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?

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.