With The 88th Academy Awards now less than a month away, I have two more film reviews to share with you. Besides The Big Short, I am happy to say I have seen all of the Best Picture nominees. Ever since they changed the rules that allowed up to 10 Best Picture nominees, I have been one or two short of seeing them all. When they announced the nominees this year I was surprised I had already seen so many. If I had to choose a favorite this year, my pick would be Brooklyn, followed by Spotlight or Room.
The Danish Girl
My thoughts on The Danish Girl are very mixed. The story follows Lili Elbe, a groundbreaking transgender woman who underwent some of the earliest gender reassignment surgeries. When the story opens, Lili is named Einar Wegener and is married to a woman named Gerda Wegener. They are both artists, but Einar has found more success. After Einar assists his wife in posing as a woman for one of her paintings, he begins to truly realize that he has always wanted to be a woman, and Gerda produces some of her best and most popular paintings. I found the acting to be wonderful with Eddie Redmayne perfectly cast in a role that not many could have pulled off with such grace. I’m sure if he had not won Best Actor at the Academy Awards last year for The Theory of Everything, this would have been his year. Instead of Redmayne though, it may be his costar Alicia Vikander’s year (who also starred in the superb films Ex Machina and Testament of Youth last year), whose role as Lili’s wife is equally as important to the story. Her performance is emotional and honest as we see her deal with the loss of her husband and provide friendship to Lili. The story itself though is where I struggled, as I felt it was a bit unfinished and unpolished. After watching the film, I did a bit more research into the true story and found that the film was pretty loosely based on the real events, but nonetheless it is an important story to tell. The costumes and sets are beautiful and enchanting, but with better pacing and a more well-rounded plot The Danish Girl could have been truly great.
The Revenant
The Revenant is a hard movie to say you enjoyed. It is quite exhausting and excruciating, but altogether thrilling because of it. You can tell what a feat it was to make, with real locations and natural light instead of man-made sets or studios. The tale of Hugh Glass, a frontiersman in the 1820s, begins as he and his son lead a group of fur traders around land that he is familiar with. After Hugh endures a (very realistic) bear attack, a few of the men are left behind to care for him. One of these men is John Fitzgerald (played by a very burly Tom Hardy) who has other ideas in mind. After Hugh is left for dead and devastated, he goes on a quest for revenge. Leonardo DiCaprio’s portrayal of Hugh Glass is commendable, even though he speaks very little, the role is very physical. Leonardo DiCaprio has been one of my favorite actors since I was quite young, so I have always rooted for him and have enjoyed seeing what roles he chooses. The Revenant is another bold and different choice for him, and he does it successfully. At this point, it seems like he is destined for his first Oscar this year, and while I think it will be well-deserved, I would have liked to see him win when it wasn’t so predictable. It seems like the award will be for a culmination of his career so far. The Revenant has a long run time at 2 hours and 36 minutes, but I personally didn’t find myself wondering when it would be over, because I was so engaged with what terrible event could possibly happen to Hugh next. While this is truly DiCaprio and Hardy’s film, Domhnall Gleeson (who, like Alicia Vikander, has been in many great films in a short amount of time), Will Poulter, and Forrest Goodluck also perform well in their smaller roles. This film is not something I would want to watch over and over again, but director Alejandro Iñárritu has made a memorable film that is worth a viewing for many reasons.
No comments:
Post a Comment