David Lowery writes and directs one of the most creative, interesting, surprising films I have ever seen. It involves a dead man, dressed in a sheet with cut-out eyes. Halloween costume-style.
I admit, when I first saw the trailer years ago, I was surprised. It did capture my interest, however, so I made sure to put it on my list. Then it showed up on Netflix.
It's surreal nature and truly stunning cinematography reminded me early on of Terrance Malick's work, although there actually IS a narrative here, instead of a set of majestic shots sewn together over a period of hours (no offense to you, Mr. Malick. You march to the beat of your own drum).
And I'm not going to lie and say the film is perfect, because it is far from it.
Casey Affleck continues to surprise me. He plays C here, the titular main character whose fate drives the majority of the plot. If that's him under the sheet the whole way, hats off to him for managing to portray a volume of emotions while wearing it (and also being able to pull it all off without losing the sheet. That must have been tough).
Rooney Mara continues to do what she does best, deliver poignant, sometimes painful performances. The first film I noticed her in was THE DISCOVERY, in my opinion an underrated gem of a movie involving people and their reactions to death. The similar veins of dealing with such a subject are explored here, albeit in a completely different (and truly original) way.
The biggest plus for me in this film was the careful shots of the ghost and its eyes. Somehow the slits seemed, at least to me, to change proportionally with the emotional state of the man behind the curtain, so to speak. It's possible it was just an accident, or that I'm looking too much into it, but I want to believe that something truly magical was happening here, where what should have been really freaking difficult if not impossible to pull off was being done right in front of my eyes. When he was angry, I could feel it. When he was sad, I noticed it. The eyes (or lack thereof) spoke volumes.
The film is not without its problems. In an effort to deliver atmosphere, a few of the scenes run on too long for my taste. It threatens the continuity of the film, and worse, given the wrong atmosphere, it could shift into unwanted humor as a result. To have a dramatic piece involving a man watching the world unfold around him while he wears the kind of costume you'd see a parent with little to no money throw together at the last minute for a kid's Halloween costume, trying to keep the pace going while you spend more than ten minutes without shifting the camera risks you losing the atmosphere. In the defense of the director, I will say that never happened for me.
But I can't lie and say I wasn't distracted occasionally by it. Looking around the room instead of watching what was on the screen, because what was on the screen wasn't changing enough to keep me interested.
So I felt the pacing is what brought down the rating for this film for me. That was the big flaw in the narrative. For me a film is all about flow, and if you lose it, the magic can be lost.
All in all this film is a study in the possibilities beyond life, the consciousness of existence, with some beautiful scenery thrown it to give the narrative atmosphere and sometimes even tension. A wonderful piece to behold, all in all.
If you're looking for something truly original, I recommend giving it a try.
I admit, when I first saw the trailer years ago, I was surprised. It did capture my interest, however, so I made sure to put it on my list. Then it showed up on Netflix.
It's surreal nature and truly stunning cinematography reminded me early on of Terrance Malick's work, although there actually IS a narrative here, instead of a set of majestic shots sewn together over a period of hours (no offense to you, Mr. Malick. You march to the beat of your own drum).
And I'm not going to lie and say the film is perfect, because it is far from it.
Casey Affleck continues to surprise me. He plays C here, the titular main character whose fate drives the majority of the plot. If that's him under the sheet the whole way, hats off to him for managing to portray a volume of emotions while wearing it (and also being able to pull it all off without losing the sheet. That must have been tough).
Rooney Mara continues to do what she does best, deliver poignant, sometimes painful performances. The first film I noticed her in was THE DISCOVERY, in my opinion an underrated gem of a movie involving people and their reactions to death. The similar veins of dealing with such a subject are explored here, albeit in a completely different (and truly original) way.
The biggest plus for me in this film was the careful shots of the ghost and its eyes. Somehow the slits seemed, at least to me, to change proportionally with the emotional state of the man behind the curtain, so to speak. It's possible it was just an accident, or that I'm looking too much into it, but I want to believe that something truly magical was happening here, where what should have been really freaking difficult if not impossible to pull off was being done right in front of my eyes. When he was angry, I could feel it. When he was sad, I noticed it. The eyes (or lack thereof) spoke volumes.
The film is not without its problems. In an effort to deliver atmosphere, a few of the scenes run on too long for my taste. It threatens the continuity of the film, and worse, given the wrong atmosphere, it could shift into unwanted humor as a result. To have a dramatic piece involving a man watching the world unfold around him while he wears the kind of costume you'd see a parent with little to no money throw together at the last minute for a kid's Halloween costume, trying to keep the pace going while you spend more than ten minutes without shifting the camera risks you losing the atmosphere. In the defense of the director, I will say that never happened for me.
But I can't lie and say I wasn't distracted occasionally by it. Looking around the room instead of watching what was on the screen, because what was on the screen wasn't changing enough to keep me interested.
So I felt the pacing is what brought down the rating for this film for me. That was the big flaw in the narrative. For me a film is all about flow, and if you lose it, the magic can be lost.
All in all this film is a study in the possibilities beyond life, the consciousness of existence, with some beautiful scenery thrown it to give the narrative atmosphere and sometimes even tension. A wonderful piece to behold, all in all.
If you're looking for something truly original, I recommend giving it a try.