Closer
last night...bored and tired in my hotel room after a long day at Malibu and the Getty, i decided to watch a PPV movie. After going through this ridiculous menu system, I still selected the wrong movie after being asked like a hundred times if I really wanted to go ahead and buy it (such a Sumier thing to do). When Vera Drake started playing, i hastily called the front desk and asked them to switch it for me which they did thankfully.
But i digress. Closer is a movie by one of my favorite directors. Mike Nichols has done some amazing work in the past, the birdcage being one of my absolute favorite movies of all time. His mini series Angels in America was incredibly rivetting and it seems that most of his movies have been favorably reviewed by critics since the beginning of his directing career. Closer was one of the few that, surprisingly enough has not. I can see why. Its not an easy movie to watch. I was surprised by the darkness of the storyline and its characters. I was surprised how much i loved the movie inspite of myself.
The story is simple. Jude Law meets engimatic and beautiful american girl Alice (played by Natalie Portman in a great performance). Several years later, he cheats on her with Julia Roberts, who is a photographer married to Clive Owen. I don't want to spoil too many of the details, but their lives get intertwined with each other and not in a good way. What i loved the most about this movie is that Nichols cuts the crap. There are no romantic dinners, no sex scenes (plenty of frank, graphic discussions about it though). The only time we ever see these characters is when they are at their worst, lowest, most depraved moments. When they are heartbroken, crushed, angry, and unforgiving. When they lie and inflict plain on each other in ways only people in love can. How these people casually use the power they have and manipulate, use guilt, suspicion and vulnerability to their advantage. To me, it seems like Nichols wanted us to see that this is what love is truly about. To me, it was a refreshing change to see the dark side. To see a movie that wasn't all about glorifying and sugar coating the idea of love, but showing love at its worst and most despicable. That he still manages to make us like and understand these characters is this movies greatest achievement. In the end, love comes out as strong as ever. Its not pretty, but it sure is beautiful.
There were a bunch of times that I felt like he was trying too hard to make this movie seem radical and "adult". I felt like some of the conversations didn't make too much sense...maybe thats more a cultural thing though. Nichols uses some interesting effects. A fade to white signifies marriage and a passage of time. He plays with narration and time and intercuts back and forth in some parts of the movie. It never gets too confusing though. Although he doesn't spare us with the dialog, he does spare us in terms of gratuitous sex and violence. This movie felt like it was just the right length to me. I hated the ending of this movie. But then...i liked that I hated it.
On a side note. Before i saw the movie, i went to the Getty museum. Beautiful space, I can hardly believe its in the middle of LA like that. The Getty is an architectural wonder, but what was really enjoyable was the medieval art exhibit. With medieval texts and illustrations on display, they explained how violence was considered a necessary part of human life back there. Whats even more interesting is how they talked about texts using Biblical stories and adapting them to show actions of current rulers in a more favourable light, by putting the King in the place of a Biblical hero and changing facts to make it seem like he was in fact doing God's work. Sound familiar George Bush? The exhibit really made me want to examine parallels between medieval norms and current ones, and how practices back then are being repeated today in a different way. Symbolism in cinema ties in with this too, with liberal and conservative propaganda and points of view being pushed in different ways, some more subtle than the others. M.Night's the Village is a prime example of such symbolism. The sheltered community, the fear of a world that turns out not to be so bad after all. The use of color to signify danger, the fake propaganda and tricks to keep a community in fear. All done for their own safety of course, by people who are so obviously well meaning, but in the end, mistaken.
Anyway...thats it for today, my first post. Lets hope I can keep this up...theres so much more I want to write. I need some good feedback to continue though :)
But i digress. Closer is a movie by one of my favorite directors. Mike Nichols has done some amazing work in the past, the birdcage being one of my absolute favorite movies of all time. His mini series Angels in America was incredibly rivetting and it seems that most of his movies have been favorably reviewed by critics since the beginning of his directing career. Closer was one of the few that, surprisingly enough has not. I can see why. Its not an easy movie to watch. I was surprised by the darkness of the storyline and its characters. I was surprised how much i loved the movie inspite of myself.
The story is simple. Jude Law meets engimatic and beautiful american girl Alice (played by Natalie Portman in a great performance). Several years later, he cheats on her with Julia Roberts, who is a photographer married to Clive Owen. I don't want to spoil too many of the details, but their lives get intertwined with each other and not in a good way. What i loved the most about this movie is that Nichols cuts the crap. There are no romantic dinners, no sex scenes (plenty of frank, graphic discussions about it though). The only time we ever see these characters is when they are at their worst, lowest, most depraved moments. When they are heartbroken, crushed, angry, and unforgiving. When they lie and inflict plain on each other in ways only people in love can. How these people casually use the power they have and manipulate, use guilt, suspicion and vulnerability to their advantage. To me, it seems like Nichols wanted us to see that this is what love is truly about. To me, it was a refreshing change to see the dark side. To see a movie that wasn't all about glorifying and sugar coating the idea of love, but showing love at its worst and most despicable. That he still manages to make us like and understand these characters is this movies greatest achievement. In the end, love comes out as strong as ever. Its not pretty, but it sure is beautiful.
There were a bunch of times that I felt like he was trying too hard to make this movie seem radical and "adult". I felt like some of the conversations didn't make too much sense...maybe thats more a cultural thing though. Nichols uses some interesting effects. A fade to white signifies marriage and a passage of time. He plays with narration and time and intercuts back and forth in some parts of the movie. It never gets too confusing though. Although he doesn't spare us with the dialog, he does spare us in terms of gratuitous sex and violence. This movie felt like it was just the right length to me. I hated the ending of this movie. But then...i liked that I hated it.
On a side note. Before i saw the movie, i went to the Getty museum. Beautiful space, I can hardly believe its in the middle of LA like that. The Getty is an architectural wonder, but what was really enjoyable was the medieval art exhibit. With medieval texts and illustrations on display, they explained how violence was considered a necessary part of human life back there. Whats even more interesting is how they talked about texts using Biblical stories and adapting them to show actions of current rulers in a more favourable light, by putting the King in the place of a Biblical hero and changing facts to make it seem like he was in fact doing God's work. Sound familiar George Bush? The exhibit really made me want to examine parallels between medieval norms and current ones, and how practices back then are being repeated today in a different way. Symbolism in cinema ties in with this too, with liberal and conservative propaganda and points of view being pushed in different ways, some more subtle than the others. M.Night's the Village is a prime example of such symbolism. The sheltered community, the fear of a world that turns out not to be so bad after all. The use of color to signify danger, the fake propaganda and tricks to keep a community in fear. All done for their own safety of course, by people who are so obviously well meaning, but in the end, mistaken.
Anyway...thats it for today, my first post. Lets hope I can keep this up...theres so much more I want to write. I need some good feedback to continue though :)
posted by sam i am at 11:56 PM
2 comments
