For a project that spiked my interest from the start of
production, it has taken me an strangely lengthy time to in fact get around to watching Kill
Your Darlings. I can trace my fascination with the Beat Generation very
specifically, to the point that I suppose I have to thank the casting director
of Chronicle for bringing the literary movement into my life, by
casting Dane DeHaan as Andrew Detmer.* Let me elaborate...
In February 2012 Chronicle was released and Dane DeHaan
impressed me to the point that I knew I would follow him as an actor because,
wherever his career took him, it was sure to be interesting. So to IMDb I went
and saw that Dane was set to be starring in a movie called Kill Your Darlings alongside Daniel Radcliffe. In order to add some detail to a blog post I
was composing on the upcoming film, I engaged in some preliminary and very
rudimentary research into just which real life people the various actors were
supposed to be depicting. At this point I had never heard of the Beat
Generation, let alone any of the authors or works.
But I did like the thought that in the early 1940's
there was a gang of young intellectuals running around New York and Columbia
University reading classic literature, creating a New Vision, dabbling in banned
substances and consuming plenty of liquor.
Kerouac and Burroughs
In the past three years since then, I have been reading within
this literary movement and can't imagine a time when I didn't know about all it
has brought to me. Ginsberg's poetry. On The Road, Big Sur, The Sea is My
Brother, Maggie Cassidy by Kerouac. And Burroughs' Junky, Naked Lunch and The
Western Lands. I read all about Neal Cassady and watched any number of films on
those men.
Ginsberg and Kerouac
Kill Your Darlings is a film that I have been looking forward to since its inception. Not just because
it is a film about all those cherished favourites of mine. But because it was
my research into KYD that made them become said cherished favourites.
Burroughs, Ginsberg and Carr. I love this photograph.
Not sure why I felt the need to share this with you prior to
my review, but I thought it would set the scene. I can't imagine coming at this
film blind with no prior knowledge, but I wonder if I would have enjoyed it so
thoroughly if I didn't know what happened during the film and hadn't known the
literary figures that they would one day become... A review will follow shortly.
Lou and Ginsy
*I have done some research, and Ronna Kress, I thank you for your inspired casting of Dane DeHaan as it has indirectly set me off on a great literary adventure.
FINALLY! If you have been following this blog for a while you may or may not have noticed how much of a raging Beat freak I am. Anything Ginsberg, Kerouac or Burroughs related and I am invested. Specifically I have been buzzing about Kill Your Darlings from pretty much its inception because as well as the story it had a stunning cast of Dane DeHaan, Daniel Radcliffe and Elizabeth Olsen. The teaser trailer is precisely that and seems to come to an abrupt end at thirty seconds however we do get some exciting shots. Dane DeHaan looks incredible as a cocky, young Lucien Carr who is shown getting up on a table in a library much to the shock of other students. Daniel Radcliffe's take on Ginsberg's voice sounds pretty fair to me and it's nice to see him back in round glasses! Michael C. Hall is briefly shown in his role as David Kammerer but little is alluded to his seedy role in the plot (based on Burroughs and Kerouac's novel And The Hippos Were Boiled In Their Tanks.) Columbia University looks spectacular and the wardrobe of the period feels en pointe. No word yet on the UK release date, but be sure that if and when the news breaks I will be all over it! Here are a few links to other posts on the topic of Kill Your Darlings from the past year or so. Given the fact I have waited an age for this teaser trailer I am not disappointed. Excuse me whilst I go and watch it another 10 times... Kill Your Darlings Update
After fleeing an abusive cult, Martha struggles to readjust
to the life she once knew while trying to reconnect with her family in this
psychological drama.
What’s remarkable about this film is that the director’s
vision is so pure and clear, it hasn’t been diluted by 200 different opinions. It's artsy and quiet. There
are so many creative flourishes that are bold and set it apart from so much of
the drivel we sit through. The film is structured with a mixture of flashbacks
and present day sequences which link and flow into each other with undetectable
slight of hand. What’s so brilliant about the flashback structure is the
glorious confusion and tension in the opening scenes when we have no idea what
Martha is fleeing and what has happened to her. There’s a Polanski level of
ambiguity throughout and all the way up to the memorable ending. It’s unclear
whether Martha’s paranoia is legitimate or if it’s all in her mind which makes
the tension that bit worse because it doesn’t matter whether it’s real or not.
Martha Marcy May Marlene is a study into cult life, post traumatic stress,
memory, modern American life and family dynamics – but it doesn’t preach, it
merely chronicles the events in a beautiful way.
Elizabeth Olsen plays Martha (and Marcy May and Marlene)
with extraordinary restraint. The psychosis is constantly bubbling under the
surface, always being held back so that when she finally does explode its all
the more powerful. She has one of those enigmatic faces that doesn’t give
anything away but reveals so much at the same time. She consistently plays that
fine line between ‘she’ll be fine once she’s had time to settle in.’ and ‘get
this poor woman help, she’s losing the plot.’ Perhaps there may be some deep seated acting
talent in the Olsen Twins after all… But in all seriousness, Olsen carries this
film with grace and refinement that is altogether missing in some actresses of her
age.
Beautifully shot with all together nerve wracking performances,
Martha Marcy May Marlene is a must-see recommendation.
Rating 8
Have your say: Did you rate Elizabeth in this film? Also, if you're new to Amateur Reviews, please feel free to become a member of the blog or be sure to return on Friday for our review of the highly anticipated Les Miserables!
