She Said

 Year:  2022

Director:  Maria Schrader

Screenplay:  Rebecca Lenkiewicz, based on the book She Said by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey

Starring:  Carey Mulligan, Zoe Kazan, Patricia Clarkson, Andre Braugher, Jennifer Ehle, Samantha Morton, Ashley Judd

Running Time:  129 minutes

Genre:  Drama

In 2017, New York Times journalists Jodi Kantor (Kazan) and Megan Twohey (Mulligan) investigate allegations by actresses Rose McGowan, Gwyneth Paltrow and Ashley Judd against powerful film producer Harvey Weinstein.  As they investigate the claims, Kantor and Twohey uncover a history of abuse by Weinstein stretching back decades, against numerous women.

When allegations against film producer Harvey Weinstein, co-founder and one time head of Miramax Films, with his brother Bob Weinstein, and later co-head of The Weinstein Company, first hit the headlines in late 2017 it had a seismic impact not just in Hollywood but around the world, helping to ignite the #MeToo movement against sexual abuse and harassment.  Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor, who investigated and reported on the claims for The New York Times, detailed their investigation in the 2019 book She Said.  The world of journalism has always provided a rich source for filmmakers, and the film certainly echoes the classics of the genre, such as All the President's Men (1973) and Spotlight (2015).   However, the film moves away from the some of the cliches of boozy, chain-smoking, fast-talking men, barreling down corridors, shouting, instead the journalists are depicted as hard-working, dedicated, professionals who have full lives outside the newsroom, and we see both Kantor and Twohey at home with their respective young families, and Twohey's struggle with postpartum depression, having recently given birth.  Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan both give strong, empathic performances in the lead roles, and Samantha Morton and Jennifer Ehle give powerful performances as two of Weinstein's victims.  With such a recent, high profile and important case, filmmakers have to perform a very delicate balancing act, between creating a compelling piece of drama, while more importantly not exploiting, or sensationalising the horrific crimes.  The film mostly plays as a docudrama and, wisely, the decision is made not to centre Weinstein, who is only glimpsed once in the film, towards the end and only seen from behind amidst a huddle of people striding through the New York Times building.  Mike Houston provides Weinstein's voice on the phone rasping insults and threats to the journalists.  Weinstein's crimes are not dramatised.  Instead we have victims giving their accounts over images of empty hallways and dishevelled hotel rooms.    At one point a recording of voice recording of Weinstein harassing and threatening Ambra Gutierrez is played.  The film's main issue is that the story is so recent, and has been so well-covered, that most viewers will already be familiar with it all.  However, even while the story may be familiar, and the pacing is sometimes uneven, this is a compassionate and gripping film.  

Zoe Kazan and Carey Mulligan in She Said

Far from the Madding Crowd

 Year of Release:  2015

Director:  Thomas Vinterberg

Screenplay:  David Nicholls, based on the novel Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

Starring:  Carey Mulligan, Matthias Schoenaerts, Michael Sheen, Tom Sturridge, Juno Temple

Running Time:  118 minutes

Genre:  Period drama, romance

Set in the 1870s in rural England, the film tells the story of headstrong Bathsheba Everdene (Mulligan) who inherits her uncle's large farm, despite having no knowledge of farming.  As she works hard to make a success of her new life she attracts the attentions of three men:  Gabriel Oak (Schoenaerts) a shepherd who has fallen on hard times, wealthy landowner William Boldwood (Sheen), and dashing soldier Frank Troy (Sturridge).

I have never read the classic 1874 novel by Thomas Hardy, nor have I seen the 1967 adaptation starring Julie Christie and Terence Stamp, so I can't speak to how faithful or not this adaptation, scripted by novelist David Nicholls, is to it's source.  I am not normally a fan of period dramas, and I tuned into this one without holding out much hope for it, however in the end I really enjoyed it.  Director Thomas Vinterberg is possibly best known for his stripped-down, shot-on-video family drama Festen (1998) but here he embraces the period epic.  The rolling hillsides of the English countryside are beautifully shot.  The passage of time is marked by images of nature to mark each season.  At times the plot feels rushed, even with a two hour running time, and there are a few confusing plot holes, and there are very few surprises (it's pretty clear early on who Bathsheba is going to end up with), and the film is maybe too glossy (Carey Mulligan can come in from a day of working hard in the fields completely immaculate aside from a fetching smudge on the cheek).  However the performances are great.  Tom Sturridge in particular manages to make an otherwise pretty unlikeable character more than a one dimensional cad, and Michael Sheen brings real weight to his performance as the wealthy but lonely landowner, and Matthias Schoenaerts also manages to bring some depth to what could be quite a bland part.  However the film belongs to Carey Mulligan who gives a spirited performance in the lead.  She has a real captivating presence.

It is also surprisingly dark in places, and packs some real emotional heft.  

Matthias Schoenaerts and Carey Mulligan are Far from the Madding Crowd

  

Mudbound

Year of Release:  2016
Director:  Dee Rees
Screenplay:  Dee Rees and Virgil Williams, based on the novel Mudbound by Hillary Jordan
Starring:  Carey Mulligan, Garret Hedlund, Jason Clarke, Jason Mitchell, Mary J. Blige, Jonathan Banks, Rob Morgan, Kelvin Harrison Jr.
Running Time:  134 minutes
Genre:  Period drama

The film follows two families (one white and one black) in rural Mississippi in the years during and immediately after World War II.  Henry McAllan (Clarke) struggles to make a living as a farmer with his unhappy wife, Laura (Mulligan), their two young daughters, and Henry's racist father Pappy (Morgan).  Hap Jackson (Harrison Jr.) is a tenant farmer living with his wife Florence (Blige) and their large family, enduring horrible racism, and dreaming of a better life. 
Henry's brother Jamie (Hedlund) and the Jackson's eldest son, Ronsel (Clarke), join the military to fight in the war.  After the war is over, Jamie and Ronsel return to Mississippi, both suffering from their traumatic experiences overseas, and Ronsel increasingly angry at the racism he is forced to suffer. 

This is a powerful film dealing with themes of racism, poverty and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.  The film takes place over a number of years but it always maintains it's focus on the two families and their struggles, depicting rural Mississippi in powerful detail, while the wartime experiences of Jamie and Ronsel are depicted in brief, vivid sequences.  The cast is fantastic all around, and the film is well directed and beautifully shot (the film's cinematographer, Rachel Morrison, is the first woman to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography).  It's kind of a pity that it is just on Netflix, because it would be incredible on a big screen.  The film deals with powerful themes which are still relevant today, particularly the corrosive effects of racism.  It's an important film and needs to be seen, although it is obviously not a fun time at the movies.  it's deeply troubling, as it should be.

Mary J. Blige and Carey Mulligan in Mudbound     

Inside Llewyn Davis

Year of Release:  2013
Director:  Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
Screenplay: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
Starring:  Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, John Goodman, Garret Hedlund, F. Murray Abraham, Justin Timberlake
Running Time:  105 minutes
Genre:  Drama, dark comedy, period, music

Greenwich Village, New York City, the winter of 1961:  The film charts a week in the life of struggling folk singer Llewyn Davis (Isaac), sleeping wherever anyone will give him a couch for the night, constantly hustling for low-paying gigs or session work and always hoping for an elusive big break.

This is a beautifully dark comedy, following one very bad week for Llewyn Davis, virtually plotless, the film moves from incident to incident as Davis' troubles mount up, although many of them are self-inflicted.  Filmed in muted colours it captures a particular moment in American music, of the folk scene just prior to the emergence of Bob Dylan.  It features a fantastic performance from Oscar Isaac as Llewyn Davis who could easily just be a complete prick.  While Davis is not a particularly likable character, his obnoxious personality alienating friends and strangers alike, he is never unsympathetic, with Isaac being able to convey so much despair and frustration with just a look.  Also the fact that Davis is a good singer, and he could possible make it big if he could get the breaks, but he knows that his break probably will never come, and the fact that often it doesn't matter if someone has talent if they can't catch a break.  Isaac is well supported by other great performances, mot notably from Carey Mulligan (as a fellow folk singer who looks like an angel and sings very sweetly but has a lot of anger which she is not shy about expressing) and John Goodman (as an obnoxious drug addicted jazz musician).  There are a lot of Coen Brothers hallmarks here, with characters being defined by repeated phrases and motifs, and recurring plot elements (such as Llewyn's search for a missing cat, which runs through the film), and it feels almost like a companion piece to A Serious Man  (2009), which has a similar theme of life being like a cosmic joke.  The film also has one of the best soundtracks of recent years.      

Oscar Isaac, Justin Timberlake and Carey Mulligan in Inside Llewyn Davis

Drive

Year of Release:  2011
Director:  Nicolas Winding Refn
Screenplay:  Hossein Amini, based on the novel Drive by James Sallis
Starring:  Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Christina Hendricks, Ron Perlman, Oscar Isaac, Albert Brooks
Running Time:  100 minutes
Genre:  crime, thriller

Ryan Gosling stars as the unnamed Driver, a mechanic and part-time movie stunt driver who occasionally moonlights as a getaway driver.  Living a quiet, solitary existence, his only friend is his employer / manager Shannon (Cranston).  However, the Driver soon finds himself drawn to his neighbor Irene (Mulligan) who lives alone with her son, Benicio (Kaden Leos), her husband, Standard (Isaac), is in jail.  However when Standard is released and forced into taking part in a robbery, the Driver has to take extreme measures to protect Irene and Benicio.

Nicolas Winding Refn is a fantastic visual stylist, and here he turns Los Angeles into a seductive, neon-drenched netherworld.  Despite being set in the present day, the film has a kind of retro, 1980s feel about it, accentuated by Cliff Matinez's pulsating synth score, but the Driver himself could almost be a Western hero, the Clint Eastwood-style Man With No Name.  Certainly, with his silk jacket emblazoned with a scorpion logo on the back, the blank-faced Gosling turns in an iconic performance with very little dialogue, communicating a lot with just a quick look and the twitch of his mouth.

Mostly, this is a slow-moving film, but it is punctuated with sudden bursts of graphic violence (warning:  the violence is pretty shocking, especially as it often erupts so suddenly).  The storyline is fairly predictable, although this isn't really a plot driven film, it's a mood piece.  Also Carey Mulligan really isn't given much to do at all, and the other principal female character, Christina Hendricks' Blanche, has barely any screen-time at all.  However, Bryan Cranston is striking as the always unlucky Shannon.

It may be too slow and too brutal for some, but it is a ride worth taking.

Carey Mulligan and Ryan Gosling in Drive