FILM REVIEW: MY LIFE DIRECTED BY NICHOLAS WINDING REFN By: Faiz No comments

A scene from My Life Directed by Nicholas Winding Refn.

Cohabitation fixation

By Don Simpson

 

A filmmaker’s significant other not only has unbridled access to their personal life, but they also have a unique perspective on the filmmaker’s personality and psyche; so, as we watch Liv Corfixen’s My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, we learn that the title of the “behind-the-scenes” documentary by Refn’s wife has a multitude of meanings. Though My Life Directed by Nicholas Winding Refn may seem like an everyday documentary about a filmmaker contending with the pressures following a critical and commercial success, that description surely does not do Corfixen’s film the justice it deserves.

 

Refn’s critical and commercial success, of course, was Drive, which obviously makes My Life Directed by Nicholas Winding Refn “about” the film which followed Drive, Only God Forgives. We all know the fate of Only God Forgives — only a handful of critics recognized the auteurial genius, while everyone else trashed it with reckless abandon. Judging from Corfixen’s documentary, the fate of Only God Forgives was essentially predetermined. Utterly terrified of failure, Refn is deathly nervous about his new production; his Kubrickian obsession with perfection certainly does not help.

 

In one of the infinite risks that Refn takes throughout Only God Forgives‘ production, Refn drags his family to Bangkok for six months. As it turns out, this is just the tip of the iceberg of Refn’s domineering tendencies. Sure, My Life Directed by Nicholas Winding Refn reveals Refn as a committed family man who dedicates time to entertain his children and speak lovingly with his wife, but the unblinking eye of Corfixen’s ever-vigilant camera also reveals a more menacing side to Refn’s persona. Do not worry, Refn is never abusive, yet he does become overly fixated on success, leaving his family by the waste side. This is precisely where Corfixen’s oh-so-personal view of her subject really takes hold.

 

Although Refn is the one who initially directs Corfixen to reveal herself (via a mirror image) as the person behind the camera, Corfixen’s presence becomes increasingly apparent as their marriage is impacted by Refn’s behavior. With telling facial expressions aimed directly at the eye of Corfixen’s lens, Ryan Gosling has no qualms about slyly criticizing Refn as he rambles on about how Only God Forgives‘ build up of violence relates to sex. Gosling presumably knows that Refn is clearly off his rocker, he just wants to make sure that Corfixen understands this as well.

 

Corfixen becomes the innocent victim of her husband’s creative risks and egotistical desire; all the while, My Life Directed by Nicholas Winding Refn showcases Corfixen as the obliging and supportive wife, who heroically contends with her husband’s depression and violent outbursts…because that it is precisely what the wives of artists do, right? In the end, Corfixen serves as Refn’s voice of reason.

 

That is not to say that Refn is a total bad guy. My Life Directed by Nicholas Winding Refnalso provides a more forgiving perspective in which to view Only God Forgives. It is hard to deny that the hope of this documentary is to shed a light upon Refn’s genius, no matter how flawed it is. The aforementioned comparison to Kubrick’s drive for perfection is by no means an exaggeration. Refn himself deems Only God Forgives to be a failure, but only because it is not absolutely perfect. Maybe Refn has not learned that absolute perfection is a very rare commodity in the realm of cinema?  

FILM REVIEW: THE IDES OF MARCH By: Faiz No comments

A scene from The Ides of March.

Liberal light

By Don Simpson

A wise man -- a Shakespearean soothsayer, no less -- once warned "beware the ides of March" and writer-director George Clooney co-opts this infamous quote from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar presumably to emphasize (or warn us thereof) the overtly-dramatized events of his film. Clooney could have retained the title of Beau Willimon’s source play, Farragut North, but what fun would that have been?

Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling), a 30-year-old political campaign strategist, has swallowed the proverbial purple Kool Aid of "change" being served up by a progressively-minded idealist whose seemingly uncompromising platform makes President Obama look like a centrist. The mythical Pennsylvania Governor Mike Morris (Clooney) is nothing short of a liberal's wet dream candidate for the United States presidency. He is staunchly pro-choice, pro-same sex marriage and anti-capital punishment; he wants the United States to be completely weened from oil dependency within 10 years, not only to save the environment and jump-start the national economy, but to inflict more damage to foreign terrorists than any military action could possibly wield; he advocates for mandatory national service for high school graduates, which he offsets with free college tuition and health care for all. He even refuses to commit to a religious ideology (his religion: the blessed Constitution of the United States); and the state he currently governs boasts a balanced budget! Hey, Stephen! Don't Bogart the Kool Aid! I wanna chug some too!

The other players (and pawns) of this Shakespearean drama include: Governor Morris' campaign manager, Paul Zara (Philip Seymour Hoffman); a seductive young intern, Molly (Evan Rachel Wood); Governor Morris' opponent, Senator Pullman (Michael Mantell); Senator Pullman's campaign manager, Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti); and New York Times reporter, Ida (Marisa Tomei).

Set in a fictional and unspecified time period in which the United States finds itself in a situation somewhat similar to the 2008 presidential campaign (and the campaign poster for Governor Morris bears a remarkable resemblance to the Barak Obama Hope poster designed by Shepard Fairey), The Ides of March does not discuss the politics of whoever the sitting president is; and besides a fleeting mention of an attempt by Republicans to influence the polls in key primary elections in order to get the weaker Democrat candidate nominated, the G.O.P. is rarely mentioned. Heck, even Senator Pullman warrants less than a minute or two of screen time.

Other than some stump speeches by Governor Morris, The Ides of March seems almost apolitical. Also, in choosing to place the narrative during a fictional time period, Clooney drains the story of any political oomph that it might have otherwise possessed. The Ides of March may be a strong (though incredibly traditional) political thriller with an unfathomably talented pool of thespians, but the film is rendered inconsequential and pointless. The only truly cutting political soliloquy is when Governor Morris addresses a question regarding whether he would still oppose the death penalty even if his own wife were murdered (a clever reference to a similar question posed to Michael Dukakis by moderator Bernard Shaw during the October 13, 1988 Presidential debate).

The Ides of March reinforces the belief that politics is nothing more than a dirty game of chess ("get down in the mud with the fucking elephants!"), with players and pawns doing dizzying Dosados as the relentless manipulation and backstabbing causes roles to change in a near-endless series of contrived plot twists that would cause even Shakespeare himself to blush with embarrassment. Compromises are necessary -- so are sex scandals -- and that just means that it is impossible for anyone in politics to remain ethically pure. It all boils down to Clooney's two recommendations for those of you who are interested in entering politics: Beware the ides of March and do not fuck the interns.