Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Barry / Film Don't (Not See) The Messenger
Posted by Bruce Barry on Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 10:10 AM
Films revolving around war have consistently flopped at the box office in recent years. Sadly, Oren Moverman's The Messenger, which opened at The Belcourt last Friday, is apparently no exception. After a weak opening weekend, the film's run at the Belcourt will end prematurely on Thanksgiving Day.
The Messenger, which earned widespread critical raves (Ridley weighed in here), centers on two army officers who do "casualty notification"--the grim task of showing up at someone's door to share the news that a loved one has been killed or wounded in a theater of war. Emotionally wrenching premise? No question, but there's redemption and even a delicate dose of sweetness tossed into the mix. As The New Yorker's David Denby put it, this film is a "fully felt, morally alert, marvelously acted piece of work."
Many no doubt prefer to orient their holiday film going around more upbeat themes, and who can argue with that? But on a Thanksgiving that finds a president about to ask Americans to get behind putting tens of thousands more U.S. troops in harm's way in Afghanistan, The Messenger is the film that demands to be seen before it--like the hopes and dreams of a person whose "casualty" elicits "notification"--vanishes.
Correction: The original version of this post incorrectly stated that the film was being pulled from distribution, which is not the case. Its run has been curtailed here, but not necessarily elsewhere.
Comments (10)
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Look Obama has to kill the cavemen before they join up with the Libertarians here in America. Soon they will have nukes thanks to Iran. We must be on guard and expand the war on cavemen and Patriot Act before it is too late
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That should tell you. Meanwhile, the limited-run screenings of Antichrist next door last weekend were close to full. Just shows people would rather watch Charlotte Gainsbourg administer a home clitorectomy and Willem Dafoe ejaculate blood than see a sober, earnest movie even tangentially concerned with Iraq.
Also, Samantha Morton (the Marilyn Monroe in Harmony Korine's Mister Lonely) is completely believable in her small role, especially the scene in the kitchen between her and Ben Foster.
Woody Harrelson is on a roll these days in my opinion.
I don't have to see movies to feel the horror of these wars or any wars. But I'm probably not the one who needs to be sensitized to the havoc we are wreaking on other countries and our own. In fact, it's hard to function some days when I realize what the USA has done over the last 8 years.
I don't have to see movies to feel the horror of these wars or any wars.
That's a tough thing for a movie to attempt or convey anyway. Movies thrive on action and motion: even anti-war movies (e.g., Apocalypse Now) tend to revert to shock and awe at the sight of bombs bursting in air. Even the Omaha Beach sequence in Saving Private Ryan, which means for us to feel the terror of combat in our bones, is staged and edited for maximum excitement.
The Messenger, on the other hand, is largely as quiet as a cemetery. (I was grateful for the humor that surfaces at odd times, almost in defense.)
The horrow of war is what it has done to this generation, their children and their children's children, both here and in Iraq and Afghanistan. The nightmares, the lost hope, dreams and limbs and the existential outlook for such futile experiences. All for what?
A fairly brief but insightful interview with the film's director, Oren Moverman, can be found here. The interview is more meaningful if you have seen the film, but in any event it sheds a bit of light on his thinking about making such a film. Given that Moverman himself has military experience (in the Israeli army), his perspective on the point of bringing the consequences of war to the screen in a deeply emotional way are compelling.
"Even the Omaha Beach sequence in Saving Private Ryan, which means for us to feel the terror of combat in our bones, is staged and edited for maximum excitement."
You will soon get to see how Speilberg handles the Pacific theater of World War II.
He ahd Tom Hanks are producing an HBO series on it that will start early next year.
A Pacific version of "Band of Brothers" I suppose.
