Change Your Image
gulkorm
Reviews
Little Children (2006)
A Film to Be Watched
The ringing of countless clocks commences this film, whose subject concerns American suburban life. This sound fragments the day into hourly slivers which the suburbanites follow without skepticism. But under the street-lamps, at the end of the day, the main characters cast their shadows too far.
Kate Winslet plays the frustrated, educated mother, the spectacle of the film, with Gregg Edelman as her erotica-obsessed husband, and Sadie Goldstein as their neglected daughter. As Sarah, Winslet's life brings her to Brad, played by Patrick Wilson, another disenchanted suburbanite and Ronnie, a desperate child predator. In Hollywood fashion their lives are intertwined more and more until the climax, but the way in which the director depicts these characters makes their stories authentic and profound.
Sarah and Brad become secret and passionate lovers after a scandalous kiss at the playground, a kiss which made disappear the suburban wives and mothers from Sarah's life. The incident that they committed filled them with vivacity and sexual energy. That the spectators sees their faults, their relationship, and their unhappiness only adds to the underlining of all the scenes by the small-town friendly narration of Will Lyman.
The other characters must be mentioned because of their strong and sensitive performances. Ronnie, the pedophile, is encouraged by his mother, who only wants good for her son and that he will change. He is harassed because of his problem but Field does not subjectively comment on his actions. This relationship makes us realize the love of a mother for her son and that others, the ones about whom we read in newspapers, are not as different as we think. The empress of suburban life, Mary B. McCann plays her role to the extreme, a mother who embodies the incessant ringing of the clocks from the beginning of the film and who confirms the dominant aura of the suburbs.
Based on the novel by Tom Perrotta, the film transmits well the subtlety of emotions and themes. Field explores the interior of the characters, their relationships, and their surroundings; one sees this in the recurring images, always facing upwards, of silent trees, deserted playgrounds, and grand New England houses. Also, Field makes evident the idea of movement in a new direction, the future, and that this movement obliges us to forget, to hurt ourselves, or to relapse. This is well illustrated in the stories and dialogues, the brief and intense interaction of the characters.
Field has given us an extraordinary film with the talent and professionalism of Hollywood and the introversion and symbolism of the novel. This film should be watched to know the direction where Hollywood could go.
La fleur du mal (2003)
Gradually Pleasing
Although not immediately likable, the film left an imprint. The director has combined french cinematography-descriptive shots and gradual development-with Hollywood tradition-blatant dialogue and excited drama. The use of dialogue was often unnecessary and the same goals could have been reached through more refined acting, ie. the discussion of schedules or chauffeurs. Although this detracted, the aunt's narration was at times profound -"life is perpetual"-and provided continuity in the story. This idea was also supported by the repetition of the stair shot, seen in the beginning and end. Other ingenious shots included the bouncing head of the father moving up the stairs and the splicing of old and new environments during the aunt's recollections. This is a worthwhile film; it has the momentum of a classic dramatic film with the introspectiveness of a novel.