Martha Marcy May Marlene

Sad Professor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nP4qqrMj5Q

The title is a bit of tongue twister, but I really like the look of this. I mean, John Hawkes playing some sort of cult-leader? Hell yeah! It was a big hit at Sundance. This year's Winter's Bone, I guess. God knows when we'll get it though.

Warper

This looks good and it as has received very good reviews. Elizabeth Olsen of the Olsen Twins stars in it and she is supposed to give an excellent performance.

Sad Professor

Yeah, it opened today. I can't wait to see it. I'm in work all weekend, so hopefully on Monday.

Not playing in Galway but I did order the American Blu-Ray last night so I should have it in a week or two. Really looking forward to Finially sitting down and watching it.

S.M.B.

i really enjoyed this. Olsen is great. I'm also a bit of a Sarah Paulson fan so I was delighted when I found out she was in this too.

Not sure how many better films I'll see this year.

tim_holsters

The BBC duo on whatever the programme is called were raving about it.

tunguska

Getting good reviews across the board, scored high on rotten tomatoes. Great last two weeks for movies, spoiled for choice, wanna go see something but cant decide between Martha marcey may marlene, The descendants and young adult.

Sad Professor

Yeah there's too many good films out. I also want to see Carnage.

johnny_ultimate

A good period for American films, but was just thinking the other day that there hasn't been many notable foreign films for the last month or two! Maybe it's all the Oscar contenders headbutting each other for attention.

But yeah, really want to see this too. Hopefully tomorrow or Monday!

Woddle

tunguska wrote: »

Getting good reviews across the board, scored high on rotten tomatoes. Great last two weeks for movies, spoiled for choice, wanna go see something but cant decide between Martha marcey may marlene, The descendants and young adult.

Martha.... I watched last night, not sure what I think of it yet, Olsen is stunning, can't help thinking I'm missing something.

Descendants is very over rated and I should have turned it off after 20 mins.

JP Liz V1

John Hawkes is such a great actor, same this was over looked at the Oscars

MissKK

Can't wait to see this movie, more for John Hawkes than anything! But it will be interesting to see Elizabeth Olsen step out of her twin sisters shadow, looks like she could be a promising actress for the future. Also, looking forward to her other movie Silent House.

Sad Professor

Well, I had high expectations for this and I wasn’t disappointed. Thought it was brilliant! Had it come out last year it would easily have made my top 5. I love films like this. Slow, hypnotic, atmospheric, with beautiful widescreen photography and long takes. The editing is superb. I loved how it cut in and out of flashback. At beginning of many scenes you aren’t sure if you are in the past or the present and it really adds to the tension. The sound design is excellent as well.

The film probably frightened me more than any recent horror film, but it isn’t. I guess it’s best described as a psychological thriller. However, it denies you the climax you would expect from a modern thriller. The natural order isn’t restored at the end and you don’t get to walk out feeling safe and satisfied. Instead it ends on a very ambiguous note. Many people will hate this, but it’s bold and seemed in keeping with the rest of the film.

Olsen is quietly captivating in a very difficult role that requires her to say a great deal without ever speaking it. And once again Hawkes exudes violence and danger without having to lift a finger.

This is Durkin’s first film - wow! I can’t wait to see what he does next.

That_Guy

Off to the IFI tonight to see this and can't wait for it.

johnny_ultimate

Really great stuff. Winter's Bone comparisons aren't entirely unwarranted (breakthrough role for a talented female lead, same sense of rural American unease, John Hawkes) but this is very much it's own beast. It's a film that is unusually subtle in the way it conjures up a sense of dread and atmosphere, and pack more of a punch than the single scene where things really escalate. Throwaway lines reinforce and hint at the dark motives of the commune - incidences like the sequence with the gun are highly unpredictable and create a highly volatile atmosphere. Actions are seen but not explicitly commented on by characters, allowing the viewer to make up their own opinion. The soundtrack is cleverly understated but helps keep the constantly uncertain tone going.

It's rare for editing to stand out, but they do a masterful job here. Past and present intertwine beautifully through well-considered jump cuts, which really helps reflect the mind of the trouble protagonist. Reality and Martha's frame of mind are uncomfortable bedfellows, and technically the film consistently reflects this. Olsen (who has the look of a younger Maggie Gyllenhall) is a great choice - a better-known actress simply wouldn't have worked, much like Lawerence in Winter's Bone. It's that mystery and vulnerability that really draws us into her performance.

I'd be nitpicking to find flaws, being honest. The characterisation of the sister and her husband occasionally a felt a little-off - I just felt as if they were being unrealistically cagy at times. Still, their presence is vital - their lifestyle is often as artificial and skewed as the commune, and Martha stuck between two uncomfortable 'realities' is what makes her paranoia and confusion all the more credible.

As for the ending?

I'll admit the penchant of indie American filmmakers for ambiguous endings is wearing thin at this point - Take Shelter and Another Earth being two recent culprits. But here I really think it worked. Martha as a character is constantly destined to be paranoid and suspicious. The narrative is not the film's primary concern - it's her frame of mind that truly matters. And cutting at the moment when that paranoia is at it's most heightened felt like the only honest way for this film to end.

tunguska

Sad Professor wrote: »

I love films like this. Slow, hypnotic, atmospheric, with beautiful widescreen photography and long takes.

Sold. I've heard comparisons with picnic at hanging rock.

Woddle wrote: »

Martha.... I watched last night, not sure what I think of it yet, Olsen is stunning, can't help thinking I'm missing something.

Descendants is very over rated and I should have turned it off after 20 mins.

Saw the descendants the other night and had you asked me straight after, I'd have agreed with you in thinking its over rated. But its grown on me over the last few days, and now I think its pretty great. Not as good as sideways but still top stuff.

delbertgrady

tunguska wrote: »

Sold. I've heard comparisons with Picnic at Hanging Rock.

Hmmm. Approach with caution. Such comparisons are tenuous, at best. Yes, there are many shots of sleeping women and the girls in the cult often all walk around in plain white tops, which I suppose evokes similar imagery to Weir's film, but there the similarities end. I love Picnic at Hanging Rock and I liked MMMM, but don't go expecting a Picnicesque film, 'cos I suspect you'll be disappointed.

I completely agree with Johnny Ultimate's comments about the way the films shifts from past to present. Now that I think of it, that aspect of it is redolent of Once Upon a Time in America in how skilfully such cuts are made. Olsen is excellent. Overall, if I was comparing "indie films with breakout lead roles", I think MMMM is a far superior film to Winter's Bone.

johnny_ultimate

delbertgrady wrote: »

I completely agree with Johnny Ultimate's comments about the way the films shifts from past to present. Now that I think of it, that aspect of it is redolent of Once Upon a Time in America in how skilfully such cuts are made.

One other aspect of that editing I appreciated was how seemingly random events - whether it be sounds on the roof or skinny dipping - took on a far deeper meaning later on through the carefully considered structure. They didn't always follow directly on from each other, either. The relationship between Marlene and Zoe, for example, was only represented in a handful of scattered scenes, but was definitely one of the most interesting dynamics in the film. Revelations weren't commented on, and the audience was left to their own devices to pick up on some of the more subtle parallels between the two interconnected story strands. That the director is so committed to having Marlene unable to effectively communicate her emotions is probably the film's greatest strength.

delbertgrady

Agreed. It's a film that seems even more impressive the more you think about it afterwards.

Sad Professor

In a way it's a mistake to even think of the film as having flashbacks. Past and present are treated as one and the same in the film. It cuts so naturally from one time and place to another that once you get into it you don't even think about it. You're not asking where am I, when am I, etc, because at a certain point you realise that you are inside the mind of the main character and experiencing her reality. And for her, the past is always present. She can't talk about the past because she's still living it. I think this is what's so disturbing and unsettling about the film, and also why the ending was the only way it could have ended.

iguana

Warper wrote: »

This looks good and it as has received very good reviews. Elizabeth Olsen of the Olsen Twins stars in it and she is supposed to give an excellent performance.

Elizabeth Olsen isn't one of the Olsen Twins (who are Mary-Kate and Ashley) she's their younger sister.

Warper

iguana wrote: »

Elizabeth Olsen isn't one of the Olsen Twins (who are Mary-Kate and Ashley) she's their younger sister.

Cheers i just heard it was one of the Olsen's and assumed it was one of the twins.

Anyways this is a good film but I was expecting a bit more. The performances are good all round but the film didnt really know where it was going. Hence the ending. What it does portray is how harrowing experiences can destroy a person. The party scene in particular was impressive. The film should have ended 2 mins earlier imo.

iguana

Warper wrote: »

Cheers i just heard it was one of the Olsen's and assumed it was one of the twins.

I think Elizabeth is the one who is planning a career as a serious actor whereas while the twins do act they are more of a 'brand' than actors.

Sad Professor

Btw I love this poster for the film. It captures the mood and imagery of the film really well.

adox

Watched this at the weekend and it drew me in straight away.
I really loved it. Strong performances all around, although I did think the brother-in-law was poor enough.

I did think there were a couple of suggestions during the movie too that the whole thing was in her head and may not have happened, or at least not all the recollections she had, did actually happen.

The cinematogrophy was fantastic. All those wide lense shots and there were plenty of clever techniques too that were kind of cool. One conversation you are viewing and listening to through a glass door. Its not apparent at first but you soon realise as you strain to hear what the conversation is about.

It wont be everyones cup of tea, thats for sure, but I loved it.

paddyismaddy

is this on general release in ireland now?

Sad Professor

Since last Friday, yes. It's an art house film though, so it's a fairly limited release.

deise_boi

Sad Professor wrote: »

Btw I love this poster for the film. It captures the mood and imagery of the film really well.

That's a class poster!

I have to say I really enjoyed this film. I had stayed away from watching trailers for it and decided to watch it there a couple of nights ago. I just can't put into words how fantastic it was at creating such an eerie atmosphere!

Kooli

Absolutely excellent movie. Elizabeth Olsen was stunning in it. Every now and then my mind would get a flash of what this movie could have been in the hands of a less competent actor (i.e. awful).

Agree that Hugh Dancy was definitely the weak link.

guapos

Saw this on another forum

I just came back from the cinema. I believe it may be possible that Martha had arranged to have her sister and husbands place raided by the cult, as in the previous scene where that girl stabs that man ( who may possibly have been the girls father) who thought she had come home,…just like Martha.

I'm pretty sure you only see 4 of them enter the house martha, zoe, the young lad and the leader, then the 5th appears. I don't really like the idea of this been right but it does make sense

tok9

Is this out of the cinemas already?

Looking around Cork and can't find it listed. The trailer looks great for it.

Sad Professor

As said above, I don't think the film got much of a release outside of Dublin. Unless it turns up later.

I watched an online stream of Durkin's short film Mary Last Seen a few days ago. It's a kind of prequel to Martha in which we see another young women being initiated into the cult. Durkin sent it out with the script to give financiers a sense of what the film would be like. It should be on the Blu-ray.