As if to say to the world that not all successful female child actors grow up to be Lindsay Lohan, two of this year's best films are also two of its best acted films. Per the usual, they will be regulated to art houses and given many awards that not many will care about, but will elevate their leading ladies to an upper echelon of international fame and success that most would never have predicted for either of them just a year ago.
However, it must be said that their rather sad initial audience response is not as bad as it sounds.
I start first with my rather delayed reaction to Lars von Trier's Melancholia. After reacting rather harshly to his press comments in Cannes, he was declared Senior Persona non Grata by the head of the festival and might never be in competition in Cannes and will probably never give another interview again after being interrogated by Danish police. Surprisingly, it's really our loss.
One can only imagine what it must have been like to have experienced the world premiere of Tree of Life, then seeing this doozy the next day. If I ran a drive-in theater, I would have those two playing in a double feature (but then, the audience might have trouble seeing the picture since the outer space shots are so darn dark).
As many already know, this delightful contemplation on marriage, depression, family, sisterhood, understanding, and the end of planet Earth reunites Mr. Trier with his not-so-suffering collaborator Charlotte Gainsbourg. Yes, after chewing up and spitting out Emily Watson, Nicole Kidman, Bjork, and Bryce Dallas Howard, Mr. Trier has finally found a female actor who can actually put up with him. That's not really the biggest thing about this stupendous film, though. In a role originally meant for Penelope Cruz, Kirsten Dunst steps up to the plate and blows away and silly notions that she was going to fade away now that she's done with Spiderman films.
In true Trier fashion, Miss Dunst won Best Actress at Cannes, got nominated at the European film awards (along with Charlotte) and will probably be ignored by the Oscars.
Her performance as the depressed but resilient Justine not only tops anything she's ever done (except maybe for Interview with the Vampire), but also might be the bet performance Mr. Trier has ever directed thus far. Her character is surprisingly masculine (as if he wrote it with a male actor in mind, but then just decided to make it female b/c almost all of his films are about female characters) yet she possesses a feminine understanding and empathy of her own. Charlotte is wonderful as a character who seems at first to be the opposite of her Antichrist character, but eventually reveals her own anxiety-ridden nature when things turn unavoidably bad. The two ladies don't appear to share any resembling DNA or even regional accent, but have a sisterly chemistry and deep respect and admiration for each other that only comes from the best of actresses. Kiefer Sutherland is vividly wonderful as a dubious astrologist/hotel owner. John Hurt, Charlotte Rampling, Udo Kier, Stellan Skarsgard, and Brady Corbett also show up in fun cameos as stand-ins to Trier's pessimistic views on...well...everything. There's also Stellan's son, Alexander, playing a total douchebag who conveniently disappears along with most of the cast at the halfway point.
Much has been made of the film's Wagner-tinged prologue...and it deserves every remark it gets. If only Tarkovsky could have used today's technology to make something as intoxicating as this. It is the best music video of the year (maybe decade if things keep up the way they are) and a primer of how to effectively use slow motion. It amazes me everytime I watch the film how the fact that it literally goes through the entire story (unlike Antichrist's similar prologue) does not dilute the rest of the film in anyway (at least to me). It was too visually stunning and mind-boggingly translucent to me to really give anything away. I'll never be able to think of Tristan and Isolde in the same way again.
Once the actual film gets started, we are treated to two halves of a great film that only deepen and enrichen the prologue. The first is all about how Justine's depression manifests itself in disastrous, but oh-so amusing ways that completely destroy her life at her "wedding" ceremony where Mr. Trier tries to out do both Thomas Vinterburg and Robert Altman for supreme matrimony absurdity. Much Bretchian dialogue and unintentional hilarity ensues.
The second half concerns Charlotte and Kiefer's characters much more as they deal with the aftermath of Justine's psychosexual BS and, before you can say, Planet Shmamet, Janet!, gradually prepare for the end of life on earth b/c (wouldn't you know it), a giant blue rogue planet called Melancholia has come out of nowhere (much like Justine's mood swings) and is revealed to be on a graceful collision course with earth. For an end of days movie, this is refreshingly sparse and intimate. No looting. No crowds. No Bruce Willis space mission. Nothing. Just two sisters, a lovely horse, and a boy in a giant hotel with a gorgeous golf course and some branches. Much has been made how the giant blue planet is a metaphor for Justine's depression manifesting out of nowhere, but she only grows stronger as the end gets closer while all of her rational family members lose their nerve. I think it would be the exact opposite if it was her depression causing this end. Maybe the planet is really Jesus, Angelina Jolie, or maybe the Easter Bunny. Depression may wreck your life, but it's never the end of the world. I hate to compare this film to something like Titanic, but this is the closest Mr. Trier will probably get to a James Cameron film. It's also the best science fiction film to come from any country in ages (screw you, Another Earth!). The last minute of the film alone needs to be seen in IMAX. So, naturally, this film is premiering on VOD (though will be in a handful of art theaters for about a few hours). However, Mr. Cameron's films will probably never feature something like this:
Justine knows the end is coming. She did not cause it. No Nazis did. No mad scientists did. No one person did. It's just the way things are. How life is meant to be. Life on earth is vicious and deserves its end. If only the dinosaurs had had it that easy.
There's not much more can be said about this emotionally stirring science fiction film that hasn't already been said. Mr. Trier seems to dislike its beauty... comparing it to a Disney film. Strangely enough, that's exactly what it feels like...in the best possible way. Mr. Trier strings together storylines, music cues, themes, and characters that should never be put together and have no right to work on any level, yet every actor and crew worker rises to the challenge and the result is an unforgettable cinematic experience that is not only a clever rebutle to any art film Brad Pitt feels like making, but Mr. Trier's most mature and accessible film....maybe ever... This is strangely, not a bad thing...nope...not a bad thing at all. I have watched this film five times now and I just want to watch it again and again (probably the only time this year I've had that urge). It delivers more laughs, emotional gut punches, dramatic irony, and insights into humanity than I thought Mr. Trier was ever capable of. We can only hope Mr. Trier's next sex-driven film, Nymphomaniac, will be as tolerable. It may be the end of the world as we know...but this film makes me feel fine about that.
Can't wait for the Criterion Blu-ray!
One of this year's best Sundance surprises comes in the form of Elizabeth Olsen. Many have known her before for her acclaimed supporting work as Girl in Car in her twin sisters' mid 90s TV movie masterpiece, How the West Was Fun. Thankfully, she's somehow moved on from that landmark to the Best Director winning Martha Marcy May Marlene (referred to now as MMMM). Unlike Melancholia, this film will actually be distributed to theaters with a decent distributor, will be seen by art film fans this year and will win American film awards (maybe even something besides Independent Spirit Awards). Before you can accuse the film of blantant nepotism, corporate brown nosing, and riding the coattails of Winter's Bone (and you'd be right), please realize that this is one of the few indies this year that actually deserves the attention.
I have to say that I was lucky enough to meet Sean Durkin and Elizabeth Olsen at a special screening of MMMM at Camelview last August and was surprised at their civility and (relative) lack of pretension. Mr. Durin is clearly a workhorse with serious aspirations and ambition with style and grace to back it up with. Miss Olsen came off as refreshingly...dare I say it....normal. However, she is clearly anything but.
Miss Olsen plays Martha, an innocent East Coast girl who joins a cult for really ambiguous reasons. While she is in the cult, she is emotionally, psychologically and sexually abused (do cults do anything else?). She par takes in robbing and murdering random neighbors. Eventually, she comes to her senses and escapes the cult through a forest, but will the cult ever really leave her?
Thus, the paranoia begins. Thankfully, Martha is able to call upon her sister, Lucy, to help bail her out. She is then taken to Lucy's picture perfect cabin in Connecticut. This is where things get interesting. Lucy is married to Ted, a successful European douchebag. Martha begins to have serious flashbacks since apparently everything in a and around the cabin reminds her of her traumatic time in the cult. She remembers meeting Charles Manson doppleganger Ted (played beautifully by Winter's Bone vet John Hawkes) who renames her Marcy May, along with interacting with all of the other brainwashed vixens. Strangely enough, one of the male members is played by Brady Corbet.
One of the daunting aspects of the story I found hard to believe is that Martha apparently spent around three years in the cult before escaping. How anyone could withstand that kind of abuse for so long is beyond me. Another narrative flaw I found was Hugh Dancy's character's stubborn reaction to Martha's behavior. Clearly, she needs serious psychiatric help after what she's been through and could never function with the normal people of society, but Ted seems to just think she's a default lunatic. Why would Lucy want to be with an unsympathetic jerk like that? Of course, all of these complaints pale in comparison to Miss Olsen's acting. I hate to jump on the awards bandwagon, but she is getting everything she deserves. Many will lazily compare her to Jennifer Lawrence, but I think her internalized performance here puts Miss Lawrence's to shame. As great as John Hawkes is here, his character here is only a few degrees away from his mesmerizing work in Winter's Bone. At least we finally get to hear him play his guitar. With so many subtle nuances and transformations, she rises above all of Mr. Durkin's narrative trappings. He seems to think he's the American Michael Haneke, not that there's anything wrong with a little ambition. At least it's not The Wackness.
The cinematography must be mentioned here. It is very inspired by Harris Savides' work on Margot at the Wedding and it shows. The murkiness and dimness only complements the hazy mental perspective and confusion Miss Olsen's character is undergoing. The editing reminds one of Memento and The Social Network as it switches between time periods..only not as gimmicky. This story is all from Martha's perspective so we can never be sure if what we are seeing is what actually happened, or is happening. Unlike Melancholia, this film's ending is gorgeously ambiguous, but just as haunting. Is Martha's world ending, or is it just the start of her paranoid nightmare? I am really not sure. One thing I was surprised to find out about was that MMMM is actually a sequel to a short film call Mary Last Seen that was shown at Sundance in 2010. If someone knows how I can see that, please let me know. All I can find is the trailer (shown below). After how compelling and audacious MMMM is, I wouldn't mind a trilogy from Mr. Durkin. See ya at the Oscars!
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