Last week was full of surprises as well as some truly inspiring indie gems. So, of course I followed this by seeing one of the most gruesome films of 2010. C’est la vie.
IFP’s screening schedule for the week was full of fantastic films—most of which I have covered in weeks past. (For my thoughts on Jack Goes Boating, Blue Valentine, RESTREPO, Please Give, The Last Exorcism, and Greenberg, click their titles.) This left me with only Mother and Child and 127 Hours to screen and discuss. And lucky me, both are thoroughly emotionally draining experiences.
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Mother and Child ~ Directed by Rodrigo García
The title of this drama may lead you to expect a warmly sentimental mother-daughter tale fit for the Hallmark channel, but Mother and Child is far from warm. This bleak and mean-spirited movie is stocked with characters that range from deeply unpleasant to abrasive and repulsive. Three intersecting storylines haphazardly explore themes of mother-child relations: Annette Bening plays a bitter older woman, the lost bio-mom to Naomi Watts’ frosty-box lawyer, who has a baby by her boss, Samuel L. Jackson, which is given up to oft-shrieking baker, Kerry Washington. The characters’ harsh natures make them hard to relate to, and their stringently frank dialogue pummeled my suspension of disbelief out of existence. Like Cyrus, this overwrought family-focused drama grew so cold that the Hallmark-flavored ending felt disconnected and unearned.
Nominations: Best Supporting Female—Naomi Watts, Best Supporting Male—Samuel L. Jackson
Snubbed? No, ma’am.
127 Hours~ Directed by Danny Boyle
I have to admit, I was dreading seeing this one, and I don’t think I was alone. Sitting in a theater surrounded by fellow Spirit voters, you could feel the tension as the lights went down and the projector rolled. People grew still and unnerved waiting for James Franco’s reckless wanderer to literally fall. And when he did, we spasmed in a disjointed wave. While there are moments of levity in Danny Boyle’s latest film, they earn only nervous titters of laughter because we all know what’s coming. We know what we’re here for. When this much-talked about pivotal scene finally began, the whoosh of 50+ people sharply inhaling resounded in the narrow space. As the onscreen Aron Ralston tore into his arm and snapped his bones to break free from the rock that binds him, we kicked and bucked collectively like a pulsing animal of empathetic pain. For my part, I did not turn away from the grotesque scene that rolled out before me, but I did wince, squirm, and curse under my breath as the woman next to me hyperventilated in time with the Franco’s adrenaline-pumping Ralston. Watching that scene was like an amusement park ride—the kind where you dare your friends to throw their hands up during the scary parts. And that’s how I view 127 Hours. For all its kinetic energy, its bold yet beautiful design, its brutal in-your-face methods, that scene, so full of grounded reality-based horror, looms so large, it overshadows all else. Ultimately, the film feels more like a dare than it does daring, and it left me nauseous because of its gore, without pondering its implications.
Nominations: Best Feature, Best Director—Danny Boyle, Best Male Lead—James Franco
Snubbed? Not in the existing categories, but this is another film that speaks to the need for a Spirit’s Best Editing category.
This week by the Numbers:
Loner Leads: 2
Baby Presented as a Reason to Go On: 4
Wince-inducing Scenes: Lost count
Films Watched: 25/35
Runningtime conquered: 2267 minutes
State of Mind: This was a brutal double feature. Mother and Child is a malignant drama that fails to earn its hopeful ending, and 127 Hours is purposely hard to watch. I’m hoping this week’s offerings will hold a little more joy.
Next week I’ll be closing out a number of categories including Best Foreign Film, (Of Gods and Men), Best Cinematography (Never Let Me Go), Best Supporting Male and Best First Feature (Get Low). Once all the screenings have closed, I’ll share with you my thoughts on the contender’s chances in each category.
What are your thoughts on these nominees?