Revolutionary Road
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Movie Reviews of Revolutionary Road
Movie Review: GET A GRIP, DRAMA QUEEN!!...
Summary: 5 Stars
GET A GRIP, DRAMA QUEEN!!...
*
Sam Mendes scored a big hit with American Beauty (1999)--which of course deals with the emptiness of the so-called `American dream'.
Trite though the observation may be, Mendes' Revolutionary Road is little more than a 1950s' American Beauty.
That said, there are extenuations.
The film LOOKS great.
Visually it's an intriguing combination of excellent cinematography and splendid production design (set, costumes, etc.).
Also the acting is very good: DiCaprio, Winslet, and Bates are doing fine work, as are the supporting actors Kathryn Hahn, David Harbour, and Dylan Baker. Michael Shannon steals the show with his portrayal of an electroshocked mathematics professor.
So what's the problem?
The film has two major flaws: (1) a very unsympathetic main character; and (2) a gaping hole in the plot.
It's perfectly understandable that an intelligent and sensitive personality might be dissatisfied with her lot in life and be highly frustrated with the complex difficulties involved in making a decisive change to the course of her life. But the real problem lies in entertaining chimerical fantasies of a supposed `happiness'. `Happiness' is an ephemeral will-o'-the-wisp thing--(as compared with more authentic states of `satisfaction' or the more stable state of `joy').
In any case, it's widely recognized that dissatisfied people frequently imagine in vain that a change of locale will solve all their problems and bring them an `happiness' unavailable in their current state; however, we know that an unhappy person in Location-A will still be the same person in Location-B, for you can't move away from yourself.
Or, to rephrase, which proposition is usually more pragmatic: to change oneself (i.e., one's hopes, expectations, grades of satisfactions, etc.), or to change one's circumstances?
It would ofttimes be nice if we could simply change our circumstances with the snap of our fingers; however, the usual case is that circumstances are bigger than individuals.
Moreover, if one should gamble a radical move, the unpredictable results could be worse than the original situation: `out of the fry-pan, into the fire'.
We submit that it's more sane and rational to adjust one's expectations; to adapt; to accept (at least with hope of future positive developments) the larger circumstances of one's life: get a grip, have a little backbone and make the best of the situation.
As Browning sings in `Prospice',
`For sudden the worst turns the best to the brave!'
(We won't go further into the spiritual dimensions of the issue.)
So, bottom line: the film's main character (`April') is an hysterical woman who nurses an irrational dissatisfaction with her very nice life. So she contrives to chuck it all and move to Europe with very thin plans for survival. The only problem is that she is (nominally) responsible for two small children--with another on the way.
And here's where we come to the glaring plot failure--(or perhaps we could term it a `prop' failure): the children are almost never in the picture--neither physically nor narratively: they're little seen, and never heard. Point being that `April' is free to rampage as if she were childless--which doesn't make an whole lotta sense.
`April' feels confined by `50s' American conformity, yet by any general standards (basic needs & services, prosperity, etc.) it's a damned nice conformity; furthermore, even if we deem her estrangement and infidelity to her partner understandable, her neglect of her children is monstrous.
We won't disclose the catastrophic dénouement, but leave it to say that her rejection of basic reality is utterly irrational; so in conclusion, Revolutionary Road is a gorgeous film to the gaze, but its narrative is logically insufferable.
*
Movie Review: you will either love it or hate it
Summary: 5 Stars
For me a good movie isn't necessarily one that is simply fun to sit through as much as one that makes me reflect and draw meanings that I can use -- or relate to -- in my own life. For me, this movie highlights the futility, the emotional void, the boredom of living a self-centered life. While the film seemed to be about the inner conflict of following one's heart in spite of the fear and the unknown vs. the pull towards safety and tradition and conformity, it really is not. I related to the desire to go to Paris because for the past year I have thought long and hard about taking a one year round-the-world adventure, leaving the comfort and safety of the world I know. However, April would not have been happy in Paris. I think of the cliché "wherever you go, there you are". She would eventually have found herself in the same emotional void she felt while living in Connecticut. While traveling and adventure are great, we truly cannot run away from ourselves. I think of this woman April who was beautiful on the outside, had a husband who wasn't perfect but who really cared and really tried to reach through his wife's mask (for instance, he is the one who confessed to her of his own wanderings because I think he really did strive to be a man of values in spite of his imperfection...In the movie he is the only person who did any growing and maturing), who had a lovely home, beautiful children (who were free of any obvious disadvantages such as birth defects, learning disabilities, etc), and lived in a peaceful setting. Yet because she was so wrapped up in her own self-centeredness, she wasn't able to enjoy any of it.
I also wondered about her family. Didn't she have any before she got married? This could be partly what was involved in her developing her Narcissistic Personality Disorder. I am not a psychologist and could be wrong but I think she also demonstrated a Borderline Personality Disorder.
Character development was profound. Acting was compelling. Costumes and scenery were perfect for the story.
There were many sub-plots and sub-meanings such as the purposelessness of conformity, the nature of insanity, and of course the ending which deals with one of our most controversial topics in our current society which I won't comment on because I don't want to give away the ending.
In the end, I think of how different April's experience in life could/would have been had she been able to be comfortable with her own self and find joy in making a contribution to something greater than her own self. I used to think a lot like this character and look down upon what I perceived to be "the establishment". But I have learned that life simply reflects back to you that which you are. If you are shallow, then life will appear shallow and without meaning. If you are giving, then life will appear abundant. If we are superficial, that is how society will seem. It all starts from within and there really is nowhere to run away to where we don't bring ourselves. If we can find peace within our self (through our life's work, through making a difference, through genuinely loving other people, through religion or spirituality, etc), we can find meaning wherever we are.
Having said all that, my friend with whom I saw the movie pretty much hated it. He likes "James Bond" type movies and he was bored.
Movie Review: The Price Paid for Security and Comfort Was a Stifling Conformity.
Summary: 5 Stars
"Revolutionary Road" was adapted from Richard Yates' 1961 novel about one couple's struggle with post-War middle class ideals in a picture-perfect Connecticut suburb. Set in the mid-1950s, we see the strained marriage of April and Frank Wheeler, an aspiring actress and former longshoreman who initially shared a keen sense of adventure, a vitality that has waned since they had children and moved to the suburbs. Frank (Leonardo DiCaprio) takes the train to work in New York each day with thousands of men like him. April (Kate Winslet) stays home, minds the children, chats with neighbors, and becomes increasingly frustrated with her circumscribed life. So she proposes that they give it all up, move overseas, and immerse themselves in life again. At first, Frank agrees, but then the struggle to balance security, happiness, and social pressures begins.
The 1950s were a conformist time, an era when the American middle class ideal was defined especially narrowly. Of course, people like the Wheelers led comfortable lives, for which perhaps they should have been grateful. Comfort and security are nothing to sneeze at. On the other hand, the stifling social environment and rigid value system fashionable at the time had ugly side effects: mind-numbing boredom, shallowness, isolation, hypocrisy, and alcoholism among them. What strikes me about "Revolutionary Road" is how contemporary it is. America entered another conformist era in the 1990s, one that I estimate is more conformist than the 1950s, as the middle class is larger, careerism is taken more seriously, and rigid and often bizarre expectations are now extended to children.
In an interesting twist, it is April, a mother of two young children, who wants to give up her comfortable home and take on a job to feel like she is still alive. But her willingness to take the situation in hand unintentionally emasculates Frank, who has slipped more easily into the constraints of middle class ambition. Or perhaps he is genuinely excited by the prospect of a promotion and higher pay. Frank has a compulsion to talk about everything, but he never says what he thinks. "Revolutionary Road" was directed by Sam Mendes and filmed on location inside a suburban Connecticut house. This is helpful, as the audience is placed in April's world, surrounded by walls, with windows overlooking the quaint yards of neighboring homes, and unruly woods out back where freedom seems to reign. Two outstanding performances by Winslet and DiCaprio are complimented by a sharp supporting cast, including Kathy Bates, Dylan Baker, and Michael Shannon.
The DVD (Paramount 2009): There are 5 deleted scenes with optional commentary, one featurette, and an audio commentary. "Lives of Quiet Desperation: The Making of Revolutionary Road" (29 min) interviews the director, cast, producers, screenwriter Justin Haythe about the film's themes, production designer Kristi Zea about the office and house sets, and costume designer Albert Wolsky. The audio commentary is by director Sam Mendes and screenwriter Justin Haythe. They compare the final cut of the film to a preliminary cut, the film to the novel, talk about characters, filming on location, and the challenges of dramatizing Frank's interior, since his thoughts were expressed in the book. Subtitles are available for the film in English, French, Spanish. Dubbing is available in French and Spanish.
Movie Review: Revolutionary Road
Summary: 5 Stars
Oh, co za film!
Sam Mendes (ur.1965), brytyjski rezyser teatralny ktory zamaszystym krokiem przestapil do filmowego biznesu ze swoim prowokacyjnym 'American Beauty', po egzotycznych wypadach w swiat gangsterskiego ('Road to Prediction') lub wojennego ('Jarhead') zamieszania, powraca do wieloogniskowej oceny bytu wspolczesnego czlowieka. Jego nowy film 'Revolutionary Road' - oparty na noweli pod tym samym tytulem i osadzony w realiach polowy lat piecdziesiatych - opowiada historie Franka i April Wheelers (Leonardo DiCaprio i Kate Winslett), malzenstwa z amerykanskich przedmiesc probujacego skonfrontowac problemy ich mlodego lecz szybko wiednacego zwiazku. Autor noweli, Richard Yates, jeden z nawybitniejszych Amerykanskich pisarzy okresu powojennego i jednoczesnie najmniej znany, ponoc zawsze pochloniety praca, zazwyczaj pijany, pelen niepewnosci i bolu istnienia oraz bez formalnego wyksztalcenia literackiego, byl - oprocz kilku nowel oraz zleconych prac dziennikarskich, takze autorem przemowien pisanych dle Senatora Roberta Kennedy. Yates zadedykowal 'Revolutionary Road' swojej bylej zonie.
Oczekiwane w napieciu kolejne ekranowe spotkanie Kaski i Leona juz od samego poczatku filmu wynagradza wiernych fanow tej oslawionej pary swym niebywalym elektryzmem, i pomimo narastajacej, pozornie biegunowej odmiennosci ich wzajemnych uczuc, niejako w ukryciu kaze trzymac kciuki za powodzenie ich zwiazku. Podejrzewam ze bardziej wrazliwi widzowie powyginaja sobie palce az do bolu przy tym emocjonalnym ping-pongu. W pierwszych paru minutach podczas gdy poznajemy historie Wheelersow jeszcze zanim pokaze sie tytul, slodki nastroj filmu szybko przebija sie przez abazurowa granice przyzwoitosci tworczej i zakotwicza na dobre w burzliwym oceanie malzenskiej goryczy, niedopowiedzen i osobniczego manekiniarstwa. Smiem zatem twierdzic ze jego przeslanie bedzie bardziej zrozumiale dla widzow bedacych w slubnym zwiazku, ale jeszcze bardziej dla tych ktorym ten zwiazek sie rozpadl.
Z metnawego otoczenia drugoplanowych rol - niejako "ustawiajacego zyciowe drogowskazy na Ulicy Rewolucyjnej" i bedacego rola sama w sobie - wylania sie jaskrawa postac matematyka-wariata (Michael Shannon), ktory wydaje sie miec najbardziej klarowny wglad w istote rzeczy. Na mysl przychodzi tu rola antycznego "greckiego choru", wszem przypominajacego prawde rzeczywistosci. Prawde calkiem nieraz bolesna. Zastanawiajaca wydaje sie byc odwaga Mendesa ktory w obliczu swojego malzenskigo zwiazku z Winslett, podejmuje sie drazyc bytowe fatum, gdzie dylemat samo-spelnienia jest przeciwstawiony akceptacji spolecznie narzuconych rol zyciowych.
'Revolutionary Road' jest pomimo wszystko kinem pierwszej klasy, i krzywda bylby brak jego rekomendacji. Musze jednak zaznaczyc ze ogladajac ten film czulem sie jak slimak pelznacy po ostrzu brzytwy.
Hotel Detective
Movie Review: Where is the revolution in that brave new world?
Summary: 5 Stars
This film could have been a melodramatic mash and it is not. In fact the situation and the various developments make it quasi-tragic. Tragic because it is the story of a totally impossible epiphany for a couple who is living in our modern society. There is no escape from the present programmed and even pre-fabricated life in which we all live. We have practically no freedom of choice. The only freedom of choice we do have is to refuse a possible promotion, a potential chance in this life, and we will end up on the dump, the manure pile. There is no choice because we have to pay for the house, the car, the children's education, and so many other things. There is no real choice because our psyches have been pre-determined into accepting the small little tiny wee box that has been attributed to our life. Our psyche is always opportunistic and it always goes the way the wind blows. Even a simple accident, like an unwanted pregnancy, the result of a negligence as for preventive protection, the result of going out bareback when it is well known we are supposed to go out covered, if we want to really have a choice, becomes the direst tragedy of all times. But we are in such a formatted life that we forget something because "they", the big brothers of this brave new world, have mesmerized us into forgetting. There is no simple way out, there is no way out at all. Any attempt at trying to evade the consequences of this event will lead to an even worse catastrophe, like death, or suicide, or death by suicide or suicide by death. Tragic indeed. I will also add that the main two actors are outrageously outstanding. They play their anger, their disorientation, their psychoses, their schizophrenias even with such realism and conviction that we may think they are playing their own roles, their own parts, their own private fate and destiny. It is true the cameraman is also quite prodigious. The way he takes the profile of Di Caprio when this one is supposed to be stubbornly refusing any move brings out this stubborn-ness revealed by the very line of the forehead seen under that profile angle, a Neanderthal or apish profile indeed. It is such details that make an actor and a film remarkable. It is true too that the insane, deranged son of the real estate agent is truer than nature, more prophetic about this society than all the Bibles of the world, than all the Freuds and Marxes of this low, low world of ours.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne, University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines, CEGID