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Film Review: SCOTTY AND THE SECRET HISTORY OF HOLLYWOOD (USA 2018) ***

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Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood Poster
Trailer

2:30 | Trailer
A portrait of unsung Hollywood legend Scotty Bowers, whose bestselling memoir chronicled his decades spent as sexual procurer to the stars.

Director:

Matt Tyrnauer

Stars:

Scotty Bowers, Peter Bart, Stephen Fry

 

Many have not heard of Scotty Bowers.  Who is this man and why is it that important for a whole documentary be devoted to him?

Director Matt Tyrnauer’s (VALENTINO: THE LAST EMPEROR) begins his doc with a grand introduction of Scotty Bowers.  He is celebrating his 90th birthday.  His rise to fame is attributed to the gas station he operated that served escorts to a host of Hollywood stars.  Everyone loves a scandal.  Stephen Fry interviewed admits:  “Scotty only made these Hollywood stars real by giving them what they want.”  But then a more valid argument is whether Scotty had the right to out anyone gay in Hollywood.  The doc then flashes dozens of gay stars on the screen to whet audiences appetite on the secret history of Hollywood.  Randolph Scott had an affair with Cary Grant and the list goes on….

It is fortunate that Scotty Bowers is till alive at the time of making the doc as he appears in most of the film, talking about himself and about what he has done as well as life in the old days.  The film contains a lot of black and white archive footage, especially of the area whee the infamous gas station stood.  When footage is unavailable, re-enactments are done, often without  faces but with the images of bodies.  For instance, when an escort is ivied from the gas station to bathe his beautiful body in the star’s swimming pool, the audience sees a nude body (no face) swimming in the pool.  In a way, the image looks even more erotic.

The goings-on, the audience are told are well planned and orchestrated.  In the business world, Scotty could have been the C.E.O.of General Motors, says a close friend.  The goings-on are indeed shocking, like a hill drilled in a wall in the nearby motel so that voyeurs can peep at the sex happening in the next room.  It all feels like a dirty red-light district given a make-over for the Hollywood stars.

Just when you think that the film will run out of material, something saucier comes around.  More famous star names are revealed, more intimate details of the sex parties revealed or secrets in the closet uncovered.  The restricted era of 1950’s is also highlighted in the film – a time where cops witched hunted gays in parks and bars.  And there is Scotty’s life that in itself is quite interesting.  Returning home from WWII as a pretty boy, he was gay before settling down into marriage with Lois, who hereof is interviewed in the film.  Their family home is also on display.  Scotty is revealed as a hoarder.  His house contains piles and piles of junk, such as every issue of Playboy Magazine

Scott claims to be the perfect host.  He says he provided an introduction service not a pimp service, emphasizing the fact that he never took any money for the  introductions.  The only money he made was at the parties as a bartender.

The film emphasizes that Scott’s philosophy on life was to make people happy as there is already so much unhappiness in the world.  But director Tyrnauer includes some sadness in Scotty’s life – the lost of his daughter, his friend Beach, his pet dog and the arrival of A.I.D.s.

Tyrnauer always inserts enough of the details to keep his film interesting – like the truth on Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy.  His film ends up a good mix of the life of Scotty, his contribution to the secret History of Hollywood and revealing ‘Enquirer’ type material.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qn6HxTJp0k

 

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Film Review: UNFRIENDED: DARK WEB (USA 2018) ***

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Unfriended: Dark Web Poster
Trailer

A teen comes into possession of a new laptop and soon discovers that the previous owner is not only watching him, but will also do anything to get it back.

Director:

Stephen Susco

Writer:

Stephen Susco

Stars:

Rebecca Rittenhouse, Betty Gabriel, Chelsea Alden

 

Writer/director Stephen Susco’s sequel to the laptop horror UNFRIENDED can hardly be called a sequel (note there is no number 2 tagged on to UNFRIENDED) as it is a stand-alone sequel with completely new characters and a totally fresh storyline.  The only similarity between the two films is that the films unfolds as if seen on a lap top.  So, expect to be watching a laptop screen for 90 minutes or so.  It is quite a torturous 90 minutes, which requires a lot of concentration to follow the story as one will be required to not only read the texts on screen but watch multiple goings-on as well as  group of friends communicate online via Skype.  UNFRIENDED: DARK WEB like the original UNFRIENDED is a clever novelty resulting in a tidy economically made film that caters to the new large target market of computer/lap tops users.  Who does not use a lap tip theses days?  The original film costs only $1 million to make and grossed more than $65 million.  Susco’s film, which contains a cast of unknowns teens took only a week to film.

The film opens with a user trying to get into a found lap top by trying different combinations of passwords.  Password, nope.  Password 123, nope.  After a dozen or so tries, ? works and Matias (Colin Woodell from UNSANE) gets into the used laptop.  He begins a game on Skype with his friends, computer-savvy Damon (Andrew Lees), Lexx (Savira Windyani), newly engaged couple Nari (Betty Gabriel from GET OUT) and Serena (Rebecca Rittenhouse) and Matias’ deaf girlfriend Amaya (Stephanie Nogueras). As the game night progresses, an intruder who calls himself Charon IV, begins sending messages to Matias, instructing him to return the laptop and keep his friends online.  The reason is that the lap top contains a list of crooked people as well as $10 million in crypto currency.  If he is unable to return the lap top, he will kill Amaya.

Despite the simple looking plot, the script is clever enough to include modern age technology like Skype, messaging, Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies.  To those unfamiliar with computers, best advised be to avoid this film.  Political correctness in the film include having a lesbian couple in the story and a deaf character (played by Nogueras, herself a deaf actress).  Though UNFRIENDED: DARK WEB is a horror film, Susco’s horror film has neither blood or gore though the killing scenes are just as horrifying (pushing the victim on to a subway track upon an approaching train).

The film also contains two different endings.  Audiences will not know which cinema will be screen which ending and watching the film twice (the film is ok, but not really worth watching a second time) is still not guarantee of viewing both endings.  

It looks like Blumhouse has another low-budget horror winner.  How much money will this one make?

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gM7N5u40KHk

 

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Film Review: UNDER THE TREE (Iceland/Denmark/Poland/Germany 2017) ***1/2

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Clip

When Baldwin and Inga’s next door neighbours complain that a tree in their backyard casts a shadow over their sundeck, what starts off as a typical spat between neighbours in the suburbs unexpectedly and violently spirals out of control.

Director:

Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson

Writers:

Huldar Breiðfjörð (story and screenplay), Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson (screenplay)

Stars:

Steinþór Hróar Steinþórsson, Edda Björgvinsdóttir, Sigurður Sigurjónsson

 

UNDER THE TREE is a simple story that unfolds in all its unpredictability and horror.  It is trouble for two neighbours, something that many can relate to.  The shade from a front yard tree brings tensions to a boil for two families in an Icelandic suburb.  The husbands Baldvin (Edda Björgvinsdóttir) and Konrad (Þorsteinn Bachmann) have a small argument over trimming the big tree as Konrad’s wife, Eybjorg (Selma Björnsdóttir) likes to lie in the sun and does not want the shade from the tree.  But the wives argue.  The tires of  a car are slashed followed by rude gnomes ornaments placed in the front of the house.  Then when the cat goes missing, all hell breaks lose.  

Amidst the arguing, there is a subplot of the son, Atli (Steinþór Hróar Steinþórsson) losing custody of his daughter after cheating on his wife., Agnes (Lára Jóhanna Jónsdóttir).   

Director Sigurdsson knows how to up the angst, as evident at the film’s start, the wife catches the son watching porn.  “Is that you in the porn?”  she suddenly notices.  “Isn’t that Rakel in it with you in the porn?”  she asks again before kicking him out of the house and taking custody of their daughter.  Again this is an incident that many separated couple go through, fighting for custody.   Sigurdsson also keeps certain factors unknown to keep the audience guessing.  Did the neighbour really slash the tires?  Did the neighbour really put in the gnomes?  And where is that darn cat that has disappeared, though the final incident is revealed at the end of the film.

Sigurdsson keeps his film engaging from start to end by making his characters real, reacting and doing things that normal people all over the world might end up doing, when pushed to the limit.  

Of all the characters, Inga (Edda Björgvinsdóttir) seems the nastiest.  She seems to be director Edda Björgvinsdóttir’s favourite. Inga slings dog shit at Eybjorg, calls her a cow and even calls her son a loser when he cheats on his wife.  The wives inch their husbands, who seem more tolerant, on.

Besides the black comedy, the film also contains segments of dramatic tension, like in the ones where Atli abducts his daughter or when he abuses her at her workplace.

The film is shot in the suburbs of the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik.  These houses are modern looking, colourful, modest and too close to each other for comfort.   Trees and sun are scarce in Iceland so one can understand a neighbour not wanting the shade and the other not wanting his tree touched.

Edda Björgvinsdóttir’s film demonstrates the worst there is in human beings, creating a dark comedy at its blackest. His characters are unforgiving (Agnes cannot forgive Atli for cheating), vindictive (Agnes calls her cheating husband out as a masturbator of sex videos he indulges in, at a community meeting) and cowardly.

The ending comes with a good twist that leaves audiences satisfied that they have seen a really black comedy/drama.  The film dominated the Edda Awards (Icelandic equivalent of the Oscars) with seven wins, including best film, director, actor (Steinþór Hróar Steinþórsson), actress (Edda Björgvinsdóttir), supporting actor (Sigurður Sigurjónsson), screenplay and visual effects.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU7KeDwJCAc

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Film Review: BLINDSPOTTING (USA 2018) ***

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Blindspotting Poster
Trailer

Director:

Carlos López Estrada

Writers:

Rafael Casal, Daveed Diggs

Stars:

Daveed Diggs, Rafael Casal, Janina Gavankar

 

Written and starring written by Rafael Casal and Daveed Diggs two childhood friends who grew up in Oakland, California, BLINDSPOTTING is less a structured film than a series of incidents tied together to tell a story, as manipulative as it becomes.  They felt that cinematic portrayals of the San Francisco Bay Area have constantly “missed something”.   Their flawed film wanted to draw attention to the culture, community, and sense of “heightened reality” that shape life in Oakland, high goals.   The film therefore addresses issues of gentrification, police violence, and racism.  But the film provides no solutions and only poses more questions.

The term BLINDSPOTTING is at one point explained in the film by a psychologist that it is the spot that an individual wants to see in a certain situation, which might not be the case in reality.  The brain sees one image and blocks out the other.  It is the fighting they Collin sees in many an incident.

The film opens with the probation conditions laid upon convicted felon, Collin (Daveed Diggs) after serving his term in prison.  It is a year long probation where Collin has to meet various conditions including keeping an 11 pm curfew and not get into any altercation with the law.

The film follows two childhood friends, Collin and his trouble maker white best friend, Miles (Rafael Casal), through the last three days of Collin’s year-long probation.  Collin lives in a probation house and struggles with trying to get his life in order and put his criminal past behind him, while the short-tempered and rowdy Miles searches for trouble and embraces the “street” lifestyle.  One night while waiting anxiously for a red light to change in order to get home for his 11pm curfew, Collin witnesses a white police officer (Ethan Embry) gun down a black civilian, an incident that haunts Collin over the next few days.  Immediately observable is the fact that Collin initially appears scared rather than angry at the injustice.  Miles purchases a gun which ends up in the hands of his young son Sean, an incident which horrifies Sean’s mother Ashley (Cephas Jones). Collin begins to realize that Miles’ recklessness will likely land him into trouble, and the two are set on an explosive collision course. 

When Collin was in prison, it is pointed out that Val never visits him while Miles does.  Val claims the reason Miles visits him is that he feels guilty and that he should have been the one in jail.  As the film is manipulative, it never addresses the reason Val has never visited.  But to one in prison, a visit by a friend means lots.

Collin on the other hand, is trying to keep his relationship with Val (Janina Gavankar).

These are two friends that should stay away from each other.  Things reach a boil when Miles purchases a gun, that he uses freely without restraint.  Yet the two get a job together Collin meets the bad cop, who happens to be one of the people the two have to move.

Occasionally engaging and funny, BLINDSPOTTING is original for the fact that audiences might not be familiar with the ‘Bay’ Oakland area.  Though the film shows promise, the uneven BLINDSPOTTING lacks structure and a strong narrative.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9-HBqVbtTo

 

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Film Review: DON’T WORRY, HE WON’T GET FAR ON FOOT (USA 2018) ***1/2

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Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot Poster
Trailer
On the rocky path to sobriety after a life-changing accident, John Callahan discovers the healing power of art, willing his injured hands into drawing hilarious, often controversial cartoons, which bring him a new lease on life.

Director:

Gus Van Sant

Writers:

John Callahan (based on the book by), John Callahan (story by) | 4 more credits »

Stars:

Joaquin Phoenix, Jonah Hill, Rooney Mara

DON’T WORRY HE WON’T GET FAR ON FOOT is a comedy-drama biography film based on the memoir of the same name by John Callahan.  Gus Van Sant (DRUGSTORE COWBOY, MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO, GOOD WILL HUNTING, GERRY, ELEPHANT) wrote the screen adaptation and directed the film.  

When the film opens, John Callahan (Joaquin Phoenix) is addressing an audience after winning some award for his cartoons.  Callahan is in a wheelchair as…

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Film Review: DON’T WORRY, HE WON’T GET FAR ON FOOT (USA 2018) ***1/2

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Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot Poster
Trailer

On the rocky path to sobriety after a life-changing accident, John Callahan discovers the healing power of art, willing his injured hands into drawing hilarious, often controversial cartoons, which bring him a new lease on life.

Director:

Gus Van Sant

Writers:

John Callahan (based on the book by), John Callahan (story by) | 4 more credits »

Stars:

Joaquin Phoenix, Jonah Hill, Rooney Mara

DON’T WORRY HE WON’T GET FAR ON FOOT is a comedy-drama biography film based on the memoir of the same name by John Callahan.  Gus Van Sant (DRUGSTORE COWBOY, MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO, GOOD WILL HUNTING, GERRY, ELEPHANT) wrote the screen adaptation and directed the film.  

When the film opens, John Callahan (Joaquin Phoenix) is addressing an audience after winning some award for his cartoons.  Callahan is in a wheelchair as a result of a car accident involving drinking.  But Callahan is still drinking though he is attending an AA group led by Donnie Hill (a totally unrecognizable Jonah Hill).

The film unfolds in non-chronological order, centring on Callahan before and after the accident, including his rise to fame with his cartoons.

DON’T WORRY will inevitably be compared to the French film, Julian Schnabel’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (French: Le Scaphandre et le Papillon), a 2007 biographical drama based on Jean-Dominique Bauby’s memoir of the same name, on a man’s disability and rehabilitation.  The film depicts Bauby’s life after suffering a massive stroke that left him with a condition known as locked-in syndrome. Bauby is played by Mathieu Amalric.  Bauby is totally conscious but unable to move all parts of his body but his left eye that he used to write the memoir.   The Diving Bell and the Butterfly won awards at the Cannes Film Festival, the Golden Globes, the BAFTAs, and the César Awards, and received four Academy Award nominations and is considered by critics as one of the best films of the decade.

DON’T WORRY never reaches the high standard hit by Le Scaphandre et le Papillon but goes towards a different direction, stressing more on the emotional than physical comeback.  Whether Callahan can have sex is one of the main conditions examined.  The main difference between the two films lie in the difference in the two main characters.  In the French film, Bauby was strong and fixed on recovery while in this film, Callahan is self destructive and wallows in self pity.  This is not helped by the fact that Callahan is still an alcoholic.

The film also considers the emotions that Callahan goes through right after the accident in the hospital.  Ironically the drunk driver, Dexter (Jack Black) that caused the accident walked away with only a few scratches.  Callahan met Dexter by chance at a bar and spent the night drinking heavily and driving.  The film fails to mention what happened to Dexter after the accident.  But Callahan asks key questions like: “Why is this happening to me?” – a question that is invariably asked by probably every person undergoing such a tragic accident.  Callahan also confesses to a worker, Annu (Rooney mara) that he promised God that he would do anything and or would make a pact with the devil to become normal again.   These key emotions differentiate DON’T WORRY from the French film.

Callahan’s birth as an artist only begins at the film’s one hour mark.  A few of the cartoons are revealed to the audience and to Callahan’s credit, they are quite funny –  a kind of THE FAR SIDE by a guy in a wheelchair.

Van Sant’s DON’T WORRY encompasses the best of his ‘lonely’ films like ELEPHANT and GERRY and ‘hidden talent’ films like GOOD WILL HUNTING, offering audiences gut wrenching insight in his soulful biography of a troubled human being.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BwxeOzSx8A

 

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Film Review: GAUGUIN (France 2017)

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Gauguin: Voyage to Tahiti Poster
Trailer

Focused on French painter Paul Gauguin’s affair with a younger lady in Tahiti.

Director:

Edouard Deluc

Writers:

Edouard Deluc (screenplay), Etienne Comar (screenplay) | 4 more credits »

Stars:

Vincent Cassel, Tuheï Adams, Malik Zidi

 

For those unfamiliar, GAUGUIN is a famous talented French painter of the 19th century.  But Paul GAUGUIN (Vincent Cassel) was a dissatisfied painter tired of the so-called civilized world and its political, moral and artistic conventions.  So he leaves his wife and children to travel to Tahiti, Polynesia on the other side of the world with little money.

For those not well versed in Geography, Tahiti is right in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, plunked right in the middle of lots and lots of water, far away from nowhere.  It is a beautiful place with white sandy beaches (check your Google map) but the country is large enough to nurse a huge jungle.  The cinematography is never too shy to show the beauty of the island.  There are lots of gorgeous landscapes on display with shots of green, rivers, mountains an beaches.  Indeed, it would be a worthwhile place to visit for a naturalistic vacation.  Tahiti is where Gauguin is headed, consumed with a yearning for original purity, and ready to sacrifice everything for his quest. 

Those who criticize me know nothing of an artist’s nature.  These are the words of Gauguin s he rides his horse into the jungle with barely enough provisions for a few days. Impoverished with diabetes, and solitary, Gauguin pushes deep into the Tahitian jungle, where he meets the Maoris and Tehura, his muse, who will inspire his most iconic works of art.  Tehura becomes Gauguin’s wife.  In real life, Tehura was only 13, which means that Gauguin would be stamped a pedophile in today’s standards.

The film traces the two years of Gauguin’s life in Tahiti, which is inspired by Noa Noa (meaning Fragrance) , the travel diary Gauguin wrote after his first trip to Tahiti in 1893.

Deluc’s biography is even in its pacing with no high points with a few dramatized events – the only one or two involving Gauguin’s painting like the difficulty of finding a canvas and the confrontation with his wife Tehura on hi suspicion of her being unfaithful.  Still this charged scene is conducted with restraint.  Deluc trivializes Gauguin’s sickness.  Gauguin is never shown really sick only perhaps a bit of coughing and grumbling about his energy.  But in real life, he did live till he ripe age of 54.

Vincent Cassel inhabits the role of Gauguin, delivering a steering performance showing the artist at his ugliest, unkempt, often sick and tired.  Cassel used to be a hunk and  heartthrob in his younger days with his stunning good-looks and great body as in films like BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF and READ MY LIPS.  His age is showing in recent films like MESRINE and GAUGUIN but he continually to do outstanding work, staring out as one of France’s greatest and most under-rated actors.  His chiseled body is still observable many a film’s scene where he has his top off.

GAUGUIN is a no-nonsense biography, told straight forward from start to finish, but praising the artist for more than his worth as a human being.  Nothing is also mentioned with his relationship with his wife and kids when he returned to France.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HiCzb2gWo0

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Film Review: SKYSCRAPER (USA 2018)

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Skyscraper Poster
Trailer

A father goes to great lengths to save his family from a burning skyscraper.

Director:

Rawson Marshall Thurber

Writer:

Rawson Marshall Thurber

Stars:

Dwayne Johnson, Neve Campbell, Pablo Schreiber

 

Silliness is the order of the day!  Universal Studios has given a $125 million budget to writer/director Rawson Marshall Thurber who has been responsible for small films like DODGEBALL, WE’RE THE MILLERS and CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE, the latter also starring “The Rock” Dwayne Johnson.  The Rock has had two recent hits JUMANGI and RAMPAGE.  Is The Rock impervious to failure?  The ultra-silly SKYSCRAPER will put The Rock who plays a one-legged hero, jumper of buildings to the test.

The film begins with FBI agent Will Sawyer (Dwayne Johnson) attempting to save a a man who is willing to kill himself and his son, but ends up with him losing his leg.

Will is now a former FBI agent and amputee.   Will lives in the tallest and “safest” skyscraper in Hong Kong with his family.  The skyscraper itself, known as “The Pearl,” houses several floors that function as their own society, and despite the risks highlighted by Sawyer, who is the building’s head of security, his bosses insist that it is impenetrable.  True to Sawyer’s belief, the building comes under attack by terrorists, forcing Sawyer to take action.  Matters are complicated further when he finds himself framed for the attack, and his family trapped above the resulting fire line.

Among the silliness:

Will hangs from buildings using duct tape.

Will uses his metal leg many times to save the day

Will is able to climb umpteen floors with that leg of his.

Thurber’s written dialogue is just as silly.  At the end when all is over, Will’s wife Sarah tells him “You need a shower.”  “I do” is his reply”.  What a great family,” Inspector Wu retorts.  As the film involves Will also saving his two kids, “Daddy, daddy,” are two words that can be heard repeatedly during the film.

The film is noticeable short of one-liners as Will is more often that not hanging for his life from the skyscraper.

SKYSCRAPER steals shamefully from many other films like TOWERING INFERNO, THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS and most notably, the James Bond film with the mirrors climax, THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN.   The film expectedly contains lots of CGI and pyrotechnics,

The cast includes lots of Asians, obviously to cater to the Chinese market.  Will Trump slap a tariff on SKYSCRAPER?  Singaporean Chin Han plays the skyscraper’s builder, Taiwanese Hannah Quinlivan plays a sexy Chinese fighter (what is it with her hair?) and Hong Kong’s Byron Mann plays Inspector Wu.  The main villain is played by Dane Roland Møller, a terrorist.  Noah Taylor first seen as a child actor in THE YEAR MY VOICE BROKE makes a cameo as a baddie.

Will’s wife, Sarah (Neve Campbell) is not the usual dame in distress, screaming housewife.  Here, she not only speaks Chinese but can fight her way through any number of villains.  The children are the useless screaming ones that need saving.

The script calls for Will to fight both the fire and the terrorist resulting in a divided film which cannot decide which direction to go.  The fire is then as easily put out as the villain dispatched (not revealed how in the review).

SKYSCRAPER is still watchable for the less demanding moviegoer as there is always something happening (silly or not) in very scene.  At the time of writing, of 91% google users liked the film.  As long as one is comfortable at the one legged jumper, able to leap buildings!

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9QePUT-Yt8

 

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Film Review: MARY SHELLEY (Luxembourg/Ireland/UK 2017)

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Mary Shelley Poster
Trailer

The love affair between poet Percy Shelley and 18 year old Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, which resulted in Mary Shelley writing Frankenstein.

Director:

Haifaa Al-Mansour

Writers:

Emma Jensen, Haifaa Al-Mansour (additional writing by)

Stars:

Elle Fanning, Maisie Williams, Douglas Booth

 

“There is something at work in my soul, which I do not understand,” so says Mary Shelley at the beginning of the film.  We take it that the filmmakers plan to shed some light on the topic of Mary Shelley’s troubled soul, which inevitably resulted in one of the most famous horror novels of all time – “Frankenstein”.

MARY SHELLY is a biographical drama of the famous author who wrote the book “Frankenstein” by the age of 18.  At the film’s start, the audience sees the younger Mary (Elle Fanning) reading and scribbling.  She has trouble at home, particularly in the relationship with her step-mother and sent to live with relatives in Scotland where she meets her suitor Percy Bysshe Shelley (Douglas Booth).

However, 15 minutes into film after Mary meets Percy,  director Haifaa al-Mansour decides to concentrate her film on Mary Shelley’s first love and her romantic relationship with him (full name Percy Bysshe Shelley).  The story turns out to be less a biography of the author than a period love story.  Worse still, al-Mansour’s decision to have her film punctuated with Percy’s poetry distracts the fact that the film is about Mary and not about him or his writings.

The trouble with all this is that director al-Mansour is unable to sway the audience unto Mary’s side.  There is hint of the need for female independence in these times, which is emphasized at the end when she has trouble getting her novel published.  When told by her father (Stephen Dillan) that if she goes with Percy, she would lose the love of her father forever,” one is immediately not on her side, for Mary seems young, impetuous and impertinent.   When Percy finally flirts with the younger Claire (Bel Powley) , things become clear that Percy is not the man Mary had thought him to be.  It is too late as Mary is pregnant with his child.

Elle Fanning is convincing as the independent young lady who falls into hard times, due to her own fault.  Douglas Booth is terribly annoying as the handsome rogue, Percy – but I suppose the character of Percy is supposed to be annoying. Tom Sturridge goes over the top in his portrayal of the even more detestable Lord Byron.

The scene of Mary comforting Claire in the woods under rain and thunder shows the director at her worst, going for cheap theatrics.

Al-Mansour’s film is beautifully created and shot in terms of period atmosphere both in the interiors to the dimly lit cobblestone street and vast green Scottish landscape exteriors.  MARY SHELLEY is Saudi Arabian director Haifaa al-Mansour’s second feature after she became film society’s darling with her debut feature WADJDA.  WADJA was the first film made by a female director from Saudi Arabia and the first film from Saudi Arabia o be screened at Cannes.

` But MARY SHELLEY ends up a story without a strong direction with inspiration behind Mary for her books only hinted at.  One assumes it is due to her hardships – such as the haunting of her mother’s death, her distressful love affair and loss of her in infant child.  In the end, the audience is  still left in the dark as to the understanding of what was really at work in the soul of Mary Shelly. 

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-WGaZaojFc

 

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