As far as I can recollect, there have only been two films that have made me almost physically uncomfortable while watching them. "We Need to Talk About Kevin" was one of them, and PT Anderson's "Punch-Drunk Love" can now be added to that very small list.
It calls itself a romance and a comedy; it was romantic and there certainly were bemusing moments in it, but I'm not at all sure I enjoyed what I was watching--amidst my urges to punch a wall and cry uncontrollably. I suppose that if a director was able to elicit reactions that strong from me then his film can be called nothing other than a success, but whether or not it achieved what it wanted to is up for debate.
Adam Sandler surprised me endlessly with a passionate and at times touching performance as Barry Egan, a small-business owner who has been dealt a bad hand in life, but finds happiness in a harmonium and a peculiar English girl. Prone to fits of intense physical violence, the normally quiet and painfully shy man makes bad choices in attempts to find companionship in people other than his horribly cruel and sadistic family.
Sporting a new, tacky blue suit to impress strangers and buying thousands of dollars of pudding cups for the frequent flyer miles he's racking up, brings him nothing but jeers and disappointment. A sad, beautiful scene shows him talking to a phone-sex operator, trying to reach out to an anonymous woman simply to have a normal conversation. This woman (she calls herself Georgia), it turns out, is a twisted, Mormon scam-artist, trying to steal from "perverts" in order to teach them a lesson. Barry becomes plagued by this woman and her cohorts, which he tries to deal with while managing a odd romance with Lena (Emily Watson).
PT Anderson is the great American auteur, something of the next Kubrick, with his technical mastery and the eclectic material he chooses. There is no doubt that what he chooses to make is always beautiful and interesting, even though sometimes his message is sometimes lost in his own extravagance. I was impressed by his skillful direction, and the wonders that he did with what could have been a simple love story hold him firmly as the most exciting filmmaker working and by far my favorite living director.
At times, however, he brought the audience too close for comfort to the emotions of Barry. Sandler was a fine vehicle for his message. He swam beautifully through this deep and intense character study of a man on the edge, whose depression and weak spine makes him almost completely incapable of normal human interactions. I enjoyed watching that, but when I also feel as though I'm being distanced from the real world I began to understand and almost encourage his violent episodes which is a disturbing place to find oneself.
Anderson does wonders with music in his work. It is never background, and here it is used to heighten the sense of claustrophobia and unease that other people bring Barry. Sometimes I found it so stifling that I wanted to pause the film just so I could breathe. So much of what Anderson's hero goes though is unnecessary and frightening and there is so little relief throughout, that when it seems to emanate from the screen the film becomes less than enjoyable.
Conversely to all that I've said, it is still almost exuberant in its depictions of the simple things in life. I have never felt so lucky to see a man playing a discarded harmonium in my life. I expect that if I were watching this for the first time when it premiered I would be very interested to learn more about its maker. The script is wonderful and Anderson's eye makes it all the more intriguing. As it happens, this is not my first time with his material, but it adds another creative layer to one of the most ingenious directors out there.
While I cannot fully recommend it as entertainment, I can and do appreciate its artistry so I say watch it at your own risk.
2.5/4
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