The Palace Beyond The Pines - Review

THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES

2011

15

Starring Bradley Cooper, Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes

Directed by Derek Cianfrance 

The Place Beyond The Pines is a story about the lives of two men that intertwine surrounding one moment of panic. Ryan Gosling plays motorcycle stunt rider Luke who decides to use his special skills to rob banks in order to support  his newly found family. The middle of the movie surrounds Bradley Cooper who plays a police hero who encounters corruption within the force and deals with his own family life. Eventually 15 years progress and the children of these two men (Emory Cohen and Dane DeHaan) collide with one and other in an explosive fashion.  

This film was so nearly perfect and it started off perfect. Towards the end of the second act the movie fell away from perfection when it became slightly padded out and perhaps lost sight of the freshness that defined the opening hour. It's not that the film went bad by any means but it fell away from how good it had started. What's nice about the directorial skill is the fact that Cianfrance is unhurried in his approach and takes a long time to let the story unfold naturally and organically. There are a great many lovely moments that allow the characters to express elements of themselves through seemingly mundane and commonplace conversations. The sobering realism that starts off the film however becomes marginally lost towards the end of the second act when the story begins to relying too heavily on coincidence and potentially implausible twists of fate.

The action sequences of motorcycle getaways are thrilling and found myself literally on the edge of my seat. You get the impression from the beginning that these are real people, not superheroes, they are dispensable and fragile; so it was never clear who would survive to see the final credits. There are some truly skilful directorial aspects, the film opens with an incredible long take tracking shot of Ryan Gosling's back as he walks through the circus into the tent where he performs his stunts, as far as film openers go, it is the most memorable I have seen for a long time. The acting was sound and all participants were able to bring unexpected depth to the movie because even though a lot of our main characters were flawed you still found yourself caring and rooting for them as they were personable. 

Dane DeHaan is awesome as the son of Ryan Gosling. He's kind of similar to his Chronicle character Andrew Detmer but he's different in that Jason is nonchalant and not meek. Amateur Reviews have been following his films from the beginning and his performance in The Place Beyond The Pines confirms that his career will be nothing short of illustrious. 

Darker and more realistic there was no rose tinted perspective on things. The Place Beyond The Pines is a character study first and foremost - and then a thriller. It's study of our lives and how they can interlink and how one moment can affect the entire lives of many. Cianfrance did not disappoint.

Rating: 8

Sound Of My Voice - Review

SOUND OF MY VOICE

2011

15

Starring Brit Marling, Nicola Vicius and Peter Denham

Directed by Zal Batmanglij

Would-be documentary filmmaker Peter (Denham) and his girlfriend Lorna (Vicius) infiltrate the creepy Californian sect that’s grown around a young woman (Marling) who claims both to come from the future and to possess information vital to mankind’s survival.

This was a movie that I had been wanting to watch for a long time and as soon as I saw it on Sky I watched it immediately. I had heard about it off someone on youtube who had said it was their film of the year so I did a bit of reading up on it and watched as many trailers as I could but even that couldn't prepare me for how much I loved Sound Of My Voice. I relish a low budget independent cinema that is incredibly well acted, directed and  written and Sound Of My voice is all of these things wrapped up in a psychological sci-fi thriller. It has that charming low-fi independent feel yet it is far classier than some of mainstream cinema at the moment.

Interesting, gripping and tense - you get the impression that this cult is believable. As a viewer you are in the same position as our protagonists. You don't know where this basement is, you don't know whether to believe Maggie either. There are times when her story is plausible, times when common sense absolutely doubts what she is saying but at the back of your mind if she really is from our future how can you ignore her wisdom.

Immediately it reminded me of Martha Marcy May Marlene, which I loved, but I like this a touch better. They share a lot of paralells (cult subject matter and cliff hanger endings) and both are films you will want to talk about after, to debate and discuss which is something that really appeals to me.

Brit Marling is pretty creepy as the charismatic and mesmerising cult leader. There is a scene early on where she breaks the fourth wall to say that she is from 'our future' which is spectacularly eerie and chilling. From the point of view of an actress this is one of the meatiest roles I have seen for a long time, she's ambiguously manipulative and powerful despite the fact she allegedly cannot leave her sterile basement.

One of the strongest aspects of the movie can also be viewed as a draw back. The ending and key themes that are raised throughout are never resolved and are so undeveloped that you can't help but hope a trilogy was always in the writer's mind. There's the issue with the police woman, surely the level of her security technology would not be necessary to find an arsonist? Abigail and her hat, black lego and Narclepsy and the injection off her barely introduced father are never explained. Were the revelations about Peter's past fabricated or legitimate. It all rests upon faith - whether the cult members have faith in time travel actually being possible and if so, whether Maggie is what she says she is. This all alludes to a wider plot and the fact that there are so many loose ends is acceptable because we have been told that it is going to become a trilogy. Although many questions have been raised and unanswered, it's not unsatisfyng because you hope that eventually there will be an opportunity for it to be resolved and at best you have to trust in your interpretation. Sound Of My Voice does not placate the audience and try to impose heavy handed conclusions; subtlety is Batmanglij and Marling's ace.

Rating: 9