Archive for June 15, 2010
RAW: Film – Lou
Jun 15th
In desperate straits, a young mother of three (Emily Barclay) takes in her former husband’s father and Alzheimer sufferer, Doyle (John Hurt), over Christmas. Oldest daughter, Lou (Lily Bell-Tindley), yearning for her absent father, develops a strange relationship with him where he believes her to be his long departed wife and Lou plays along with the fantasy, using her bond with Doyle against her mother.
At one level this is an engaging story of three people each looking for rocks of dependence in their lives. Hurt does an excellent job and Bell-Tindley, stunningly beautiful, gives a terrific debut performance. However, at deeper levels the story has inconsistencies that fail it. For a family on the bread line they possess a large LCD TV and the three children seem to have an endless collection of clothes. The oft used images of sugar cane burning lacked relevance, never seemed to apply the cane adjoining this family’s property and in any case Christmas is not cane harvesting time. Further, it is not clear over what time the changing relationships evolve as late in the film the Christmas tree is still in view.
While the cinematography is passable, there seemed lost opportunities to film in some terrific country that sugar cane parts of the world present.
Lou is not without merits but lacks the cogency and vision to acclaim it great.
Kryztoff Rating 3.5K
RAW: Film – Mother and Child
Jun 15th
Three women’s lives are intertwined though none has met the other. A 50 year old woman, Karen (Annette Bening), her daughter, Elizabeth (Naomi Watts) given up for adoption at birth and Lucy (Kerry Washington) looking to adopt find their lives merging in surprising ways. Rodrigo Garcia has written and directed a superb film made by stunning performances not only by the three main female leads but also by Samuel L. Jackson, S. Epatha Merkerson and Jimmy Smits.
This is about the psychological profiles that come from abandonment, abandoning and yearning and how those profiles change as circumstances change. These are hard and damaged women, removed from the happy nuclear family, looking for release from their emotional straight-jackets and sometimes doing whatever it takes to get there, including acting recklessly.
These performances and subject matter will no doubt resonate more with women (of all ages) than men but they too will have cause to reflect on their lives and parental relationships and enjoy this film immensely. Watts, Bening and Washington craft their roles on screen in compelling ways that mix both empathy and antipathy allowing us to view the yin and yang of their lives, where one’s gain can be another’s loss.
Mother and Child is a strong contender for film of the year.
Kryztoff Rating 4.5K