A MOVIE REVIEW: Hereafter - A story of life after death
31 Mayıs 2011 Salı
, Posted by buRkAy at 01:58
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Buy this in standard or blu ray - or watch it on the cinema if it's still on near you. |
Cast:
Matt Damon,
Bryce Dallas Howard,
Cecile De France, Frankie and
George McLaren.
PG-13
Director:
Clint Eastwood.
4 stars out of 4
I recommend this film. Here’s why...
Not because Time magazine calls Matt Damon's performance, “marvellous” – though it was. Elsewhere it was described as “enthralling” (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times). I would say beautifully understated, deeply moving.
The Movie in a Minute
George (Matt Damon) has the power to communicate with the dead. He is psychic. His gift is actually a curse as his living life fails to thrive while he spends all his time talking to the dead, so he’s trying to make a life with the living. Marie (Cécile de France), a famous French journalist, discovers she has recurring visions after a life after death experience during the Tsunami. Marcus (twin boys: George McLaren and Frankie McLaren) and his twin brother live in London where they take care of their addict mother, until a horrific tragedy strikes the family and the boy searches for a way to communicate with his dead brother.
All three lives finally interconnect as they attempt to process their realities; all touched in some way by death.
Review
Clint Eastwood is a cinematic icon, whose acting has now been eclipsed by his directorial talent... Here's the list:
2010 Hereafter
2010 Hereafter
2009 Invictus
2008 Gran Torino
2008 Changeling
2006 Letters from Iwo Jima
2006 Flags of Our Fathers
2004 Million Dollar Baby
2003 Mystic River
2002 Blood Work
2000 Space Cowboys
1999 True Crime
1997 Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
1997 Absolute Power
1995 The Bridges of Madison County
1993 A Perfect World
1992 Unforgiven
1990 The Rookie
1990 White Hunter Black Heart
1988 Bird
1986 Heartbreak Ridge
1985 Pale Rider
1983 Sudden Impact
1982 Honkytonk Man
1982 Firefox
1980 Bronco Billy
1977 The Gauntlet
1976 The Outlaw Josey Wales
1975 The Eiger Sanction
1973 Breezy
1973 High Plains Drifter
1971 Play Misty For Me
Did you know he’d directed so many movies? Neither did I. There are some really great movies in this long list, but I’m here to talk about Hereafter.
Written by Peter Morgan (“The Queen,” “Frost/Nixon”), Hereafter is neither religious nor political. It’s more about spirituality, without being morose or overly introspective. It doesn’t offer any answers to the questions it poses, yet you don’t leave the cinema feeling glum. This movie provides a boost just in time for you to leave which I won’t tell as I don’t want to be a spoiler.
As he gets older, Damon is becoming a master of nuance. This roleas tortured psychic George Lonegan isn’t his usual fare, but he is nevertheless unyielding. There is no cheesy, “...come on everyone, if you just do .... It’ll be alright.” He never goes all Jason Bourne on any one. In fact, his is an unremarkable dramatic offering that could easily have fallen flat with some other less remarkable actor. His presence is quietly palpable within each scene. He doesn’t need to shout or fight or sing to get his loneliness out there for us to feel. It’s in his eyes, in his awkwardness. Subtlety really does win out in this movie.
There are some beautiful scenes when Damon’s character, George takes up cooking classes to get involved with the living after he stops work as a psychic. He meets and girl (Bryce Dallas Howard) and their attraction to one another provides onscreen heat during a tasting exercise.
Also, your heart just breaks every time the twin is on screen. Excellent casting and I expect and hope in equal measure that this will not be that last we see of this talented actor. Also, the lovely De France, gives an enthusiastic performance as a hard-hitting news anchor Marie LeLay, who leaves her job after she becomes fixated with her afterlife experience and takes to writing a book, called – Yes, you guessed it – “Hereafter.”
Eastwood’s direction remains firm throughout the film. It opens with a comprehensive action sequence of the tsunami tearing up an Indonesian resort. After that, Eastwood takes his time with the plot, allowing it to unfold steadily throughout the film. And he manages to stop his actors from becoming excessively theatrical – life and death does lend itself to histrionics. You have a sense throughout that each line spoken and tweak of a facial muscle was there, largely because of Eastwood. He always manages to do character in such a way that you are utterly immersed in them and so the movie, and Hereafter is no exception.
In conclusion, the film is an observation of humanity; all the characters search for answers and some form of happiness. These themes are ones to which we can all relate, which have been and will continue to be explored. Eastwood makes a good job of his exploration in this delicately told, inspirational and authentic account.
A word of caution for those religious viewers – you may find this film hard to stomach if you hope Eastwood would take a view that God is what awaits us after death. He does not. But neither does he belittle religious belief. This film is not about religion – either its significance or insignificance.
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