Ferrari (2023 film)

 

Based on the book Enzo Ferrari: The Man, the Cars, the Races, the Machine by Brock Yates, Ferrari is the film about the Italian car manufacturer during a moment in time when his company is facing bankruptcy while mourning the loss of his son and his wife discovering about an affair that yielded another son with an upcoming race being a make-or-break moment for the company. Directed by Michael Mann and screenplay by Troy Kennedy Martin, the film is about a year in Ferrari’s life as he deals with the chaos around him as well as a crumbling marriage as well as trying to save something he had built a decade ago with Adam Driver playing the role of Enzo Ferrari. Also starring Penelope Cruz, Shailene Woodley, Sarah Gadon, Gabriel Leone, Jack O’Connell, and Patrick Dempsey. Ferrari is a rapturous and gripping film by Michael Mann.

Set in the summer of 1957, the film revolves around a crucial period in the life of Italian car manufacturer Enzo Ferrari as he deals with his company going into bankruptcy with a race set to start as he also deals with trying to shield his wife over the fact that he has another child in his relationship with his mistress. It is a film that plays into a man who is trying to maintain some control in his life even though his relationship with his wife Laura (Penelope Cruz) is crumbling even though she continues to handle the business end of their company where she would make a discovery about certain finances that have been kept from her. All this plays during a time where Ferrari and his team are trying to refine and perfect their Formula One car for the upcoming Mille Miglia race with the rival company Maserati trying to steal all the attention from Ferrari. The film’s screenplay by Troy Kennedy Martin, with additional work by Michael Mann and David Rayfiel, is straightforward in its narrative as it focuses on this summer of 1957 as it had been a decade since the founding of the company but also one year since the death of Enzo and Laura’s son Dino.

Throughout the film, Ferrari focuses on perfecting his car while he spends time with Laura for business as well as his mistress Lina Lida (Shailene Woodley) and their son Piero (Giuseppe Festinese) who lives in another house away from the city of Modena. The arrival of Spanish racer Alfonso de Portago (Gabriel Leone) would give Ferrari some new blood for his racing team that includes the veteran Piero Taruffi (Patrick Dempsey) and the British racer Peter Collins (Jack O’Connell) though Ferrari is uneasy over the fact that de Portago is dating actress Linda Christian (Sarah Gadon) as he believes that drivers accompanied by women are cursed. The film’s script also play into the drama in a brief flashback montage of Ferrari’s life with Laura early on with their son Dino but also how Ferrari saw Lina just in the aftermath of World War II as he met her during that time. It would play into this drama that would occur where Ferrari considers doing a partnership with either Fiat or Ford to resolve any of the financial matters while also making a deal with Laura over its future.

Mann’s direction is stylish in the way he opens the film with black-and-white stock footage with a young Ferrari driving his car in the race as it plays into a man who was a decent racer but knew a lot about cars. Shot on various locations in the city of Modena and Brescia as well as additional shots in Rome and parts of Northern Italy. Mann creates a film that plays into this crucial period just more than a decade after World War II ended as Ferrari is part of the reason for the post-war economic boom. Yet, Mann would infuse a lot of unique visuals to play into the drama as well as these intense moments during the driving scenes where Mann’s usage of the close-ups and the small details to locations and how fast a car was back in 1957 showcase a lot into what Ferrari wants as well as wanting to push the envelope of what can be done in racing. While there are some wide shots of the various locations including the scale of the races including Mille Miglia. Mann would emphasize close-ups and medium shots to play into the drama and the suspense in the film as it relates to Ferrari’s personal life such as Laura driving up to the home where Lida lives in as well as an opera scene that leads to a montage of flashbacks.

The racing scenes has Mann at his most meticulous where he plays into what the mechanics, engineers, and others do to ensure that not only the car works but also to ensure that nothing goes wrong. Even as the film’s third act that revolves around the Mille Miglia where Mann also goes into detail of the race itself as it is this open-road endurance race that goes on for a thousand miles throughout Italy. There is a key sequence in the film that does play into what happened at the race where it would have Ferrari face a lot of things over what had happened. It adds to the drama of a man that is trying to save his company where it would be Laura who would decide about what to do for the company but also in his personal life as it relates to Lida and Piero. Overall, Mann crafts an exhilarating and somber film about a period in the life of one of the greatest car manufacturers of the 20th Century.

Cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography with its usage of natural lighting for many of the daytime exterior scenes as well as some unique lighting schemes and textures for the interior/exterior scenes at night. Editor Pietro Scalia does excellent work with the editing with its usage of jump-cuts as well as some montages and allowing shots to linger to create some rhythmic cuts to add some intensity to the drama. Production designer Maria Djurkovic, with set decorator Sophie Phillips and supervising art director Stephan O. Gessler, does amazing work with the look of the home where the Ferraris live in as well as the villa that Lida and Piero live in and the raceway and factory that Ferrari works at. Costume designer Massimo Cantini Parrini does fantastic work with the costumes in the suits that Ferrari wears as well as the stylish dresses that the women wear at that time.

Hair & makeup designer Aldo Signoretti does terrific work with the look of the characters from the hairstyle of Ferrari including how he and his wife looked more than a decade ago along with the look of Taruffi with his white-haired look. Special effects supervisor Uli Nefzer and visual effects supervisor David Sewell do superb work with the visual effects from the opening shots of the film to the car crash scenes in the film. Sound editors Tony Lamberti and Bernard Weisner, along with sound designer David Werntz, do incredible work with the sound in the way an engine sounds up close and from afar as well as the way crowds are heard and other sparse sounds as it is a major highlight of the film. The film’s music by Daniel Pemberton is wonderful for its mixture of orchestral bombast along with some somber themes to play into the drama with the rest of its soundtrack featuring the Italian pop music of the time as well as opera music and other score pieces from Lisa Gerrard and Pieter Bourke.

The casting by Francine Maisler is marvelous as it feature some notable small roles from Benedetto Benedetti as the Ferraris’ late son Dino, Gabriel Noto and Edoardo Beraldi as the younger versions of Dino from the flashbacks, Daniela Piperno as Ferrari’s mother who doesn’t like Laura, Jonathan Burteaux as King Hussein of Jordan who is at the Ferrari offices to buy a car, Ben Collins and Wyatt Carnell as a couple of Ferrari team drivers in Stirling Moss and Wolfgang von Trips respectively, Tommaso Basili as Fiat’s head Gianni Agnelli, Marino Franchitti as a Ferrari driver in Eugenio Castellotti, Valentina Belle as Castellotti’s girlfriend Cecilia Manzini, Giuseppe Bonifati as an executive at Ferrari, Domenico Fortunato as Maserati owner Adolfo Orsi, Lino Musella as car designer Sergio Scaglietti, Michele Savoia as engine designer Carlo Chiti, and Giuseppe Festinese as Ferrari and Lina Lida’s son Piero who begins to understand his identity while also interested in his father’s work as he would eventually become the vice chairman of Ferrari.

Sarah Gadon is fantastic in a small role as the actress Linda Christian who is also de Portago’s girlfriend at the time where she helps bring in some publicity but also a moment that would be remembered in infamy. Jack O’Connell is excellent as Peter Collins as the British driver who works for Ferrari as he is a skilled driver that prefers to keep his own personal life at a distance during racing season. Patrick Dempsey is brilliant as Piero Taruffi as a veteran driver who knows about what to do while also is an eccentric that likes to smoke while driving as Dempsey brings a lot of charm despite the awful hairdo he had to sport. Gabriel Leone is amazing as Alfonso de Portago as a Spanish driver who would join Ferrari as he is someone that knows how to beat the drivers at Maserati while is also determined to prove his worth despite having Christian around him. Shailene Woodley is incredible as Lina Lardi as Ferrari’s mistress whom he had met back in World War II as she is also the mother of their son Piero as she is concerned with her son being called Ferrari while also making sure that Enzo remains grounded despite not having met Laura.

Penelope Cruz is tremendous as Laura Ferrari as Enzo’s wife and business partner as she is a woman that manages and oversees all the business and financial transactions for the company while becomes unhinged over discovering some transactions she did not know about as it would lead to her discovery of Lina and Piero. Cruz’s performance is full of fire as a woman still consumed with grief over the loss of her son as it is a performance of immense intensity while also trying to figure out how to save the company where she would make a deal that would save the company but with a condition as it relates to her own life. Finally, there’s Adam Driver in a phenomenal performance as Enzo Ferrari as the car manufacturer who is dealing with a lot in his life while still reeling from the loss of his eldest son Dino a year ago as well as losing his own company. Driver’s performance displays a lot of nuances of a man that is trying to devote time to his other son but also his business as it is one of his finest performances of his career so far.

Ferrari is a sensational by Michael Mann that features great performances from Adam Driver and Penelope Cruz. Along with its ensemble supporting cast, intoxicating visuals, immense sound work, and study of a man facing grief and impending loss of everything. It is a film that does not play by the rules of the bio-pic while also being a study of a man trying to maintain some control despite his back against the wall as he tries to salvage all that he has left. In the end, Ferrari is a spectacular film by Michael Mann.

Michael Mann Films: The Jericho Mile - Thief (1981 film) - The Keep - Manhunter - L.A. Takedown - The Last of the Mohicans (1992 film) - Heat - The Insider - Ali - Collateral - Miami Vice - Public Enemies - Blackhat – (Heat 2)

Related: Ford v Ferrari - The Auteurs #73: Michael Mann Pt.1 – Pt. 2

© thevoid99 2024

The Death and Life of John F. Donovan

 

Directed and co-edited by Xavier Dolan and screenplay by Dolan and Jacob Tierney from a story by Dolan, The Death and Life of John F. Donovan is the story of a young man who reminisces his time as a child when he wrote corresponding letters to an American TV star who died mysteriously following a scandal that also affected the young boy. The film is an exploration of celebrity as well as a young man coping with his possible role in the death of his idol as well as how many claimed their relationship wasn’t innocent. Starring Kit Harrington, Jacob Tremblay, Natalie Portman, Susan Sarandon, Kathy Bates, Thandiwe Newton, Ben Schnetzer, Sarah Gadon, Emily Hampshire, Jared Keeso, Amara Karan, and Michael Gambon. The Death and Life of John F. Donovan is a messy and overly-dramatic film from Xavier Dolan.

The film follows a young novelist/actor who is interviewed by a journalist over a book he wrote about his corresponding letters with an American TV star more than a decade ago who died mysteriously following a scandal relating to both of them. It’s a film that is an exploration of fame and celebrity as well as how his stardom won the affections of a young boy who would write corresponding letters with him that eventually would cause trouble. It’s an idea that is interesting yet Xavier Dolan and co-writer Jacob Tierney create a script that is overwhelmed with ideas but with not much to say as the result is something extremely messy and overblown. Notably as its narrative moved back and forth into the story of its titular character (Kit Harrington) and his young fan in Rupert Turner (Jacob Tremblay) while the older Rupert (Ben Schnetzer) talks about everything to the journalist Audrey Newhouse (Thandiwe Newton).

The script opens with the news of John F. Donovan’s death and Rupert’s reaction as he is watching it on TV at a coffee house with his mother Sam (Natalie Portman) as it would be the start of a non-linear reflective narrative where the older Rupert talks to Newhouse about the book he wrote. Yet, Dolan and Tierney chooses to create a parallel narrative about Donovan’s rise and his need to keep his homosexuality a secret while the young Rupert is striving to become a young actor inspired by Donovan despite the homophobic abuse he receives from classmates. It’s a narrative that showcases both Donovan and Rupert’s own issues with their mothers but also their own struggles with who they are yet it is a narrative that tends to overwhelm itself with the older Rupert coming across as someone who has become an asshole. Especially as it features various characters in their lives with the exception of a few who are either underwritten or played as clichés.

Dolan’s direction definitely has ambition and a look that plays into this world of celebrity though it is largely set in three different cities such as New York City, London, and Prague as much of the film is shot on location in Montreal. While many of Dolan’s compositions are straightforward, there are elements of style in some of the scenes he shoots as it play into some of the film’s melodrama. There are some wide and medium shots in not just scopes of the locations but also in some intimate moments with the latter as it play into conversations including scenes that play into the lives of Donovan and the young Rupert as they struggle with their own issues as well as their own parallel relationships with their mother. Yet, there are these moments in the film where Dolan’s approach to melodrama does create scenes that are either cheesy or just overwrought such as a scene where Donovan visits his mother Grace (Susan Sarandon) for Thanksgiving as Donovan is accompanied by his wife Amy (Emily Hampshire) and his brother James (Jared Keeso) as it becomes this overblown moment of Grace feeling unappreciated while she’s drunk as Donovan gets angry over his uncle being an asshole.

It’s not just that sequence that feels overwritten as well as a scene where Rupert’s corresponding letters were discovered after a homophobic classmate stole them where Rupert had to break into the boy’s house to get it back. It’s also scenes where the older Rupert talks to Newhouse about ethics where he comes off as entitled as it’s another scene that doesn’t work. Dolan also puts in an odd scene where an old man (Michael Gambon) gives Donovan some advice late in the film where it is a strange moment that never feels earned as it would be followed by a scene of Donovan at his mother’s house where he and his brother are singing Lifehouse’s Hanging By a Moment that feels tacked on and never adds anything to the story. For a film that is meant to be this exploration of scandal, misunderstanding, and celebrity, Dolan not only doesn’t say anything new but he also dwells into clichés that doesn’t feel earned nor does it help the story in general. Overall, Dolan crafts an overwritten and baffling film about a young man reflecting on his time as a kid corresponding letters to a troubled TV star.

Cinematographer Andre Turpin does excellent work with the film’s cinematography as its emphasis on low-key lighting and lack of vibrant colors do add to the film’s dramatic tone despite its messy narrative. Editors Xavier Dolan and Mathieu Denis do fine work with the editing where it does have elements of style though some of it do go overboard to play into some major dramatic moments. Production designers Anne Pritchard and Colombe Raby do fantastic work with the look of the home that Donovan’s mother live in as well as the school and home that the young Rupert goes to in London. Costume designers Michele Clapton and Pierre-Yves Gayraud do nice work with the costumes as it has some style in the clothes that Donovan wears while much of it is just casual.

Hair/makeup designer Jan Archibald does terrific work with the look of Sam with her hairstyle as well as the look of a few other characters to play into the world that Rupert and Donovan are in. Special effects supervisor Guillaume Murray and visual effects supervisor Jean-Francois Ferland do some OK with the film’s visual effects for scenes relating to the TV show Donovan is in as well as some set-dressing for some of the film’s locations. Sound designer Sylvain Brassard does superb work with the sound in the way music is played on a car radio to the atmosphere of a few party scenes as well as some sparse moments in the dramatic aspects of the film. The film’s music by Gabriel Yared is good for some of the lush orchestral score pieces that does play into the drama though it does have moments where it does feel overdone while the music soundtrack that features music from Cat Power, Adele, P!nk, Lifehouse, and the Verve do have their moments as it play into the period of the mid-2000s yet some feel used in the most clichéd ways.

The casting by Carmen Cuba is wonderful despite the fact that the cast wasn’t given strong material to work with as small roles from Jane Wheeler and Susan Almgren as two of Donovan’s aunts, Craig Eldridge as Donovan’s asshole uncle Patrick, Lukas Rolfe as the young Rupert’s homophobic classmate Cedric, Sarah Gadon as one of Donovan’s co-stars in Liz Jones, Jared Keeso as Donovan’s older brother James, and Chris Zylka in a somewhat-bland performance as an actor in Will Jefford Jr. who would have a thing with Donovan as he’s never given anything to do. Michael Gambon’s one-scene performance as a man who gives Donovan advice is amazing despite the fact that the scene made no sense while Emily Hampshire’s performance as Donovan’s wife Amy is severely underwritten as someone who never really says a lot in the film.

Kathy Bates and Amara Karan are excellent in their respective roles as Donovan’s manager Barbara Haggermaker and Rupert’s schoolteacher Miss Kureshi with the former being a no-nonsense manager who does what she can for Donovan but not put up with his bullshit while the latter is a kind-hearted teacher who believes that Rupert is gifted. Ben Schnetzer’s performance as the 21-year old Rupert is terrible as he switches between a British and American accent every now and then where he comes off as a real douche bag in how he talks about his past and observations while Thandiwe Newton manages to be solid as the journalist Audrey Newhouse as she just plays it straight and not putting up with some of the bullshit. Susan Sarandon has her moments as Donovan’s mother Grace in quieter moments though the scenes where she is melodramatic is her over-acting a bit.

Natalie Portman is superb as Rupert’s mother Sam as a woman who is baffled by her son’s relationship with Donovan through the letters where Portman does show some realism in the mother world despite some of the clichéd dramatic tropes she had to endure. Kit Harrington’s performance in the titular role is a mess as it does have moments of someone that is struggling with his identity but Harrington is unfortunately hindered by clichés that never allows his character to be fully engaging. Finally, there’s Jacob Tremblay in an incredible performance as the young Rupert Turner where Tremblay displays this air of energy and enthusiasm to the role but also someone who is just trying to understand the ways of the world as he is the only real highlight of the film.

The Death and Life of John F. Donovan is a horrendous film from Xavier Dolan. Despite the performances of Jacob Tremblay, Natalie Portman, Kathy Bates, and Amara Karan, the film is unfortunately bogged down by too many ideas in its study of celebrity and identity by favoring melodrama and tacked on moments that never says anything. It is a film that had a unique idea but fails in its execution where it dwells too much into convention while never going into places that could’ve done more with its subject matter. In the end, The Death and Life of John F. Donovan is an absolute failure from Xavier Dolan.

Xavier Dolan Films: I Killed My Mother - Heartbeats (2010 film) - Laurence Anyways - Tom at the Farm - Mommy (2014 film) - (It’s Only the End of the World) – Matthias & Maxime - (The Night Logan Woke Up) – The Auteurs #46: Xavier Dolan

© thevoid99 2021

Enemy (2013 film)

Based on the novel The Double by Jose Saramago, Enemy is the story of a man who learns that he has a double who looks a lot like him as his life begins to unravel. Directed by Denis Villeneuve and screenplay by Javier Gullon, the film is a study of identity and a man coping with the idea of having a double. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Melanie Laurent, Sarah Gadon, and Isabella Rossellini. Enemy is a provocative yet eerie film from Denis Villeneuve.

The film follows a college history professor whose dull and unfulfilling life is changed when he rents a movie which features an appearance by someone who looks exactly likes him where he tries to find out who he is and what connection they have. It’s a film that never reveals what it is about other than a man trying to find about his double prompting the double to find out more about this man. Javier Gullon’s screenplay is filled with a lot of ambiguities and ideas about identity relating to this man who learns about the idea of having someone who looks exactly like him. There are also these elements of strange symbolism as it relates to spiders as it play into the different personalities of the history professor Adam Bell (Jake Gyllenhaal) and his double in a former local actor in Anthony Claire (Jake Gyllenhaal). Adam is a quieter and more reserved individual while Anthony is more lively and outgoing as it add to this element of duality between these two when they would eventually meet. Anthony’s pregnant wife Helen (Sarah Gadon) would find out about Adam as she would meet him though he has no idea who she is which only prompts Anthony to confront this man who has been trying to find him.

Denis Villeneuve’s direction is definitely entrancing from this strange opening sequence of Adam/Anthony going into this mysterious erotic show where it is filled with symbolism and then shifts into something normal as it relates to the monotony that is Adam’s life. It’s a life that has a routine where he goes to work at a college in Toronto, goes back to his apartment, have a visit from his girlfriend Mary (Melanie Laurent), have sex with her, and then go to sleep. It’s a simple though dull routine until a colleague of Adam suggested him a movie to watch as it would change everything as Villeneuve maintains an intimacy through his compositions in the usage of close-ups and medium shots to play into the drama. The film is shot on location in Toronto as this city that very modern but also chaotic as it play into this troubling sense of duality and clashing personalities of Adam and Anthony where there is one moment in the film where a gigantic spider is walking over the city.

The direction also has Villeneuve create elements of surrealism as it relates to the references of spiders as it play into these different personalities of Adam and Anthony. There is a scene during the second act where the former turns to his mother (Isabella Rossellini) as she has no answers and could be hiding something but Villeneuve chooses to remain ambiguous throughout the film. The film’s third act is about control in what Anthony wants to do to Adam where it exhibits all of his darker traits while Adam is just trying to move on from this uneventful meeting. The sense of duality, identity, and ambiguity would loom for much of the film’s third act as well as displaying this air of surrealism which would only create more question than answers. Overall, Villeneuve creates a strange yet evocative film about a man who learns he has a double who looks exactly like him.

Cinematographer Nicolas Bolduc does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography with its usage of sepia-like colors to create that sense of griminess in some of the exteriors as well as the usage of low-key lights for many of the interiors set at night. Editor Matthew Hannam does excellent work with the editing as it play into the drama as well as the suspense with its rhythmic cuts and a few jump-cuts along the way. Production designer Patrice Vermette, with set decorator Jim Lambie and art director Sean Breaugh, does fantastic work with the look of the apartments that Adam and Anthony live in as well as Adam’s classroom and the video store he goes to find more of the movies Anthony did. Costume designer Renee April does nice work with the costumes as it is mostly casual from more buttoned-down look of Adam to the looser look of Anthony.

Prosthetic designer Adrien Morot does terrific work with one of the film’s key effects which is Helen’s pregnant belly. Visual effects supervisor Vincent Poitras does superb work with the film’s minimal visual effects which is essentially bit of set dressing as well as the look of the giant spider. Sound designer Oriol Tarrago does amazing work with the sound in creating these eerie and low-key textures as it add to the suspense including in some of the film’s quieter moments. The film’s music by Daniel Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans do incredible work with the music as it’s this very ominous and discordant music as it help create this unsettling atmosphere for the film while music supervisor Velma Barkwell provides an offbeat soundtrack that features cuts by Bob Kuban and the In-Men, Jonathan Richman, and the Walker Brothers.

The casting by Deirdre Bowen is wonderful as it feature some notable small roles from Daryl Dinn as a video store clerk, Joshua Peace as a colleague of Adam, Tim Post as Anthony’s concierge, the trio of Misha Highstead, Megan Mane, and Alexis Ulga as the mysterious women at the erotic underground club, Kedar Brown as a security guard, and Isabella Rossellini in a fantastic performance as Adam’s mother who is shocked by the news about Anthony whom she never knew as she doesn’t want to know more about it while being very ambiguous. Melanie Laurent is excellent as Mary as Adam’s girlfriend who is taken aback by sudden changes in Adam’s behavior after seeing a film Anthony was in as she has no clue what is going on until late in the film. 

Sarah Gadon is brilliant as Helen as Anthony’s pregnant wife who would be the first to know about Adam through a phone call as she becomes troubled by the fact that Anthony has a double as she becomes concerned about Anthony’s behavior. Finally, there’s Jake Gyllenhaal in a phenomenal dual performance as Adam and Anthony where he displays an aloofness and restraint in the former as someone who is nice and sensible while he is more lively but also arrogant and aggressive where Gyllenhaal gives this very chilling performance in playing the complexity of two men discovering themselves.

Enemy is a sensational film from Denis Villeneuve that features an incredible leading performance from Jake Gyllenhaal. Along with its supporting cast, eerie sound design, haunting score, harrowing visuals, and an ambiguously offbeat story. It’s a film that doesn’t provide any kind of answer but rather a lot of intrigue where it dares the audience to ask a lot of questions as well as provide their own interpretation about identity and chaos. In the end, Enemy is a spectacular film from Denis Villeneuve.

Denis Villeneuve Films: August 32nd on Earth – Maelstrom – Polytechnique – Incendies - Prisoners (2013 film) - Sicario - Arrival (2016 film) - Blade Runner 2049 - Dune-Part One (2021 film) - Dune-Part Two - (Dune: Messiah) - The Auteurs #68: Denis Villeneuve

© thevoid99 2017

Indignation

Based on the novel by Philip Roth, Indignation is the story of a Jewish student who begins a relationship with a mentally ill student at a small Ohio college as he also spars with its dean over religion and individuality in the life of academics. Written for the screen and directed by James Schamus, the film is a period drama of sorts set in the 1950s as it revolves around morality as a young man copes with his faith and his own sexual awakening. Starring Logan Lerman, Sarah Gadon, Linda Edmond, Ben Rosenfield, Danny Burstein, Pico Alexander, and Tracy Letts. Indignation is a riveting and compelling film from James Schamus.

Set in 1951 at a college in Ohio, the film follows a Jewish student who arrives as a freshman where he meets a beautiful student as they would have a strange sexual moment that would later get the two into some trouble involving gossip as he gets the attention of the school’s dean. The film is a complex story in which a young man with strong views on the world as he prefers to keep things to himself as he deals with the expectations he’s laid upon from his parents as well as the faculty until a date with this young woman would change things. James Schamus’ screenplay opens and ends with this old woman at a hospital staring at the wall as it then goes into a scene during the Korean War where a North Korean soldier fights with an American. It would then cut into a funeral service that the film’s protagonist Marcus Messner (Logan Lerman) attends for someone who was killed at the war as he copes with his father (Danny Burstein) who has been acting erratic lately as well as the need to socialize with other Jewish students despite the fact that he’s an Atheist.

When he meets Olivia Hutton (Sarah Gadon) at a history class and asks her out, he is unaware of what kind of person she is as she would give him a blow job inside a car as their relationship would be awkward until Marcus wonders about Olivia’s frequent absences at school. Especially as he learns about the fact that she’s had a history of mental illness and an undeserved reputation for being loose which gets him upset as he would lash out at his roommates and eventually move into his own room at another dorm. This would get the attention of the school’s dean Hawes D. Caudwell (Tracy Letts) who would ask a lot of questions that would annoy Marcus and his own beliefs including having to attend chapel forty times during his entire time at the school as requirement to graduate. It is a key moment in the story as it shows the expectations laid upon Marcus, Olivia, and other students in what they had to do in order to move forward as a society yet Marcus and Olivia have a hard time sticking to those ideals which has the former be outspoken and the latter coming apart.

Schamus’ direction is quite straightforward yet does contain some very entrancing compositions in the way he looks at college life in the 1950s where it’s a world that is quite square in its surroundings. Shot on location around various parts of New York City, the film does play into this look that is quite idyllic for the look of the college as well as Schamus’ precise framing into every image including the scenes at the chapel where a speaker tries to instill Christian ideals into the students including non-Christians. The usage of wide and medium shots play into this institution that may seem like idyllic but also quite stifling which is definitely what Schamus is doing while he also uses close-ups for the characters including Marcus who narrates the film via voiceover. There are a few scenes outside of the college as it relates to the working-class Jewish community that Marcus live in as it has a similar presentation visually but it’s a grimy world that includes the butcher shop that Marcus’ father runs.

The sexual content in the film is actually very tame since Schamus doesn’t show anything at all but rather Marcus’ own reaction to getting a blowjob from Olivia as well as her visits at the hospital during the second half of the film. Schamus’ approach to the drama is very simple yet he would also maintain some ambiguity as it relates to Olivia where he only display a few things about her with the exception of a flashback sequence relating to her mental history. The third act isn’t just about Marcus and Olivia’s relationship which is considered taboo given Marcus’ own idealism and Olivia’s reputation as well as the fact that they both come from different social circles. It also play into this growing decline of the ideas and demands of conformity at the college as it would play into Marcus’ growing disdain for everything Dean Caudwell stands for. Overall, Schamus creates a provocative yet haunting film about a young man’s relationship with a troubled young woman at a college in the early 1950s.

Cinematographer Christopher Blauvelt does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography with its emphasis on low-key lighting for some of the interiors at night as it play into this idyllic of 1950s society with the only scene of brightness is in the hospital scenes. Editor Andrew Marcus does excellent work with the editing as it is largely straightforward in terms of the cutting as it strays from anything stylized. Production designer Inbal Weinberg, with set decorator Philippa Culpepper and art director Derek Wang, does amazing work with the look of the college dorms and classrooms as well as Marcus’ hospital room and the butcher shop that his father owns.

Costume designer Amy Roth does fantastic work with the costumes from the look of what students wore during that time including the dresses that Olivia wore. Sound editor Lewis Goldstein is terrific from the way a record sounds inside Marcus’ dorm to some of the low-key yet raucous moments at the campus as well as the tense scenes inside the chapel. The film’s music by Jay Wadley is superb for its orchestral-based score that is also low-key in its string arrangements as it help play into the somber tones of the film while the soundtrack features music of the times including the folk and pop music of the times.

The casting by Avy Kaufman is marvelous as it feature some notable small roles from Sue Dahlman as this old woman at the film’s beginning and ending, Noah Robbins as a Jewish fraternity brother who would help Marcus deal with appearing at chapel, Philip Ettinger as a roommate of Marcus early in the film who would lend Marcus his car for his date with Olivia, Ben Rosenfield as another of Marcus’ roommate earlier in the film whose fondness for loud records and Shakespeare would annoy Marcus, and Pico Alexander as Jewish fraternity president who would try to invite Marcus to the fraternity as he’s a mutual friend of Marcus’ family. Danny Burstein is superb as Marcus’ father Max who starts to behave erratically as he believes something bad is going to happen where he would eventually lash out at those around him. Linda Emond is excellent as Marcus’ mother Esther as a woman who has been very supportive of Marcus as she would visit him at the hospital while getting to meet Olivia which would worry her.

Tracy Letts is brilliant as Dean Caudwell as the college dean who is eager to instill his own rule and ideals into the college that he runs as he finds himself challenged by Marcus where Letts’ performance is quite unusual in its restraint as he comes off more as a man who seems concerned and intrigued but it’s just a cover for someone who is really quite dark. Sarah Gadon is amazing as Olivia Hutton as a young woman from an upper-class family that is sexually-experienced yet is also quite off as someone who is also very fragile as she doesn’t want to reveal much about herself to Marcus. Finally, there’s Logan Lerman in a remarkable performance as Marcus Messner as this young Jewish freshman that is an Atheist who isn’t eager to fit in with the rest of the campus in order to focus on his studies only to find himself challenged by Dean Caudwell and find someone he is intrigued by in Olivia as it’s a very complex performance from Lerman who has this defiance but also weariness to someone trying to find his place in the world.

Indignation is an incredible film from James Schamus that features phenomenal performances from Logan Lerman, Sarah Gadon, and Tracy Letts. Along with its gorgeous visuals and compelling themes on individualism during the early 1950s, it’s a film that explores a young man dealing with the expectations of society where he finds solace in a troubled young woman. In the end, Indignation is a sensational film from James Schamus.

© thevoid99 2017

Belle (2013 film)

Directed by Amma Asante and written by Asante and Misan Sagay, Belle is the story of an illegitimate mixed-race girl who is sent by her father to live with her rich relatives as she copes with her identity and what her uncle does while falling for an aspiring lawyer. Inspired by a 1779 painting, the film is a fictionalized story about Dido Elizabeth Belle and the events that she took part in that led to the abolishment of slavery in Britain as she is played by Gugu Mbatha-Raw. Also starring Tom Wilkinson, Emily Watson, Sarah Gadon, Penelope Wilton, Miranda Richardson, Tom Felton, Matthew Goode, Sam Reid, and James Norton. Belle is an exquisitely rich and ravishing film from Amma Asante.

The film is a fictionalized story about Dido Elizabeth Belle as she is a young woman who is half-black and half-white as her white father asks his relatives to care for her where she would contend with her identity as well as what to do with herself as she falls for an aspiring lawyer. It’s a film that plays into this young woman who has all of the means to advance in upper-class society yet is often confused due to her skin color as well as what her uncle is doing as it relates to a famous trial relating to an incident known as the Zong Massacre. Yet, it’s more about this woman who is trying to understand who she is as she deals with prejudice for who she is as well as cope with what is happening in this trial that is happening.

The film’s screenplay does take a few dramatic liberties as it relates to the trial of Gregson vs. Gilbert yet it is more about Dido’s relationship with her uncle William Murray 1st Earl of Mansfield (Tom Wilkinson) who would take the young Dido in as he cares for her as well as her status. A status in which Dido would inherit money from her late father (Matthew Goode) as well as be given a much larger inheritance from her uncle and aunts. It’s a status that would help Dido as she would get the attention of many suitors but it would create some problems in her relationship with her cousin Elizabeth (Sarah Gadon) who is in need to marry someone who has money or else she would be destitute despite Dido wanting to share her inheritance with her. While there’s a chance for Elizabeth to be married into a rich family when Dido gets engaged to Oliver Ashford (James Norton), Dido still has to contend with Oliver’s bigoted older brother James (Tom Felton) and their scheming mother Lady Ashford (Miranda Richardson).

It is when Dido meets John Davinier (Sam Reid) where she begins to ask questions about not just herself but also what is happening around her as it becomes a key plot-point for the film. Especially as Davinier is a young man who doesn’t come from a rich family as he aspires to change the world through law as he rouses Dido’s view of the world as she thinks about herself and where would she be if her father hadn’t took her out of the slums and into a life of great wealth and love. Yet, Davinier would prove to be a man who doesn’t just see Dido as more than just a woman with mixed-skin but as a woman where the two fall in love though he’s not the kind of person that her uncle wants her to be with because of her rich status as she also has to think about her own family. Still, Murray’s encounter with Davinier and Dido’s own awareness of who she is would come into play into not just the decision of this court case but in also how he sees Dido as more than just family.

Amma Asante’s direction is truly exquisite as it plays into a drama where a young woman deals with her upbringing as well as the role she is destined to play along with her identity. Most notably in the way she creates a period drama that manages to be so much more as well as play into how things were back in the late 18th Century where it is set during a crucial period in British history when slavery was still prevalent. Asante would maintain something that feels quite contemporary while still giving the film a feel that is set in 18th Century as she would bring in some unique wide and medium shots into the film but also some unique close-ups into the film as it relates to Dido’s relationship with Davinier. There’s also a few hand-held camera shots and some tracking shots to play into some of the drama while Asante’s compositions are very entrancing to the way it plays into a world that is changing as well as being sort of disconnected from what is really happening.

The direction is also very intriguing for the way it explores the Zong Massacre and the Gregson vs. Gilbert which plays into Davinier trying to reveal exactly what is at stake. While Murray is a man that has the power to create change, he’s reluctant as he has a lot on his plate about how it would effect Britain but also his own status and his own family. Asante maintains that sense of tension that is in Murray as he also copes with the future of his own nieces as his wife Lady Elizabeth (Emily Watson) and his sister Lady Mary (Penelope Wilton) are trying to ensure that Dido and Elizabeth will marry to good families. The film does climax with not just the trial itself but also the reveal of the famous painting that features both Dido and Elizabeth as it relates to exactly how Murray sees Dido. Overall, Asante creates a very captivating and evocative film about a young woman dealing with her identity as well as knowing what she wants in her life as well as how she sees the world.

Cinematographer Ben Smithard does brilliant work with the film‘s very lush and colorful cinematography for the look of the gardens and exterior in the daytime scenes to the usage of candlelight and other lights to play into some of its nighttime interior and exterior scenes. Editors Pia Di Ciaula and Victoria Boydell do amazing work with the editing as it‘s quite straightforward while also having bits of style in a few montages and some dazzling rhythmic cuts. Production designer Sarah Bowles, with set decorator Tina Jones and supervising art director Ben Smith, does phenomenal work with the set pieces from the homes the characters live in as well as the courthouse and the look of the slums where Dido‘s father found her in the film‘s opening sequence. Costume designer Anushia Nieradzik does fantastic work with the design of the dresses from the way it plays to the personality of the women as well as the clothes that the men wear.

Hair/makeup designer Marese Langan does excellent work with the design of the wigs some of the men wore as well as the hairstyle of the men and women. Visual effects supervisor Henry Badgett and Angela Barson do terrific work with the minimal visual effects scenes that is really more set dressing in a few key scenes. Sound editor Lee Herrick and sound designer Robert Ireland do superb work with the sound from the way shoes sound on floors to some of the scenes at the parties that occur in the film. The film’s music by Rachel Portman is wonderful as it is largely a lush orchestral score that adds to the sense of drama while music supervisor Maggie Rodford bring in a soundtrack that is largely classical pieces from Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel.

The casting by Toby Whale is incredible as it features some notable small roles from Bethan Mary-Jones as the black maid Mabel, Lauren Julien-Box as the young Dido, Cara Jenkins as the young Elizabeth, Alex Jennings as James and Oliver’s father, and Matthew Goode in a brief but very touching role as Dido’s father Captain John Lindsay who manages to the most of his brief role. James Norton is terrific as Oliver Ashford as the youngest of the two brothers who likes Dido while Tom Felton is superb as Oliver’s more prejudiced older brother James who detests Dido for being black while proving to be very cruel to Elizabeth. Penelope Wilton is wonderful as Dido and Elizabeth’s aunt Lady Mary as someone who tries to keep both women in check while realizing their fate if both women don’t find men to be in love with. Miranda Richardson is brilliant as Lady Ashford as a woman who doesn’t like Dido very much only to agree to Oliver’s engagement to her out of ensuring that her son will have money.

Sarah Gadon is fantastic as Elizabeth as Dido’s cousin who is like a sister to Dido as she copes with the changes in Dido’s life but also her own future as she tries to find a good husband so she wouldn’t be destitute. Emily Watson is excellent as Lady Elizabeth as Murray’s wife who is considered the conscious of the film as she tries to ensure the futures for both Dido and Elizabeth while trying to make sense of the decision that her husband is going to make in this court case. Sam Reid is amazing as John Davinier as a reverend’s son who aspires to be a lawyer and makes change as he has this presence that is very engaging as someone that displays some humility as he is intrigued by Dido where he would eventually fall for her.

Tom Wilkinson is phenomenal as William Murray as a man who reluctantly takes Dido in only to care for her as if she was his daughter as he copes with everything he’s trying to do for her as well as being involved in a case that involves blacks which affects the decision he would make. Finally, there’s Gugu Mbatha-Raw in an absolutely tremendous performance as Dido Elizabeth Belle as this young woman who is coping with her identity and place in the world while realizing the complications of the real world as it relates to her race as well as what is expected from her as a woman as it’s a very radiant and powerful performance.

Belle is a remarkable film Amma Asante that features an incredible performance from Gugu Mbatha-Raw. Along with a strong supporting cast as well as an engaging story that features some insightful historical elements. It’s a film that manages to be more than a period piece and a character study as it is also a film that features characters coping with changes as well as uncertainty in their idyllic and safe environment. In the end, Belle is a sensational film from Amma Asante.

© thevoid99 2015

Maps to the Stars

Directed by David Cronenberg and written by Bruce Wagner that is based on his own book Dead Stars, Maps to the Stars is a story set in Hollywood revolving around an aging actress dealing with her career as well as the presence of her late mother while a therapist tries to get his young son to return to the world of celebrity culture. A film that explores the world of celebrity and its emphasis on Western culture, it’s a film that is satirical as well as having commentary on a world lost in fame. Starring Julianne Moore, John Cusack, Mia Wasikowska, Robert Pattinson, Olivia Williams, Evan Bird, and Sarah Gadon. Maps to the Stars is a visceral and ominous film from David Cronenberg.

The film is an exploration into the world of fame and celebrity culture through a multi-layered narrative involving a young child star trying to return to the world of celebrity culture while an aging actress copes with painful memories as she is haunted by the presence of her late mother. It’s a film that plays into people trying to be part of a culture where there’s a lot of expectations and demands in order to succeed. At the middle of this is a young woman named Agatha (Mia Wasikowska) who arrives from Florida as she would work for the aging actress Havana Segrand (Julianne Moore) as an assistant. Segrand is coping with demons as she seeks the help of self-help therapist Dr. Strafford Weiss (John Cusack) whose son Benjie (Evan Bird) is a teen child-star that is trying to remain sober while dealing with the pressures of stardom as he endure strange hallucinations.

Bruce Wagner’s screenplay definitely plays into not just people’s desire to wanting to make it in Hollywood but also how far they will go to the point that they lose elements of their sanity as well as their own identity. While Agatha is just an outsider who would befriend a limo driver named Jerome (Robert Pattinson) who is trying to make as an actor and a writer. She is someone that manages to have some connections to be part of that world yet is more of an observer who has an element of innocence but with a dark edge as she wears gloves and lots of clothes as she is a burn victim with a past of her own. By working for Havana Segrand, she gets access to the world of productions and places but is also aware that there is a lot more going on. Especially as Havana is a woman living in the shadows of her late mother Clarice (Sarah Gadon) who was a famous star until she died of a car crash when Havana was a child.

In the hopes to star in a remake of a film that her mother did years ago, Havana is hoping for a comeback but Clarice’s presence haunts her. By going to Dr. Weiss, she tries to exercise her demons as well as get a role in order to fulfill her own ego. The Dr. Weiss character is also a representation of egotism as he is a man that is making money through is own self-help books as well as exploit his own son while his wife Cristina (Olivia Williams) is Benjie’s manager as she does whatever to get him a part in a sequel for a film that made him a star. Benjie however, is struggling with trying to stay sober as well as be out of the public eye as he is succumbing to peer pressure as well as the need to be this teen sensation as he starts to see strange hallucinations involving the dead. It’s a film that features a lot of characters who are despicable while the Jerome character is the most normal as he is also an outsider who is just trying to get his break no matter how humiliating things are. Though there’s aspects of Jerome that makes him unsympathetic, it’s only because he has to do things in order to be part of this very turbulent and troublesome world.

David Cronenberg’s direction is very mesmerizing for the way he depicts the world of Hollywood as this place of conformity and expectations that seem unreal. While a lot of it is shot in Los Angeles and Hollywood with a few interior scenes set in Toronto, it does play into a film that has a very warped view of what Hollywood is as many of the characters, with the exception of Agatha and Jerome, live in these spacious mansions and are invited to the biggest parties around. While there’s some wide shots in the direction, much of Cronenberg’s approach to the compositions are simple in terms of close-ups and medium shots. Especially in scenes involving Agatha where her close-ups play to how she looked with her burned scars around parts of her head to play into a sense of realism that she has while everyone in Hollywood is trying to look young or be part of that culture.

The direction is also full of dark humor that plays into aspects of satire such as the commercials that Dr. Weiss has as well as his approach to therapy which is quite odd. Even as it’s clear that he’s just a man that will do anything to be famous and use his son’s stardom to become famous. Once there’s some revelations about his own past as well as his family starts to emerge, it adds to the sense of drama that emerges as well as to the issues that Havana is going through. Havana’s story has elements of surrealism as it relates to the presence of her own mother which is similar to the hallucinations that Benjie would go through. All of which play into demons that they face with Agatha being caught in the middle as this observer as she is connected to these people in some ways while keeping herself at a distance. Overall, Cronenberg creates a very captivating yet harrowing film about celebrity culture and people dealing with their demons in that world.

Cinematographer Peter Suschitzky does brilliant work with the film‘s cinematography to play into the sunny look of the locations in Hollywood along with some straightforward lighting for some scenes at night including some of the interior shots. Editor Ronald Sanders does excellent work with the editing as it‘s straightforward while using some unique rhythmic cuts to play into some of the surreal moments of the film. Production designer Carol Spier, with set decorators Sandy Lindstedt and Peter P. Nicolakakos and art directors Edward Bonutto and Elinor Rose Galbraith, does fantastic work with the look of the homes of the Weiss family as well as Havana to play into their personalities as well as the offices to showcase that world of celebrity culture.

Costume designer Denise Cronenberg does terrific work with the costumes from the long leather gloves that Agatha wears to the different array of clothes that the other characters wear as it‘s very posh in its look. Visual effects supervisor Jon Campfens does nice work some of the film‘s minimal visual effects which includes a chilling scene late in the film that plays to the drama. Sound editor Michael O’Farrell does superb work with the sound to play into the atmosphere of the party scenes as well as the smaller moments such as the screams that Havana would endure in her moments where she‘s tested. The film’s music by Howard Shore is amazing for its mixture of somber orchestral music with a mixture of eerie electronic pieces that play into the sense of dread and dark drama that looms over the film.

The casting by Deirdre Bowen is phenomenal as it features some notable small roles from Carrie Fisher as herself, Jayne Heitmeyer as a rival actress of Havana, Domenic Ricci as that woman’s son, Kiara Glasco as a young girl Benjie visits at the hospital as she would haunt him later on, Gord Rand as a director that Havana hopes to work with, Sean Robertson as a young co-star of Benjie whom is seen as a threat, and Dawn Greenhalgh as Havana’s agent who tries to get Havana the role that she is coveting. Sarah Gadon is terrific as the ghost of Havana’s mother Clarice who is a manifestation of the bad memories that Havana has. Olivia Williams is superb as Benjie’s mother Cristina who also manages her son’s career as she tries to make sure he stays sober while dealing with some demons of her own. Robert Pattinson is excellent as Jerome as a limo driver that Agatha befriends as he tries to make it as an actor/writer as he tries to find ways to make it where he does things that he knows he isn’t proud of.

Evan Bird is brilliant as Benjie as this teen sensation trying to cope with fame and the need to be sober as he also deals with strange hallucinations that play into his fascination with death. John Cusack is amazing as Benjie’s father in Dr. Strafford Weiss as this self-help therapist who is trying to become famous while doing whatever to make sure his son stays famous as he’s a really despicable character. Mia Wasikowska is remarkable as Agatha as this young woman with burned skin who arrives to Los Angeles with some mysterious motives as she finds herself fascinated by celebrity culture as she works for Havana while dealing with things about herself as it’s a performance that is quite engaging but also very dark. Finally, there’s Julianne Moore in an incredible performance as Havana Segrand as this aging actress that is desperate to make a comeback while coping with issues as there’s a sense of vanity and smugness in Moore’s performance that is mixed with high-levels of insecurities as it’s Moore in one of her best performances to date.

Maps to the Stars is a rapturous yet exhilarating film from David Cronenberg. Armed with a great cast led by Julianne Moore and Mia Wasikowska as well as very unique insight into the world of celebrity, its culture, and all of the trappings of fame. Especially as it’s a film with some revelations about people and twists and turns that showcase how much people are willing to sacrifice to be adored only to fall apart by their own undoing. In the end, Maps to the Stars is a riveting and tremendously haunting film from David Cronenberg.

David Cronenberg Films: Stereo - Crimes of the Future - Shivers - Rabid - Fast Company - The Brood - Scanners - Videodrome - The Dead Zone - The Fly (1986 film) - Dead Ringers - Naked Lunch - M. Butterfly - Crash - eXistenZ - Spider - A History of Violence - Eastern Promises - A Dangerous Method - Cosmopolis - Crimes of the Future (2022 film)

The Auteur #26: David Cronenberg: Pt. 1 - Pt. 2

© thevoid99 2014

Cosmopolis

Based on the novel by Don DeLillo, Cosmopolis is the story of a young multi-billionaire whose desire to get a haircut has him going onto a very strange journey where he encounters various people and embark on things that are very unsettling. Written for the screen and directed by David Cronenberg, the film plays into the life of a young man in the span of 24 hours as he starts to lose touch with reality as the world around him becomes chaotic. Starring Robert Pattinson, Sarah Gadon, Paul Giamatti, Samantha Morton, Jay Baruchel, Kevin Durand, Mathieu Almaric, and Juliette Binoche. Cosmopolis is drab and overwrought film from David Cronenberg.

The film is a simple story about a young billionaire who is in his limo driving through the traffic-laden streets of New York City just wanting a haircut. Yet, a visit from the U.S. president, a rapper’s funeral procession, and protests concerning about the state of capitalism puts this young man in one hellish day as he self-destructs slowly as his fortune falls and his own personal life starts to fall apart. It’s a premise that could’ve been engaging and also compelling to explore a man’s self-destruction as it would be in the hands of someone as revered as David Cronenberg. Instead, it’s an overblown and soulless film that doesn’t really have anything to say. For most of the story’s two-acts, the film’s protagonist in Eric Parker (Robert Pattinson) spends his time in his lavish, state-of-the-art limo talking to various advisors, analysts, workers, and such about his dwindling fortune while stepping out to do a few activities and eat a few meals with his wife Elsie (Sarah Gadon).

The screenplay is often filled with this very stylized dialogue where everyone talks in a certain rhythm that goes on too fast and features themes about finances and capitalist theories that doesn’t make any sense. Even as some of the dialogue is so poor that it’s often spoke in a very robotic fashion that just sucks out the life of the story. In the course of the story, Parker sleeps with a few women who aren’t married to him while dealing with the fact that he’s got an asymmetrical prostate as he has a hard time figuring out a currency where protesters are targeting him. The third act does break away from the monotony of the story but only to the point that it gets messier where Parker finally gets his haircut while trying to find out who is trying to kill him as the result almost ends up being the same thing about capitalism, life, and all that where it gets repetitive and loses ground into whatever arguments that Parker is going after.

Cronenberg’s direction should’ve been interesting as he spends much of the film inside a limo where it’s very intimate but also claustrophobic to showcase the cold world that Parker lives in. Instead, the story that Cronenberg is telling doesn’t hold much ground where this mixture of chaos outside of the limo and Parker trying to cage himself in his limo doesn’t do anything as the constant talking just drags the film. The moments where the film leaves the limo and into a few places doesn’t really have Cronenberg do much other than create a few interesting compositions but the way he directs his actors really bogs the film down even more. Even as its climax where Parker leaves the limo to get his haircut and confront whoever is trying to kill him only makes things worse as the film ends on a very abrupt and hollow note. Overall, Cronenberg creates an excruciatingly dull and lifeless film that had something to say but ends up saying nothing at all.

Cinematographer Peter Suschitzsky does nice work with the cinematography to play into its look of the city as it‘s in chaos while editor Ronald Sanders does some good work in the editing though it does have a hard time to keep up with the very talkative dialogue while not doing enough to build up some suspense. Production designer Arvinder Grewal and art director Joshu de Cartier do excellent work with the look of the limos and places Parker goes to while costume designer Denise Cronenberg creates some wonderful dresses that Elsie wears.

Visual effects supervisor Wojciech Zielinski does some bad work in some of the film‘s visual effects that includes a backdrop for the shots outside of the limo. Sound editor Wayne Griffin and Michael O’Farrell do some fine work with the sound to play into the chaotic nature in the locations. The film’s music by Howard Shore is terrific as it is low-key with its emphasis on brooding electronic music that includes some contributions from the Canadian band Metric to provide some dark textures into the soundtrack.

The casting by Deirdre Bowen definitely has a great collection of actors where there’s a few noteworthy performances from George Touliatos as the barber Anthony and Abdul Ayoola as Packer’s driver where the two have a nice conversation about their old lives as cab drivers. Other notable performances from Patricia McKenzie as a bodyguard of Packer, Emily Hampshire as finance chief, Jay Baruchel as his friend Shiner, Kevin Durand as Packer’s main bodyguard Torval, and Philip Nozuka as his analyst don’t really get much to do as they’re bogged down by the film’s atrocious dialogue that just has them over-explaining things.

For a cast that includes such revered talents as Mathieu Almaric, Juliette Binoche, Paul Giamatti, and Samantha Morton, they are unfortunately wasted in this film. Giamatti plays a disgruntled, troubled ex-employee of Packer who just talks and talks while Almaric is just a guy who slams a pie into Packer. Morton doesn’t do anything but talk about numbers and such as if she was a robot while Binoche plays an art consultant who sleeps with Packer as she talks about money and art. Sarah Gadon is terrible as Packer’s young wife Elsie as she only appears in a few scenes as the scenes she have with Pattinson are included with some bad dialogue that’s made worse by the fact that they’re talking like robots. Finally, there’s Robert Pattinson in a performance that is unsurprisingly typical of what he’s known for as he’s just a bore to watch as well as the fact that he talks like a robot in some respects while often does a lot of blank stare to showcase that he is indeed a very bland and soulless young man who can’t act worth a shit.

Cosmopolis is a fucking travesty of a film from someone as brilliant as David Cronenberg. Thanks in part to Robert Pattinson’s horrendous performance as well as its un-engaging story and overwritten dialogue. It’s a film that should’ve said something about a man’s self-destruction in the wake of a capitalist protest but instead says nothing profound. Even as it ends up being a cinematic downward spiral of nothingness that goes further into a spiral of ever-more nothingness. In the end, Cosmpolis is a film that just absolutely fucking sucks.

David Cronenberg Films: Stereo - Crimes of the Future - Shivers - Rabid - Fast Company - The Brood - Scanners - Videodrome - The Dead Zone - The Fly (1986 film) - Dead Ringers - Naked Lunch - M. Butterfly - Crash - eXistenZ - Spider - A History of Violence - Eastern Promises - A Dangerous Method - Maps to the Stars - Crimes of the Future (2022 film)

The Auteurs #26: David Cronenberg: Pt. 1 - Pt. 2

© thevoid99 2013

A Dangerous Method

Based on Christopher Hampton’s stage play The Talking Cure and John Kerr’s non-fiction novel A Most Dangerous Method: the story of Jung, Freud, and Sabina Spielrein. A Dangerous Method is the story about Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud’s friendship that is later ruined by Jung’s examination towards his controversial patient Sabina Spielrein. Directed by David Cronenberg and screenplay by Christopher Hampton, the film explores the world of psychology in the early 20th Century as well as how this woman would destroy the friendship of two great minds. Starring Michael Fassbender, Viggo Mortensen, Keira Knightley, Sarah Gadon, and Vincent Cassel. A Dangerous Method is an engrossing yet provocative drama from David Cronenberg.

It’s 1904 as Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley) has arrived to a Swiss mental hospital under the care of Dr. Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender). Jung’s interest in Speilrein’s case of abuse and psychological torment has him trying to understand more about Spielrein as he takes some of the methods of renowned psychiatrist Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) to understand more about Speilrein’s history of abuse. Two years later with wife Emma (Sarah Gadon), Jung travels to Vienna to meet with Freud where the two have a 13-hour conversation about psychoanalysis and Jung’s work on Speilrein, who has left the hospital to study psychiatry as she also helps Jung out in various studies.

When Freud sends Otto Gross (Vincent Cassel) to Jung for treatment, Gross would end up stating his own ideals of sexual perversion and liberation as it would affect Jung’s relationship with Speilrein leading to an affair with the two. Yet, it would cause complications for Jung as Freud wonders what troubles Jung leading Freud to visit Switzerland. The affair would end due to pressure as Speilrein makes some demands to be become a patient for Freud as the two men travel to America to discuss the world of psychology. Speilrein would visit Jung years later seeking aid for her dissertation on sexual psychology leading to a fallout between Jung and Freud that included Jung’s own conflicts of interest over everything he’s worked on.

The film is an exploration into the world of psychology from two of its great minds in the early 20th Century. Spanning 10 years through various studies and conversations, it is a film where this one woman whose own psychological trauma and torture would challenge the ideals of two men and unknowingly break their friendship. While the film is a dramatization of what happened in those 10 years, it is an interesting study about the world of psychology as well as a human drama about these three people and how they’re shaped into this exploration of sexual psychology and how it would play into emotions and instinct.

Christopher Hampton’s script plays up that sense of intrigue into this woman’s own psychological torment as she arrives as mad patient who is excited by being beaten for sexual pleasure as it relates to her own abuse as a child. This would baffle someone as intelligent and driven like Carl Jung who hopes to find more about the world of psychology as he would use a method of his mentor/friend Sigmund Freud to understand this woman. What would happen is that his own ideals would be shaken by this woman as well as a patient of Freud where he begins to explore his own sexual desires. The film plays as a character study of sorts in the character of Carl Jung as he eventually becomes a conflicted man devoted to his role as a top psychiatrist as well as being a man. He is in love with Sabina Spielrein but also is devoted to his wife Emma.

This would create a sense of confusion as it would later involve the more experienced and respected Sigmund Freud. Freud is a man that is looking for someone who is willing to carry his teaching as he believes that Jung is the man for the job until Jung deviates from Freud’s own teachings by going further into the unknown. This would create the kind of tension between these two men as Spielrein starts to go into Freud’s own methods and forge her own ideas much to Jung’s chagrin. While it’s a story that is quite complex and at times, can be overwhelming due to its study on psychology. It is still a very broad script by Christopher Hampton.

David Cronenberg’s direction is truly hypnotic for the way he re-creates early 20th Century homes and towns as it’s shot mostly in Germany with parts of it in Austria. While it is a period drama with costumes made of the time, Cronenberg doesn’t exactly go for an entirely straightforward picture. Instead, he is more concerned about the dramatic implications of psychology as well as what drove these individuals apart. The sexual content isn’t very explicit but does dare to be dangerous as this strange behavior regarding sex was very new and taboo at the time. Cronenberg chooses to downplay all of that by trying to find natural reactions to these events while still having the film focus on its three central characters as well as its two supporting characters.

Cronenberg creates some visually-gorgeous compositions to a lot of the images set in Switzerland that includes a lake where Jung and Freud would have conversations on a boat. Yet, it is the way Cronenberg frames the actors in these conversation scenes that prove to be very spectacular. He would have the dominant actor in a close-up of sorts while the other would still be in the background observing. There would be a few cuts back and forth to maintain the rhythm of these conversations as Cronenberg is interested in what is needed to be said. While the film is Cronenberg showing some restraint in his approach to camera movements and wide depth of field shots of the locations. He does create a truly mesmerizing film that explores the very complicated yet fascinating world of psychology and human nature.

Cinematographer Peter Suschitzky does an extraordinary job with the film‘s very exquisite and beautiful photography. Notably for the daytime exteriors in Vienna and Germany to complement the beauty of the locations while maintaining a much darker yet stylized look for the nighttime interior scenes which includes Jung‘s time with Speilrein. Editor Ronald Sanders does an excellent job with the film‘s editing by maintaining a straightforward yet effective approach to the cutting while utilizing rhythmic cuts for the intensity of the conversations. Production designer James McAteer, along with set decorator Gernot Thondel and art director Sebastian Soukup, does an incredible job with the set pieces created such as the big home of Jung and his office as well as Speilrein’s apartment and the lavish office of Freud to express their personalities.

Costume designer Denise Cronenberg does a brilliant job with the period costumes created such as the suits and hats the men wear to the lovely dresses and white silk worn by the women including Sabina and Emma to contrast their different personalities. Visual effects supervisor Wojiech Zielinski does a nice job with the film‘s minimal visual effects scene such as the ship traveling to America scene to create backgrounds of early 1900s New York City and of the ship‘s exterior.. Sound editors Wayne Griffin and Michael O’Farrell do a wonderful job with the sound work to convey the sparse intimacy of the conversations as well as the sounds of horse carriages and objects presented in the film. The film’s score by Howard Shore is spellbinding with its array of somber piano pieces and lush orchestral cuts to play up the dramatic tension and romantic elements of the film.

The casting by Deidre Bowen is phenomenal for the small ensemble that is created in the film. Sarah Gadon is terrific as Carl Jung’s young wife Emma who tries to deal with his sudden detached behavior while grounding him from his studies. Vincent Cassel is great as controversial patient Otto Gross who would push Carl Jung much further into his exploration of sexual perversion and behavior while being a sly seducer to the nurses at the hospital. Keira Knightley’s performance is pretty good in some parts where she brings a sense of energy and passion to the character of Sabina Spielrein. Though it doesn’t start off great early on as she is extremely over the top early on while displaying twitches that feel very off as well as Knightley’s Russian accent that sounds more American than Russian. Though it’s good in some parts, it’s a performance where Knightley doesn’t seem to rise to the challenge.

Viggo Mortensen is brilliant in the role of Sigmund Freud as Mortensen brings a very calm yet charismatic performance to the famed psychologist. Notably as he also displays a sense of passion and reasoning needed for this character as it’s definitely Mortensen at his finest. Finally, there’s Michael Fassbender in a very chilling yet captivating performance as Carl Jung. While it’s a very restrained performance as a gifted psychologist who finds himself being challenged. There is also a great sense of anguish that Fassbender displays as he’s dealing with his own idealism changed as well finding himself in conflict with Freud and eventually, himself as it’s a very brave yet harrowing performance from Fassbender.

A Dangerous Method is a remarkable yet very engaging film from David Cronenberg that features outstanding performances from Michael Fassbender and Viggo Mortensen. While it may not be one of Cronenberg’s more stylish yet suspenseful-driven films. It is still a very interesting one for the way Cronenberg would explore the world of sexual perversion as well as its psychological attributes. Notably as it would allow audiences to explore that world and why it was so taboo at the time. In the end, A Dangerous Method is a smart yet alluring film from David Cronenberg.

David Cronenberg Films: Stereo - Crimes of the Future - Shivers - Rabid - Fast Company - The Brood - Scanners - Videodrome - The Dead Zone - The Fly (1986 film) - Dead Ringers - Naked Lunch - M. Butterfly - Crash - eXistenZ - Spider - A History of Violence - Eastern Promises - Cosmopolis - Maps to the Stars - Crimes of the Future (2022 film)

The Auteurs #26: David Cronenberg Pt. 1 - Pt. 2

© thevoid99 2012