Cannes Review 3: Blue Valentine

Stacey Graves

Review 3

Blue Valentine

Blue Valentine Review

Twelve years in the making, Blue Valentine is the final product of Cianfrance's struggle to create a film demonstrating life and love in its most genuine form. After transitioning through more than sixty scripts the completed presentation depicts the simultaneous duality between a single couple as they come together in the past and grow apart in the present. Blue Valentine is one of the rare films that superbly demonstrates backing each artistic choice with a specific and intended purpose. With visible reasoning behind every decision in producing this film, ranging from the settled-upon final script to the choosing of cast to the difference in shooting techniques, the end result is an emotionally raw portrait of two people living a life ringing of true hardships and genuine tragedy. Blue Valentine portrays real life with such a mixture of honesty and intensity as to inspire and instigate self-reflection and discussion from the people lucky enough to witness its content.

Cianfrance utilizes the concept of memory to intersperse clips of a couple's unfolding love from the past into the current lives they are leading as a lived-in married couple raising a young daughter and struggling from the years of change and passivity they have endured. Dean, played by Ryan Gosling, is a vivacious young man with simple happiness and an acceptance for life who meets Cindy by chance and is immediately intrigued. Cindy is played by Michelle Williams and at the time she meets Dean is studying medicine and has just ended things with another man. The two characters are enthusiastic and complement one another through their differences when their relationship is freshest in these scenes from the past. Dean is driven through impulse and feeling while Cindy is more rigid and dependent on logical thought. These differences attract the two to one another initially yet over time contribute to their separation and resentment. As the two young characters fall in love Cindy discovers she is pregnant, and that the child is most likely fathered by the man she dated before Dean.

In the most intense scene of the film Cindy decides to get an abortion and is shown in the doctor's office being prepped for the procedure. The vulnerability of this scene is perfectly captured. The entire theater sat rigidly on edge as the prepping began and Michelle Williams truly gives a remarkable performance. Everything about her emanates fear and inner turmoil, the boldness of this scene will stay with me always. As the doctor begins to start the abortion Cindy cracks and calls off the operation. The timing is impeccable, seeing Cindy physically and emotionally break down as the weight of her action takes hold of her grips the audience with undeniable force. Cinematically this scene, as well as the entire film, is translated brilliantly to perpetuate a real connection between the characters on screen and the viewers of the film.

Cindy exits the operating room after deciding to keep her child to the comfort of Dean's arms. On their way home Dean tells Cindy he wants them to be a family, the sincerity with which he expresses this is one of his most redeeming attributes. Even in the present day with a failing marriage and an alcohol problem Dean still shines through as a sincere and endearing man with a good heart despite his many shortcomings. This sincerity is expressed again at the end of the film when both Dean and Cindy are facing the realities of their problems. In a heartbreaking attempt not to lose the woman he loves he breaks down and begs for a chance to fix their marriage, "...for better or worse, this is my worst, you gotta give me a chance to get better." Blue Valentine illustrates the change that is inevitable with life but does so without losing the core characteristics of the people undergoing the transformations.

Structuring the film to alternate between past and present effectively stresses the gradual change that envelopes each of us over time. The final break down between Dean and Cindy is not the result of one exact event but is instead the insidious evolution of their relationship over time. The length and detail that the crew for Blue Valentine goes to in order to convincingly separate the beginning and end of the relationship is perceptible and sufficient. To technically create this switching from present to past Cianfrance shoots the scenes differently. All of the past scenes are shot with a hand-held Super 16 and not a single tripod used. The contrast between these scenes and the present scenes, which are shot with Red using long lenses to emphasize a separation of space between the couple, contributes to the achievement of interpreting a transformative relationship.

The choice to leave the ending ambiguous reiterates the concept that life happens without structure or definition; real life has no ending but instead continues to transform and shape itself along an unknown path. In the panel discussion Derek Cianfrance claims he is not promoting any one message through the film but instead is attempting to create a film that can "exist as a question" and cause people to think and have the personal freedom to decide how to end the story as they like. Blue Valentine succeeds in this feat tremendously and on all levels. The portrayal of these two people coping with genuine problems stemming from the course of life itself is the perfect scenario to create a film about life's inescapable meanderings. Blue Valentine stimulates reflection and discussion amongst its viewers.

Credits

Director: Derek Cianfrance

Writer: Derek Cianfrance, Joey Curtis, Cami Delavigne

Executive Producers: Doug Dey, Jack Lechner, Rena Ronson

Producers: Lynette Howell, Alex Oriovsky, Jamie Patricof

Cast: Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams, Mike Vogel, Faith Wladyka

Running Time: 120 minutes

Cannes Review 2: The Dead

Stacey Graves

Review 2

The Dead

The Dead Review

Before screening The Dead the director entered the theater to briefly describe the experience of creating this film. He told us how the entire movie is shot in Africa with many of the locations being captured on film for the first time. He also described the true horrors of crime, disease, poverty, voodoo, and death that surrounded them everywhere they shot. The main character, Brian Freeman, contracted malaria and was hospitalized for several days. Howard Ford himself (the director) was held at gunpoint and had all of his money taken on the first day of the shoot. In synopsis, Ford was stressing the toll that had been endured by the entire crew in order to bring this feature to fruition. While I do have an immense respect for the labor put into The Dead and am certainly no supporter of muggings, I must give Ford's mugger credit for having a great sense of time. I guarantee Ford had more money before making this film than he will ever gain from its completion.

This preceding anecdote from the director is sadly miles more entertaining than any clip from his actual film. Perhaps had they made a movie about making this movie something of value could be salvaged from all the effort put forth. This not being the case, however, we are left only with the unfortunate product that is The Dead.

Taking place in Africa, an unexplained sickness has broken out causing people to become zombie-like monsters that feed off of the few remaining healthy humans. How the outbreak begins is left unexplained, all we know for sure is that each time a healthy person is bitten by one of "the dead" they are then transformed into a monster as well.

The Dead specifically focuses on the separate struggles of Brian Murphy, a caucasian flight engineer, and the native African American Sargeant Daniel Dembele. The two men cross paths early on in the film and join each other for a rather repetitive journey through the growing numbers of hostile dead to find Daniel's son. They encounter hundreds of the zombie-like creatures as they head North towards a military base where Daniel believes his son has been taken. Brian and Daniel exchange minimal dialogue during the journey, chatting unconvincingly as they stop to pillage an abandoned house for fuel or search for food and water. Without convincing dialogue the characters are left limited with no real appeal to the viewer. The film succeeds only in presenting the surface actions of the two men without formulating any deeper connections; resulting in the complete lack of an attachment to the characters. When Daniel is unable to evade the monsters and suffers multiple graphic bites I found myself apathetic to his misfortune. The character development is so weak and the dialogue so ineffective I was actually hoping both main characters would be killed so the film would be over and no sequel could ever be produced.

The entire 100 minutes of The Dead is a repetitive mixture of meaningless climaxes alternating between short sprints through tall wheat fields, the breaking down and mending of an old truck, and the slinging of gruesome body parts all about the desert. Supporting each of these repetitive events is the same horrible score of music consisting of frantic beats increasing in tempo as the next jolting action approaches. Following the first two identical musical sequences I knew exactly when to close my eyes throughout the rest of the film if I desired to miss the forthcoming zombie face as it jumped out of the nearest shadow.

Not everything within The Dead is unbearable, the backdrop (when not obscured by blood and mutilated monsters) is breath-taking. Ford is eternally indebted to Mother Nature for providing the one upside to his film. There is a sequence of shots following Brian as he travels alone through a place called the Devil's Claw that is remarkable. The natural landscape is unbelievably beautiful and secluded, it is the one section of story that benefits from the lack in dialogue. The silence allows you to truly look at the scenery and appreciate all its magnificence.

Aside from the rare glimpses of African landscapes the rest of The Dead is more or less poor in quality. The story-line, cinematography, even the editing, all emit a notion of confusion and underdevelopment. The director has some underlying ideas he attempts to coagulate within the men's journey through this world of hostile beings but fails in the execution. Ford immediately toys with the issue of race and inequality but never completes the concept. In the beginning of the film it is clear that the only people with any chance of leaving this infested land is a plane full of white people on the last evacuation. However, no additional support for this divide between whites and blacks emerges again until the final scene when Brian is able to contact his superiors in America only to learn that the disease has spread all over the world with no safe havens left. Death and disease happen to be nondiscriminatory. This concept of inequality could have been expertly expressed within a film such as this but instead is left half-lingering as a backdrop to two men walking through the desert for an hour and a half.

Not having a clear motive is what destroys The Dead. No clear meaning is expressed and the haphazard linking of ideas and actions fails to deliver any clear take-home message. The old pick-up truck that breaks down on at least five different occasions is the only contender to rival having as many problems as this film. The characters are not at all believable within their roles and nothing is developed into a mature concept. With nothing being fully formulated my attention was not held nor any thoughts evoked during even a moment of the screening. Having chosen a seat directly beneath the projector I found myself more enthralled by the dust particles floating in the stream of light than the actual film. The Dead leaves much to be desired and regardless of the effort put into its production the final result is a film not worth viewing.

Credits:

Director: Howard J. Ford, Jon Ford

Writer: Howard J. Ford, Jon Ford

Executive Producers: Amir S. Moallemi

Producers: Howard J. Ford, Nader Taghan

Cast: Brian Freeman, Prince David Oseia, Dan Morgan, Ben James Elliot, David Dontoh

Running Time: 100 minutes

Cannes Review 1: HappyThankYouMorePlease

Stacey Graves

Review 1

Credits:

Writer: Jason Radnor

Director: Jason Radnor

Producers: Jesse Hara, Austin Stark, Benji Kohn, Chris Papavasiliou

Executive producers: Glenn Williamson, Bingo Gubelmann, Peter Sterling

Cast: Josh Radnor, Malin Akerman, Kate Mara, Zoe Kazan, Pablo Schreiber, Tony Hale

Running Time: 90 minutes

I chose to see HappyThankYouMorePlease merely out of a curiosity sparked by the title. I had no real expectations other than perhaps it might be a nice romantic comedy in which I could catch up on some much needed sleep before going to see Robin Hood. I never expected to leave the theater happy and wanting more, which is surprisingly this film's exact effect. In short, the title turns out to be quite appropriate.

HappyThankYouMorePlease is the ninety minute directorial debut for Jason Radnor. As the director, writer, and main character, Radnor is the logical person to hold accountable for the film's content and, therefore, the person I should be impressed with for creating such a simple and effective feel-good movie. Though the film does land itself within the US romantic comedy genre by focusing on the interconnected relationships between three different couples living in New York, the genuine writing and well-developed characters distinguish Radnor's work from others with similar storylines. HappyThankYouMorePlease toys with subject matter that is admittedly less than innovative but the value of the writing transforms an overused premise and succeeds in presenting a refreshing and enjoyable film.

Set in present day New York, the main character Sam ( played by Radnor) is a writer in his twenties struggling to publish a novel and living his life with as few long term commitments as possible. On his way to an important meeting Sam notices a small boy get separated from his family on the train. What begins as Sam attempting to take the boy to the police station evolves into him bonding with the child and essentially keeping him for the following few days. Bordering this center relationship between Sam and Rashad are the three less prominent struggles of Sam's best friend as she struggles with Alopecia and an unhealthy taste in men, a couple within his social group facing a possible split due to job opportunities and geographical preferences ( LA versus New York of course), and lastly Sam's pursuit of a lovely young singer/bartender who refuses to fall into the one night stand category to which he has become so accustomed.

Each relationship within the film is brilliantly interwoven into the others without any contrived leaps. The unifying message underlying all of the individual struggles, regardless of how separate the problems seem to be initially, is the optimistic notion that, as Malin Ackerman's character puts it, "Sadness be gone." Radnor's film unabashedly promotes the theme of people realizing they are worthy of love and with that revelation are then capable of getting their life into order.

At the most basic level HappyThankYouMorePlease is a film about self-progression. Every character slowly acknowledges their individual flaws and becomes stronger as a result. It is through the portrayal of these flaws that the film makes a name for itself. By openly displaying the various perceptions and shortcomings of each character the film succeeds in portraying believable people with believable problems. The final components of witty comments and beautiful editing compilations create a quality of dialogue and cinematography that combine to produce a final product of endearing and entertaining value that lacks all elements of fabrication.

I left HappyThankYouMorePlease with a more optimistic attitude and stronger appreciation for life. Any movie that can improve not only my current mood but also my general outlook on the day is definitely a movie I recommend seeing, even if it is a rom-com.

"Percy Jackson and the Olympians" Film Review

Sitting in the worn and suspiciously stained Ga Value Cinemas after paying $3.98 for my date and I to see the movie of his choice it is safe to say I had mixed emotions as to how the night would turn out. I naively clung to the comforting thought that no matter how terribly the night might progress I would, at the very least, be guaranteed to get my money's worth.
Alas, it took no less than the first shot to wholeheartedly shatter this ill-conceived optimism as the image of a dreadfully configured giant CGI Poseidon slowly walked out of the ocean to fill up the faded screen before an abrupt cut to the main character Percy at his high school. As far as I can tell there is no actual purpose to this opening shot other than perhaps someone with authority thought it looked cool (for your sake I'm not pinning it on you Columbus). My only conceivable explanation for this impaired judgment is that that someone must have already seen the rest of the film and as a result deemed the opening shot worthy by sheer default. The pointless opening is unfortunately an accurate precursor to the inchoate plot unveiled in the remainder of the film.
The film "Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief" is based off of Rick Riordan's novel and is directed by Chris Columbus. Columbus is a well-established director, recently receiving increased notability for directing the first two Harry Potter films. In an effort to differentiate Percy from Potter, Columbus decided to alter the film from the novel by using actors around the ages of seventeen as opposed to the twelve year old characters described by Riordan. Though this is indeed an ample modification to separate the films' similarities, the major factor distinguishing "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" from "Harry Potter" is quality.
The basis of the film is the struggle of a young demi-god, Percy Jackson, as he discovers his true identity as the son of Poseidon and becomes thrust into a world full of powerful mythological beings. Percy is mistakenly accused by Zeus of stealing the all-powerful lightning bolt. With his life now at stake, Percy is taken to a camp where other demi-gods reside. Here Percy is acquainted with several strange mythological creatures ranging from Grover the Satyr (half human, half goat) who serves as his own personal protector, to a Centaur played by Pierce Brosnan serving as the camp leader, to the daughter of Athena, Annabeth, another demi-god as well as Percy's love-interest. At the camp Percy briefly learns to manage his powers before realizing that his mother has been abducted by Hades as collateral for the lightning bolt. Upon this discovery Percy sets out on a quest, along with Grover and Annabeth, to save his mother from the depths of hell and to catch the true lightning thief in order to clear his name.
Though many of the ingredients for an entertaining adventure are present, including an impressive cast, the final product lacks direction and exudes a rather haphazard progression. The dialogue among the teenagers comes across as insipid making it impossible to relate to and/or care about the characters or their problems. Some of the adult cast actually managed to pull off worthy performances, such as Percy’s mother Sally played by Catherine Keener (who in her move from being paired with a 40 year old virgin to a Greek God has absurdly managed to downgrade). These brief adequate performances were nowhere near pervasive enough, however, to change the overall disappointment that is “Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.” Not to be too harsh on Columbus but this latest film is certainly not evidence of his development as a director, as a fan of his early works I should have known better and stayed “Home Alone” myself.