Margaret (Extended Cut) Review

Margaret is a film that for various reasons was delayed several years prior to its eventual limited release which saw the film release in a two and a half hour cut. This however was not the directors preferred cut which has now been released on home video and has a run time of three hours and eight minutes.

Margaret despite my immediate assumption was not about a character called Margaret, rather the films is named after a character from the poem 'Spring and Fall: To a Young Child' by Gerard Manley Hopkins. The reason for which are the similar central ideas present in both the film and poem. The protagonist Lisa is played by Anna Paquin who is a young and apparently talented care free seventeen year old (though we are only told this and are never shown this). This however all changes when she distracts a bus driver who as a result runs a red light and hits a pedestrian who in the minutes that follow dies in Lisa's arms.

From here the film slowly begins to delve into the guilt Lisa fells for her part in what transpired, sadly the films jumps around different characters in Lisas' life and the numerous themes present at will. This results is the film felling overlong and unfocused. Likewise despite all around solid performances (in particular by Anna Paquin as Lisa and J. Smith-Cameron as Lisa's mother) the film ultimately lacks the emotional punch it could have had with a more focused narrative.

Margaret is a film that lacks focus and narrative cohesion that has an excessive number of interesting ideas forced into a film that as a result fells overcrowded yet still somehow manages to move at a snails pace. As a result whilst Margaret does have some strong performances the film devolves into a rather monotonous affair that is harder to sit through because of how uninteresting it is rather then how confronting the subject matter should be. Hence whilst the the extended cut of Margaret has glimpses of potential it ultimately does not come recommended.

Note: Sadly the leaner theatrical cut is not available on home video in Australia so I can't comment as to whether that provided for a more focused film.

De rouille et d'os (Rust and Bone) Review

Directed by Jacques Audiard, Rust and Bone is a film about an unlikely friendship between two damaged individuals who find solace with one another which in turn allows for two rather different healing processes to begin. Whilst this idea is sound and commonly used in story telling, in Rust and Bone it often is far to predictable and forced with the two stories often felling out of place and rarely adding to one another.

Rust and Bone opens with Ali, a vagrant man who is travelling with his son to move in with his sister and is shown to be living of stolen goods and what they can find as leftovers on trains. Ali appears to be simply drifting through life with no purpose or direction and upon moving in with his sister is able to get a job as a bouncer and whilst at work meets Stephanie. Stephanie is an attractive whale trainer who shortly after meeting Ali is in an accident that leaves her in a wheelchair, depressed and alone. For obvious reasons she is unable to continue her work and some time after her accident calls Ali after the brief chance meting they had. Problematically little time is spent developing the initial circumstances of Ali or Stephanie beyond the above which is where issues in the film begin to arise. Whilst we are provided sufficient reasons for Stephanie to call Ali (she is alone, unhappy and seemingly has no one to turn to) we are never given any reason for why Ali would have any interest in this woman, beyond physical attraction or potentially his hinted at loneliness. However as Ali is shown to care little for those around him to the point of being abusive to his own child the beginnings of Ali and Stephanie’s relationship ultimately comes across as forced.

Despite this the narrative of Stephanie healing both physically and emotionally provides for compelling an engrossing story and the development of Stephanie throughout fells true to what we know of the character. This is helped in small degree by the simply exceptional performance by Marion Cotillard that was snubbed at the Oscars. Likewise Matthias Schoenaerts as Ali provides for an equally strong performance though whilst Ali's journey does lead to what many will no doubt consider a satisfying conclusion the manner in which it gets their does not fell like a natural progression for the character. As a result much like the start of Stephanie and Ali's relationship the character arc for Ali is somewhat forced and largely unsatisfying.

This leaves Rust and Bone with two conflicting stories or at least two stories that don't weave together in a compelling or additive manner. Thankfully the performances of both leads and the support cast is superb throughout which makes even the less then stellar moments engaging and helps give the film an enough emotional punch that empathy for both leads is achieved despite the stories short comings.

Their is a lot to like in Jacques Audiard Rust and Bone, despite this the film often fells forced, far to predictable and left me with the sense that both stories could have been better serviced had they had more time to develop. Despite this Rust and Bone has enough emotional punch carried largely by the strength of the two leads performances to come recommended.