All the Real Girls

ALL THE REAL GIRLS                  A                                                                     

USA  (108 mi)  2003  ‘Scope  d:  David Gordon Green

That was all her.  That was rehearsal.  That’s her heart and her soul.  Those little whispers and little moments; it’s not a witty screenwriter behind there, it’s a genuine girl that feels things and has a sensitivity you fall in love with.  At least I do.  It’s those little moments that make relationships I’ve had memorable.  It’s the weird little quirks in girls’ mannerisms and behavior.  Going on a structured date and going through the routines of relationships is inconsequential and ultimately forgettable.  But it’s those little things that just stab you when they’re gone, when you know you’re not going to get that whisper in your ear anymore.   

―David Gordon Green on Zooey Deschanel

This played at Sundance and was released very quickly afterwards, given a Special Jury Prize for “emotional truth,” yet disappeared from movie theaters after about a week.  A different kind of love story that doesn’t offer easy answers, with a script that is refreshingly original and accessible, much different from George Washington (2000), where the overall theme is about heartbreak, something we’ve all experienced, and somehow, it’s our own lives that are magically transformed onscreen. This film has a wonderful intensity level that grows stronger as the film progresses, as we become personally involved with the outcome.  Much of the opening ensemble sequences are damn near incomprehensible, multiple Southern drawls all talking at once, like David Gordon Green was using one of Altman’s sound men.  And as brilliant and powerful as this film is, the only disappointment is it is missing an ending that knocks your socks off, like the rest of the film does.  Instead, it just moves quietly into another day.  To be a film for the ages, arguably Green’s best film, some believe it needs more.  While Criterion was impressed enough to distribute David Gordon Green’s original feature, George Washington (2000), complete with early student shorts, they passed on this film, emotionally raw and narratively oblique at times, still unpolished, where the sound is either too soft or too loud (at the racetrack), but utterly authentic in representing the frame of mind of the inexpressibility of youth, where they experience the feelings, but can’t express them, ending up lost in a wasteland of internal friction and frustration, like not being able to walk when you need to get across the room.  Zooey Deschanel is a revelation delivering her breakout role as a young woman returning from boarding school to her small home town, where she falls in love for the first time.  Green depicts the tentative courtship between Paul (Schneider) and Noel (Deschanel) in a series of beautifully filmed vignettes interspersed with scenes of day to day life in a small mining town set in the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Co-written with Paul Schneider, who also stars, All the Real Girls is simultaneously achingly accurate and poetic in its portrait of first love.  I still recall being asked by a theater patron after a viewing what I thought this film was about, unhesitatingly responding, “Heartache.”  

 

One could easily mistake this for a Terence Malick film, which is an exceptional compliment, as it thrives in a world filled with tenderness and an understated, poetic elegance.  The power of this film evolves slowly with the exposure of tiny revelations from each carefully nuanced character, all so beautifully etched into this small-town Southern environment of Marshall, a North Carolina mill town, perfectly captured by the extraordinary ‘Scope work of cinematographer Tim Orr.  But this is some of the best ensemble acting on screen today, particularly poignant is the performance of Zooey Deschanel, who is nothing short of brilliant, and the supporting performances of Patricia Clarkson (Schneider’s mother) and Shea Wingham as Tip (Deschanel’s brother and Schneider’s best friend).  What’s tragically obvious in this story of two would-be lovers is that they can’t make a move without the whole town knowing about it, so they act in ways they never intend, and then hardly recognize themselves afterwards.  As Tip’s best friend and partner in crime, both have reputations for sleeping with all the women in town but never sticking with them afterwards, like conquests in the night, slinking away afterwards, never bothering to call.  Paul, who’s never seen life as more than one-night stands, never peering over the horizon at what his future could be, is extremely aware that Noel is the younger sister to his overprotective best friend, and while she urges closer contact, he’s a bit standoffish, not wanting to piss off his friend, also knowing his own reputation as the town lothario, wanting this to somehow be different.  Tip doesn’t have an easy time with it either, flying off the handle, revealing a violent temper, brutally taking it out on some innocent kid, though his real ire is with Paul, angrily stomping off afterwards, screaming, “We ain’t friends no more.  You ain’t even in my top ten!”  Reminiscent of the Dostoevsky short story White Nights, which is the source material for Bresson’s Four Nights of a Dreamer (Quatre nuits d'un rêveur... (1971), also an earlier Visconti film White Nights (La Niotti Bianche) (1957) with Marcello Mastroianni, while there is another unseen 1959 Russian film by the same name, but this story does bring the film a little closer into focus.  In the same way ALL THE REAL GIRLS is about “him,” yes, it shows “her” in all her glory, and Zooey Deschanel dominates the screen time, but ultimately, it’s about a guy who loves and doesn’t get the girl, ending up brooding in his own misery, confused by the possibilities, getting in his own way, ignoring all the positive signs.   

In small towns, aimless rural kids travel in packs, always seemingly together, even when it makes no sense, with males and females separated in their own cliques, with only the alpha males making the female sexual conquests, while the rest are pretty much dorks.  An emotionally driven film, mostly told through photography and sound, one can appreciate Green’s auteur style, using improvisation, orchestrating scenes with slow camera approaches and long, static shots, using fade outs to express the passing of time.  A sense of awkwardness prevails, reflecting the ages of the kids, finding it difficult to communicate the overwhelming flood of intense and distinct emotions happening simultaneously.  While there are eccentric aspects to some of the stylizations, Green does not shy away from just how alone some kids feel, especially those that are different or afflicted with disabilities, but here they are loved and appreciated, even if their parents are a bit weird themselves.  One of the telling scenes takes place in a bar, with Paul drinking heavily, feeling sorry for himself, trying to apologize to one of the many girls he left behind, Mary-Margaret (Heather McComb), but she’s having none of it, filled with her own righteous anger, “You’re not sorry.  You know how I know that?  Because you’re not smart enough to be sorry.  Guys like you... you never quit, and you never leave ― you’re gonna be here forever.  How does it make you feel knowing that?”  There’s an underlying nihilism at stake here, challenging any sense of optimism, but no matter how bleak the times, there’s a sense that this too shall pass.  This film has a familiar feel with Andrew J. Smith’s THE SLAUGHTER RULE (2002), another delicate film exquisitely acted that beautifully captures small-town Montana, but Green broadens his vision by creating long, extended sequences of wonderfully small moments, working on cars, hanging out in a playground, sitting by a riverside, talking on a porch or in an industrial wasteland, in a café, in a bedroom, some moments seem lost and disconnected, but others are achingly real, and in combination with the luminous imagery, there are moments of brilliance in this film, the power of which is that they are just so damned believable.  One of the best films of the year, BEST FILMS SEEN IN THE YEAR 2003 - Cranes Are Flying, this is one gorgeous film experience with a terrific musical score by David Wingo and Michael Linnen, featuring a host of promising new musicians that fit the indie groove, opening with Will Oldham - All These Vicious Dogs (All the Real Girls version) YouTube (3:10), featuring the incredibly beautiful Sparklehorse - Sea Of Teeth YouTube (4:31), my personal favorite Cactus Wren - YouTube (4:42) by Mark Olson and the Creekdippers, with the dreamy singalong Say Goodbye Good - The Promise Ring - YouTube (6:46) playing over the end credits, where the emotional authenticity from the characters perfectly matches the visually rich power of the images.

Midnight Special

MIDNIGHT SPECIAL          A-                   

USA  (111 mi)  2016  ‘Scope  d:  Jeff Nichols              Official site

Holy shit!  Jeff Nichols has made a John Carpenter film.  While a genre film in every sense of the word, this is an extremely well-constructed and thought-provoking sci-fi film, and the first studio movie made by this otherwise well-known indie director of films like Shotgun Stories (2007), Take Shelter (2011), and Mud (2012), made for a modest $18 million dollars, perhaps following on the footsteps of Take Shelter that anticipates a coming apocalypse.  Right from the outset, the film has a stunning opening, where we discover a frail, young 8-year old boy reading Superman comics by flashlight under a white bedsheet while wearing earphones and blue swim goggles, but we’re in the middle of an unraveling event witnessing two heavily armed men sneaking the boy out of a dive motel in Texas where the windows have been completely sealed by cardboard and tape, finding their way into a customized muscle car as a television news report simultaneously runs an Amber Alert about a missing boy, observed by the motel clerk, matching the descriptions of the men getting into the car.  As they head out onto the open highway, with the boy continuing to read comic books by flashlight, a John Carpenter pulsating piano motif leads to radio reports identifying the car and license plate number, forcing them to veer onto an alternate path down more desolate country roads in the dark of night, with the driver putting on night vision gear, switching off all the car lights, traveling full speed into the abyss, which leads to the opening credits, Midnight Special - Trailer 1 [HD] - YouTube (1:48).  Immediately, with viewers still completely in the dark, you get the idea that some major event is taking place, but the calmness of the boy and his familiarity with the men suggest they pose him no danger.  What’s really going on and why remains shrouded in secrecy, as the director is in no hurry to reveal any backstory, doling out only bits and pieces of a building storyline as the film progresses, often filling in the details only after events have occurred, where part of the thrill is being deftly taken along for the ride.

Michael Shannon plays Roy Tomlin, portrayed by the news media as a ruthless kidnapper dragging Alton Meyer (Jaeden Lieberher) between cheap hotels with authorities in hot pursuit before finding a safe house.  But appearances are misleading, as Roy turns out to be the child’s father, accompanied by longtime personal friend Lucas (Joel Edgerton), who we learn later happens to be a Texas state trooper.  Due to the severity of their mission, both look like hardened characters who are risking their lives trying to protect this kid, who can hear radio and satellite transmissions in his head, possessing unearthly supernatural powers, yet remains, at heart, just a sweet kid, who leads a nocturnal existence as his powers are diminished by the sunlight.  We also get a glimpse of where they’re coming from, as Tomlin and his son are running from a communal ranch of religious extremists in Texas headed by Sam Shepard as Calvin Meyer, a cult leader that assumes power by legally adopting the children of his followers, including Alton who was stripped from his father, where the group considers the boy a prophet and a messiah, resembling the dress and manner of the Fundamentalist Mormon group known as FLDS seen in Amy Berg’s Prophet's Prey (2015), especially the subsequent images of the FBI politely rounding them all up in busses for individual interviews regarding their chosen one, a chilling reminder of images of Texas law enforcement and child welfare officials in similar raids on the FLDS Church’s YFZ Ranch in 2008 after suspecting sexual assaults of minors.  Behind the scenes, Meyer can be seen giving explicit instructions to one of his henchmen to retrieve Alton under any circumstances, “What you do will decide our whole way of life — you have four days to get the boy back here.  The Lord has placed a heavy burden on you,” as this cult believes their Armageddon is near, a cataclysmic event prophesied by Alton.  The FBI’s interest is in the startling revelations expressed by this young boy, as much of it remains top secret and classified, including highly encrypted secret government information communicated by satellite, so they believe a spy is in their midst feeding this kid information.  When they finally interrogate Calvin Meyer, he’s almost shocked to discover the government’s own naïveté, “You have no clue what you’re dealing with, do you?”

Through interviews with the Ranch’s congregation, with NSA specialist Paul Sevier (Adam Driver) serving as the resident expert on Alton, we begin to get a picture of what we’re dealing with, where he’s like a little Harry Potter with magical powers that he’s too young to know what to do with, where he speaks in tongues, hears radio transmissions, or has nightmarish fits that cause destructive earthquakes, yet they believe he is the only one who can protect them against the coming Judgment Day.  In no time, the audience sees for themselves suggestions of Alton’s powers, where in a brilliant sequence that takes place in near silence, he inexplicably brings down an orbiting satellite back to earth, where it breaks up into thousands of pieces of burning shrapnel like a splintered meteor shower that wreaks havoc and destruction to a gas station below, as Alton apparently had a sense that the satellite was “watching” them.  This ominous sense of unbridled telekinetic power recalls Brian De Palma’s The Fury (1978) and a chilling Twilight Zone episode, “It's a Good Life” (The Twilight Zone), where a temperamental young boy could simply make people disappear if he grew angry or disappointed with them.  While Alton appears unscathed and innocent, it’s not clear whether his omnipotent powers will be used for good or evil, as the government thinks he’s a secret weapon, while the ranch believe he’s a savior.  The key to the film’s success is that it remains at heart a small film filled with personable moments and recognizable locales, another journey by this director into the American heartland of gas stations, cheap motels, pickup trucks, and trailer homes, where the influence of radio and television messages are as everpresent as guns and religion.  It draws from the rural malaise of feuding redneck families in his extraordinary first film Shotgun Stories, the director’s first hint of the supernatural, cast in the minimalist apocalyptic uncertainty of Take Shelter, but also a curious, Mark Twain-inspired life on the run in Mud, a film set on a river in the director’s home state of Arkansas.  What these films have in common is that they are grounded in the everyday ordinary experience, minimalist stories conceived and observed with a cool and poetic detachment.  

Shot in 40 days in and around New Orleans, including treks to Mississippi, Florida, and New Mexico, the film is a high-speed chase film with a family under immense pressure to provide the necessities of safety and shelter, becoming a road movie that connects with the intergalactic mysteries of the universe.  Driven by a David Wingo soundtrack that echoes the brooding synth scores of John Carpenter and Tangerine Dream, the film feels electrifying in its emotional peaks and valleys, tapping into a core of suspense and heightened inspiration.  While it’s clear fatherhood gives Roy an elevated sense of purpose and identity, desperately driven to protect Alton from nefarious outside forces that are collectively trying to find him, what’s less clear is the personal transformation happening inside Alton himself.  When Roy leads him to his mother Sarah (Kristen Dunst), who was excommunicated from the ranch, there is an instant connection of warmth and maternal love that seems to resuscitate Alton’s sagging spirits.  A throwback to an earlier era of childlike sci-fi innocence and wonder in Spielberg’s CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977) and E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982), especially the spectrum of light and depiction of authoritative government intervention, the film cleverly moves from tightly focused, small-scale family moments to something more incredibly mind-altering and soul-reaching, discovering powers that extend out into the unknown vastness of the cosmos.  Alton senses the nearing of his final destination as the appointed hour nears, with several key clues astoundingly presented, where there are unanticipated detours experienced along the way, some that come as an utter and complete surprise, where it’s hard to believe this all takes place over the course of just four days.  While Shannon and Edgerton beautifully portray the weighted anguish and pained severity of their calling, Dunst is at her best without ever uttering a word, deeply concerned yet seemingly lighter than air, a gentle spirit evoking a tender grace that was altogether missing in Melancholia (2011), yet the circumstances, while not the same, feel hauntingly familiar.  As if by Divine hand, something happens which cannot be explained, yet we witness a moment of celestial transcendence, where the lack of imagination and full extent of human flaws and limitations seem ridiculously inadequate in comparison.  The title song by Lucero is interestingly sung over the end credits, a traditional composition rewritten in 1934 by Leadbelly in Angola Prison, Lead Belly "Midnight Special" (With The Golden ... - YouTube (3:07), where the light of a passing train shone into the prison cells at night, offering a spiritual expression for a hoped-for release, given a more mystifying connection here.