Rating of
4/4
Glowing with misery.
memento_mori - wrote on 09/27/13
Looking back on Denis Villeneuve's haunting, slowly building and conclusively masterful piece of work, I will admit I was somewhat unfair in my original review. I get nitpick-y.
So, I thought I should revisit what I liked and didn't like and how my opinions have changed about it.
One of the first things that hit me when I watched it again was just how subtle it was. Repeat viewings really helped me decipher the hidden meanings and extremely dark and vile undertones, but we knew that in the first place.
What I loved about it was its attention, not only to detail, but to the situation. We can feel something is wrong from the get-go, and are left with thought-provoking and devastating questions throughout: What would you do to see your child again? Would you abandon your principles and do acts of sin to save the ones you love?
The acting is uncanny. The whole cast owns their roles, especially Hugh Jackman this time around, whereas the first time I thought he was overacting, I realized the extreme measures he would have had to go to to achieve something as pain-staking as his performance in this movie.
The combination of Villeneuve's coordination and Roger Deakins' expertise in visual translation was beautiful. Everything looked sullied, isolated and yet, intruding of your space. There are two motifs of light and rain in this film, both of which I am extremely fond of, so that made it all the more gorgeous.
Everything flows excellently, the screenplay encapsulating everything we need to see and hear, while always pertaining a sense of hopelessness in how it may conclude. And the way it did conclude, featuring a spellbinding climax, made for entrancing viewing.
This movie glows with misery.
I still would have wished for some tighter editing, but I get the long stretch of events.
Flooring acting, direction and photography, an understated score and an excellent screenplay underline the brilliance of this monumental mystery.
