Film REVIEWS
PSYCHOLOGICAL DRAMA MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE (15) 102min ●●●●●
A young woman making her escape from a Manson-like sex cult sounds like the stuff of a lurid made-for-TV potboiler, but Sean Durkin’s debut eschews melodrama, instead presenting its protagonist’s ordeal in a hushed and gloomy style reminiscent of the work of Michael Haneke. This austerity can shade into pretension – we are in the presence of a filmmaker taking himself very, very seriously – but it certainly creates a compellingly creepy atmosphere, as well as allowing a magnificent lead performance plentiful space to shine. Martha (Elizabeth Olsen) has been out of touch with her family for two years when she suddenly makes contact with her older sister Lucy (Sarah Paulson), who is living a nice yuppie life in Connecticut. Knowing nothing of Martha’s recent whereabouts, Lucy invites her to stay – and gradually becomes aware of the extent of the damage that has befallen her. Martha’s original name is one of many things she has given over to charismatic survivalist and pseudo-guru Patrick (John Hawkes), who keeps a community of entranced runaways in a rural compound. Hawkes is as impressive as ever, and Olsen just breathtaking – not only adored by the camera, but adept at capturing the split identity of a woman as desperate for freedom as she is inextricably enmeshed with her captor. Unfortunately, much of the film lacks the intensity that its humid emotional climate would seem to demand. Lucy and her husband Ted (Hugh Dancy) are two-dimensional creations, and there are too many enigmas and elisions for us to feel any closeness to Martha’s experiences or reactions, with the consequence that she can just seem like a very, very annoying houseguest. Durkin is to be applauded for avoiding pat resolutions and easy outs – and for showcasing the remarkable Olsen to such advantage – but his film could have used a little more narrative meat on its bones. (Hannah McGill) ■ Selected release from Fri 3 Feb.
THRILLER MAN ON A LEDGE (12A) 102min ●●●●● DOCUMENTARY BOMBAY BEACH (Cert tbc) 80min ●●●●●
DRAMA THE WOMAN IN THE FIFTH (15) 85min ●●●●●
Sam Worthington’s latest is an occasionally tense but mostly silly thriller that at least realises its own absurdities. The Hollywood debut of former documentary filmmaker Asger Leth (Ghosts of Cité Soleil), the film follows a disgraced former cop, Nick Cassidy (Worthington), as he breaks out of prison and then threatens to jump from a Manhattan rooftop in a bid to clear his name.
A police psychologist (Elizabeth Banks) tries to talk him down but it quickly becomes apparent that Cassidy’s presence is designed to distract attention from a heist being carried out across the street by his brother (Jamie Bell) in the hope of obtaining the evidence he needs to prove his innocence.
Leth’s film rattles along at such a brisk pace that its plot-holes only really become apparent afterwards. But there’s humour and an amount of guilty pleasure in seeing how events build towards the overblown climax.
A strong ensemble cast (including Ed Harris and
most notably Bell) also lend the film a higher calibre of performance and intelligence than it probably deserves. (Rob Carnevale) ■ General release from Fri 3 Feb.
70 THE LIST 2 Feb–1 Mar 2012
There was a time when documentary generally gave the impression of being a medium distinct from fiction. But now, for better and for worse, much documentary puts the whole problem of truth into question (Catfish, Exit Through the Gift Shop, I’m Still Here – all indebted perhaps to Orson Welles’ F for Fake). Refreshingly, director Alma Har’el doesn’t want us to question the truth, but rather refuse the most obvious ‘facts’ in order to reveal a more detailed picture of lives that could easily be presented in the crudest manner. Focusing on Bombay Beach in Southern
California, this man-made sea was once a vacation spot for the rich and privileged, but is now a deeply poor area. Har’el creates an often dream-like atmosphere as she tries to get closer to the people she films. The result is a type of film, like recent features The Arbor, Self-Made and Dreams of a Life, that wants to find an empathic space as it explores the nuances of feelings that are more important than any notion of documentary truth. Beyond this, Har’el’s film is also beautiful, with dusky lighting Terrence Malick could envy. (Tony McKibbin) ■ Selected release from Fri 3 Feb.
Hollywood studios are often derided for making films that feel obliged to spell everything out. The Woman In The Fifth errs in the opposite direction, leaving bewildered viewers scratching their heads and trying to figure out what the film has been all about.
Pawel Pawlikowski’s first feature since My Summer Of Love (2004) is an elegantly executed but baffling disappointment that may be an adaptation of a Douglas Kennedy novel but still gives every appearance of having been made up as they went along. An understated Ethan Hawke plays American writer and academic Tom who arrives in Paris to build bridges with his estranged wife and daughter. Robbed of all his worldly goods, he takes refuge in a seedy hotel and is offered work as a night watchman. While there he finds a muse in steely and domineering translator Margit (Kristin Scott Thomas). There are elements of absurdist humour, hints that Tom is struggling to retain a grasp on his sanity and even echoes of Roman Polanski’s work in this Kafkaesque conundrum, but The Woman In the Fifth is underdeveloped, incomplete and unpersuasive. (Allan Hunter) ■ Filmhouse, Edinburgh from Fri 17 Feb.