Sunday Openings: Revolutionary Road

I’ve already covered Revolutionary Road in Scene On A Sunday when I looked at the final argument between April and Frank. But, this is Sunday Openings, so I guess I’m allowed to revisit. There’s a pervading sense of claustrophobia through the entire film, our main couple are trapped in suburbia; so it makes sense that the opening is cosmopolitan and liberated.

 The first shots are of the city and seem at odds with any random scene from the heart of the film. Think of Mrs. Givings and then think of these shots which seems to come from some film ready to tell us about sophisticated city people. It’s not a mistake, of course, because that’s what Frank and April wish they could be – worthy of that sort of sophistication that seem to have lost; but let’s stay on the opening.

And we move into the house party.

The location established we move inside, and the first person we spot is April. That, right there, is my favourite shot of the scene above. I’ve already spoken about how much I love Kate’s smoking in this film and she looks so glamorous. For such an eclectic actress, I wish that Kate would do a film where she really allows herself to let go and be as glamorous as she could. What makes those potentially maudlin dreams of April work is that we can imagine a life where Kate could be the glamorous actress April had hoped she’d become. This makes her failed dreams so much more devastating.

And Leo there, above, with his boyishness.

He glances her way almost by mistake. I like to think that Sam Mendes was going crazy shooting these shots of Kate here, his wife at the time. It's as if he's making love to her with his camera. She looks exquisite.

That's another gorgeous shot of her, there. She's so confident when she looks across the room to meet his gaze, below.

And he seems mesmerised...but, then, who wouldn't be? And with that smirk of hers we switch to their conversation.

Frank (OS: “So, what do you do?”

April: “I’m studying to be an actress. You?”

Frank: “I’m a longshoreman.”

April: “No, I mean really.”
Frank: “I mean really, too. Although, starting next Monday. I’ll be doing something a little more glamorous.”

April: “What’s that?”
Frank: “Night cashier at a cafeteria”

April: “I don’t mean how you make money. I mean, what are you interested in.”

Frank: “Honey, if I had the answer to that one I bet I’d bore us both to death in half an hour.

 Mendes and Justin Hayte (the writer) seem to milking the Titanic romance here. I'd imagine that dissenters would be unmoved by the overly romantic opening, even as it segues into that romantic dance sequence.

 

And the final shot of vignette switches to a tense Frank in the present.

I love to go in for over-analysis and for me, I find that Revolutionary Road is saturated with layers upon layers. It’s not clear whether what we just saw is a memory or real. The thing about memories is that they always seem better in retrospect and taking into context what we come to know about April – and Frank, especially – they’re the type of people who dream big. The glossiness of that flashback that opens the seem is the sort of clichéd meet-cutes that real people only dream which makes us wonder if it was as lovely in reality. Surely, if April was really as glamorous as she seems at the opening she’d have been a successful actress? But, we don’t know any of this yet. We’ve got an opening that hooks us, and then we get the eyes of a hardened Frank lost in thought.

A shot of a play that seems to have underwhelmed its audience...

And we get a shot of April, acting, but from all evidence unsuccessfully. 

 

As far as hooking the audience goes Mendes and co. accomplish it in under 3 minutes because immediately we’re wondering – what went wrong? And, for me, the rest of Revolutionary Road makes good on that promise giving us a play by play of what did.

          

What do you think of the film's opening?

Decade in Review, Revisited: 25 Tear Jerking Scenes (Part Two) - Overdue

So, 2011 is here and I still have outstanding posts from 2010. So just because I just have to complete the list I’ll give it now, even though it’s dreadfully overdue. I gave you fifteen runners up a couple of months ago – tear jerking moments of the aughts. Here are the final ten. Sometimes it’s difficult to pinpoint the actual cause of tears shed vicariously for cinematic creations, but these ten are most salient.

Potentially Heavy Spoilers ahead: Be Warned

                       

#10: Brokeback Mountain: “I Swear” (Guilty Party: Heath Ledger)

The more I see Brokeback Mountain the less I like it, Michelle Williams is still the only thing I find egregiously poor about it – and it’s still a fine film, just not one I’d go crazy over. I’m never even that convinced of the brilliance that is Heath Ledger’s performance in it (I’d probably pick Jake for best in show); well until the last few moments, that is. The older his character grows the better grip Ledger seems to have on himand that line at the end of the film is just a brilliant line reading. It’s sort of an encapsulation of all the things about the film and Heath makes it work brilliantly. Depressingly.

#9: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: “Some People Dance...” (Guilty Party: David Fincher)

The entire closing monologue of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a well handled tearjerker. I’d say it’s prosaic, and I wouldn’t mean it as insult. It’s a bit like a role-call of sorts and seeing all the persons who’ve played a role in Benjamin’s life makes me teary eyed for some reason. And, of course, it’s that final line for Daisy that’s the cinch. Fincher’s epic, of sorts, will continue to be polarising but I’ll continue to be a big fan of it.

#8: Bright Star: Departure (Guilty Party: Ben Whishaw and Abbie Cornish)

I’ll be honest, sometimes Bright Star is just a lesson in poetic sadness. It’s that much more brilliant because it’s moving even when it’s just being glib about it. The final scene that Ben and Abbie share together comes to mind immediately. The two have had a fairytale romance of sorts (unconsummated) and both know that he’s going to die in Italy. They lie on the bed, their bodies making a heart, and talk about the future that will never happen. I deliberately avoid romances like these, but I don’t what it is that makes Jane Campion’s tale so brilliant – it’s a “you had to be there” experience”. It’s easily the saddest part of the film for me…a relationship heading nowhere, and fast.

#7: Moulin Rouge: The Death (Guilty Party: Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor)

Is there anything more of a killer in 19th century literature than consumption? It’s weird – we already know Satine is dying but Baz distracts us with the elephant medley so that Satine’s death manages to still be surprising and even more ridiculously depressing

#6: The Hours: Crying (Guilty Party: Meryl Streep)

I singled out Clarissa Vaughn as my favourite Streep performance of the past decade. She has many moments of brilliance – a number of them opposite Ed Harris; but it’s a solitary scene opposite Jeff Daniels that fits the bill here. The two are reminiscing about their mutual friend and Clarissa gets too caught up in the pass, it’s an odd moment – and probably difficult to pull off. She moves from lucid to snivelling in almost a split second. Her line reading of “Don’t come any closer” is a favourite of mine. I’ve said it before, I don’t always love Streep but when she impresses me it’s brilliant.

#5: The Constant Gardener: Returning Ghosts (Guilty Party: Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz)

I don’t know if it’s just me, but for some reason Fernando Mereilles’ 2005 tour de force (says me) The Constant Gardener doesn’t seem to get the appreciation it deserves. It’s impeccably helmed by Mereilles and despite occasional snatches of incongruity the brilliant performances of Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz make up for it. The Constant Gardener is many things in one – a love story, a thriller, an espionage tale...on and on. In the final moments of the film we may have realised the “whodunit” of the entire thing but there’s no closure until the ghost of Tessa shows up to lead Justin away. It sounds so very schmaltzy but there’s some honest and wonderful about it. Weisz and Fiennes really work excellently together and that (imagined) reunion is just a fine bit of emotion, well played.

#4: Atonement: Monologue (Guilty Party: Joe Wright)

Why is the end of Atonement so sad? I can’t say; it just is. Unfulfilled dreams are always depressing, and Vanessa Redgrave is all kinds of brilliant (but that’s a given). She only needs a few moments to make me gloomy, and with the camera on her alone for so much of that monologue she delivers completely. Bring on the waterworks.

#3: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings “My Captain” (Guilty Party: Sean Bean Viggo Mortensen)

We see a number of deaths in The Lord of the Rings series, but it’s the first (main) one that I find the most striking. Sean Bean’s Boromir is unfortunately forgotten, but he’s excellent. He has the tough task of playing the anti-Aragorn character and his final moments are probably the most moving part of the first film. It’s when he tells Aragorn, “I would have followed you, my captain” that’s the cinch though. Mortensen’s facial response is golden.

#2: Revolutionary Road: Running (Guilty Party: Leonardo DiCaprio)

Revolutionary Road would definitely easily make it on any list of most depressing films of the aughts, well ever to be honest. Depressing, though it is (really, this was one of the most emotionally draining films of the aughts for me), I still can’t help admiring it. It’s a tug-of-war as to who comes out on top – Kate or Leo. They both do excellent work and Kate’s final scenes already make you a little tearful, but as far as tear jerking goes it’s all Leo. When he finds out about April death’s it’s the film’s most harrowing moment (and that’s saying a lot). It all culminates in him running (and crying), from the hospital, from April from the mistakes. It’s a nice bit of direction from Mendes and it’s a brilliant moment for Leo.

#1: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: Credits (Guilty Party: Peter Jackson)

The biggest tearjerker of the decade for me wasn’t even any singular moment of sadness – it was just the culmination of hours upon hours of epic fantasy. I was never a big fan of Frodo (Tolkien’s Frodo or Jackson’s) but the final moments of the film as he makes his way away from the Shire as Sam makes his way back works well in its simplicity. But it’s when Annie Lennox’s “Into the West” comes on that the sadness really sinks in. I’m not sure if it’s sadness per se but it’s something akin – okay, maybe it was exhaustion. Still, it’s definitely the biggest reason for waterworks this past decade, for me.

                 

So, it’s terribly late – but am I the only who went teary at these moments of cinematic sadness?

Leo the Lion; or thereabouts

I want to wash the memory of Inception from my brain. Not because I hated it (I just didn’t like it) but because it’s made me doubtful about Leonardo DiCaprio. Chances are, if you’re reading this blog you’d know that I have no inhibitions about espousing unpopular opinions. For every five times I’ve said Leo is one of my favourite actors there have been two people telling me that I’m crazy for thinking – which doesn’t bother me. It’s not that I think he’s flawless – I have Daniel Day Lewis for those sentiments – but I’m always seeing something special in almost every performance he does, Cobb and others among the exceptions. But I don’t want to lament on the less than perfect today. It’s November 8th and it’s Leo’s birthday. And because he is one of my favourite actors it’s only right that I give a quick look and some of the brilliant (says me) performances that he’s contributed to cinema. My paranoia in worrying that he’s hit a stump is only natural, I’m still going crazy wondering if Jude Law is ever going to grace us with his brilliant screen presence again, but I digress. That’s information for another post...

               

Frank Abagnale Jr. in Catch Me If You Can

"Ah, people only know what you tell them, Carl."

By my summation Frank is not DiCaprio's  best performance. It is, though, the sole performance of his that I can see no one else playing. He has that weird sort of charisma that makes it possible for him to exude that boyish charm that's necessary for young Frank while being brash enough to be wily as adult Frank. It's a strange thing to watch, and no doubt those scenes with Christopher Walken are highlights. I'm not overly fond of the chemistry with Hanks, but then I'm not overly fond of Hanks period - so that;s not saying much. It's weird, two big films in 2002 and no Oscar love for DiCaprio - but I suppose they were just biding their time.

                    

Howard Hughes in The Aviator

 "Show me the blueprints."

Interestingly this has turned into an even more polarising performance than his Amsterdam in Gangs of New York. It’s admittedly a role that doesn’t seem to exist in his natural register but it’s proof that he may not be able to play anything but he can play many things. DiCaprio isn't the sort of actor that works well in confinement - like Ralph Fiennes for example. That man can rock a monologue, DiCaprio does excellently when paired up with a scene partner and there's really no doubt that he's at his strongest opposite Blanchett. Perhaps, just a little of my general infatuation obsession appreciation of Katharine Hepburn trickles over and makes me love their arc that much more. But that final confrontation with Blanchett? Just brilliant.

        

Arnie in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? (1993)

"She's a whale! Tucker, she's a whale!" 

DiCaprio is one-third of the reason I can’t stand Tommy Lee Jones or The Fugitive. The other two thirds are Ralph Fiennes in Schindler’s List and Pete Postlewasite in In the Name of the Father. In short, one of these men should have had an Oscar that year. Enough said. Well, not quite. Child actors are irregular, few develop into serviceable performers - fewer can play a layered incarnation of a character as children. His Arnie is not the strongest child-performance I've seen, but the mere fact that he really does convince me that he's disable is something to praise.

Billy Costigan in The Departed (2006)

 "Well I tell you Mr. Costello, I'd like to squeeze some fucking money out of it."

If there's one thing DiCaprio proved with The Departed it's that he has the ability to ground a film, even one that has a large ensemble of actors all doing brilliant things. In theory, DiCaprio shouldn't emerge so easily as the lead in the film because it's really not about Billy Costigan - at least not about him only. I'm a big fan of The Departed (proof) and I'd say that the film never hits a false note, but the biggest thrills all seem to surround DiCaprio.

Frank Wheeler in Revolutionary Road

"I mean: what the hell are you doing in my house if you hate me so much?"

I've established, more than once, that I'm a fan of DiCaprio in Revolutionary Road. I'm still generally confused as to his absence from any significant Awards Race (other than the Golden Globes). Remember, I did cite this as my favourite male performance of the decade and in retrospect I'm surprised more persons didn't cry out about it. I know Revoultionary Road has its adamant dissenters - who I've incidentally not come across here.

                  

Happy birthday, Leo. Which performance of his would you watch today?

Scene On A Sunday: Revolutionary Road

Kate Winset has a very distinctive face. It’s not a shallow thing, she is beautiful, but she’s adept at expressing her feelings with her face, and the camera loves her. I’m a fan of her work in Revolutionary Road (evidence), as I am of DiCaprio’s (evidence) and even though it just might be one of the most harrowing portrayals of a marriage gone wrong it’s still fascinating to watch. My favourite scene in the film occurs towards the end, when everything has already begun to self-destruct. Frank and April’s impractical dreams of living as bohemians are given up – April’s pregnant and Frank is not as enthused about the move as he pretends to be. After John Givings turns up to put in some last minute lacerations in the already tenuous relationship it all comes to a close.

 I love that shot of Kate there. She’s been sitting with cigarette in her hand for the majority of  John’s tirade which has just ended. It’s almost painful to watch her expression, and it’s one of the beauty of watching Kate. She’s so good at emoting. But I love the next shot even more.

She moves from vulnerable to stoic in a matter of seconds, April may not be a good actress – but she’s an actress nonetheless.

Frank: “Okay, okay. Don’t tell me. Let me guess, I made a disgusting spectacle of myself, right?”

April: “Right.”

 Frank: “Everything that made said is true, right? Is that what you were gonna say?”

 April: “Apparently I don’t have to. You’re saying it for me.”

 Frank: “Well, you’re wrong, April.”

 April: “Really? Why am I wrong?”

The Wheeler couple are like a box of explosives. The slightest motivation and they start shooting sparks at each other. In the argument of consistency Kate outweighs DiCaprio but they’re both doing work that’s close to their best and they’re evenly matched throughout.

 

Frank: “Because the man is insane, he’s fucking insane. Do you know what the definition of insanity is? ”

 

April: “No! Do you?”

Frank: “Yes, it’s the inability to relate to another human being. It’s the inability to love.”

That immediate reaction of laughter from April is one of the scariest moments in the film. Though I wouldn’t call her crazy, she does a good job of pretending to be.

 

 

 

 I love how Kate plays it: it’s not so much real amusement as it is hysteria, and Frank is just there confused.

 Frank: “April, April. April! APRIL!”

 

 

 

April: “The ina – the inability, oh, oh. Oh, Frank: you really are a wonderful talker.”

And then her about face from superficial delight to the harsh coldness...

 

 

April: “If black could be made into white by talking, you’d be the man for the job! So, now I’m crazy because I don’t love you. Right, is that the point?”

The thing is, though Kate is getting the bulk of the lines here DiCaprio’s reactions are just as important. It’s one of the brilliance of Mendes direction. Whenever a quasi-monologue comes up he’s careful to gauge the other’s reaction.

 

 

 

Frank: “No, you’re wrong. You’re not crazy, and you do love me. That’s the point, April.”

Honestly, I’d never see DiCaprio as the kind of guy who could talk a bird off a tree but he manages to make himself believable as a potential seducer and as a pathetic man.

April: “But, I don’t. I hate you.”

There goes Kate again with that preciseness that’s not too technical. These few lines are more important for seeing Frank’s reaction, though it’s anyone’s guess if April really means them.

 

 

 

 

April: “You were just some boy who made me laugh at a part once, and now I loathe the sight of you.”

The emotions that he goes through there works, Frank might be weak and potentially despicable but April knows where to hit him the hardest. He really does love his family.

April: “In fact, if you come any closer; if you touch me or anything, I think I’ll scream.”

 

What a pair of lungs, you can’t hear...but it’s loud.

            

I know it’s wrong to find this amusing, but that mutinous look of satisfaction April gives when it’s over is scary and funny at the same time woman on the verge...

And then, Frank’s reaction to it...

And off they go, round 2 (or 200)

 

 

Frank: “FUCK YOU, APRIL. Fuck you, and all your hateful...”

April: “What are you gonna do now? Are you gonna hit me, to show me how much you love me?”

 

 

 

 

Frank: “Don’t worry, I can’t be bothered. You’re not worth the trouble it would take to hit you, you’re not worth the powder it would take to blow you up. You are an empty, empty, hollow shell of a woman.”

And now Frank has the floor and April’s reactions become important, a sort of a blance...of we can call it that. This particular of shot of DiCaprio is my favourite of his in the scene.

Frank is the sort of emotionally man who has trouble with his emotions. That makes this portion of the film so poignant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Frank: “I mean: what the hell are you doing in my house if you hate me so much? Why the hell were you married to me? What the hell are you doing carrying my child? I mean, why didn’t you just get rid of it when you first had the chance? Because, listen to me – listen to me, I got news for you. I wish to God that you had!”

But in the end we must return to Kate’s face, just like at the beginning...

April’s so good at putting her defences up, those moments of vulnerability are a treasure.

And then she begins thinking, we can see the wheels moving in her head...

She’s got her plan right there. Why doesn’t she get rid of the baby? It's the expressions like that that make me remember April the most...just brilliant.