I just wanted to give a small shout-out to three films that made 2009 a better year, but saw no action last night at the Academy Awards. Between the expansion of the Best Picture category and the scarcity of truly stellar Hollywood films last year, surely there’s room for these unique, touching, courageous pictures.
1) Where the Wild Things Are
A 10-sentence book adapted into a two-hour character study, Spike Jonze’s quirky kids flick is tough to analyze, but fascinating nonetheless. Jonze and co-writer Dave Eggers turn the land of the Wild Things into a wilderness, complete with vast deserts and canyons, perhaps representing the blank slate that imagination can fill. And young Max, fleeing a childhood with no one to connect to, finds idiosyncratic but remarkably authentic friends who support him and trust him. In this world, Max learns through the personalities of the Wild Things what it’s like to be in other people’s shoes and how his behavior affects those around him. When Max returns home, he’s moved into a new stage in his life. The film never answers exactly where Max was, but does it matter?
Some people complain that Max is unlikeable and that the film’s message doesn’t resonate, but I’ve noticed a gender divide in that opinion. It seems that in unlocking the workings of a child’s mind, Jonze and Eggers evoked the responses they wanted from those of us who used to be little boys, but not girls. So the film could be considered a niche offering in a sense, but I don’t believe that diminishes its accomplishments.
2) Away We Go
I just caught this one recently on Blu-Ray, but I was so touched by it that I have to include it here. A couple looking for a place to raise their unborn child (she swears she’s only 6 months in) visits friends and families in various parts of the country (and Canada), hoping to find a home for their new family. This isn’t a road trip comedy, though it very well could have been from its premise. Very little time is spent in transit, and much more on the destinations. This breaks up the film into a neat structure, where each family they visit represents a theme of family life in a very exaggerated fashion. Most of the humor (and indeed the drama) comes from the relatively normal visitors trying to deal with the dysfunction around them both socially and philosophically. John Krazinski of The Office and Maya Rudolph of SNL give surprisingly nuanced and identifiable performances with great chemistry, lending the dramatic moments a gravity that raises the film above its roots to a more significant place.
3) (500) Days of Summer
One of my early picks for the Best Picture category, I’m still rather shocked that it wasn’t even mentioned. How could this wonderfully original, poignant, hilarious, gripping, unequivocal experience be excluded? Joseph Gordon-Levitt gives a career performance in one of the greatest love stories ever filmed as Tom, falling madly into and maddingly out of love with the infinitely entrancing Zooey Deschanel as Summer. The narrative jumps back and forth in time to specific days within the titular 500, often showing how much Tom depended on Summer by showing what happens to him after their break-up. The arc of the film leads not to the end of the 500 days (okay, so maybe it does, but not exactly), but to the conclusion of what the lead characters’ relationship meant to each of them, what ended it, and what to do with it now. In one of the film’s most powerful scenes, Tom visits Summer after their break-up, and his imagination runs parallel to the reality of how that encounter plays out.
First-time director Marc Webb taps into something beautiful as he explores the workings of these characters’ minds, evoking strong romantic emotions and primal instinct all at once. It’s a masterpiece in every sense, and to me, it’s the Dark Knight of 2009. I must admit a bias due to my strong identification with the lead character’s plight, but I believe every man with a heart he admits to having will feel similarly.
_______________
I firmly believe that (500) Days of Summer and Where the Wild Things Are belonged in the Best Picture category, but Away We Go featured excellent performances from its leads that deserved recognition. Everyone has an opinion, I know, but looking at the nominations this year, I was a little disappointed by the lack of greatness compared to 2008’s offerings. And then I remembered these wonderful pictures.
Recent Comments