ Daydream Believer that is played when the census man visits the farm for a census count.
The casting by John Buchan and Jason Knight is wonderful as it feature some notable small roles from Eli Ham as Mariche’s abusive husband Klaas, Nathaniel McParland as Salome’s son Aaron, Emily Mitchell as Salome’s sickly daughter Miep, Kira Guloien as Janz’s daughter Anna, Shayla Brown as Janz’s granddaughter Helena, and August Winter as a mute transgender boy in Melvin who had been raped as he rarely speaks except to the other children in the colony. Kate Hallett and Liv McNeil are fantastic in their respective roles as the teenage girls Autje and Neitje who both take part in the meeting as they were the ones to witness one of the attackers that Salome would go after with the former being Mariche’s daughter who wants to leave the colony. Michelle McLeod is superb as Mejal as a young woman who wants to stay and fight as she feels like little is going to change in doing nothing while is also unsure about leaving.
Frances McDormand is excellent in her brief role as Scarface Janz as an elder in the colony who prefers to do nothing in the hope that she and the other women can be forgiven in the hopes they will reach the Kingdom of Heaven. Judith Ivey and Sheila McCarthy are brilliant in their respective roles as the elders in Salome and Ona’s mother Agata and Mariche’s mother Greta as two women who have seen a lot and both express their own concerns but also realize that nothing is going to change if they don’t do anything about it. Ben Whishaw is amazing as August as one of the few men who stayed behind as many of them left to bail out the attacker as he observes and records the minutes of the meeting while also providing his own opinions as an outsider of sorts as he is also a schoolteacher for the colony who believes he can guide the young boys into doing something other than harming women.
Claire Foy is incredible as Salome as Ona’s older sister who had attacked the man that is in jail as she wants to stay and fight as she is a woman filled with rage over what happened while also willing to listen to reason as she is concerned for the well-being of her children. Jessie Buckley is phenomenal as Mariche as a woman who had endured a lot of abuse as she is hoping that forgiveness will defuse the situation while also revealing the lack of choices she has as a wife who is married to a man who treats her and her children terribly. Finally, there’s Rooney Mara in a sensational performance as Salome’s younger sister Ona as woman who is pregnant from a rape as she wants to leave the colony but also leave the door open for forgiveness with some ideas for change.
Women Talking is an outstanding film from Sarah Polley. Featuring a tremendous ensemble cast, Hildur Guonadottir’s eerie music score, evocative visuals, and its exploration of sexual assault and women trying to deal with the aftermath in a remote religious colony. It is a film that doesn’t just explore women dealing with being sexually assaulted in this remote colony but also having to confront that these ideals enforced by men has done nothing to keep themselves or their children safe. In the end, Women Talking is a magnificent film from Sarah Polley.
Sarah Polley Films: Away from Her - Take This Waltz - Stories We Tell
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Based on the biography First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong by James R. Hansen, First Man is about the life of astronaut Neil Armstrong from his early days as a pilot to being the first man to walk on the moon as he deals with challenges in his professional and personal life. Directed by Damien Chazelle and screenplay by Josh Singer, the film is an unconventional bio-pic of the famed astronaut who deals with the dangers of his job as well as the events in his personal life as he is played by Ryan Gosling. Also starring Claire Foy, Corey Stoll, Jason Clarke, Ciaran Hinds, Patrick Fugit, Christopher Abbott, Lukas Haas, and Kyle Chandler. First Man is an enthralling and evocative film from Damien Chazelle.
July 20, 1969 was a momentous moment in the history of civilization when Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon as it was the culmination of a decade long journey during the space race between the U.S. and Soviet Union to reach the impossible. For all of the fame that Armstrong would receive for this accomplishment lies a man who endured professional and personal challenges including moments of tragedy as he would withdraw from fame and even in his own family to focus on what he must do as an astronaut. Josh Singer’s screenplay focuses on Armstrong’s life as a test pilot in 1961 to the moment he returns home from the moon which would also include his first marriage to Janet Shearon (Claire Foy) as well as life with their children including the death of his daughter Karen at age 2 as she had been diagnosed with a malignant tumor and died of complications related to pneumonia.
The script would have Armstrong not just deal with the job in hand as he and other astronauts try to figure out what to do and also what not to do. Even as Armstrong would deal with a couple of tragedies while he would also have a near-death experience during the Gemini 8 mission with David Scott (Christopher Abbott) where the capsule docking with the Agena Target Vehicle as part of a docking experiment had the capsule separated and rolled around orbit. Yet, more problems including the Apollo 1 testing session that lead to the death of Virgil “Gus” Grissom (Shea Whigham), Ed White (Jason Clarke), and Roger Chaffee (Cory Michael Smith) forces Armstrong to make sure nothing else goes wrong as he would eventually be selected to command the Apollo 11 mission with Buzz Aldrin (Corey Stoll) and Michael Collins (Lukas Haas).
Damien Chazelle’s direction is definitely intense not just for the idea of what it’s like being in a jet plane or in a space capsule but also the sense of fear of what to do in case something bad happens. Shot largely in locations near Atlanta including studios in Atlanta along with additional locations in Los Angeles, the film does play into a moment in time where so much is happening while there is an air of innocence into the Armstrong home life. Even as they would have other astronauts as neighbors and their kids playing with each other as Chazelle aimed for a natural look into these scenes as it would also play into the sense of loss that the Armstrong family would endure as well as the chaos that would happen during the course of Armstrong’s time as an astronaut including tragedy that affected this small community of people. Chazelle would use some wide shots for these scenes as well as a maintain a looseness into the camera by shooting with a hand-held camera for close-ups and medium shots to get an intimacy as well as some of the dramatic tension that occurs between the Armstrongs.
For the scenes inside the capsules, there is this claustrophobic element where Chazelle doesn’t just give the audience an idea of what it is like inside a space capsule, a test-jet plane, and other test modules as well as the lunar module. The usage of shaky camera during a rocket launch or seeing what Armstrong and his crew are seeing from their perspective adds to the sense of fear that these men have to face. Even in the sound where it has this element of something could go wrong add to the atmosphere of what is happening. The sequence set on the moon and its landing with stock footage of people watching the event happening is definitely a majestic moment with its usage of wide shots as a look into what Armstrong might be thinking about on the moon though his face isn’t shown on the helmet as it play into everything he’s endured to reach this monumental feat. Overall, Chazelle crafts a mesmerizing yet astonishing film about the life of Neil Armstrong and his struggles with his job and life at home.
Cinematographer Linus Sandgren does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography with the usage of natural lighting for many of the scenes in the neighborhood including the scenes at night along with some stark yet vibrant lighting for the scenes at the mission control centers in NASA and the low-key lighting for the scenes inside the space capsules and lunar module. Editor Tom Cross does excellent work with the editing as it has some unique rhythmic cuts to play into the drama along with some stylish jump-cut montages for a few recurring flashback scenes from Armstrong’s perspective. Production designer Nathan Crowley, with supervising art director Erik Osusky plus set decorators Randi Hockett and Kathy Lucas, does amazing work with the look of the machines and such for the astronaut training as well as the interior/exterior of the space capsules and how small they as well as the mission control rooms and the homes of the astronauts. Costume designer Mary Zophres does terrific work with the costumes from the clothes that everyone wears on a casual day as well as the astronaut clothes that are worn for the missions.
Special effects supervisor J.D. Schwalm and visual effects supervisor Paul Lambert do incredible work with the special effects with the look of the exteriors of outer space and the moon as well as the usage of practical effects to give the scenes in space an air of realism as it is a highlight of the film. Sound designer/sound editor Ai-Ling Lee and co-sound editor Mildred Iatrou do tremendous work with the film’s sound in creating that sense of atmosphere of what goes on in space where the metal sound like it’s bending or about to break as well as the lack of sound when someone is in outer space or on the moon as it’s a highlight of the film. The film’s music by Justin Hurwitz is superb for its usage of low-key strings, ambient pieces, and usage of the theremin to help maintain an atmosphere that is calm but also disconcerting at times in some of the drama and suspenseful moments in the film. The film’s music soundtrack features an array of music from the 1960s including a few classical and show tune pieces as well as some country and folk music from Gene Autrey, Peter, Paul, & Mary, the Kingston Trio, Samuel Hoffman with Les Baxter, Johnny Ace, the Chantels, and a poetic piece by Gil Scott-Heron who is seen briefly on the film as he is played by Leon Bridges.
The casting by Francine Maisler is marvelous as it feature some notable small roles and appearances from Kris Swanberg as Elliot See’s wife Marilyn, Lucy Stafford as Karen Armstrong, Luke Winters and Gavin Warren in their respective roles as the older and younger version of Rick Armstrong, Conor Blodgett as Mark Armstrong, Ethan Embry as astronaut Pete Conrad, Pablo Schreiber as astronaut Jim Lovell , J.D. Evermore as NASA flight director Christopher C. Kraft Jr., Cory Michael Smith as astronaut Roger Chaffee, and Brian d’Arcy James as test pilot Joseph A. Walker who gets Armstrong on board to NASA. Shea Whigham is terrific as Virgil “Gus” Grissom as one of the original Mercury 7 astronauts who help the new astronauts prepare for what to expect for Gemini and later Apollo. Patrick Fugit is superb as Elliot See as an astronaut in training who befriends Armstrong as he was set to command his own mission only to die tragically during a training mission.
Olivia Hamilton is fantastic as Ed White’s wife Patricia who befriends Janet as they share their stories of fear for their husbands but also what they had to endure at home. Christopher Abbott is excellent as Dave Scott as Armstrong’s co-pilot on Gemini 8 who experiences that near-death experience as he also tries to understand what went wrong. Kyle Chandler is brilliant as NASA chief officer/former astronaut Deke Slayton who makes sure things go smoothly while Ciaran Hinds is amazing as Robert R. Gilruth who is a flight director for NASA who helps oversee the making of the Apollo missions. Jason Clarke is incredible as Ed White as an astronaut who would become the first American to do the spacewalk while trying to understand Armstrong’s distant persona as it relates to loss. Lukas Haas is remarkable as Michael Collins as the capsule module pilot who helps Armstrong and Aldrin reach the moon and ensure their safety.
Corey Stoll is sensational as Buzz Aldrin as the film’s comic relief of sorts as he often says off-color things while being someone who does take his work serious as he would accompany Armstrong on their momentous mission to the moon. Claire Foy is phenomenal as Janet Shearon as Armstrong’s then-wife who deals with loss as well as the sense of fear of what could happen to her husband as she is also someone who doesn’t take shit from anyone as it is a riveting performance from Foy. Finally, there’s Ryan Gosling in a magnificent performance as Neil Armstrong as a test pilot/engineer who is tasked with what has to be done as he deals with the many dangers of his job but is also restrained and distant due to the fact that he’s still reeling from the loss of his daughter and later deal with the loss of colleagues as it’s a performance that is filled with restraint but also with a sense of determination and drive giving Gosling a career-defining performance.
First Man is a tremendous film from Damien Chazelle that features great performances from Ryan Gosling and Claire Foy. Along with its supporting cast, gorgeous visuals, eerie sound design, a soothing yet haunting music score, and a gripping story about what astronauts had to endure and the chaos that goes on behind the scenes. It’s a film that doesn’t play towards the conventions of the bio-pic while also being this study of a man trying not to fail in preparation for his mission to go to the moon while dealing with grief. In the end, First Man is an outstanding film from Damien Chazelle.
Damien Chazelle Films: Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench – Whiplash - La La Land -Babylon (2022 film) - (The Auteurs #76: Damien Chazelle)
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