After a 9 year absence, John Carpenter returns with...this. While it does have some of the Carpenter touch in the framing of the shots, the film feels like a rather uninspired attempt from Carpenter, with little thrills to be had. Relying on shock tactics with sudden, loud blasts of music, the film rarely showcases Carpenter's considerable skill at tension and release and never demonstrates the complexity of Carpenter's work in movies like In the Mouth of Madness or They Live. There are a few bits of classic Carpenter imagery but the malevolent spirit of The Ward is rather unscary and the ending finally implodes in on itself in a groanworthy and predictable twist. To think that Carpenter chose this hackneyed and unoriginal script over so many other possibilities for his comeback is mindnumbing; one hopes that this is simply a warm-up exercise for his real return.
//
Anyone looking forward to Black Swan can breathe a big sigh of relief - it's a hit out of the park for Darren Aronofsky and his best film since Requiem for a Dream. A mindfuck of a film, it seems inspired by Perfect Blue in its lead character's descent into madness but the ballet angle and Aronofsky's confident handling of the material pushes it into its own league. Anyone who has seen his films will recognize his ability to spin and build intensity to the breaking point and Black Swan does this with his usual style, leading to an inevitable but intense finale and a pitch-perfect ending. The film's structure is beautifully conceived with the duality between the Swan Queen (Natalie Portman) and her alternate (Mila Kunis) paralleling the Swan Lake story in an obvious but elegant manner, supported ably by all three main cast members. Portman in particular, injects a strained fragility that becomes more and more tense and uncomfortable to watch in all the right ways - she should be a major contender come awards season.
//
Rabbit Hole is a small-scale but emotionally affecting drama with Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart playing Becca and Howie, two parents dealing with the aftermath of their son's death. The film smartly chooses to begin several months after the incident, allowing a little more perspective and giving the film some air to breathe. Surprisingly, it never bogs down in its own sentimentality and is occasionally even funny, striking one as always authentic and true to its characters. Becca's complex relationships with a quiet teenager (Miles Teller) and her mother (Dianne Wiest) also affect with each character in the tightly written screenplay (by David Lindsay-Abaire based off his Pulitzer-winning play) dealing with one loss or another, with the exception of Becca's sister who is about to welcome a new addition into her life. John Cameron-Mitchell dials back the stylistic quirks from his previous film, letting the characters take centre stage and the result is a moving chamber piece that never rings false.
No comments:
Post a Comment