maggie gyllenhaal Archives

Boy, I love going to screenings where the filmmakers are present. They offer so much insight into what we watch. And I especially love it when like in this case, they reaffirm some of my thoughts of the film.

Frank

Last week, I had the pleasure of catching Lenny Abrahamson’s latest feature, Frank, in a sneak peek/Q&A session with the director himself. But before I get too involved in a discussion of the film, two things – 1) I liked Frank and 2) consider yourself warned – this is not a film suited to everyone’s taste.

Jon (Domhnall Gleeson), our way into the story, is an aspiring musician who cannot seem to find his way. In a ‘creative rut,’ he has a chance encounter with Soronprfbs (don’t try to pronounce — seriously, don’t attempt it), a band playing a local gig, who just happen to be in need of a new keyboard player and so joins.

The band is led by the enigmatic Frank (Michael Fassbender), who wears a fake head (see above); it is an understatement to say Frank has a rather interesting approach to spearheading the band’s creative endeavors. After being with the band for some time and coming to terms with his talent deficit, Jon decides his job is to raise this avant-garde group from the depths of obscurity into stardom. One major obstacle to him accomplishing this is his fraught relationship with the other members of the band, lead by theremin-playing Clara (Maggie Gyllenhaal).

What struck me about Frank is the sharp shifts in tone; for the first three quarters of Frank, the audience is caught up in rapturous fits of laughs as a result of the absurdity on display of this band’s machinations.

What happens in the final act, however, is a bit jarring. At this point Frank decides to challenge the notions of the viewers and expose us to a raw, emotional truth. As Abrahamson takes us down this road, I felt myself going with him, even to the point of being quite moved by the time the final credits rolled.

Kudos to everyone involved with this project for bringing what on its surface would seem to be an impossible story to the big screen and making it both enjoyable and accessible to its audience. As the titular Frank, Michael Fassbender’s performance is an interesting one; in it, he has the tricky task of animating a character without the use of his facial expressions, and somehow it works and is not distracting.

Unfortunately for me, I have not been exposed to the musical influences referenced as informing the movie (Frank Sidebottom / Chris Sievey, Daniel Johnston, Captain Beefheart), save for what was revealed to me in interviews with the cast and crew. While this contextual information is fascinating, I do not feel it is essential to one’s enjoyment of the film. Rather purposely, the filmmakers, including co-writers Jon Ronson (screenplay for Frank is based on his memoir) and Peter Straughan, seemed to have taken the source material and broadened it out to not only explore the characters but to also take a look at other themes such as artistry, mental illness and their intersection.

I could not let it pass without briefly mentioning the music in the film. Everyone is actually playing their instruments and singing their songs (rounding out the band are professional musicians: Carla Azar on drums, and French actor/musician Francois Civil on bass). According to the press notes, the music performed was recorded live; that is quite an achievement. But, as for the actual sound? I will leave it up to you to decide how to classify it. But heed what director Abrahamson said during the post screening session – it is neither good nor bad. To intentionally make the band horrible, he continues, would be rather cliche. I tend to agree. Personally, I like to think that the musical sound resides in some abstract, obscure place.

So like I said in the beginning, Frank is not a film for everyone. From the offbeat presentation, to the music and the dramatic turn in the closing stages of the film, this may be a bridge too far from some moviegoers. Which is fine, but know that you are potentially missing out on a film that may surprise you in its ability to entertain you.

frank2

Frank opens today (August 15th 2014).

Photo Credit: Magnolia Pictures

I must admit that I did not go into this Won’t Back Down with the highest of expectations and unfortunately, that target was met. What I suppose was to be a powerful statement on the current state of the education system had a decidedly afterschool special feel to it.

Inspired by ‘actual events’ the story goes a little something like this: a hard-working, dedicated single mom in Pittsburgh, PA (Maggie Gyllenhaal) whose daughter has dyslexia. The school she is currently in is essentially a poorly managed holding cell that has no intention of providing the resources that her daughter needs, not to ay anything for providing a basic education for her or any of the students. Elsewhere in the school you have a teacher (Viola Davis) from the same school who has her own obstacles to overcome – among them: fighting her own apathy at her present vocation, dealing with her own child (who may or may not have learning disabilities) and marriage hanging on by the narrowest of threads.

After the hopes of reaching the Utopia of a charter school where there are too few spots available there is the “just in time” revelation that there exists “parent trigger laws” that essentially permits parents (with the support of the community and a majority of teachers) in a failing school to take it over. After some back and forth, our heroines decide to join forces and now we have the perfect recipe for a fight-the-system story that takes all of its characters on a “journey,’ the end of which is a catalyst for change. I guess that is the point anyway – to leave its audience inspired. I felt anything but inspired; I felt this was an insincere attempt to manipulate my emotions. This is not even to speak of the film’s thinly veiled political message.

It all begins with the statement on the film’s official website:

Putting aside partisan divides and political agendas, WON’T BACK DOWN takes a raw and unflinching look at the current state of our country’s education system, and provides an optimistic and actionable point of view for parents, teachers, and community activists alike.

What it appears we have here is a classic case of “the lady doth protest too much.” The story DOES have a strong statement to make, if not an outright agenda, concerning teachers’ unions as stalwarts of the status quo. There is one particularly vile portrayal of a teacher who shops on an online website while her students run amok and terrorize Gyllenhaal’s daughter. In more than one instance, this teacher even seems complicit in giving the unfortunate girl a hard time.

Putting politics aside (please), as far as the acting is concerned, Viola Davis, for all of her acting prowess , turns in what has become her standard solid performance. She really does the best she can with the material. For her part, Maggie Gyllenhaal is also making the best out of a clichéd and hokey script.

In the end, given the current state of education in this country, I imagine that there are many stories out there to be told – indeed, some of them are probably even destined for the silver screen. Hopefully, these future tales will spin a more balanced and naturally uplifting narrative.

Frank (2014), directed by Lenny Abrahamson

A Quick Reaction To “Won’t Back Down” (2012)