2010. Dir: Joel and Ethan Coen. Starring: Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin and Barry Pepper. ●●●●○
The Coen Brothers have done it again, they have taken their brand of subversive reverance and paid homage to a new genre. Tackling for the first time, in a direct way, the great American artform: the Western. All at once True Grit is a reminder/throw back to the classics of the genre that once ruled the commercial cinema scene, and yet at the same time there are distinct touches of Coen humour that fit the movie to their style perfectly.
We begin with a voiceover describing how Mattie Ross's (the younger version of whom will be played by Hailee Steinfeld) father has been brutally murdered at the hands of outlaw Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin in a virtual blink and you'll miss him role) and how she will set out to avenge his death, in a strike for feminism unlikely to be seen or believed in the Arkansas plains in which it's set. On the way she picks up two radically different compatriots in her quest (Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon).
It's impossible to review the Coen film without comparing it to the 1969 Henry Hathaway version which won John Wayne his only Oscar (and it's far from Wayne's best performance see The Searchers or The Quiet Man for that), so I will pepper the review with direct references to both version and I hope you don't mind that. The Coen's obviously might, they've claimed repeatedly that this adaptation is taken directly from Charles Portis's novel but there remain some obvious shots (hello final shootout) and iconic images (Cogburn has no eyepatch in the Novel) that must have arrived, conciously or subconciously, from the older version.
The screenplay has been tightened in the last 40 years, with some fluff removed quickening the pace of the movie and substantially improving the flow of the non-action scenes, although disappointingly the scenes between Steinfeld and the inept horse trader trying not to pay out for her loss have been cut down which takes away from the precosious intelligence of the character. Not that Steinfeld really needs it, she totally inhabits the role and convinces both as a teenage girl struggling to find a way in a man's world and as a hardened frontierswoman, coming to terms with the harsh realties of necessary violence.
Jeff Bridges, as the Marshall with True Grit she signs up to the cause, takes a deliberatly low-key approach to the role (in direct contrast to the bombastic Wayne), mumbling into his beard, breathing the drawn out intentions like every line is quoted from the Old Testament. It's the sort of performance that only Bridges can do, laidback but intense able to hold the audience in the palm of his hand.
Matt Damon is "a Texas Ranger" already under contract to capture Chaney. He's a comic delight, drawling his lines with a mix of pomposity and underscored menace. It's a shame his work hasn't seen more recognition from awards bodies. The character is missing for much of the screenplay - the arguments between him and Cogburn seem more realistic and thorough than the previous version with the team splitting up to allow the dust to settle on two occasions.
The Coen's, working within the post-revisionary Western Arena, have constructed a world far muckier and infused with corruption than Hathaway could allow. When Cogburn breaks his promise to bury a dying man there is no conscience baiting argument from Maddie. The ending is also changed significantly, and whilst surprising in it's anti-climatic brevity it does reflect the ambiguity of most of their work.
The look of the film is perfect, New Mexico has never been shot to make the vistas so elegant, and it's good to know the inevitable overdue Oscar for Deakins will be for a piece of work that thoroughly deserves it.
I would have to highly recommend this movie, it's very limited drawbacks would only be the lack of ambition with regards to subtext and an over-enforced brevity which doesn't givve the actors the freedom to explore they probably deserve.
Wednesday, 16 February 2011
True Grit
Sunday, 13 February 2011
Honouring the writers (Film News - 12/02/11)
It's been a fantastic week for film fans, every day we've been treated to valuable nuggets of information all building up to exciting propositions for future cinematic releases. Some have been for the sort of box office behemoths that dominate the front pages however there has also been a tsunami of reportage for more high brow fare, including some projects that may bother the Academy over the next couple of years.
The Third Act/He Loves Me
We start this week with two very different projects that share a similar starting point: Writer's Block (something I imagine most bloggers are familiar with). In The Third Act we have a sucessful author of Western novels - set to be played by Morgan Freeman - He Loves Me will star Paul Dano as a former child prodigy trying to break into serious adult fiction (that's fiction for adults nothing saucy).
That's where the similarities end. Whilst the former involves Freeman meddling with the lives of the local inhabitants of the small town he retreats to for inspiration and the latter will riff on Pygmalion and see Dano writing up hs ideal girlfriend into existence. Behind the cameras will be Rob Reiner and Little Miss Sunshine duo Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris further highlighting the divergent styles.
You wouldn't have thought tht writer's block (as visualised above) would be such a hot topic in Hollywood, but with these two and Jason Reitman's upcoming Young Adult there definitely seems to be a trend forming. I would be tempted to say theres been a lot of it about but you could hardly argue the output has dwindled over recent years or that the quality of high end writing has dimished either in la-la-land or on the Waterstone's shelves. Maybe it's just an outpouring of nostalgia for the printed word before it finally gets subsumed by the instant gratification of the computer screen.
Read on for tragic siblings, runaway princesses, gospel singers, assassins, hypnotherapy, bible stories, werewolves, The Coen brothers, mad millionaires and the usual helpings of casting news.
Back Roads
Andrew Garfield (left) clearly has a good head on his shoulders, or at least a clever agent, as he's already signing onto the indie options tht will prove invaluable once the Spider-man cash cow has met it's untimely end. Once filming on the web slinger is over he'll be raising his youg sisters all by himself as a result of his domestically abused Mum murdering his Dad. Expect lots of wrought emotions, as well as steamy encounters with neighbour Jennifer Garner, in Adrian Lyne's film.
Girl's Night Out
The King's Speech has reminded everyone that good old-fashioned Royalty mixing with commoners is still as popular as ever so it's no surprise to see the tale of young Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret sneaking out of the Palace on VE day and having a high old time in London. Expect Margaret (due to be played by Dakota Fanning!!!) to be having much more fun than her upright sister, now The Queen.
Got to Tell It: Mahalia Jackson, Queen of Gospel
If you think one American Idol reject winning an Oscar is not enough then stand by for Fantasia Barrino (to be honest I have no idea who she is, but apparently she's well known on that side of the pond). She's taking the lead role in the biopic of the Gospel singer Mahalia Jackson (right - in full flow). Unlike most biopics there's very little dirt to dig up on Mahalia, raised in an abusive household she found the Church fairly early on and never looked back. On the other hand she sung at the March on Washington in 1963 and at Martin Luther King's funeral as well as being the first Gospel artist to perform at the Carnegie Hall. So it should be a fairly affirming movie at least.
Headshot
I wouldn't normally go for Stallone movies, especially one where he plays a hitman lest it be a sort of sequel to the horrific Assassins. However the graphic novel has been adapted by The Messenger scribe Alessandro Camon which, given how powerful and nuanced his previous work is, makes me very interested indeed.
The Hynotist
Dragon Tattoo fans rejoice there's a new Swedish thriller set to ake the leap to the big screen, and even better it's not being made as a TV miniseries then being butchered into feature length episodes. On the other had Lars Kopler's first novel (left) in his Det. Joona Linna books is hardly Steig Larsson levels of notoriety. The plot involves a near dead boy being hypnotised to reveal details of who murdered his family in order to protect the other surviving siblings. Probably gory.
Noah's Ark
A few weeks ago we had speculation about Darren Aronofsky writing a comic book in order to obtain finance for his next projet. This week we found out that comic is for his Noah's Ark story. The odd thing is it's not even a metaphor. Darren Aronofsky really wants to make a biblical epic about the most famous boat in Genesis, covering themes of environmentalism and survivors guilt, it's the sort of film they definitely don't make anymore. Not sure how middle America will respond - but then I guess they didn't watch Black Swan.
Sharp Teeth
Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy may be joining forces for the third time running (after Slumdog Millionaire and 127 Hours) with the adaptation of the Werewolves in gangland LA novel by Toby Barlow (right). It's had some very good press and won the Alex award for young adult literature. Clearly Boyle's highly acclaimed National Theatre production of Frankenstein has persuaded him to make the leap to onscreen horror.
The Coen Brother's next movie
Joel and Ethan Coen are in an virtually unheard of position as they have no project on the go, and as much as I'd like them to return to some of their abandoned ideas (The Yiddish Policeman's Union first and foremost) it seems they're going to bemoving on. During a recent webchat with Empire magazine they hinted a full blown horror may be on the cards - with Frances McDormand as the monster - or a faux documentary might make it first (according to Roger Deakins). Frankly, with the financial and critical success of True Grit I imagine the studios will make them make whatever they want to make this time.
Christopher Nolan's Howard Hughes biopic
Apparently Christopher Nolan (left) fancies making a small movie after Dark Knight Rises, aiming to follow the increasing bizare behaviour of reclusive Billionaire Howard Hughes. I'm not sure how much more needs to be said about the man, between Scorsese's The Aviator and the Melvin and Howard cameo I think we've seenit all, however Nolan clearly wants an Oscar and it might be that biopics are the only way for him to get one.
Casting News
Some interesting addtions to projects already in the pipeline including Richard Jenkins joining the card cheat fallout out in Cogan's Trade, Nicolas Hoult will be Jack, The Giant Killer out to dispose of the Bill Nighy and John Kassir's two headed giant whilst being manipulated by Stanley Tucci. Bruce Willis, Justin Timberlake and Catherine Zeta-Jones will all be gambling on Lay the Favourite. Oscar nominees James Franco is the latest Wizard in Oz: The Great and Powerful and Jennifer Lawrence will be involved with drug cartels in The Savages. Finally - and I know this isn't cating - David Frankel (Devil wears Prada) is the latest diretor attachedto Meryl Strep marital therapy comedy Great Hope Springs.
Saturday, 19 December 2009
A Serious Man
2009. Dir: Ethan and Joel Coen. Starring: Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, Fred Melamed, Sari Lennick and Aaron Wolff. ●●●●○
Book a ticket to see a Coen brothers film and you know that they will try to subvert your expectations, from the grim tone of No Country for Old Men to the celebrity smug off that was Burn after Reading, it's probably best to leave those expectations at the door and their latest, A Serious Man, proves the case. Whatever you have heard, whatever you imagin this film to be, it can only be appreciated or understood through actually seeing it for yourself.
It's a meditation about what it means to be Jewish, a parable about middle class complacency and a intelligent comedy about family and relationships. It manages to all these things, and yet comes across as nothing. It is both highly entertaining and fearlessly opaque - if you have to believe one thing you've read in the reviews then trust me this is a film the Coen's have made for themselves.
The film begins with an reenactment of a Jewish superstition. This may seem disconnected to the rest of the film, however it sets up the theme of bad things happening to good people - we don't know who the good person is in the prologue, this will depend on whether you believe the husband or the wife, but we know that good deeds lead to misfortune. Flash forward to the 1960's, not the counter culture we explored in Taking Woodstock but to the buttoned down suburbia that populates the rest of America.
We meet Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg) an academic who is waiting for the decision on his tenure. Like the biblical Job he is being faced with a catalogue of appalling disasters, his wife is asking for a divorce, his brother is sleeping on the sofa and getting in trouble with the law, he is being blackmailed by a student, threatened by a neighbour and a hate-letter campaign is being raged against him.
Faced with an extraordinary amount of bad luck he attempts to seek advice from the Rabbis. Each of these visits is a new chapter during which the advice he is given either assists or confuses him.
The performances are perfect, Stuhlbarg internalises much of his emotion which makes him a fascinting comic stooge and Fred Melamed steals every scene he's in as Larry's patronising love rival. The set-up may seem far fetched but the writing is so on the button that you go along with the Coen's punishment for Gopnik and each fresh obstacle for the character seems organic. Although the open-ended finish seems to indicate a running out of ideas rather than a perfect way to leave our characters.
Technically the film is top rate with Jess Gonchor's production design striking that fine balance between period and lived in.
Overall this is the best comedy I've seen in 2009, and one of the most fascinating projects within the Coen's back catalogue.
