Tag: period

AMSTERDAM – Review

(L-R): Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, and John David Washington in 20th Century Studios’ AMSTERDAM. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Director/writer David O. Russell’s AMSTERDAM features a dazzling cast in a period mystery/adventure tale in which three friends, bound by a pact made during World War I, embark on a wild adventure set in 1930s New York, to solve a mystery involving murder, a secret organization, and a possible plot against America.

There really was such a plot, which is among the many historical tidbits woven into this adventure tale, that has big doses of humor and romance as well. AMSTERDAM’s story brings to mind the classic Hollywood mystery adventure tales of the 1930s or 1940s, like CASABLANCA, or early Alfred Hitchcock or maybe a spy-thriller starring Humphrey Bogart. Even though this film is not in black and white, in another sense, it kind of is. Not only is a Black man one of the main characters but the story deals with those marginalized in early 20th century America, including Black Americans and the forgotten disabled veterans of the Great War (as WWI was first known), both of which must battle an entrenched power structure of the white, wealthy and well-connected.

But, at the heart of it, AMSTERDAM is really a film about friendship – the kind of deep enduring friendship we all hope to have, a friendship forged between the trio at the center of this tale by the horrors of WWI and idyllic post-war days in Amsterdam. Most of the story takes place in 1930s New York, during the Great Depression, but there is an extended flashback to post-WWI Amsterdam, with the rising prosperity and creative freedom of the 1920s and free from the Jim Crow attitudes back in America. After the war, many real Black Americans stayed behind in Europe to enjoy that freedom.

There are three friends at the center of this tale but mostly the story is told by one of them, Dr. Burt Berendsen, a slightly offbeat character played with wonderful appeal by Christian Bale.

The three met during WWI, although we don’t know that until a flashback a bit into the film. Christian Bale plays Burt Berendsen, a compassionate half-Jewish doctor in New York who tries to help forgotten, disfigured veterans of WWI, some of whom lost a eye as he did or grapple with pain and morphine addiction as he has. Dr. Berendsen works with his closest friend and lawyer, Harold Woodman (John David Washington), a soft-spoken, well-dressed Black graduate of Columbia Law School who is committed to helping the powerless. The two share a commitment to doing good in their work and a pact they made in WWI to always have each others backs, as well as sad romantic histories. Berendsen is separated from the wife he still loves, Beatrice (Andrea Riseborough), the daughter of a prominent 5th Avenue doctor Augustus Vandenheuvel (Casey Biggs). Woodman pines for his lost love, the unconventional nurse/artist Valerie (Margot Robbie) who cared for the wounded soldier pair in a French hospital and escaped with them to an idyll in Amsterdam. The now-vanished Valerie was the third member of their friendship loyalty pact.

David O. Russell has delighted audiences with films like AMERICAN HUSTLE and SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK, films that mix humor with drama or thriller plots, but AMSTERDAM may be his most ambitious yet. Those who saw the trailer for this new film might expect something a little more fast-paced action film than AMSTERDAM actually is (and that 1971 song in that trailer isn’t in this film, although maybe it could have been). AMSTERDAM is more a mystery thriller with a delicious humorous streak and an unexpected underlying warmth. It is funnier and more inspiring than might be expected.

Classic movie fans will notice that AMSTERDAM has strong parallels to the kind of thriller anti-fascist adventure mysteries of the 1930s and early 1940s – the kind with colorful characters, secrets and international plots. The kind of film made during the time period in which most of this film is set, although it starts during WWI, the Great War. You know, the War to End All Wars. And, of course, some of this really happened, as the film tells us at the start.

Actually, there is a surprising amount of real history woven into this fictional story. Saying how much is true might risk spoilers but there really was a fascist plot in the U.S. that was thwarted, and there really was a courageous American general who was part of that. The film’s version of that general is played by Robert De Niro in fine, military ramrod straight, morally-upright style, but the general isn’t the main character. The three main characters, a trio of friends, at the center of this adventure are played by Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, and John David Washington, with supporting roles played by Chris Rock, Anya Taylor-Joy, Taylor Swift, Zoe Saldaña, Rami Malek, Andrea Riseborough, Matthias Schoenaerts, Alessandro Nivola, Timothy Olyphant, Michael Shannon and Mike Myers. Besides the historical mystery at the center of the plot, AMSTERDAM is full of other true-history tidbits in a story ranging from the Great War through the middle of the Great Depression of the 1930s, in a rollicking tale told with humor and humanity.

For those who love movies and mysteries of the ’30s era this film is set in, and even more so if you know those films well, AMSTERDAM has special delights. The immensely charming AMSTERDAM does evoke that kind of feeling of friendships forged in hardship you see in those old movies, but it does so with David O. Russell’s signature sly humor and a bit craziness that is a bit more screwball comedy with moments of Marx Brothers, as well as nods to the present. While it is not as fast-paced as the trailer leads you to expect, it is far funnier and fun, far crazier and surprising, and with more warmth than expected, as well as all those real history references and a wonderful kind of friendship. That latter side is largely thanks to the three leads played so well and with deep feeling by Christian Bale, John David Washington and Margot Robbie.

This film is a classic Hollywood movie buffs’ delight. There is a fair dose of CASABLANCA in AMSTERDAM, including the city name in its title, but in this case, Amsterdam is more like the idyllic memories of Paris in that classic. In other ways, AMSTERDAM is like the early Hitchcock thriller THE 39 STEPS or any number of mid ’30s or early ’40s thrillers, where the hero has to beat a ticking clock to uncover a plot by “5th columnists,” a term for foreign spies with generally fascist plans. This is classic movie stuff, and the more you know about movies of that period, the more references you will get and enjoy.

Besides the many historical and period movie references, AMSTERDAM is filled with gorgeous period sets and details. AMSTERDAM also has fabulous cinematography by the great Emmanuel Lubezki, who effectively evokes the time period and sets the right emotional tones. There is an impressive bit of special effects fairly early on, thanks to visual effects supervisor Allen Maris, which jump-starts the action.

Set in mid-30s New York, we get a taste of the poor and forgotten (as this is still the Great Depression) but like the movies of that time, we spend more time visiting in the world of the wealthy untouched by those hardships. Berendsen’s wife Beatrice and her parents are part of that well-dressed set living in beautiful houses, But when are heroes’ quest takes them to the estate of millionaire Tom Voze (Rami Malik) and his stylish wife Libby (Anya Taylor-Joy), they really find the lap of luxury. They also find a surprise, one of the tale’s many plot twists.

There are plenty of those twists, humor that is either dark or farcical, and one extended flashback which gives us the essential backstory that makes it all work. The large cast come and go in dizzying fashion, with characters who reappear periodically. Among those are Michael Shannon and Mike Myers who play Henry Norcross and Paul Canterbury, a couple of spies who who are also avid birders, even if they tend to cross ethical lines, who have a penchant for speaking in riddles and metaphors – something scriptwriter/director Russell and star Christian Bale have some fun with. Other memorable turns come from Chris Rock, as attorney Woodman’s assistant, who says out loud the kind of things other Black characters might be thinking, about pervasive racism. Another is Zoe Saldana, who is wonderful as an efficient, down-to-earth autopsy nurse, Irma St. Clair, who sparks long-buried feelings in Berendsen. Matthias Schoenaerts plays a police detective, another veteran, while his clumsy, hot-headed non-veteran partner Detective Hiltz (Alessandro Nivola) rails against mocking by the veterans.

There is so much to enjoy in this entertaining, inspiring, heart-warming, history-themed adventure. AMSTERDAM packs so much in, that it may be too much for some audiences members who may become overwhelmed or even bit confused. History buffs and classic movie fans will most enjoy this big-hearted adventure, but anyone can if they are open to its message of friendship and loyalty. There is a bit of AMERICAN HUSTLE in this film, with its mix of true story facts and a personal story, but this one is bigger and better, and with a more wholesome, inspiring, patriotic and human message, even a freedom-loving, small-d democratic one.

AMSTERDAM opens Friday, Oct. 7, in theaters.

WONDERSTRUCK – Review

Millicent Simmonds as Rose in WONDERSTRUCK. Photo credit: Myles Aronowitz. Courtesy of Amazon Studios and Roadside Attractions ©

WONDERSTRUCK is a beautiful clockwork creation filled with intricate, delicate details, but a film where the parts are greater than the sum of the whole. Like an elaborate cuckoo clock or a old-fashioned doll’s house, it is packed to the roof with little flourishes and charmingly magical images that matter more than the story they are decorating.

Director Todd Haynes’ mystery/drama is divided into two stories of runaway children on a quest, one set in the 1920s and the other in the 1970s, but both taking place in New York and often in the same locations. In this adaptation of Brian Selznick’s young adult novel, the two children have their own mysteries to solve but the additional mystery is what links their two stories besides location. Brian Selznick, who also wrote this screenplay, wrote the novel that was the basis of Martin Scorsese’s film HUGO, and this story also has a little of the same child’s magical-world feel and sense of wonder.

The 1920s story, presented as a black-and-white silent movie, tells the story of Rose (Millicent Simmons), a 12-year-old deaf girl who seems obsessed with a famous silent movie star Lillian Mayhew (Julianne Moore), pasting clippings about her from fan magazines into a scrapbook. After a confrontation with her stern father (James Urbaniak), Rose runs away from her comfortable but confining suburban New Jersey home to look for the actress in New York, where she is starring in a play at a Manhattan theater. In the 1970s story, ten-year-old Ben (Oakes Fegley) runs away from his rural Minnesota home after the death of his mother (Michelle Williams) and following a freak accident that left him deaf, in search of the father he never knew, a quest that also takes him to New York.

The film alternates between the two children’s journeys, which have several parallels. Both Rose and Ben are lonely and are dreamers seeking something more in their lives. Each child’s search takes them to some of the same Manhattan locations, particularly the American Museum of Natural History. Both characters are deaf but neither knows sign language, so navigating the city alone is particularly fraught, yet both find allies along the way. The parallel stories also both touch on bits of New York history in their time periods.

The silent 1920s story is the stronger of the two by far, thanks in large part to the performance of Millicent Simmons, who is herself deaf, as the spunky Rose. Simmons has remarkable screen presence and has no trouble transmitting critical information visually, through small gestures, posture, expression or even a glance. She conveys a mix of touching lonesomeness, sweetness and determination that is irresistible. Haynes shows impressive skill in silent movie visual storytelling, conveying ideas, feelings and plot points clearly without excessive title cards.

The 1970s story is less effective and less polished as storytelling, although it does a good job of capturing both the gritty feel of New York in the ’70s and the charm of an old corner bookstore. Oakes Fegley does a good job with his role as Ben but the plot is far more clunky in the 1970s story. The plot is packed with details and seemingly-meaningful iconography (paper boats, Ziggy Stardust, shooting stars) that ultimately lead nowhere. Several scenes, particularly between him and Jaden Michael as a boy who befriends him, seem contrived and force the young actors into unconvincing dialog and moments that do not feel true. The fault is not in the young actors but an awkward script and direction that seems more intent on hurrying along to the next visual wonder.

 

A story featuring deaf children is a welcome thing. The film does offer a bit of history and some advocacy for the deaf. The stronger 1920s silent movie story highlights how deaf people were treated in an earlier era, shut off from society and isolated, even in an affluent family like Rose’s. The film also touches on the fight for advances like the transition from lip-reading to the use of sign-language, and continues that thread into the story that takes place 50 years later, showing changes in the lives of deaf people.

As worthy as that is, the plot of the stories themselves are not the strongest (although the 1920s story is much better than the overstuffed, less-believable 1970s story) and the mysteries they pose are not very hard to figure out. But it does not matter much, as the plots mostly exist as a vehicle for a little focus on the deaf, and as an excuse to explore little historical tidbits and to immerse the audience in the time periods.

The major appeal of WONDERSTUCK is likely its intricate, delicate beauty, the studiously accurate period recreations and all the lavish little historic details embedded in the beautifully photographed images. Story definitely takes a backseat in this very pretty film, filled with a history buff’s banquet of near-forgotten bits of New York history. Among the historic delights are a museum exhibition on the pre-cursor to museums, the cabinet of curiosities, displayed at the American Museum of Natural History, a room-filling model of Manhattan created for a World’s Fair and preserved in the 1970s, and even the 1970s blackout.

There is a precious, doll-house feel to much of the movie, as lovely as it is and as worthy as the social commentary is. Haynes seems to be reaching for Wes Anderson charm and whimsy but doesn’t quite achieve it. Still, it is lovely to look at, and the little bits of history are delightful.

WONDERSTRUCK offers a myriad of visual delights and a complete immersion in two time periods, but it is more a tour of wondrous sights than great storytelling.

RATING: 3 out of 5 stars