Yes No Maybe So: News of the World
Thursday, October 22, 2020 at 11:47AM by Nathaniel R
Suddenly we're feeling quite prophetic in expecting News of the World to receive a multitude of Oscar nominations. Universal has finally given us more than just a film still and the western drama looks exciting and robust. Check out the trailer and Yes No Maybe So after the jump...
Official synopsis:
Five years after the end of the Civil War, Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Hanks), a veteran of three wars, now moves from town to town as a non-fiction storyteller, sharing the news of presidents and queens, glorious feuds, devastating catastrophes, and gripping adventures from the far reaches of the globe.
In the plains of Texas, he crosses paths with Johanna (Helena Zengel, System Crasher), a 10-year-old taken in by the Kiowa people six years earlier and raised as one of their own. Johanna, hostile to a world she’s never experienced, is being returned to her biological aunt and uncle against her will.
YES
• This looks like a great role for Tom Hanks, who is hopefully on an Oscar upswing again post Won't You Be My Neighbor?: paternal, determined, world weary, concerned. The scene by the campfire looks touching.
• Greengrass is a terrific director in terms of sustained tension and danger (United 93, Bourne Ultimatum, Captain Phillips) and William Goldenberg on editing has a similar gift (Insider, Argo, Zero Dark Thirty) which should help a lot with this dangerous journey narrative. That gift for held breath suspense is all over this promising trailer.
• Crafts are looking delicious. Costumes by Mark Bridges (yay), Cinematography by Dariusz Wolski (who inexplicably has never been Oscar-nominated), Production Design by David Crank (a favourite of Paul Thomas Anderson)
NO
• "Introducing... Helena Zengel" - hey no fair. She was already introduced in System Crasher, Germany's Oscar submission last year. She's already an awards nominated actress: European Film Awards Best Actress. We're kidding about this "no" of course. She'll be introduced to English language audiences here.
• This is more about the state of movie theaters right now but this looks like it needs/deserves a huge screen (heavy sigh). Would be a pity if this is watched on laptops from the looks of its expansive vistas and hopefully just as expansive emotions.
MAYBE SO
• What's the supporting cast like or is this just a two-hander? And if so might it be a bit monotonous? The only other character we really get a good look at is Ray McKinnon (fine actor) in sympathetic conversation with Hanks.
• How will this film handle the always touchy subject of racism and mistreatment of indigenous people since the character of Johanna has been raised among them after her family was killed?
What's your enthusiasm level after seeing this trailer?
Reader Comments (16)
In spite of the great deal of craft, I am highly skeptical of this movie based on what the trailer does not show us. We only see brief glimpses of indigenous Americans, will this be another white man's heroic story in the wild west? Is a 12-year-old the only woman in this story? Not every movie needs to be everything to everyone, but this trailer reeks of "been there, done that" a dozen times over (e.g. John Ford's western filmography). Hope they flesh this story out more and that this is simply a narrowly cut trailer.
I've read the book. There are other women in it. The main characters are not indigenous, but the book is based on true stories of white people who do not want to leave the Native American communities they'd been living in.
I think it will be good, but I'm hoping it's great. The trailer gives me reason to hope. It would probably be best viewed on the big screen, but with the way things are going, I'll probably end up seeing this one at home (though not on a laptop).
For anyone who is interested in checking this out I urge you to check out System Crasher which was released earlier in the year on Netflix. It features Helena Zengel the young girl in this film. She is incredible in it and if anyone is unsure whether she can act should check it out. Judging off the trailer it should be the polar opposite as in SC Zengel is a live rocket 100% of the time.
I usually don't "fall" for this kind of movie.
The music so bombastic yet it worked for me. A LOT.
I am literally crying like a baby after this trailer.
It probably say more about the World right now than the film.
But nevertheless this is a definite YES for me.
Trailer feels like The Homesman.
"How will this film handle the always touchy subject of racism and mistreatment of indigenous people since the character of Johanna has been raised among them after her family was killed?"
Well, in the trailer Ton Hanks says that the girl needs to laugh and dream, new memories. This does not bode well for a fair representation of Native Americans (implying she could not do any of those things with them).
Pedro -- except that most white people at the time would have thought that way, right?, especially in the west where the conflicts were so often violent. Not saying its right but if you're doing a history piece it would be weird for people living in 1870 to be progressive about native americans --hell it's 100s of years later and the treatment of indigenous people is still a subject that's barely talked about.
I've been thinking about this a lot lately due to Ryan Murphy's "Hollywood" which I hated so much for its absolute refusal to be honest about history. To pretend that gay people and/or interracial couples could have just been making out in public and declaring their love in 1947 (20+ years before Stonewall and Loving v Virginia) without being jailed / losing their careers / or worse etcetera) struck me as hyper insensititve to brave civil rights pioneers and basic truth. What does dishonesty about history due to our understanding of it I wonder... I imagine this is a topic we'll be dealing with a lot more in art in the next decade or so since there's so much politically minded art nowadays.
Hopefully we still get a good depiction despite any character details that are era appropriate.
I'm a big YES. I'm a sucker for Westerns. I'll throw out every bit of Bechdel wisdom and racial wokeness for a good Western. Van is right -- this reads like John Ford. Therefore YES YES YES.
I could go for it. I'm a sucker for westerns and I do like Paul Greengrass so I might check this out.
best of the trailers we've seen in a while, at least. i was hoping for a sneaky best supporting actress role for mare winningham, but i guess not. tom hanks' acting has been so great this past decade...will be exciting to see him in this.
i hope the ending isn't as obvious as the synopsis and tagline suggest...
Yes:
- Tom Hanks looks he might have a meaty role on his hands once again
- The scenarios, the costumes and the settings look terrific
Maybe so:
- Was this the right actress for the part?
No:
- Exactly what you said in your "Maybe so" last point. And even though it's based on a novel they could've used a great opportunity to showcase a Native American storyline without being barely the background story for the co-lead (as it looks it'll be)
- "I'm the captain?": right in our faces. Ugh...
Tom Hanks working with a very young girl... Hmm.
Philip -- oh no you're not one of those Qanon conspiracy theorists are you? (sigh)
No, and I find it weird that people are so quick to label people just for questioning things. I've definitely heard/read enough to be suspicious. I find everyone in the government and Hollywood to be extremely questionable right now. I'm not one of those people who thinks in "right or left" though, although I know that's how they want us to think based on the media manipulation. So that might be part of why people have trouble accepting that their fav liberal icons could be monsters that prey too (even though Hollywood is literally a place built and run on systemic abuse of humans, mostly women and children). But that's just my two cents, I know that has nothing to do with this post though so I do apologize, but I didn't appreciate the condescending tone when you know I'm a devoted reader and this is my go-to film site. We may only know each other virtually, but I'm a real human being, and I don't think that you would actually project that tone in my direction in person. And maybe I'm just reading it that way in my head. Regardless, this is what I dislike about the internet. (sigh)
Looks boring