The New Classics - The Florida Project
Tuesday, October 1, 2019 at 12:00PM Michael C. here. When I started this column I made a rule that anything less than two years old was too recent. So for the season finale let's go with a first round draft pick.
Sean Baker and Willem Dafoe on the set of The Florida Project
Scene: Child Predator
There’s nothing that he can do about it. That’s the guiding principle that drives Willem Dafoe’s Bobby throughout Sean Baker’s heart-rending The Florida Project. He maintains the boundaries he needs to keep up the pretense that he is operating a motel and not a lilac-colored homeless shelter, but we can intuit that he would help more if he could. It’s all in the unnecessary helping of kindness and humor around the edges when he’s laying down the law...
It’s possible that Bobby occasionally indulges in a stray thought about a grand, selfless gesture like adopting one of the wayward children that populate his rundown motel. But experience has tempered that urge. He can do the math. The Florida Project focuses on the troubled mother and daughter pair of Halley and Moonee, but there were pairs like them before this story and there will be more to follow. Better for Bobby to keep his guard up if he doesn’t want to end up clinging to the bottom rung of society with his guests.
There is, however, one unforgettable moment in the film where Bobby can take direct action to fix a problem and the resulting scene reverberates through the rest of the film. I speak of course of the scene where Bobby violently expels a child predator who has creeped onto the motel grounds.
Sean Baker rightfully draws a lot of attention for the emotional content and social commentary of his films, but I think that focus may be causing us to somewhat overlook what a fantastic craftsman he is. Florida Project has an astonishing documentary verisimilitude but that doesn’t mean carelessly filmed or style-less. The sequence with the predator has a precision to it and an escalation that’s thrilling without calling attention to itself in a way that would shatter the realism. I particularly love the way Baker uses blocking to make us feel the shifting power dynamic between the two men, as Dafoe corners and physically intimidates the predator before he does anything overtly threatening. The use of longer takes is also great for building suspense as to when Dafoe’s simmering anger is going to boil over. The simple choreography keeps the shots from being the kind film nerds salivate over - they pretty much walk in a straight line - but it suits the material perfectly.
(And by the by, a round of applause to Carl Bradfield, who is stupendously off-putting as the old child molestor, the epitome of nailing a thankless role.)
But all this is preamble to discussing Dafoe’s powerhouse performance. Even in a career that has already seen its share of pinnacles, this scene is going to get a prominent place in the highlight reel. And it’s not simply the fist-pumping factor of watching Dafoe stick it to this monster, although that’s considerable. Since 2017 I judge a trip to the movies against whether or not it will be more satisfying than staying home and watching the GIF of Dafoe slapping the soda out of that bastard’s hand 500 times in a row.
When we first meet Bobby one can be forgiven for not getting all the fuss about Dafoe’s performance. He appears to have settled on the right note of exasperated patience and called it a day. But watching Dafoe’s practically shaking with rage as he first torments then drives off this creep is to realize how disciplined his performance is in the rest of the film. You can recognize this vein of fury bubbling under the surface in the other scenes and you realize how numb Bobby has had to make himself in order to live with that level of pent up frustration.
There’s a blink and you miss it moment at the end when the authorities show up to take Moonee into foster care. There is nothing Bobby can do to help. It’s awful and there’s no way around it. Bobby can’t chase off problems that are this deep and systemic. He is wandering off to emotionally shut down when he passes Moonee on the stairs. It is the last time he and Moonee will be in the film together though, in a typical show of restraint, Baker doesn’t underline this point. Dafoe simply pats Moonee on the head as she passes by. It lasts barely a second and Moonee doesn’t even notice. But he does it anyway. He can't stop himself from making a gesture of kindness, even if he knows the cost of engaging.
Season 1 of The New Classics
- Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001)
- Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001)
- Sexy Beast (2001)
- Master and Commander (2003)
- Shattered Glass (2003)
- Before Sunset (2004)
- Collateral (2004)
- Eastern Promises (2007)
- Michael Clayton (2007)
- No Country For Old Men (2007)
- Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)
- The Hurt Locker (2009)
- Inglourious Basterds (2009)
- In the Loop (2009)
- I Am Love (2010)
- Meek's Cutoff (2010)
- A Separation (2011)
- Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)
- It's Such a Beautiful Day (2012)
- Blue Ruin (2013)
- 20th Century Women (2016)
- The Florida Project (2017)
Reader Comments (13)
Beautiful movie. Definitely on my Top 3 that year.
It is kind of tragic when the right actor, in the right role, in the right movie, in the right category can't make it.
Wonderfully sensitive observations about a very special film. I didn't think I could love the movie any more than I do but you've actually expanded my appreciation of it. Thank you.
Interesting how some read the moment as an unequivocal act of heroism from Bobby. I felt differently: his violent aggression and instinctual presumption of the man's guilt complicated my identification, rather than strengthened it.
In any case, I think this is a good film but not a great one. A lot of the acting beyond Dafoe felt really affected to me, particularly (sorry!) Brooklynn Prince.
I thought Dafoe was the weakest of the 3 principle actors. Prince and Vinaite were absolutely stunning, the sheer ferocity of Halley's performance and the final scene of Moonee were stunning. The chemistry between those girl's was breathtaking. The firework scene is one of the most subtlety touching scenes of the past decade.
Michael: When you come back for the next season, could you say what the one or two most likely films would be to show up from: 2000, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2014, 2015 and, since this will be two years old when you come back, 2018. Or would you prefer to leave all of that a surprise?
I love this movie lots and this is a wonderful season finale, Michael. I'm always surprised by which scenes you pick for this series.
The Florida Project is my favorite movie of 2017, so thank you very much for including it in your list of new classics. When I saw it in the theater with my brother, he couldn’t help but identify with Willem Dafoe’s character. It made sense since he has a similar occupation. Reading this take on Dafoe’s character now makes me realize just how much I’ve unconsciously become like him through my own personal life experiences with people clinging to the bottom rung of society. You write that experience has tempered his urge to help with a grand, selfless gesture and he’s made himself numb to cope with pent-up frustrations. Funny how it took just two years to call it a classic and the same two years for me to realize I was looking at a skewed vision of my own future. Great writeup of a film that should have gotten so much more love from the Academy.
Sean - Wow. Thank you so much for sharing your perspective.
Vol -
No definite plans but from those years I was toying with In America, The New World, and Two Days One Night
Dafoe should have won for this.
DaFoe is completely wonderful in this. There's a throwaway scene where he chases away some birds that made me love his character so much.
Peggy Sue - I try to remind myself that timing is such a big part of who wins and loses. Shuffle some release dates and Dafoe's a winner.
Ken - Thank you. I appreciate it.
Jonathan - That's an interesting take. One I haven't heard. I think I didn't consider that because his suspicions turn at to be almost certainly correct. The fact that the guy can't account for why he is on the property approaching children doesn't leave a lot of ambiguity from my read of the scene. But now that you point it out, he does march over there ready to rumble from the get go. You are correct that he is to some degree ready to take out his misdirected anger at the children's parents on this man regardless of the man's guilt or innocence.
Fadhil - Yup
Rebecca - So many beautiful little grace notes in the film
Nathaniel - Thank you. And thank you for letting me borrow your platform to run with this idea of mine. I hope you enjoyed this transparent attempt on my part to be included in any Best of the Decade voting that might occur. ; )
I loved this film. Brooklynn Prince was so fun to watch, but I did wish for more Dafoe time in it. Your blog piece articulated his acting choice nuances perfectly, Michael! I loved it, thank you.