Awards Circle: Ida, Nightcrawler

Two moody portraits of placid ambiguity and ruthless realism are meticulously canvassed in these two films that chronicle the weathering journey of their green yet isolated individuals. Widely differing in tone, premise, and setting, Ida and Nightcrawler both feature a youth’s exposure to an unapologetic environment that fiddled with their malleable innocence. For the former, the future is left hanging but the protagonist is stained by her momentary freedom out the convent while the latter catches the antagonist clawing his way up to the food-chain of journalism exploits, erasing the supposed line of ethics in the process. An ingenious pair of character study, Ida and Nightcrawler aspire and succeed in imprinting a lasting impression this awards season.

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IDA

Exquisitely filmed in monochrome, IDA is an incandescent journey of self-discovery through a contemplative road trip mired with secrets and uncertainties in the wintry 1960s Polish backdrop. Much of the film’s Oscar-nominated cinematography lingered on Anna/Ida and the large headroom above her that wonders about the ruminations underneath her calm façade. Steely and pensive, she is a perfect image of the youth whose idealisms are put to the test – she maybe initially deflective of the worldly enticements surrounding her but soon she takes a bite. The cliffhanger is reminiscent of Adam and Eve’s abdication after consuming the prohibited in the Garden of Eden. But Anna/Ida’s case is not born out of self-punishment; it was voluntary albeit uncertain of where she goes next. Aside from the historical examination of its setting (Jewish-Polish relations), IDA is a solemn depiction of one’s internal struggle as Anna/Ida grasps the pieces of her real identity while allowing herself to deliberate on the life she really wanted. While the audience slowly recognizes the ‘cracks’ as consequence of Anna/Ida’s brief immersion to the lifestyle she was deprived of, the ending is optimistic that despite the ambiguity of her destination, she will undoubtedly endure.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

NIGHTCRAWLER

I’d like to think that today’s auspicious generation has not mutated to Lou Bloom’s peculiar DNA but NIGHTCRAWLER is the most resonant film about the youth’s dangerous ambitiousness since The Social Network. Maybe it’s the propensity to inflict harm as the expense of success in a dog-eat-dog world. But Bloom proved himself ruthless, apathetic and manipulative in seeding his career from the misfortunes of others that becomes corrosive of the motives of his new-found passion for unflinching journalism. Jake Gyllenhaal’s appetite for exotic characters is satiated under the lens of the darkly entertaining and manic titular lead. Special mention goes to Rene Russo (who deserved an Oscar nod as well as Gyllenhaal) for her sultry supporting role as Bloom’s broadcast superior-turned-accomplice. Aside from the beguiling personification of a predator, Director Dan Gilroy’s solid debut is also reflective of journalism’s voracious thirst for violence onscreen as if its only purpose is to feed viewers of the detestable domestic crimes. NIGHTCRAWLER’s behind-the-camera’s premise, along with Bloom’s recognition of the industry’s preys, is a subtle scrutiny of a more dangerous world we live in. In the end, the film’s truthfulness is stranger than fiction.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

Keep your sanity close, “Enemy” closer

I decided to watch the Canadian psychological thriller ENEMY at the eve of Halloween, clueless of its horrifying ending. I’m not bitten by arachnophobia nor haunted by a dubious doppelganger, but the film eerily summons the alarming score of fear. But what is it in ENEMY to fear about? The haunting imagery of eight-legged freaks? The mind-boggling narrative that lingers on the unconsciousness? Or in the case of Jake Gyllenhaal’s characters, the unpredictability of the present that distorts the reality of yesterday and tomorrow? A curious roundabout of identity, conclusion, and meaning, ENEMY is an enigmatic case of metaphysical cinema – a circumferential adventure whose only way out is in… and you just can’t easily recover from it.

(Spoilers below)

It was only upon the film recommendation of a colleague when history professor Adam Bell discovered Anthony Claire, a small-time actor who eerily resembles him; the conclusion too bizarre that they are twins separated from birth. Things don’t go decidedly planned after the two decided to meet as their obsession towards each other ends grimly. Anthony apparently died in a car crash with Adam’s girlfriend whom he took to a spoiled romantic getaway while Adam stood calmly (and knowingly) in front of a giant spider which was Anthony’s pregnant wife – a completely startling revelation that adds to the film’s many mysteries. ENEMY isn’t just a simple case of twists and turns that leads to a finite finish. Director Denis Villeneuve’s arcane thriller has a life of its own, following its own order of existence as warned by the film’s opening line, “Chaos is ordered yet undeciphered.” The quote makes sense as ENEMY left viewers grappling on what exactly happened to Adam and Anthony and how the erotica show (at the beginning) and the monster show (in the end) were connected. Aside from its tangling cinematic course, the most important question remains undeciphered: what is ENEMY all about?

First meeting.

Slowly offering clues about Gyllenhaal’s characters, ENEMY baffles about the true nature of Adam/Anthony, the narrative sequence, and its disturbing symbolism. At the middle of the film, I was caught up with the idea that Adam/Anthony could be suffering from split personality disorder, although that felt like a ruse since ENEMY seemed slated to bigger themes. The spiders (shown in three different sizes and occasions) further complicate the already obscure picture as ominous metaphors, which according to Slate could refer to an allegory used by Jose Sarmago, author of The Double from which the film is loosely adapted. Among the many theories proffered online is my guess that Anthony, who was cheating his pregnant wife, survived the car crash but ended up having amnesia, leading him to forget his earlier career and become a history professor (Adam) until he saw himself in the film that flushed him to an existential crisis. But the small details don’t quite add up. There’s a missing link in transferring from acting to teaching history (which is ironic if Adam/Anthony did have amnesia) and the scar near the abdomen is too implausible to be the only remnant of the car crash. If anything ENEMY validates aside from Gyllenhaal’s riveting portrayal and Villeneuve’s precise direction is the uncanny ability to disturb, daze and dare viewers to think beyond their comfort zones. It’s one of the frustratingly mindf— movies of recent memory that makes ENEMY darkly playful. It secretly guffaws on being smarter than everyone in the room. No one can fully comprehend what the film is, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth the try.

Jake Gyllenhaal as history professor Adam Bell.

The beginning of the film introduces the concept of a totalitarian government which has full control of what it wants to tell and share to its people and how it does so. In such manner, the government limits the information that the citizens have the right to know, which is also subject to the medium used, for instance, entertainment (by the Romans) and education (which Adam represents). Maybe that’s the same approach ENEMY is treating its viewers; it doesn’t fully disclose the nature of its characters, thus the dangling web of mysteries. But unlike the Romans or the fascism (which the spiders are said to symbolize), ENEMY doesn’t spoon-feed the facts but allows us to freely discuss and interpret the chaos it left. The engrossing outcome is the opposite of the rigidness in the undemocratic authority mentioned in the film. By revealing few, viewers tend to wonder more. Contrary to the totalitarians and fascists, ENEMY doesn’t underestimate the intelligence of its viewers, though it may confound at first. It’s one of the recent challenging films not for popcorn viewing… and who else will watch it but you?

 

Digressing giant spiders, governments and Gyllenhaals, who is the enemy in ENEMY? Anthony seemed more antagonistic than Adam but what if the title refers not to an evil doppelganger but to his biggest enemy… himself? Past the theories of Adam/Anthony’s existence, what if he was haunted by guilt of having a mistress or his failed acting career? From the moment the twins met, ENEMY examines the consequences of one’s actions and how they stray beyond control. If Adam did not try to look for his apparent double, he wouldn’t trap himself to a deceitful web with his sanity on the line. I found more sympathy in Adam than Anthony but his final shot makes me question everything I had known about him prior… His discerning calmness is unnerving along with the terrified giant spider in front of him. Maybe I relied at the wrong perspective. Maybe what Adam had known all along – which is unknown to the viewers – is what exactly to be feared about.