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thedullwoodexperiment

~ Viewing movies in a different light

thedullwoodexperiment

Tag Archives: Debra Granik

A Look Back at 2018 (Part 1)

19 Wednesday Dec 2018

Posted by dullwood68 in Movies

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

2018, 9/10 rating, Debra Granik, Leave No Trace, Peter Jackson, Review, They Shall Not Grow Old

2018 has been a funny old year – not funny ha ha, however, real laughs have been thin on the ground during 2018 – as the first few months reflected on the strength of movies released during 2017, with late arrivals to the UK such as The Post, I, Tonya, Phantom Thread, and the Oscar-winning The Shape of Water. Otherwise, there was a dearth of good, new movies on our screens and our streaming services. As we moved into the spring, Marvel hit us with the double whammy of Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War, the latter proving to be this year’s runaway box office success, with earnings of $2,048,187,730 at time of writing. But these behemoths aside, there was little to get excited about, and little in the way of promise for the latter half of the year. It wasn’t until July 6 that thedullwoodexperiment posted its first 9/10 movie review of 2018, Debra Granik’s tremendously moving and visually striking Leave No Trace. Back then it was something of an oasis in a sea of mediocre summer releases, and though Mission Impossible: Fallout bowed later that month and surprised pretty much everyone with how good it was (and garnered this site’s second 9/10 review), there still wasn’t much of a sense that the year would improve. Two movies do not a renaissance make (as it were).

Since the end of July, this site has awarded a 9/10 rating to only ten other 2018 movies so far this year, making a Top 10 for the year a little unnecessary, or indeed, facetious, though one movie did stand out from all the rest: Peter Jackson’s incredible reconstruction of both the lives of, and the footage depicting, the British men who fought during the First World War. They Shall Not Grow Old is an amazing blend of technological prowess, emotive imagery, and historical remembrance. No other movie had the emotional impact that this stunning documentary provided, and one of the most surprising aspects of its release was the way in which it was overlooked by UK movie magazines such as Empire, and even Sight & Sound (more focus was afforded Jackson’s involvement with Mortal Engines; how ironic is that?). The tide has begun to turn in the last couple of months, and with December heralding the arrival of a clutch of movies looking to be serious awards contenders over the next couple of months, the year has effectively rallied, and even Netflix, that paragon of haphazard programming, has outdone itself with the release of movies such as Orson Welles’ The Other Side of the Wind, and Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma. But while there’s a sense that there’s better still to come, for us here in the UK, any movies that fit that particular bill won’t be seen until 2019 (or at all in the case of the majority of foreign language movies), which does seem to leave 2018 a little bit stranded. An argument for same-day worldwide releases perhaps?

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Leave No Trace (2018)

06 Friday Jul 2018

Posted by dullwood68 in Movies

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Tags

Ben Foster, Debra Granik, Drama, Father/daughter relationship, Literary adaptation, My Abandonment, Oregon, PTSD, Review, Thomasin McKenzie

D: Debra Granik / 109m

Cast: Ben Foster, Thomasin McKenzie, Jeff Kober, Dale Dickey, Dana Millican, Isaiah Stone, David Pittman

In the forest outside Portland, Oregon, an Army veteran suffering from PTSD, Will (Foster), and his teenage daughter, Tom (McKenzie), live together in a makeshift encampment. Only venturing into the city to pick up supplies, the pair do their best to ensure they pass unnoticed. But when Tom is seen by a jogger, their peaceful existence is brought to an end. The authorities raid their camp, and they’re apprehended; as they learn, it’s not illegal to live in the forest per se, but it is when the forest is part of a state park. Placed with a farmer (Kober), Will remains uncomfortable being surrounded by four walls, while Tom begins to explore a wider world than the one she’s used to. It isn’t long before Will tells Tom they’re leaving, and they head off into the Oregon wilderness. It isn’t long before they’re lost, and in less than hospitable conditions, a situation that reinforces Tom’s awareness that the life they’ve been living isn’t the same one she wants to continue with…

Writer/director Granik’s follow up to Winter’s Bone (2010) (and only her third feature over all), Leave No Trace is a low-key experience, full of emotional and dramatic ellipses, and yet with a depth and a clarity of expression that seems at odds with the stripped back nature of the material. Adapted from the novel My Abandonment by Peter Rock, Leave No Trace explores the ways in which a mutually dependent relationship inevitably has to fracture when it’s exposed to outside influences. It’s also a deeply sincere look at how longing and individual need can set people in such a relationship on vastly different courses in life, and yet still be the best thing for both of them. Will is always unlikely to accept the “normal” life he and Tom are thrust into, while it’s equally likely that Tom will take to it with a greater appetite. But though all this is a given, it’s the quality of Granik and co-scripter Anne Rossellini’s screenplay that all this plays out with a great deal of compassion and understanding for both characters’ aspirations and needs. There’s not one false note to be found in the way that Will and Tom behave, or in the way that they interact with their surroundings, be it the forest or their temporary home on the farm.

The movie has a beautiful visual aesthetic too, the lush green vegetation of the forest feeling visceral and alive before giving way to the compromised homogeneity of the city, and then enveloping us again towards the end, wrapping Will and Tom (and the viewer) in a leafy embrace that’s heartening and threatening and exciting and reassuring all at the same time. Michael McDonough’s cinematography deftly switches from being an immersive, magnificent experience during its forest scenes to that of an impartial observer of Will and Tom’s emotional struggles, and back again with such authority that it’s breathtaking. Granik has also seen fit to employ a soundtrack that comprises much of the natural soundscape as its backdrop, adding to our sense of the time and place(s) that Will and Tom inhabit. Will and Tom are played to perfection by Foster and McKenzie, with Foster’s internalised, haunted performance a career best that’s matched – exceeded perhaps – by McKenzie’s beautifully nuanced portrayal of Tom. Their scenes together never feel strained or unconvincing, and Granik’s measured yet intuitive direction teases out every unspoken thought or feeling with a clarity that is unlikely to have been more impactful if they’d been uttered out loud.

Rating: 9/10 – tremendously moving and visually striking, Leave No Trace is a strong contender for Movie of the Year and easily one of the most impressive movies of the last few years; with faultless performances, inspired direction, a deceptively impassioned screenplay, and an abiding sense of hope for both its central characters, this is richly rewarding and an absolute must-see.

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Trailer – Leave No Trace (2018)

16 Wednesday May 2018

Posted by dullwood68 in Movies

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Tags

Ben Foster, Debra Granik, Drama, Literary adaptation, My Abandonment, Peter Rock, Preview, Thomasin McKenzie, Trailer

In a summer that will be dominated again by mega-budget blockbusters, trying to pick out a movie or two (or even three) that offers something a little different from heavily edited fight scenes, numerous explosions, and the same characters we’ve seen several times before, is something that will probably require a little persistence. One movie that fits this particular bill is Leave No Trace, the latest drama from Debra Granik, the director of Winter’s Bone (2010). Adapted from the novel My Abandonment by Peter Rock, the movie stars Ben Foster as Will, an ex-military man living in a Portland, Oregon forest with his thirteen year old daughter, Tom, played by Thomasin McKenzie. The pair eschew civilisation, and Will has educated Tom himself. Inevitably their “idyllic” lifestyle is discovered and they are forced into a “normal” life through the intervention of social services. Unable to adapt to their new lives, however, they decide to journey back into the forest.

A movie that looks to be engrossing due to the dynamic of the relationship between Will and Tom, and their commitment to each other, the trailer sets up a number of questions for the potential viewer to be thinking about ahead of seeing Leave No Trace – not the least of which is why are they in the forest in the first place – and it promises excellent performances from its two leads. As a substitute for the usual fare seen in our cinemas during the summer months, this has all the hallmarks of a movie that could quietly gain everyone’s attention, and prove to be an attractive, rewarding alternative to the flash, bang, wallop on offer pretty much across the board.

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