The Spectrum of Extremes

I have been continuing to return to looking at films by certain directors, somewhat unintentionally in this case, although I often do find that it is a useful study to look at a series of films by a certain filmmaker in order to see running themes or stylistic tendencies. The same holds true for certain actors, or even writers, etc. This week I watch two films on very opposite sides of the spectrum, the first, a comedy geared toward a younger audience, Superbad, and the second, a much more serious political art-film called Before Night Falls.

When Superbad first came out, it looked like it had some good moments from seeing the trailer, however it struck me as one of those movies that gets a slick treatment for the trailer, and then you go to see it and find that all the good material was packed into that short preview. After having seen The 40 Year Old Virgin and more recently, Knocked Up, I figured I would give this one a chance, mainly because of Seth Rogen's involvement as a co-writer and actor in the film. It seems to be a pattern with films like these, that I have a preconcieved notion about a director or actor, or writer and his or her work, and so I avoid watching it because I hate to waste my time, or even to admit that saw it, in part because it is popular. It's one of those film-snob kneejerk reactions "well, nothing by that director could be any good".

I must say that once again, I was proven fairly wrong. In many ways, this film was slightly more on the sophmoric side than some of the aforementioned films. And its appeal was to a much narrower audience, mainly aimed at teenagers and early twenty-somethings, but I think that anyone who has been through high school would relate to at least some of the humor. There were a few moments where I found myself bursting out in laughter, which is always a sign of a good comedy, rather than one that just has you quietly thinking, "oh yeah, that's funny".

First of all, the young actors that are cast possess considerable talent, and fit the roles quite well. Micheal Cera in particular has a subtle quality in his performance that strikes me as both understated and unflaggingly realistic at once. Having seen him just recently in Juno, I see him as an actor whose range and ability will only increase as his career moves along. I also loved the scenes with Seth Rogan and Bill Hader, who played the inept cops that drove around Fogell's character all night. I think there is a mixture of good writing and good ensemble work between cast and crew that know each other well enough to bring out one another's strengths.

Overall, I would say that Superbad failed to live up to the standard set by some of the work that Rogen did previously with Judd Apatow , but nonetheless, it did not fail to entertain.

I also made a return to the work of another filmmaker this week, that of Julian Schabel. You may recall a few weeks ago, I expressed the contrasting views I have of Schnabel, but having realized that my prejudice was rather unfounded in any legitimate basis, I decided to take a look at his reflection on Cuban expatriate writer Reinaldo Arenas, Before Night Falls. There are many reasons to compare this film with his more recent work, The Diving Bell And The Butterfly. For one, both are set in a foreign country, however in Before Night Falls, he chooses to have the characters speak English for the most part, of course, with Spanish accents. I have never understood this. If a character would speak Spanish, then why not have them speak that language? Does he think that the portion of the audience that does not speak Spanish will be too bothered to read subtitles? It's rather silly, because there are certain moments where Spanish is mixed in, and even some French is spoken, but for the most part it is in English. I just feel it dilutes the authenticity of the film a bit, and besides, how does one decide, oh this line should be spoken in Spanish? In Diving Bell, he chooses to have the characters speak their native tongue, which to me is a better choice, though I will admit, it is not my favorite way to experience a film. It does distract somewhat from what is going on in the film, but it's not a significant factor in the overall experience of the film.

Stylistically, this film is not nearly as inventive as Diving Bell, but it is still rather well staged. Both of them being about writers, I think we do get a sense of the passion felt by the artist for his work. I think that the desperation at times and the ultimate tragedy of their situations are handled equally well in both. Both characters are also imprisoned, one by his unusually rare medical condition, and the other is hemmed in throughout his life by his inability to express freely his ideas and his desires, while at other times quite literally being imprisoned. And finally, both succumb to health problems, with their lives being cut short at a time of intense creativity.

Overall, I enjoyed the film, purely from a standpoint of the storyline that followed the characters, but I did find at times it was hard to follow. There were crucial moments where I actually rewound a few times and listened to a particular line to hear it better, but still could not decipher it. This is where it becomes particularly problematic for an actor to speak in English with an accent. It is harder to understand than if they did not use an accent, and there is not the benefit of subtitles to make the message clearer. It's a small, but not insignificant point.