tigerfish50
Joined Apr 2010
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'Serena' is clearly inspired by Shakespeare's play about Macbeth and his lethally ambitious spouse. The setting is changed from medieval Scotland to Depression-era Appalachia, but the screenplay merely follows the general arc of the original story and doesn't add any psychological or narrative vitality of its own invention.
The intro presents a lumberjacking operation run by two entrepreneurs called Pemberton and Buchanan who are having problems with a local sheriff. Pemberton then takes a break in Boston and returns with an upper-crust new wife, Serena. At first she makes useful contributions, but soon causes friction with Buchanan. Things swiftly go from bad to worse as the sheriff tightens the screws on Pemberton while the script neglects to provide plausible motivations for many crucial decisions made by the couple. With the two lead characters neither likeable nor interesting, it's hard to care about their destiny.
It's strange how talented actors and their teams couldn't discern the screenplay's shortcomings before they signed on for this lackluster project. The cinematography is passable, but editing, direction, acting and everything else reflect the material's tired emptiness.
The intro presents a lumberjacking operation run by two entrepreneurs called Pemberton and Buchanan who are having problems with a local sheriff. Pemberton then takes a break in Boston and returns with an upper-crust new wife, Serena. At first she makes useful contributions, but soon causes friction with Buchanan. Things swiftly go from bad to worse as the sheriff tightens the screws on Pemberton while the script neglects to provide plausible motivations for many crucial decisions made by the couple. With the two lead characters neither likeable nor interesting, it's hard to care about their destiny.
It's strange how talented actors and their teams couldn't discern the screenplay's shortcomings before they signed on for this lackluster project. The cinematography is passable, but editing, direction, acting and everything else reflect the material's tired emptiness.
'Bird' has similarities to Andrea Arnold's earlier film 'Fishtank' where an alienated teen put herself in serious danger while trying to escape loneliness and domestic dysfunction. In this new work Arnold focuses on pre-teen Bailey who lives in a squalid squat with her father and an older brother. Her dad Bug is planning to marry his kooky new girlfriend, while her troubled mother lives nearby in even more chaotic conditions with a clutter of Bailey's younger siblings, a long-suffering pup called Dave and a violently abusive boyfriend.
None of the adults in her universe seem capable of providing much guidance, leaving Bailey to chart her own course. Following a row with Bug, Bailey shadows a gang of street kids engaged in some random criminality. After evading the police, sleeping in a field and being awakened by a horse, she encounters a kilted stranger called Bird. This eccentric itinerant had been born in the area, raised elsewhere and is trying to find a father he can scarcely remember. After some hesitation, Bailey decides to help him.
Nykiya Adams delivers a courageous and convincing performance in the lead role as Bailey's pursuit of Bird's quest mingles with other digressions, distractions and sub-plots. Her apparently aimless wanderings eventually arrive at a revelatory moment which is depicted in a brief passage where the film briefly departs from gritty realism and enters the realm of the fantastic. Somehow Arnold pulls off this trick, transforming her urban drama into an intense and memorable fable.
None of the adults in her universe seem capable of providing much guidance, leaving Bailey to chart her own course. Following a row with Bug, Bailey shadows a gang of street kids engaged in some random criminality. After evading the police, sleeping in a field and being awakened by a horse, she encounters a kilted stranger called Bird. This eccentric itinerant had been born in the area, raised elsewhere and is trying to find a father he can scarcely remember. After some hesitation, Bailey decides to help him.
Nykiya Adams delivers a courageous and convincing performance in the lead role as Bailey's pursuit of Bird's quest mingles with other digressions, distractions and sub-plots. Her apparently aimless wanderings eventually arrive at a revelatory moment which is depicted in a brief passage where the film briefly departs from gritty realism and enters the realm of the fantastic. Somehow Arnold pulls off this trick, transforming her urban drama into an intense and memorable fable.
In 'We Strangers' Ray is a young blue collar black woman working as a housekeeper for middle class residents of bleak post-industrial Gary, Indiana. During the course of her domestic duties, she catches glimpses of commonplace deceit among her employers. When one of these clients brings up the subject of psychic abilities, Ray impulsively fibs that she possesses ESP and can receive communications from the dead.
The film doesn't make a great melodrama from this incident - instead it focuses on the more subtle consequences. Ray's lie leads to altered treatment from her employers, while her invented messages from the afterlife provide the necessary justification for others to make different choices in their own lives. The story is enhanced by excellent cinematography, which is complemented by a riveting performance from Kirby in the lead role. The camera lingers over the beauty of her face, fascinated by the enigmatic expressions which flicker across it in response to the events unfolding around Ray.
The film doesn't make a great melodrama from this incident - instead it focuses on the more subtle consequences. Ray's lie leads to altered treatment from her employers, while her invented messages from the afterlife provide the necessary justification for others to make different choices in their own lives. The story is enhanced by excellent cinematography, which is complemented by a riveting performance from Kirby in the lead role. The camera lingers over the beauty of her face, fascinated by the enigmatic expressions which flicker across it in response to the events unfolding around Ray.