This is what I like to see with big budget films, something different, with a distinctive voice and vision and some depth and thoughtfulness behind it, it’s such a shame that it’s not doing better in the box office. It’s the first film I’ve seen by James Gray and after the first trailer selling it as more of a mindless action blockbuster, it hadn’t really been on my radar til recently, which also meant I went in with very few expectations which is rare for me and so wonderful. It’s not a perfect film by any means, but it’s striking, thought provoking, unique and just a breath of fresh air.
The film centres around Brad Pitt’s character Roy as he travels to the farthest reaches of explored space to confront his father and the emotional issues he has after being essentially abandoned for a space mission. When I say it centres around Roy, I really mean it, I don’t think there are any other characters who have even 10 minutes of screen time, this is Brad Pitt’s film and he holds it together with the stunning expertise that only an actor with his experience could. His performance is really so wonderful and in contrast with this year’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, should show anyone who didn’t already know, just how fantastic and diverse he is as an actor. He spends large amounts of the film on his own as the narrative explores the emotional solitude of a certain kind of masculinity, Pitt delivers an incredibly subtle, nuanced performance with incredible detail, just watch his eyes and the way he manages to ever so slightly move or hold his eyelids, slight creaks in the voice, it’s just brilliant. He’s also frequently in close ups, sometimes as tight as just being his nose and eyes, then when you consider that he’s doing this in a special effects heavy film, simulating zero gravity and maintaining an emotional reality without giving too much away, it’s even more impressive.
The film does rely on voice over narration wherein Roy’s thoughts are telegraphed directly to the audience which is a device I really don’t like generally and took some getting used to. However, in a film with Pitt occupying the screen on his own so much, it was likely the only way to keep the audience engaged whilst allowing Pitt to give such an interior performance, it often contrasted what Roy said in his emotional stability testing giving a nice texture to those scenes. This narrative style gave the film quite a book-like feel, I never fell in love with it, but I did get used to it.
Where this film really excels is in it’s craft, Production Designer Kevin Thompson creates a grounded, entirely plausible vision of the future and space colonisation. We don’t get to see a huge amount of the extra terrestrial settlements but they feel so real and tell us everything we need to know, that we’re just going to do the same things we do here on earth on the moon. We see the moon as a cold, commercial vision with neon signs and big brands, the Mars base is military so doesn’t have that same character but the design offers up a new perspective on the desirability of off world settlements, particularly in regards to Ruth Negga’s character. The planets and space shuttles each have distinct character, communicated very well through colour and design and shot beautifully by Hoyte van Hoytema with a grounded approach to colour that feels reminiscent of his work on Dunkirk (I don’t know all the terminology to express this properly). It’s a visually stunning film from beginning to end and it’s bolstered by an unobtrusive but atmospheric and emotional score by Max Richter. I had no idea going in that Hoyte van Hoytema or Max Richter were involved so it was a wonderful surprise that two of my favourite creative in those fields were working together to such great effect.
There are a couple of action sequences which work nicely to break up the pacing of the film whilst never feeling tonally incongruous. The moon rover chase scene is fantastic and feels plausible even if it lacks any clear motivation from the attacking party, then there areone or two other scenes not in the trailer that I wont go in to, one evoking Alien in, again a plausible way which would sound silly on paper. The climactic sequences, I will admit, are completely ridiculous from a scientific perspective, I don’t know much about science but you don’t need to know much to realise how implausible some of it is. But by that point, I didn’t really feel it mattered, I was emotionally engaged in Roy and his journey and frankly, I didn’t come to the film for a realistic depiction of space travel. Film is an expressive medium which is very rarely ‘naturalistic’ and this was a ruminative, quite poetic film which was more a study of a character, masculinity and the endeavors of human progress, if the film needed to take some leaps to deliver it’s thematic messages, that’s fine by me.
This is a really wonderful big screen experience, I don’t agree that all films are born for, or better for being on the big screen, but one with these visuals certainly is. It’s thoughtful and meditative but also very accessible thanks to the narration and a script that isn’t overly subtle. Brad Pitt is truly extraordinary and the supporting players are all strong in their limited screen time. This is what I would like to see more of in big budget film making, even if it isn’t perfect and I’m sure a fair few people won’t like it, I know a couple who hated it, it’s distinctive and different and all the more exciting for it.
Film Musings 