Essie Speaks - mostly about movies - but also of books, countries, life. Mostly movies though :) (Updated every weekend - sunday night latest ^-^)P.S. ALL THE MATERIAL ON THIS SITE IS COPYRIGHTED AND MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT PERMISSION OF ITS WRITER - AND THAT WOULD BE ME!
It is the bane of human existence that people are not always what they seem. Sometimes this is because of some kind of sinister plan, for whatever reason the person is trying to manipulate you for whatever reason.
But sometimes it is a tad more complicated than that. Maybe you are trying to leave your past behind. You need to be reinvented and you are trying to become the person you are portraying - you may not be there yet but with hard work you intend to! Or maybe, like Morvern, you are actually suffering terribly but sharing your pain with the world is not the solution.
When faced with periods of great change some of us want to run out enthusiastically, eyes shining to scream the progress at the world, be it good or bad. Others need to take a more quiet approach. You may not hear them screaming, and jumping around, but if you look closely you will see their eyes glowing in the dark. And if you draw a little closer you will see there is just as much, if not more, going on in their hearts. It is merely a matter of knowing where - and how - to look...
I have, up
to a point, returned to my Film Studies roots. I have, through this method and
that, had the opportunity to take a look back at important films and directors
and watch some really interesting stuff I would not have normally initially
chosen. Life being what it is, this means I am falling behind slightly on the
new releases but oh well. I can’t be everywhere. And they will be released to
DVD soon enough. I am aware that the day I day I will have a list as long as my
arm of films to watch – it is categorically impossible to watch them all – but
I like to try… I mean, what’s the point of life otherwise, right…
And this
week I take a look at one of the most important British female directors
knocking around, Lynne Ramsey. Morvern Caller was not a film I had heard of,
but it was a bit before my immersion in cinema. In any case it seems to have
wiped a fair bit of the slate clean between awards won at Cannes, San Sebastian
and the British Independent Film Awards. Morvern Caller is strong and outspoken
as films go, it doesn’t always make incredibly easy viewing but its honest
description of raw emotion carries you through to the end.
One day around
Christmas, supermarket shelf stocker Morvern Caller comes home to find her
boyfriend, an aspiring writer, has committed suicide. He has a single request
from her as far as earthly matters go and that is to have his newly finished
novel published. Morvern, stunned, obliges, and uses the funds from it in her
quest to come to terms with her own emotions and figure out what her next move
will be now that her life has changed forever.
What I love
about the film is that Morvern’s reactions to this clearly unexpected upheaval
in her life are gloriously illogical. And it is precisely this “lack of logic”
that makes the film so close to real life. All of a sudden everything in
Morvern’s life is different. And yet the world goes on around her, most of the
things she has known all her life, her friends, her job, relatives, they are
all exactly how she left them except – and unbeknown to them – Morvern herself
has literally changed overnight. And now
she has to rediscover how to approach them again. It is during this period of
discovery that she will decide what she needs to do next…
As far as
we can tell Morvern is a pretty average girl. She doesn’t like her job and
lives for the weekend, liking nothing more than getting high/drunk/both with
her best friend Lana. Morvern’s first reactions seem pretty heartless, it would
appear that for her it’s just business as usual. The thing is, both we and
Morvern will quickly discover that this is affecting her a lot more than it
would first seem…
We all have
upheavals, pain, change and surprise developments in our lives. It could be,
like Morvern, a death or something else that causes it but sometimes, one
morning you just wake up and you know you are no longer the same person. The
world around you may very well not understand, or indeed they may not have a
cause to do so. This is especially true when coming to terms with the death of
a loved one, we stare with disbelief at the world – untouched by our loss –
carries on as normal and we wonder how we could ever have been a part of it and
wonder if we can ever join it again… Yet we do. Sometimes we truly will never
be the same again and sometimes the change is a lot subtler than we think it
is…
Intense and
hard to watch at times, Morvern Caller is definitely NOT what you need when you
come back home tired from work and need something to uplift you. You will
sympathise with Morvern, get frustrated with her and want to give her hug ,
sometimes all at once. Or maybe you will feel neither. The film is a truly
extraordinary exploration of human emotion and one thing I can guarantee is
that you will end up feeling something. Something you really do not want to
miss.
In my life this week I am coming to terms with the fact that sometimes things do not go according to plan.
You may well think you know something. Or that you are ontop of it - whatever it may be - or that you have come far enough to move onto the next step. Then you may wake up with a jolt one fine morning only to find out that in a word, you have more studying to do.
The key here is to dust yourself off and forge your way forward. If you just slump into a heap where you fall or just roll off the track completely, well... That IS a bit of a setback. But it is important to the remember that often you are your own setbacks. Sort your own head out and chances are stuff will start falling into place.
This weeks protagonist, Emma, was quite sure she was on top of EVERYTHING not just IT. This is the ideal state of things of course, the problem is that if it falls apart, IT ALL falls apart...
As a
relative novice I am finding the National Theatre a fascinating experience. I
am completely ready to admit that this is part of my own prejudices as well. I
guess I have to learn not to judge a book by its cover – it generally is a
mixed crowd (generally – I have only been there twice) as far as both age and apparent
social status goes. There has been a very marked older crowd though. You know,
hair done, pearl earrings for the ladies, gents wearing jackets and cravats. My
own personal prejudices would have made me think that they were not the kind of
people who would choose to watch very avant-garde works about sex, drugs,
addiction at all, much less give standing ovations at the end of it. You learn
something new every day I guess. And to be honest I rather like the idea of
this ephemeral thing that unites the
audience – and, once the show begins the actors - that overcomes age, social
class (whatever that may be) and background and unites everyone almost inside a
work of art. I guess I would have to say it is this thing is the main magic of theatre. The story unfolding in front of
you and us getting caught up in it just feet away from the goings on, transported
by the actors and our imaginations… It was magical enough – for me - to be part
of the audience but now trying to walk through the looking glass over to the
other side has thrown up a whole new philosophical debate inside my head (and
my life). In this context the timing of people places and things was very opportune.
I could sum
the plot of the play up in one single sentence. Emma (Denise Gough) has rocked
up to a rehab center one fine night. All she needs is a letter to say she is OK
to go back to work. Ok, maybe a little detox wouldn’t go amiss either. But
that’s it really. She has no deep set issues or kinky shit she needs to sort
out. No need to talk to the group; surrender to a higher power or any such
nonsense. She’s savvy. She knows what’s what. She’s different – or is she…
Now, minor
spoiler as far as the plot goes (soz, but I would find it INCREDIBLY hard to
write an accurate review otherwise ),
Emma is an actress. Rest assured, this is more than an excuse provided by the
writer for her drug and alcohol habit, or indeed a potential danger for when
she leaves the center. I mean, to be absolutely honest with you I would love to
be able to watch the play again – I actually might. The aim of the play, apart
from expressing a real love for the craft of acting, is to explore multiple
realities. The stories we tell ourselves versus the version of us we willingly
– or often unwillingly and unwittingly – show to others. What better way to do
this than to use a craft where the practitioner needs to actively live multiple
lives and be multiple people. A strange
thing to be payed to do, especially in a world where being one single person
can already be quite complicated…
The beauty
of this play is though that it doesn’t batter you with these very heavy themes.
They sort of seep in, you only realize they were there when you sit back, think
about it, and realize they have already seeped into your brain. Because the
stage design is just so totally amazing, so completely mesmerizing that it
comes with a warning about strobe lighting and total blackouts in the
auditorium. You will get literally nothing about it out of me. It is one of THE
most visually striking THINGS I have seen in my life and you absolutely HAVE TO
experience it cold. And that’s basically that.
This play
will sit in your head for a while. There are wonderful insights into the world
of acting, sure, but also wonderful reminders of what it is like to try to be a
million different people in one day. Of being utterly sure one is unique when
actually one is (actually or metaphorically) one in a long line of actors /
actresses who look just like you trying to stand out via the tiniest little
nuances. It’s weird and the description may make it sound sad, but in a funny
kind of way it’s also liberating…
In short,
come take a shot of the magic. This batch is particularly strong…
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