Yes, No, Maybe So: "Extremely Loud..."

A full disclosure before we begin with this one, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. It's the supposedly Oscar Baity story of a precocious young boy in the wake of the 9/11 tragedy, reeling from the loss of his father and roaming the streets of New York City. I have not read the novel that it's based on so the only story I know is what the trailer gives me. In fact, I've never read anything by Jonathan Safron Foer though I really meant to read Everything is Illuminated back when it was the only book I ever saw people reading on the subway. (I miss the days where you had eyeball proof what books were hot; everyone just reads Kindles or IPads on the subway now so the visual hive mind is no longer illuminated. Sigh). 

Introducing... Thomas Horn

Finally, I am generally emotionally resistant to 9/11 narratives because most of them cheapen the actual memories of that day or 'reduce them to anecdotes' as Ouisa Kittredge might say.  To me ... I should add, even though it's implicit in all opinion-pieces, because I get that we all respond to button-pushing shared histories differently.

So take the following for what it's worthy as we break down the trailer in our usual "do we want a ticket?" way:

YES -reasons the trailer illuminates for wanting to see it right now.
NO - things the trailer makes us nervous about.
MAYBE SO - things that leave us uncertain or seem like they could go either way.

HERE WE GO...

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Take Three: Max von Sydow

Craig (from Dark Eye Socket) here with another Take Three. Today: Max von Sydow

Take One: Hour of the Wolf (1968)
It goes without saying, of course, that a von Sydow Take Three wouldn’t feel right unless one of them was an Ingmar Bergman film. All three could’ve been, but the aim is to err on the side of variety whenever possible. They made 11 films together: The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, The Magician, The Virgin Spring, Through a Glass Darkly, Winter Light, Shame and The Passion of Anna are all classics. But Hour of the Wolf, in which von Sydow plays a painter losing his grip on his sanity, doesn’t always get the high mention it deserves. It contains some of von Sydow’s best work in any film, for any director.

With his handsomely regal face, von Sydow boldly dominates the film. His sinisterly unhinged stillness and almost unreadable presence cement the notion that he’s a tormented artist uncertain of his place in the world. He's visited by people, possibly demons in human disguise, who embody his trauma, his shame. In a possibly imagined, probably symbolic, but definitely surreal dinner scene von Sydow’s deathly wan countenance crumples in extreme close-up. His mind seems to deteriorate due to the inane banter of the chattering souls surrounding him. (No one said Bergman’s personal parables were cheery.) Von Sydow masters depression and disgust like breathing and underplays his scenes like a covert pro. With complete skill von Sydow does as much as an actor can to attempt to place the viewer inside his character’s brain.

Take Two: The Exorcist (1973)
I don’t think it’s via Jeez himself, but, Christ!, the power of character acting compels me... to write about Father Lankester Merrin in The Exorcist for this Take.

Demonic Possession and Demonic Behavior after the jump

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