Film Review: The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him

Melbourne loves festivals. If you can think of anything cultural, there is bound to be a festival in its honour here in Melbourne. It’s probably because of the shocking weather – we need something to occupy our time. Currently in town is the Melbourne International Film Festival, where art house, foreign language, downright kooky and pre-release films are on offer. So my friend and I treated ourselves to The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him.

The first feature length film(s) by Ned Benson, The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby is actually three films in one. The Melbourne International Film Festival was showing parts Her and Him back-to-back (we couldn’t get tickets to Her), and Them is set to be released later this year.

The story centres around a strong couple that have their relationship irrevocably changed after a devastating incident. While Conor (James McAvoy) believes that the only way to move on is to look towards the future, his wife, Eleanor (Jessica Chastain) has been sucked into a depressive blackness that she feels she has suffered through alone. After a suicide attempt, she tells Conor that she ‘needs to disappear’ and for him to stop contacting her.

We watched the ‘Him’ version, which tells the story from Conor’s perspective: the anger and confusion that he feels after Eleanor lives; his vulnerability that he eventually shows to his friends; and eventually, the acknowledgment of pain that he too has been suffering since that horrific incident.

The beauty of Benson’s project is that the films can either be seen together, or as stand-alone films, but in saying that, I do wish I had seen the Her perspective too. Simply because from the viewpoint of Conor, Eleanor comes across as cold and unforgiving – I wanted to know how she got to that stage where she fell completely out of love with the man of her dreams.

The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby is one of those films that just breaks your heart. You don’t necessarily cry (although I did) because there aren’t any truly heart-breaking moments in the film, but the whole film is just filled with so much emotion you can’t help but leave with a terrible ache in your stomach. I’ve had that ache whenever I’ve thought about the film since. And while the plot could have at times been corny, the performances by Chastain (the role was actually specifically written for her) and McAvoy were so astounding that they just made the whole film feel genuine.

What resonated with me most about the film is that it questions relationships, and why it is we fall in love with that one person. After all, how can one person change our lives so irrevocably? And what do you do when something shakes that foundation of love so strongly that it tears you apart? Can you ever truly ‘move on’ from someone that you’ve shared your life with?

Benson’s first attempt of a feature length film was definitely ambitious, and while there were aspects of the film that could be improved, particularly plot flow, The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby is a haunting, beautiful film. It deals with how different people cope with grief, and how one can move on from that stage of sadness in their life. For such a sensitive topic, it has been dealt with beautifully.

I’m keen to watch the ‘Them’ when it is released later this year, but if you’re in Melbourne and keen to go to the film festival, then I’d recommend Him or Her too.

Have you seen The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby? Have you been to the Melbourne International Film Festival? Let me know!

Film Review: Filth

Filth is exactly how it sounds. Filthy.  Grit stuck behind your teeth, dirt under your fingernails.  That itchy feeling when you have the strongest urge to go wash yourself in bleach.  These are all ways that can sum up the basic feeling, storyline and characters of Filth.  But the best part is?  It’s a damn great way to pass a couple of hours in a cinema.

Based on the novel by Irvine Welsh, Filth follows the life of Bruce Robertson (James McAvoy), an alcoholic, narcissistic, scheming and dodgy cop who is vying for the position of Detective.  Set in Scotland (heavy accents and all) around Christmas time (urinating Santas and all), his role is to lead the investigation of a Japanese man who was brutally murdered.

While Filth begins as a dark comedy, interlaced with flashbacks and imagined scenes, with McAvoy continually breaking the fourth wall to discuss his plan for his co-workers demise, as the film unravels, so too does Bruce Robertson and the overall storyline.  Whether this is due to a piece of excellent directing or sheer luck, it’s never fully determined, but it adds another dimension to the thick layers that make up this film.

What begins as the storyline of a corrupt cop who has an addiction to cocaine and a penchant for BDSM quickly spirals into the inner workings of a serious mental illness, the effects of grief and loss, and what can happen if a person is truly left alone.

From the outset, this shouldn’t have been an enjoyable film, but nevertheless I enjoyed it immensely.  While McAvoy’s character Robertson is the epitome of awful, or alas, filth (a double entrendre as it’s what the Scots call their police force), McAvoy plays the character perfectly.  Not only does he make his spiral into full-blown insanity believable, but he tiptoes the cusp of despicable and pathetic; so while he’s completely unlikeable, you still partially feeling a bit sorry for him.

The other standout feature of Filth was the writing – punchy, witty and very, very dark.  Granted it’s a film that will make your insides hurt a little (whether because it’s so vile, or because it’s so sad – that entirely depends on the individual), but at times it’s downright hilarious.  However, I do have a dark sense of humour so perhaps this film wouldn’t make most people laugh.

Furthermore, it was fast-paced, which is always excellent in a crime/murder type storyline.  Sure, their accents were so thick that I didn’t catch every third word, but it’s a wonderful opportunity to discover new lines in the next viewing (which ideally I will have).

Lastly, being a British film, the supporting cast was filled with familiar and wonderful faces.  Jim Broadbent plays a wonderfully psychotic psychiatrist and Shirley  Henderson as a cheating, flighty housewife.

While I wouldn’t recommend this film to everyone, considering it deals with pretty much every no-no in cinema (drugs, BDSM, sex and violence), for someone who appreciates gritty acting and an unconventional storyline, I’d suggest having a look.  Worst comes to worse, you can just watch Penelope afterwards to remind you that James McAvoy isn’t really that awful in real life.

Have you seen Filth or read anything by Irvine Welsh?  Are you a fan of Scottish accents?  Do you think it counts as a Christmas film?  Let me know!

Film Review: Trance

Excuse me while I’ll take a moment, I do believe I’ve been Inceptioned (not a real word, but sadly I’m also going to assume that it’s one that countless others have used to describe the moment when a film is so complicated, yet so good, that they walk away from the cinemas feeling as though their mind has just been hit with a frying pan.  In a good way), by Danny Boyle’s latest offering in Trance.

Let me just add, for the first time in a while (when it comes to films) I had high expectations and I wasn’t disappointed.  With a cast including James McAvoy, Vincent Cassel and Rosario Dawson being directed by Danny Boyle (who’s known for 127 Hours, Slumdog Millionaire and Trainsporting), I thought it’d be safe to have high expectations. Turns out I was right.

In very basic terms (because if I try to explain the entire plot it will take forever, be incredibly boring AND ruin it for anyone who is planning to see it), Trance follows Simon (James McAvoy), an art auctioneer who deals only with the most expensive paintings in the world.  When a Goya painting is up for sale, an art heist occurs, spearheaded by Franck (Vincent Cassel) and they attempt to steal the painting from Simon.  Although Franck thinks he has been successful, particularly after he has knocked out Simon with a blow to the head, he soon discovers that the frame is empty.

After a couple of months in the hospital and a case of amnesia, Simon returns how to find his house ransacked.  Turns out, he was part of the gang that attempted to steal the painting and his double-crossed them.  An even bigger problem, is that after being hit, with force, by a blunt object to the head, Simon can’t remember where he put the 27.5 million pound painting.  Whoops.

Cue Elizabeth Lamb (Rosaria Dawson) (note the last name, it’s semi-important), a hypnotist who has been hired by Franck to extract the memory from Simon’s mind.  Only thing is, the human mind, memories (both remembered and forgotten) are much more complicated than one may think.

Cue about 10 plot twists, some you may have considered, others that will blow your mind and there you have it, the plot to Trance.

I really enjoyed this film, for numerous reasons.  The number one reason being that at no point was I bored, distracted or unsurprised by the twists that kept turning up.  I felt that Trance, while at times over-the-top, didn’t seem entirely unbelievable, although I still don’t really know how much hypnotists actually do.  And they kinda give me the creeps, so I’m not too keen to test them out.

The storyline moved along at a pace that was fast enough that it never got boring, but also at a speed that didn’t leave me confused or scrambling to catch up.  For me, this was very important, because in the past, even when I have enjoyed certain thrillers, I have been somewhat bemused for at least two thirds of the film, until it is explained by my movie companion afterwards, in slow and painstaking detail, exactly what the heck happened.

Furthermore, I felt that at the end of the film  there was still a part of me that was very interested in the characters’ lives, even though my questions had been answered.  I lingered over the storyline, the motives and the twists long after the credits rolled, which I think is always a sign of a good film.

Boyle’s direction, although at times somewhat ambitious (one got the impression he wanted this film to be a bit of everything), was superb.  Where to start?

First, the non-linear storyline was done perfectly, particularly given the subject matter.  Sometimes obvious, other times somewhat confusing and at times not even real, the many different parts to the film eventually joined up at the very end to provide clarity for the viewer.

This non-linear structure was complemented by the obscure camera angles and heightened colour that Boyle used throughout Trance.  Somehow, even a camera angle that is only just off provides a completely new set of emotions for viewers, and while Boyle did it subtlety, it worked every time.  Feelings of unease, chaos, confusion and a sense of unreality always began to fill me when these moments occurred.

Second, the psychedelic lighting, at times subtle, while at other times bordering on the fantastical, heightened the senses, which quickly changed from shock to suspense, dread to surprise, was also just enjoyable to watch; something different from the thousands of aesthetically perfect Hollywood films out there.  And the occasional use of over-the-top special effects just added to this enjoyment.

Lastly, the camera angles and colour scheme gave the film an overall ‘action comic’ vibe that was emphasised by McAvoy’s acting, which was at times punctured when he started speaking to the camera directly.  His acting during these moments greatly reminded me of another action film he was in, Wanted, but thankfully for  myself, Trance was nothing like the former.

While the cast was made of up a trio of strong actors, each of whom have been in critically acclaimed films, I wasn’t overwhelmed, or underwhelmed, by their performances.  Each actor suited their role perfectly without dragging the spotlight away from the storyline.  Special mention goes to Rosario Dawson, who bared her vagina not once, but twice.  If that doesn’t interest you enough, it may help to know that she refers to her own vagina as ‘The General’.  As you do.

The only aspect of this film that I didn’t enjoy is when Dawson’s character, Elizabeth, becomes romantically involved with both Franck and Simon.  While it may have had to do with the overall control she had with the two men, through sexual attraction, hypnotherapy or a combination of the two, I felt it was unnecessary to the overall storyline, and was, in part, unexplained by the ending of the film.

If you’re a fan of action, thriller, mind-benders, or vaginas, then this is the film for you.  And if that still hasn’t convinced you, you get to see James McAvoy’s arse, who for some reason, I, and many others, find incredibly attractive.

Have you seen Trance?  Are you a fan of Danny Boyle?  What did you think?  Let me know!

Book Review: Atonement

There’s nothing like backing up a viewing of Les Mis by finishing Ian McEwan’s lovely, albeit depressing, novel, Atonement.  Anyone care for a tissue?

Atonement is set in three parts, over a period of years.  Watch out, a few spoilers are going to come out!

Part One:

Beginning on a hot English Summer’s day, little sister, Briony, an imaginative and aspiring writer of 13, sees her older sister Cecilia and childhood friend, Robbie, together doing something…a little peculiar.  However, since this is set both in England and in 1935, what is considered scandalous would be considered the norm in our 21st society.

Later on, Briony once again witnesses another act between the two, and she believes that she needs to protect Cecilia from Robbie.  This belief is further enhanced in the darkness of the night when a cousin is sexually assaulted…and willing Robbie to be evil, she believes the retreating, guilty, figure to be him.

As a result, he gets locked away.

Part Two:

Five years on, Robbie, desperate to escape the suffocating cell he is confined to, joins the army and helps fight in France during the Second World War.  He is still desperately in love with Cecilia, and she too, who has always believed his innocence.  She herself is working as a nurse, and has ceased all contact with her family, ashamed and angry that they were so willing to convict him.  In a letter, she alludes that Briony wants to takes back her statement, in order to prove Robbie’s innocence.

Part Three:

Briony is 18, and despite still wanting to be a famous writer, she is working as a student nurse in a hospital as penance for what she has done.  During this time we are shown the stark realities of war, when she tends the victims.  She receives a letter from her father that Paul Marshall and her once-assaulted cousin, Lola, are to be married after all these years.  The news propels her into action, and she goes to meet spontaneously with Cecilia, who has been reunited once again with Robbie.  Although she will not be able to prove his innocence, and neither will forgive her, Briony is still determined to set the truth straight.

1999:

Many years later, when Briony is old and dying, we learn that ‘Atonement’ is actually written by her.  We also learn that some of the key facts, the ones we wish most to believe, may actually be untrue.

 

While this novel did have its flaws, I found it to be absorbing and interesting.  In particular, I loved the first section of the novel, with McEwan’s rich descriptions of the English summer, the blossoming love between Robbie and Cecilia and the tension within the family.  However, I also found that this faded during the second and third parts, and while they were still descriptive, I was less interested in war scenes as I was in the character’s relationships.

Another aspect of the novel that I liked was the steady build-up to the inevitable; we know something awful is going to happen, yet we will the characters to change the future, to stop the course of time.  This is further enhanced by the different character perspectives, so we learn about Robbie’s, Cecilia’s, Emily’s and Briony’s thoughts as the events unfold.

While I loved the romance between Robbie and Cecilia, I felt it was somewhat neglected by McEwan, especially since it is a story primarily about love.  I get that yes, it was a novel about Briony dealing with her guilt and her past actions as a child, but damnit, I wanted to know more about Robbie and Cecilia.  Their romance had such promise in the first third of the novel; from the descriptions of their emotions, to their only love scene, to reflections on their past.  As characters I enjoyed their pairing, and I wanted so badly for them to be together, but it almost fell by the wayside as the story unfolded.

Briony as the narrator was definitely interesting; I both liked and loathed her.  She continually infuriated me with her ability to jump to conclusions, to fantasy plot lines in reality and to complain about what her life had become.  But I also felt so sorry for her, when she realised what her actions had caused, and the irrevocable damage she had done to Robbie’s and Cecilia’s lives.  Surely this is a testament to McEwan’s writing abilities, because usually if I don’t like a protagonist or narrative then, bam, I’m gone for the rest of the book.

Lastly, while this is definitely a sad book, and I’ve heard the film is even worse (James McAvoy dies.  Can you even imagine?), I still didn’t feel too much for the characters by the time their fate had played out.  Perhaps because Briony had given me an ‘alternate ending’ in which to believe, or perhaps because, in either ending, both ‘real’ and ‘fake’, in life and death, Robbie and Cecilia are together, I felt they ended up happy, wherever they were.

Have you read Atonement or seen the novel?  What do you think of the characters?  Are you a fan of Ian McEwan?  Let me know!