The Brave One
March 24th 2008 13:36
So I get home last night to find the complete darkness of my house being stabbed by rushes of extreme light. Only one conclusion; they started the movie without me.
Damn. Hate when that happens because it means that I can't get the whole idea of the film when only coming in half way.
Well this time i was stuck legs and body into this most riveting and emotively captivating i have seen in a while. The Brave One.
I have heard about it a lot, but to tell you the truth the whole vigilante theme does not interest me at all. I abhor violence (the fact that my favorite film is Fight Club has nothing to do with violence and everything to do with society and masculinity). So I steered clear even though I have such deep respect for Jody Foster.
So I walked in on the bit where Erica Bain, the lead character; the vigilante; the fragile victim, walks off the train after just murdering two people. that’s where will stop with plot information you see there is nothing I hate more than reading reviews of films and getting half the happening by reading some person right it all down. What I will discuss however is the simmering tension that makes the film; the tension of Erica, the unremittingly intelligent yet acutely emotionally fragmented and fragile lead; the tension between Erica and Mercer the “best friend” who is the only one who can see this new “stranger” emerge form an older self. This will make a lot of sense if you have watched the film. You see it’s his tension which completely consumes Erica’s “other self” (the self before the fact) and brings the new self, the stranger, the walking ghost, into the picture: it’s this that makes this film such an addictive and emotionally explorative masterpiece.
Jody Foster is compelling every moment she is on screen. It seems she cannot speak a sentence without releasing a plethora of emotion. She whispers her coarse yet refined whisper and doing so ensures that every element of her pain is felt by the viewer. Coupling Foster with Terrance Howard somehow does not seem right on paper but let me tell you their fusion as Bain and Mercer is the best onscreen duo I have seen for a very long time. Howard meets Foster’s in emotional vulnerability as well as evocative strength, his sincerity, honesty and compassion are undoubtable and the ‘tension’ between his Mercer and her Bain makes the film for me.
And lastly who can ever walk out of an Neil Jordan film and not feel like they the emotion of the world has not been poured all over them? Enough said.
So it a great pic, even if you’re not into the vigilante thing, the performances and the scrip are just so damn good.
Damn. Hate when that happens because it means that I can't get the whole idea of the film when only coming in half way.
Well this time i was stuck legs and body into this most riveting and emotively captivating i have seen in a while. The Brave One.
I have heard about it a lot, but to tell you the truth the whole vigilante theme does not interest me at all. I abhor violence (the fact that my favorite film is Fight Club has nothing to do with violence and everything to do with society and masculinity). So I steered clear even though I have such deep respect for Jody Foster.
Jody Foster is compelling every moment she is on screen. It seems she cannot speak a sentence without releasing a plethora of emotion. She whispers her coarse yet refined whisper and doing so ensures that every element of her pain is felt by the viewer. Coupling Foster with Terrance Howard somehow does not seem right on paper but let me tell you their fusion as Bain and Mercer is the best onscreen duo I have seen for a very long time. Howard meets Foster’s in emotional vulnerability as well as evocative strength, his sincerity, honesty and compassion are undoubtable and the ‘tension’ between his Mercer and her Bain makes the film for me.
So it a great pic, even if you’re not into the vigilante thing, the performances and the scrip are just so damn good.
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Comment by Kleonaptra
Kalikapsychosis
Ive wanted to see this - cos I love vigilante themes! Loved Fight Club too but for the mental issues it raises, not nessesarily the violence.
Comment by Ellis Currer Bell
Australia Day 2008
Computer Journal
fight club is just that impeccable classic isnt it?
Comment by Kleonaptra
Kalikapsychosis
Fight Club really has got something for everybody, and I cant stand when people dont want to see it because its violent or whatever. The themes analysed in that movie are (literally!) mind blowing....