Venice Diary #04 - "The Whale" is a major contender
Sunday, September 4, 2022 at 1:00PM by Elisa Giudici
As festival goers, we are always waiting for that moment in which we can clearly perceive a film moving into a territory of absolute excellence, far above the norm. It's a sensation that is rare and powerful, and the only response is to shout superlative and add to the hype. I'm happy to report that the new Darren Aronofsky feature, The Whale, is one of those gigantic achievements...
THE WHALE by Darren Aronovsky
It's our first major contender for the Golden Lion and a strong contender in several Oscar categories, too, further down the road. Both Aronovsky and Brendan Fraser deliver their best work ever, as a director and as an actor, respectively. (Is The Whale really that good? Yes it is. Let's just say that there was audible sobbing around me during the screening.)
Describing the plot and themes of the movie will make it sound small and offputting, in direct contrast to how universal The Whale feels, but here goes. Based on the play of the same name by Samuel D. Hunter, The Whale is a story of a severely obese father who is trying to rebuild his relationship with his teenage daughter. He left her when she was only 8 years-old to follow the love of his life. He is now very ill so he's desperate to connect. His daughter (Sadie Sink), meanwhile isn't eager for the reunion. In fact she's outright cruel in her words and behavior. Though any plot summary will sound too dramatic and unbearably sad, The Whale is a movie full of hope and optimism, and assures us that "no one is incapable of love”.
It doesn't immediately sound like an Aronovsky, right? The director of Mother! and Black Swan manages to turn this overtly static piece -- it is entirely set in one small apartment -- into a dynamic story. He transforms the tale of a man killing himself with food into a narrative about how we can outlive our own worst mistakes and reconnect. A perfect movie, that’s it!
(Though I have never claimed to be an Oscar pundit, I can practically see Fraser holding an Oscar. The Whale is a respectful movie about this man's condition, putting a body we seldom see in movies at the very center of the scene but not using it for shock value. Fraser is phenomenal, not because of the extreme makeup transformation, but because he his performance is so emotionally charged that it's impossible not to connect with him.)
ARGENTINA, 1985 by Santiago Mitre
Santiago Mitre's (The Student, The Summit) new movie resembles a didactic TV movie. It tells the story of how a trial in civil court in (you guessed it) Argentina in1985 was able to put a military dictatorship in jail for crimes against humanity. The movie lacks any complexity, annoyingly intent on dividing good people from the bad, bad, bad ones. For example, it turns the prosecutor Julio Strassera (Ricardo Darín) into a character so charismatic and easy to love that he wins the day even on a comedic level; his lawyer is always ready with a spot-on quip! Should a movie about a huge trial involving systemic torture, rape, violence, and the suppressing of political adversaries be this funny and optimistic ...this easy? I am conflicted about the approach, but we live in such difficult times so perhaps people will be eager for a simple movie without troubling gray areas in which democracy can soundly triumph over a dictatorship.
MASTER GARDENER by Paul Schrader
This is a movie about a gentle gardener (Joel Edgerton) who is directed by his wealthy boss (Sigourney Weaver) to take care of her garden and a troublesome young woman. It is at once strange and utterly familiar as a Schrader. Master Gardener takes the same approach that The Card Counter took with poker, but the result is less effective. Joel Edgerton is no Oscar Isaac, not here at least, so there's much less intensity. On the other hand, the movie is Weaver's show as a suburban queen with jellyfish wallpaper in the living room and a dog named "Porch Dog". Maybe she secretly desires her employee to tend more the literal garden. Schrader is having some fun here. That’s good, for him and us.
I EAT YOUR HEART by Pippo Mezzapesa
Let me introduce you to Elodie, an Italian pop star in the making. She makes her screen debut as an actress in Mezzepesa's mafia drama Ti mangio il cuore. Loosely based on the memories of the first repentant mafioso wife of the Gargano mafia, the film is curiously shot in lavish black and white. That has the effect of glamourizing even violent killings and sheep shit. Everything is visually stunning, starting with the mesmerizing presence of Elodie, whose beauty is truly hypnotic. Mezzapesa knows this -- the coverage of the movie is all about her in the Italian press-- so he and his cinematographer Michele D'Attanasio amp up the beauty. Does she have what it takes to be a good actress? It's perhaps too early to say since this role is perfectly tailored for her. The woman she playes in Ti mangio il cuore shares with the singer/actress the same feminine, sensual, magnetic intensity.
Also...
#1 - Tár, White Noise...
#2 - Bardo False Chronicle of...
#3 - Bones and All, Monica, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
#5 - L'Immensità, Other People's Children, Padre Pio, Love Life
Reader Comments (8)
I must confess I'm apprehensive about THE WHALE. The play on which it's based and even your description of "killing himself with food" and "universal" set off my alarms in unsettling ways. Indeed, I'm not optimistic about the incoming takes throughout awards season. Maybe all that dread is for naught, and Aronofsky's work succeeds where I fear it might fail. Can this provocateur who loves stories of self-destructive obsession avoid anti-fat bias, fatphobia, accidental dehumanization beneath well-intentioned melodrama? Like Sister Aloysius, I have such doubts.
Still, your praise for Fraser is encouraging, as is the general tone of this glowing review. I've been loving your Venice coverage and hope to share your enthusiasm for THE WHALE once I finally see it. I expect the Oscar buzz and potential Venice wins will facilitate its international distribution.
On another note, glad you liked Weaver in the new Schrader, and thank you for introducing me to I EAT YOUR HEART. That film wasn't on my radar, but it is now :)
I am really enjoying these write ups,I have been saying all year Fraser is winning,I don't see anyone else having the narrative and pedigree behind them,please please tell me Sigourney has a chance this year,she has 4 films coming up and one of them has to hit.
Weaver needs to win this Oscar. Fingers crossed.
@Cláudio Alves
I understand your apprehension on this, 100%. I am curious to read other reviews and reflection about the topic of fatness in this movie. I can speak for me and say I found it non explotative or judgemental, but that's me.
I am ready to see opposite take about this because it relies so heavily on powerful, positive emotions that I expect some people annoyed by it (usually I am one of those).
Check some Elodie music (videos) too: Vertigine, Andromeda and Bagno a mezzanotte are a good start! ^-^
So glad you loved The Whale. It is my #1 most anticipated film of the year.
Go get that Oscar Brendan. You deserve it. My father was always a fan of Fraser ever since School Ties. He always wondered what happened to him.
Fraser is one of those rare actors who did it for me. Lovable and handsome in a corn-fed country lunk kind of way, but armed with infinite intelligence. I have been revisiting some of his movies and it is astonishing how good he is with bad material. He's elevated everything he's been in, many times being the only reason to watch.
A note about his weight. He struggled with it throughout his career. He's one of those guys who doesn't need the six-pack abs to be sexy (watch any movie before he got ripped for "George of the Jungle"). But Hollywood is a tricky mistress. Here's hoping for an awards season full of trophies for this underrated and truly appealing actor.
I agree with Elisa’s critical take on the disappointing Argentina, 1985. The film takes an astonishing moment of profound justice and lessens its significance. The movie is an odd mix of Stanley Kramer’s Judgment at Nuremberg and Rob Reiner’s A Few Good Men. I don’t think this film will win the International Film Oscar. I do expect that the inevitable Ryan Murphy English language miniseries adaptation to dominate the Emmys.