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[-)l {AMA 7 REVOLUTIONARY ROAD (15) 119mm an.
Age of Anxiety writer Richard Yates’ first and arguably finest novel gets a fitanic big screen makeover courtesy of reunited stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet and director hubby Sam Mendes.
It’s 1955 in suburban Connecticut; the Eisenhower administration is engendering conformity while Joe McCarthy is busy bashing reds under the bed. Big Apple salary schlep Frank (DiCaprio) and housewife April (Kate Winslet) spend their spare time drinking, smoking and arguing. Dissatisfied with their white picket fence dream they try to reinvigorate their life and love with a proposed move to Paris to live the bohemian life. As the date for their departure approaches, their best-laid plans begin to become undone with devastating consequences.
Yates‘ 1961 novel is a troubling deconstruction of the more communal and social aspects of the American dream and, as such, it’s easy to see why American Beauty director Mendes was drawn to this material. Working from Justin Haythe’s commendably faithful screenplay, Mendes works hard to strike the right tone
HOHHUH'IIIHH l i It THE BRGKEN (15) 88min .0.
I dgar Allen Poe's short story William Wilson meets i Irtchcock's Marnie
Ill (L'rslrtiaclx wnter and director Sean I lIrs' second Ieature.
When heaulilul and seernrngly staple radroIogrst (Erna McVey (I ena Headey) wakes In a l ondon hospital Iollowrng an encounter wrth a mysterious doppelganger her Irte turns rnto a walking nrghtmare. I rte has become metaphysrcal mystery where eyen her beloved IamrIy has
sornethrng to hide.
(he Broken marks a huge step rn the right drrectron tor the ohviously grtted les. Clearly something of a labour of love. the film rs a mature work ot all too rare and lrterary Illusion (Poe and Iirtchcock aside, t Hrs has also clearly been readrng hrs Norse mythology about the vardoger — the sprrrt predecessor who rs seen pertorrnrng another's actions In advance. Maxrm Gogol's l'he Nose may he an rntluence as well). that rt ultimately doesn't gurte work rs mainly down to I Ilrs' pedestrian scrrpt and flat direction but there's plenty to commend this very Brrtrsh horror Headey is great as the troubled protagonrst and she receives decent support from a good cast that Includes US character actor Richard Jenkins (er feet Under. The VisitorI. Guy I arley's score is tantastrc and editor Scott Thomas keeps thrngs trght hut untocussed. lhe Broken rs of particular Interest when compared to Basil [)earden's underrated 1970 film The Man Who Haunted Himself (ayarlatiie on DVD) starring Roger Moore. the last doppelganger psycho thrrlIer set III London.
(Paul Dale) I Selarted release from Fri 30 Jan.
that is both in line with Yates’ pessimistic analysis, bi- polar characters and hope sucking timeline and yet not too bleak for a modern audience.
That Mendes almost succeeds is a testament to how far he has come as a filmmaker however, unusually here, unfamiliarity with the source novel is likely to lead to bewilderment and frustration in the same way Pinter’s early plays did before he got his audience ‘on message’. Prestige and gongs aside, it is debateable whether Yates’ intense, claustrophobic and quite brilliant novel really needed to be made into a film, its essence is probably better decanted in shows like HBO’s Mad Men than anything else.
Fundamentals aside, Winslet and DiCaprio bring the weight of their separate experiences to their demanding roles, while fellow doomed ship alumni Kathy Bates is pitch perfect as nosy real estate agent Helen Givings, and David Harbour is terrific as thick necked neighbour Shep. Michael Shannon (last seen in Shotgun Stories and Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead steals the show as the Givings’ psycho son from who’s mouth unbearable truths do stream. Plus the fixtures, fittings and costumes are to die for. . . if you like that kind of thing. (Paul Dale)
I (ienera/ release from In 30 Jan.
Name Dev Patel
Born London. April 1990 Background Raised in Harrow. Dev turned to drama when his exuberance got him into trouble at school. He was a natural, performing in a school production of Twelth Night. Indeed. drama was the only subject tor which he received a grade A at GCSE level. It was his mother who saw an advert for a Channel 4 sitcom and told her son to 'knock ‘em dead'. Dev did what he was told. auditioning to play “the coolest Muslim on the block' for a show called Skins. Playing gorgeous Anwar, he would rarely be seen with his shirt on.
What's be up to near? Danny 80er went to India in search of a rising Indian star to play the lead in Slumdog Millionaire, a screen adaptation of Vikas Swarup's novel 0 and A. Returning empty handed. Boyle's daughter suggested he audition Patel. The 18-year-old mesmerised the Trainspotting director and has since been wowing critics. Patel's already been awarded a BIFA (British Independent Film Award) for most promising newcomer and the US National Board of Review named him Best Male Breakthrough Performance of the Year.
What he says about India ‘I first went when I was ten years old for a family wedding in Gujarat. I was a kid, and I didn't enjoy it in the slightest to be honest. I got bitten to death by mosquitoes and I had diarrhoea. I said I’m never coming back to India again. Sods Law, I land a part in a movie shooting in Mumbai. It 's impossible not to fall in love with the place. It’s got such vibrancy and there are so many peOple: it's shocking. As soon as you step off the plane. it's a shock to all the senses. the air smells different; the heat hits you like a brick wall; the noise is crazy. Now I can't wait to get back.’ Interesting Fact Dev Patel is a black belt in tae kwon do and won a bronze medal in the tae kwon do World Championships. (Kaleem Aftab)
I Slumdog Millionaire is out now on general release.
22 Jan—5 Feb 2009 THE LIST 41