Middleburg Day 2: "Living", "The Whale", and special guests Stephanie Hsu and Dolly De Leon
Sunday, October 16, 2022 at 10:06PM by Nathaniel R
Modering a Stephanie Hsu Q&A at Middleburg Film Festival
Here's the thing with weekend festivals. They are brutal with either/or decision-making. At the longer festivals you can promise that you'll catch up with a film later (or delude yourself into thinking you can... which has the same effect). At weekend festivals there's often only one chance to see a particular film. And the whole thing can feel over in a flash. I'm typing this on day four, closing day, because I haven't been able to get to it before now. On Day two I wasn't able to squeeze in many movies between one moderation gig (a special screening of Everything Everywhere All At Once with Stephanie Hsu, pictured above) and two sit down interviews but at least both of the movies were must-sees in terms of the Best Actor Oscar race...
Living (2022), a British period drama adapted and condensed from Akira Kurosawa's Ikiru (1952), hasn't made huge waves at any of its festival appearances to date and doesn't open in the US until December 23rd. Nevertheless it would be foolish to count this one out of the Oscar race. As smart awards-fanatics know, Sony Pictures Classics is fairly successful with stealth campaigning. Their films don't tend to generated much online obsession (which leans young, generally speaking) as they tend to be traditional dramas (which skews older, again generally speaking). The specialty distributor is also fond of the last minute or qualifying release. Though they often look like an underdog, they tend to come through with more nominations than people were expecting. Florian Zeller's The Son initially looked like their top horse this year, but given its divisive reception (including here at Middleburg), perhaps their best shot at gold at the 95th Oscars will be Living?
Bill Nighy stars as Mr Williams, a man reeling from a terminal diagnosis in 1950s London. South African director Oliver Hermanus reteams with his gifted cinematographer Jamie Ramsay (they previously made the gay dramas Beauty and Moffie together) and they expertly trade on the pinched stillness and innate drama of Nighy's stony face and slim physique. They frame him in dramatic lighting in a tight aspect ratio but often at a distance until the drama really takes effect and we get closer and closer to Nighy's exquisitely calculated performance. Nighy's tragicomically serious face opens up in slow motion as he allows himself to really feel his life and break old habits in a last minute attempt to make a difference.
Nighy's performance alone would be strong enough to elevate a mediocrity but Living isn't that. (It helps of course to have the bones of a bonafide classic to work from.) The whole of it is beautifully crafted even beyond Nighy and the retro-beauty of the cinematography, shot on film and sometimes looking like a lost film from 50s itself. There's also the memorable score by Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch and fine costume design from the legendary Sandy Powell. The supporting cast is top notch, offering delightful bits of levity or reaction shot intrigue throughout even though none of them beyond Aimee Lou Wood (as the only woman in the office Nighy runs) have a lot to do. Expect at Best Actor nomination for Bill Nighy at the very least. B+
Darren Aronofsky's The Whale also invites you to consider the humanity of a man you might shallowly dismiss with prejudice at first glance. Brendan Fraser stars as Charlie, a severely obese gay man who rarely leaves his couch and needs help from walkers and hanging bars to make it to the bathroom or bed. He teaches online courses, always with his camera off and a lame perpetual excuse about his disembodied voice. His only friend is Liz (Hong Chau, wonderful), a nurse who stops by frequently after her shifts but can't convince him to go to the hospital. They've clearly been having this same fraught conversation for years about his declining health with the same outcome. Charlie and Liz are stuck in a grief loop, neither of them having ever recovered from the death of Charlie's boyfriend years earlier. Because of this statis, the plot and character arcs comes from elsewhere with Charlie's attempt to reconcile with his teenage daughter Ellie (Sadie Sink) as the focal point.
It's interesting that The Whale is Aronofsky's first film since the (mostly) loathed but sensational mother! (2017) and again, he's opted for a story that's entirely set in one home. There's no boldly confrontational allegories this time and also significantly less square footage as if Aronofsky is willfully seeking implosion.
Though all movies are subjective experiences, I would argue that Aronofsky is way too much of a provocateur to commit fully to the kind of sensitivity and empathy this material surely needed to circumvent its parade of immobile trauma. It basically starts with a provocation (masturbation that goes pathetically awry) and in scene after scene it tilts toward confronting you with the "horror" of Charlie's reality. Pity more than empathy felt like the goal, which made it an altogether unpleasant experience.
Fraser's deeply committed performance, leans hard into the same pathos so the film has room for little else. The actor does offer variations, giving us peaks at who Charlie might have been before all this, and one completely endearing moment of levity involving a peak at his daughter's notebook. The film could have used much more of that if it wanted us to see Charlie as a three dimensional human apart from the dimensions of his body. C-
At the Q & A afterward Samuel D Hunter, the writer of both the play and this adaptation, revealed that though it wasn't autobiographical, he drew inspiration from years of being overweight in his 20s and his repressive religious upbringing. While the film is well acted and Fraser is fully committed to breaking your heart, it's been somewhat divisive. Most of the audience seemed enraptured, though. In fact, one man stood to tell Brendan Fraser that it was the 'most emotional performance i've ever seen.'
I myself spoke to two women (not together) after the screening. Both of them self-described as "fat" or "bigger bodied" and they had opposite reactions, one strongly defending the film as "fat-sensitive" and the other sharing my resistance to the film and considering it "fat-phobic". It looks like it will be one of those 'eye of the beholder' films! Can't wait to hear what YOU all think when it opens.
Actresses!
The highlight of my day wasn't the two screenings but time spent, separately, with two of this year's Best Supporting Actress contenders (interviews forthcoming). Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All At Once) and Dolly De Leon (Triangle of Sadness) were both warm, funny, and engaged as interview subjects. Even better they doubled as excited festivalgoers, hitting movies they were curious about just like the rest of us! That's too uncommon with actors who fly in for promotional duties at any festival and sometimes fly right back out. And the very best thing about festivals -- any of them, not just Middleburg -- is watching movies in packed houses and discussing them afterwards at the parties or in line for other screenings.
Dolly De Leon and myself (photographer unknown but thank you!) at the Closing Night Party
Fast forward to the closing night party on Day 3. I reconnected with Dolly de Leon who was even funnier in round two. I teased her about the luxury spa treatment she was planning at the hotel as if she was crossing over to the other side of Triangle of Sadness which made her laugh. As we continued talking over hors d'oeuvres, she revealed that she loves Everything Everywhere All At Once and was nervous to introduce herself to Stephanie Hsu whom she had spotted at dinner. To her delight when she turned around in her chair later in the meal, there was Hsu, crouching down to introduce herself to Dolly! A happy anecdote as well as a fun and important reminder as awards season begins that actors who we tend to think of as "in competition", due to the very nature of awards season and its categories, are often excited to meet and fans of each other's work.
How awesome to have these two amazing Actors together at this years festival!! #StephanieHsu and @DollyEdeLeon #middleburgfilmfestival #mff2022 #10yearsofMFF @triangleofsad @allatoncemovie pic.twitter.com/46afNvSxil
— Middleburg Film Fest (@middleburgfilm) October 15, 2022
Reader Comments (10)
Fact is, campaigning on EEAAO is being quite intelligent. They know they aren't the frontrunner, and that they SHOULDN'T be. They just keep the film and the actors being remembered through the months, they know they already have the love and the passion and only a few really dislike the film, but still warm to the ensemble, specially the good will for Yeoh, Quan and Curtis... they know they could even get 5 acting noms, and are the most logical choice to win Original Screenplay and the 2nd most logical pick for Film Editing (right after Top Gun: Maverick, which is the almost locked winner), and that's half Best Picture in the bag (multiple acting noms,+ Screenplay + strong in Film Editing), even if it snubbed anywhere else, including Director (which would have an Argo effect, if you ask me).
At this point, I would be betting EEAAO may win Best Picture, Lead Actress (Yeoh), Supporting Actor (Quan) and Original Screenplay, with maybe an upset at Film Editing and VFX, along noms for Director, Supporting Actress (Curtis, maybe Hsu as well), and maybe some extra nom at cinematography, make up, costume or production design, maybe even score and song, if they really love it. If EEAAO gets over 10 noms, it's winning BP, for granted. Specially if it pulls off the longshot possibility of earning 5 acting noms.
I think everyone on every blog inc here is underestimating JLC in supporting,to me it's a like Dunst last year,well liked never nominated actor in a multiple nominated film getting their due.
Mr. Ripley79 : oh I hope you're right about Curtis. I currently have her in seventh place but hopefully that'll change.
@MrRipley79-agree, but I think there's the narrative for which she could also win
Nathaniel, you always seem like you are having the BEST time at Middleburg (except for not seeing as many films as you would hope). On my list to attend next year!
Nathaniel, what do you think of Fraser's Oscar prospects?
Re: the comments about Jamie Lee Curtis - it's very easy to see her receive a Globe nod and receive nominations with the highly televised industry awards, regardless of how she does with critics associations and whatnot.
Philip H -- i hate it when things are locked up this early, no matter how good a performance is, but it would be surprising if he lost at this point. Nobody else has a narrative this good tied to a performance that this many people are praising to the rafters.
Pam -- the nostalgia helps at this point. I've been going for so long now. I only wish they would have a party on Friday nights. You can still hang in the resort's bar of course but since the festival is so short they should really do a big party every night.
Michael & Mr Ripley -- i too hope people are underestimating JLC. I love that performance so much and she's so overdue. But it is a comic performance with internal competition AND a film that inhabits two of the genres Oscar likes least (sci-fi/comedy). So we'll see.
By chance is the Q&A with Hsu posted anywhere? Would love to hear it.
See, I actually think Aronofsky was just the right director for The Whale, because he takes the material to extremes that most filmmakers would be too afraid to touch (and I can also see The Whale becoming incredibly corny in the wrong hands). I also credit Aronofsky for Brendan Fraser's raw and emotional performance. It reminds me of the performances he got out of Ellen Burstyn and Natalie Portman, and also Jennifer Lawrence (to hell with the Razzies, I still think that was one of her best performances).
I'm also always weary of calling a film any kind of "phobic" in any absolute sense, partly because of the story you just shared in which you got two different points of view, reminding us all that movies are subjective experiences, but I've also never liked the idea of one character representing all people in a certain group (which is a trap many people, including way too many critics, fall into). Charlie is not supposed to represent all morbidly obese people or all gay obese people. He is one person in a situation that other people are in, but it's unique to him, and he reacts to this situation in his own specific way (based on the playwright's own experiences of being in a similar situation).
So, I'm one of those who loved The Whale and I left the screening I went to overwhelmed in a way that only a Darren Aronofsky film can overwhelm me, and I welcome that.
Richter Scale - Beautifully put. It's a single human's journey. It's going to resonate with some, and not with others. That's okay.
The Whale is still my most highly anticipated film of the year. I love Aronofsky's boldness as a director - I find it to be similar to someone like Lee Daniels. It might not always be "successful" in the eyes of others, but he's gonna go for it regardless.
Excited to see what Brendan Fraser did under Aronofsky's eye.