As we all know,
Hollywood loves films about itself. And it doesn’t necessarily need to be
Hollywood per se, if it involves filmmaking on any level and you have some idea
of what you are doing, well, you’re pretty much guaranteed a warm welcome to
the table. The length of your stay there will of course largely depend on what
you have to offer.
In this
context, we have to admit Nightcrawler has A LOT to offer. Not only is it a piercing
look at our hunger for information – more specifically the gory details – it
is, through the analysis of this obsession a very, very powerful thriller… And
when you add talent like Jake Gylenhaal to the mix… Well… Let’s say you’re in
for one heck of a ride.
Lou Bloom
(Jake Gylenhaal) is unemployed. He is a high school graduate and largely
self-taught but he doesn’t let that stop him – he is on the lookout, actively
seeking out his next chance and ready to grip it with both hands when it comes
along… And come along in does, quite literally in a blaze of smoke and fire : Lou
witnesses a traffic accident purely by chance and as he is idly watching the
goings on – as one does – he notices the two men with cameras jumping out of
another car. They film the event and dash off again. And lo and behold, next
day their footage is in the news. Lou likes this idea. He likes it a lot. And
he quickly sets about setting up his own business… At first, no one takes him
very seriously. True, the news director of KWLA, a local tv channel (Rene
Rousso) tells him that he has a good eye but apart from that, as far as anyone
is concerned, Lou is small fry… But there is something about Lou… Something people
dismiss as just being “a little odd”. They have no idea what truly lies below
Lou’s witticisms memorised from the internet… It is blind ambition and
determination, at a level that goes way, way beyond the average entrepreneur…
I have said
this before. I will say it again. Lou Bloom is categorically one of the most
frightening heroes I have ever seen on film. We learn quite early on in the
film that Lou is self-taught. He talks a little too much, his sentences are
just a little bit too long and he parrots generic phrases that he has clearly
read off just about every job-hunting website on the net. The front is both
ill-fitting and a little too perfect. And try as Lou might to “be like everyone
else”, the effort is obvious – which is why, we feel quite clearly, he fails to
find work at first. But suddenly, it turns out, Lou has a “good eye” for news
footage – the gory kind, just the kind KWLA needs to lead stories with – and
the rest is history… Thing is no one – including us – wonders how come Lou is
so at his ease around blood and gore. (SpOILER ALERT – skip to next paragraph) And
the grim realisation comes two thirds through the film when Lou turns to his
unfortunate associate Rick (who will be the very first to clock the fact that
something is very wrong with Lou) and calmly asks “What if my problem wasn’t
that I don’t understand people but that I don’t like them ?” Yes ladies and
gents, Jake Gylenhaal actually portrays one of the most terrifying psychopaths
I have seen portrayed on film. The entire first half of his performance is
beautifully balanced; we go through it feeling very clearly that there is
something “not quite right”- it is not until the big reveal that we realise how
“not right” things are inside his head… Gylenhaal – and of course
writer/director Dan Gilroy- have us exactly where they want us throughout; I
honestly think the film – and more specifically Gylenhaal - deserved every honour it got bestowed on it
this awards season.
But apart
from being a very impressive thriller, Nightcrawler also clearly contains
criticism and allegory. We are officially living in the digital age, we are
hungry for constant information, constant thrills, we are being bombarded by
multiple channels vying for our attention, each with bigger, better, more
shocking, more interesting wares… And if Lou is the villain in this story, he
is only able to become so because the news director Nina (Rene Rousso’s
character) enables him. Nina is worried about her ratings, her position and –
of course – her job. And as their relationship evolves, Lou brings her better
and better stuff and she becomes so dependent on his gory wares that ethics and
the “how”s and the “is this ethically right”s fall to the wayside one by one
until she becomes the very embodiment of the capitalist media monster that we
accuse of doing things like killing princess Diana. There is a clear indictment
of a greedy information and technology driven society, too preoccupied with its
own thrills and not in the least worried about potential consequences for
others…
Technically
the film gives a nice balance of contrasting fast paced segments, car chases
and gory accidents shown in the style of the news it criticises with moments of
stillness that adds to the underlying eeriness the story has built up and
brings no peace. I guarantee you, you will be on the edge of your seat from the
beginning of the show to the end… Definitely one of my favourite films this
season…
Kayıtlar
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder