SECOND TIME ISN’T THE CHARM FOR A PAIR OF OVERRATED OSCAR NOMINEES
ATONEMENT **
DIRECTED BY Joe Wright
STARRING Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, Romola Garai, Saoirse Ronan
UK 2007 130 mins.
IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH **
DIRECTED BY Paul Haggis
STARRING Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron, Susan Sarandon, Jason Patric
US 2007 124 mins.
Here’s where I shed all credibility as a serious film person: two of the highest-profile movies of the year – Oscar nominations, critical acclaim, the works – open in the same week, and I’m not too keen on either of them. Still, my conscience is clear. I’ve gone above and beyond the call of duty with this pair, watching each film twice just to make sure I stand behind my minority opinion. I think I do – though they both worked slightly better on second viewing, when I knew in advance they weren’t going to rock my world.
Atonement is perhaps a special case, since I also read the book (by Ian McEwan) a couple of years ago, and found that similarly overrated – so the film, which is faithful to its source, often felt like a brisk encapsulation of events I already knew about (and wasn’t very interested in to begin with). Both film and novel start strongly, with a gripping first act in an English stately home, four years before WW2. That’s where 13-year-old Briony, an aspiring writer and scarily self-possessed child, projects her own feelings of confused sexuality on Robbie (James McAvoy), wrongly branding him a “sex maniac” and bringing the wrath of semi-hidden class snobbery raining down on his head. The rest of the film takes place four years later but with flashbacks and frequent Time-shuffling throughout, leaving a scene then returning a few minutes later, when we know what’s at stake – thus e.g. the scene with Robbie and Briony’s sister Cecilia (Keira Knightley) by the fountain, seen once from the child’s viewpoint then again ‘objectively’, with the knowledge of what Briony is seeing.
Confused? It’s simpler onscreen, though you probably wouldn’t have got these bells and whistles in the days of Brideshead Revisited. 2007 may be the year when jumbled chronology became a mainstream favourite (it also appears in such big-name properties as Rendition, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead and Michael Clayton), and Atonement also features another current trend – the digitally-enhanced single take, where the camera (apparently) roams free for minutes on end without a cut, as seen in last year’s Children of Men. Director Joe Wright uses it spectacularly, filming the retreat from Dunkirk in 1940 in a five-minute shot ranging over half a mile of beach and hundreds of extras. Here, a horse is being put down. There, two men are fighting. Here’s a carousel, a wounded wretch, a choir of soldiers.
Trouble is, Atonement is all surface. Beneath the razzle-dazzle is quite a bland little film, especially weak on the central romance between Robbie and Cecilia: Knightley (who gave a fine, spirited performance in Wright’s Pride and Prejudice a couple of years ago) is disposable here, a flouncy well-spoken mannequin; the scene in the restaurant where she and Robbie declare their love for each other is the worst kind of fake, moist-eyed emoting. In fact, neither character is as interesting as Briony (the book’s true heroine, standing in for the writer himself), but the film underlines her every move. A key line – the head nurse saying “There is no Briony” – is repeated in the next scene, just to make sure we get it. After a wounded French soldier mentions Debussy, we get ‘Clair de Lune’ on the soundtrack as Briony staggers back to her duties – a would-be ‘poetic’ touch that comes off heavy-handed. Even 13-year-old Ronan, who’s superbly poised (and Oscar-nominated), has been over-directed, staring with hooded unblinking eyes like a devil-child in some Exorcist rip-off.
There’s a lot of good stuff here, at least on paper. The whole meta-layer of writers and characters, an artist’s responsibility to the world (s)he observes, the essential misanthropy of creation – Briony grumbling that a play “depends on other people” – all this is fascinating. The ending, the twist in the tail, actually plays better than it did in the book (where it seemed rather bloodless and academic). But Atonement never feels like it cares about its characters; Keira and James are one-dimensional, Briony’s ‘atonement’ doesn’t get enough screen time to make it meaningful – and even the big Dunkirk shot is wrong, show-off cinema at its showiest, emphasising scale and spectacle when we need to stay in Robbie’s fevered, fragmented consciousness. Atonement has a real chance at the Best Picture Oscar, looking to snatch the prize Chariots of Fire-style if the two ‘edgy’ favourites – No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood – split the vote. That would be a pity.
On the other hand, I’d be glad to see Tommy Lee Jones win Best Actor (over bookies’ favourite Daniel Day-Lewis) for his grieving father in Paul Haggis’ In the Valley of Elah. If nothing else, it might bring a smile to the weary mug of this no-nonsense actor, increasingly positing his iconic persona as America’s Conscience (a role he also plays in No Country for Old Men). He’s a military man in Elah, still spruce and disciplined in middle age, pressing his clothes and shining his boots as he delves into the mystery of his son’s murder. The son was just back from a tour of duty in Iraq – and Iraq is the film’s true subject, specifically the hurt and confusion felt by patriotic ‘red staters’ like TLJ’s character who supported the war only to see it turn into a quagmire, killing their kids and denting their pride in America.
I seldom use ‘slow’ as a pejorative for movies (some stories should be done fast, others play better slow), but be aware that Elah is slow, and funereal too. Haggis – who made Crash – holds the shots long and often dwells on people sitting silently or staring into space; a typical shot has Jones consoling wife Susan Sarandon in a hospital corridor, both of them viewed from a distance so what you’re looking at is a shot of a corridor with two people vaguely discernible. None of this is bad, in itself. It’s just that the slow funereal tone isn’t related to the plot, it’s the film’s none-too-subtle way of advertising its ‘hidden’ message. Why does Jones look so sad all the time? Because we’re in Iraq. Why does Charlize Theron – as the cop who helps him out – never wear any make-up? Because we’re in Iraq. Why does everyone seem to wait a beat before delivering any line of dialogue, however innocuous? Because we’re in Iraq.
Much of Elah is a rather plodding mystery-procedural, with clues turning up at regular intervals (see e.g. the topless barmaid who shows up again – no longer topless – just in time to recognise a photo and keep the plot going). Much of the symbolism is also rather heavy, notably its use of the American flag and such details as TLJ cutting himself shaving so a drop of blood can drip down Significantly.
Strangest of all, however, isn’t the plot but the sensibility. Iraq doesn’t stand for American failings, or evil intentions, or moral cupidity; it just stands for unpleasantness. The film’s problem isn’t alleged incompetence, or neo-imperialism, or the lies of the Bush Administration – merely the thought of Our Boys in that nasty “shithole”. The valley of Elah (we’re informed, not once but twice) was where David fought Goliath in the Bible, and the ending explicitly equates Jones’ dead son with David, the plucky young boy armed only with a slingshot. Granted, Goliath isn’t necessarily Saddam or al-Qaeda – it’s the Establishment, the government, the Mess in Iraq, call it what you will – but the analogy still seems bizarre. Does the world’s most powerful nation seriously see itself as the plucky underdog, awash in self-pity over all the poor young Davids sent off to fight (armed with tanks, Humvees and state-of-the-art technology) in that “fucked-up” place? I’ve seen this film twice, and I still don’t understand it.
NEW DVD RELEASES
Here’s our regular look at the more interesting titles released on DVD in the US and UK over the past few months. Some may be available to rent from local video clubs, or you can always order over the Internet: dozens of suppliers, but http://www.amazon.com (for US) and http://www.play.com (for UK) are among the most reliable, if not necessarily the cheapest. Prices quoted don’t include shipping. Note that US discs are ‘Region 1’, and require a multi-region player.
NEW FILMS
A MIGHTY HEART: Angelina Jolie as the wife of murdered journo Daniel Pearl – and one of last year’s finest films, superbly controlled and brilliantly edited. Skimpy extras include a making-of. [US]
TELL NO-ONE: Slick French thriller starring Kristin Scott Thomas, one of last year’s biggest foreign-language hits in the UK. Fine 2-disc edition comes with interviews, deleted scenes and more. [UK]
TEKKON KINKREET: Much-liked Japanese anime (i.e. animation) about two street urchins doing battle with alien assassins. Includes a soundtrack by techno innovators (and frequent Bjork collaborators) Plaid. [US/UK]
OLD FILMS
THE JUNGLE BOOK (1967): Did you know ‘The Jungle Book’ turned 40 last year? Well, it did. 2-disc “Platinum Edition” includes commentaries, various interactive games and a single deleted scene featuring a rhinoceros named Rocky, who was finally removed from the film altogether. Bring back Rocky! [US/UK]
KISS OF DEATH (1947): Terrific urban thriller, one of three ‘films noir’ released by the British Film Institute – the others being ‘Night and the City’ (1950) and ‘Cry of the City’ (1948), though the latter apparently suffers from poor picture quality. Extras include a rare interview with star Richard Widmark (now aged 91). [UK]
FOX HORROR CLASSICS: Three Gothic tales from director John Brahm, namely ‘The Undying Monster’ (1942), Jack the Ripper thriller ‘The Lodger’ (1944) and the standout film, ‘Hangover Square’ (1945), starring Laird Cregar as a composer suffering from inexplicable blackouts. Worth picking up for ‘Square’ alone. [US]
MY WAY HOME (1964): Rare early film from Hungarian director Miklos Jancso, a cult figure for cinephiles who grew up in the 60s and 70s. Extras include a 16-page booklet on Jancso. [UK]
ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS: SEASON THREE (1957): Tales of the Unexpected, presented by the rotund director. [US]
DOCTOR WHO: PLANET OF EVIL (1975): Nostalgia, thy name is Who… [UK]
THE PRISONER (1967) (40th Anniversary Special Edition): “I am not a number! I am a free man!” [UK]
