Film Review - White Bird in a Blizzard (2014)

Genre:
Drama, Mystery
Distributor:
Altitude Film Entertainment
Release Date:
6th March 2015 (UK Cinema)
16th March 2015 (UK DVD)
Rating: 15
Director:
Greg Araki
Cast:
Shailene Woodley, eva green, Christopher Meloni, Thomas Jane, Gabourey Sidibe, shiloh fernandez, Angela Bassett
Buy:White Bird In A Blizzard [DVD]
Gregg Araki is a director who I have a love it/hate it thing with. He started out being one of the founders of “New Queer Cinema” of the ‘90s, making these bisexual teen comedies that have great soundtracks full of shoegaze goodness, with a slightly trippy nature. However his greatest flaw was always the film’s ending, they always seemed rushed or haphazard.

Things changed when he made the out and out masterpiece Mysterious Skin starring a very young Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It was strange, surreal, daring, and finally had an ending that was totally satisfying. He followed it up with the more conventional Smiley, and the enjoyable but deeply flawed attempt to get back to his earlier films Kaboom. This brings us up to his latest film White Bird in a Blizzard.

White Bird in a Blizzard is by far the closest in tone to his undisputed masterpiece Mysterious Skin. Both are mysteries based on novels, which might be why both films have a satisfying beginning, middle and end. It’s about a teenage girl Katrina Connors (Shailene Woodley) whose “perfect” suburban housewife mother, simply disappears one day and is never seen again. The rest of the film is her coming of age and dealing with the disappearance.

The tone of the film is a mixture of Sirkian melodrama and David Lynch strangeness. The lead performance by Shailene Woodley is attempting to channel Winona Ryder circa Heathers, but as my girlfriend said it was more shoegaze Lindsay Lohan which is not necessarily a problem. Eva Green goes full Mommie Dearest as the mother and is one of the best performances she has ever given. To add to the Lynchian connection, Sheryl Lee plays the father’s new girlfriend and it took me two viewings to recognize her.

I have to admit I had pretty much given up on Gregg Araki after Kaboom, coming to the conclusion he will never get back to the filmmaking of Mysterious Skin. I was pleasantly surprised with what he did with White Bird in a Blizzard. It has a twist you won’t see coming from a mile away, and an absolutely fantastic 80s soundtrack full of New Order, Cocteau Twin, The Jesus & Mary Chain, The Psychedelic Furs, Echo & the Bunnymen and The Cure among many others.

★★★★
Ian Schultz

EIFF 2013 - The East Review

You would think a film like The East that details the work of anarchic environmental activists would make a thrilling watch, but unfortunately Zal Batmanglij's film squanders its original and simple premise through a series of crippling misfires.

With a screenplay from lead-actress Brit Marling and Batmanglij, The East details an operative (Marling) from an elite intelligence firm infiltrating an anarchist group who are targeting large corporations. However, her allegiances are challenged as she grows closer to this group of eco-terrorists who call themselves The East.

The East opens with a chilling sequence of crude oil pouring through the vents of a CEO's luxurious home after it's revealed he disposed of thousands of litres of the stuff in American waters. Batmanglij suggests that this will be a dark, subversive piece that sets out to readdress the balance between corporations and those that their greed hurts. Unfortunately excluding one other set piece (when The East elaborately poison executives with their own deadly painkiller) - we rarely see this happen. Instead Batmanglij's screenplay focuses on operative Sarah's growing relationship with the anarchists.

Despite this focus on relationships within The East, we never feel truly intimate or engaged by Sarah or the group. Instead the anarchists feel glazed over caricatures of eco-hipsters - they raid trash cans, feed each other, and jig to folk music, and there is little more to them than that. The screenplay is packed with a variety of inconsistencies like how Sarah could so easily be accepted in a well-established anarchist group or how a corporation could legally sell a drug that damages of the functions of everyone who takes it.

As for the implausible scenes involving the take-down of these corporations, they lack the excitement and drive that this film so sorely needed to kick it up a gear. The pace of Batmanglij's film remains slow, verging on downright tedious - episodes of ABC's Revenge showcase far more originality and tension whilst tackling the similar theme of corrupt corporation takedown (fans may remember Emily's take down of Bill Harmon's investment firm in the first season). This is particularly disappointing as The East boasts such a fantastic initial premise.

The performances also feel equally uneven with Brit Marling faring the worst. Despite previously shining in Arbitrage, Marling's performance feels flat here with the actress failing to display the range that this part needs. Sarah's draw towards The East despite her loyalty to her employers should have showcased an emotional struggle for the character, but Sarah simply seems impartial and unengaged by all of the events that surround her. The equally talented Ellen Page also appears squandered in a role that can simply be described as a whining brat.

On the positive side, both Alexander Skarsgard and Patricia Clarkson are excellent. Skarsgard displays a natural charisma and magnetism, whilst Clarkson packs an icy bite into the role of intelligence honcho Sharon.

Despite initially promising an exciting and subversive concept, The East is simply a flat and tedious look at the lives of unlikeable eco-hipsters that fails to showcase the readdressing of the balance of power between the social classes. It appears greed really is good.

★★☆☆☆

Andrew McArthur

Stars: Brit Marling, Alexander Skarsgard , Patricia Clarkson, Toby Kebbell, Shiloh Fernandez
Director: Zal Batmanglij
Release: 20th June, 23rd June 2013 (EIFF),28th June 2013 (UK Cinema)
Rating: 15

SKATELAND ROLLS INTO THE UK