Room - Lenny Abrahamson

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Lenny Abrahamson is to direct an adaptation of Emma Donoghue's book Room.

http://www.screendaily.com/news/production/lenny-abrahamson-to-direct-room-adaptation/5059897.article?referrer=RSS&utm_source=1%26WT.tsrc%3Dtwitter%26WT.mc_id%3Dtwitter_twitterfeed_productionnews&utm_medium=twitter

I haven't read it, but reading the brief description of it it seems like something Abrahamson could do really well.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Trailer is up. It's showing at TIFF but is listed as a "Canadian Premiere" so it may be showing somewhere else before that?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C6fZ-fwDws

Aj Furlong

This guy is excellent, especially Adam and Paul and Garage, haven't seen Frank yet, not a big fan of what richard did.

conorhal

I'd reccomend people avoid that trailer. I've not read the book myself, but that effin' trailer reeks of 'here's a 60 second summary of THE ENTIRE F£$^&ing movie'.

Hope I'm wrong about that, people that cut trailers which make watching the film redundant should be shot out of a cannon into the sun.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

^ I've read the book and although the trailer does give away one or two things I found that the main focus of the book, the best part, was not her being in a room. It was more of a psychological thing which hopefully the film focuses on too.

Sad Professor

conorhal wrote: »

I'd reccomend people avoid that trailer. I've not read the book myself, but that effin' trailer reeks of 'here's a 60 second summary of THE ENTIRE F£$^&ing movie'.

Hope I'm wrong about that, people that cut trailers which make watching the film redundant should be shot out of a cannon into the sun.

In fairness, indie films can’t afford to be coy in their marketing. They have to give an accurate sense of what kind of film it is. I’m not familiar with the source material, but from the trailer this looks like a drama about a mother and daughter son, rather then say a suspense thriller about a women held captive in Josef Fritzl’s basement, which is probably exactly what a non-revealing trailer would make it look like.

JP Liz V1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_Ci-pAL4eE

Brie Larson really picking her roles well

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

This is getting really great reviews from the two festivals it's played at so far. I think we have to wait until January for it.

allym

I really liked the book, and also really like Brie Larson, so very excited for this.

Aisling(",)

The new Lenny Abrahamson film tells the story of Jack who's just turned 5 and his Ma who are kept captive in Room,a shed in his mothers abductors garden.Jack thinks room is the entire world and that what he sees on TV isnt real untill Ma decides he's old enough to be told.

I saw this film as the odeon screen unseen on Monday and can't stop thinking about it.I really enjoyed it.It's touching and harrowing and Jacob Tremblay puts in a brilliant performance.

I found it hard to sleep that night.The story and their performances made me wonder just how many people are being kept like that especially with all the revalations about this happening over the last few years.

Has anyone else seen it?

Telecaster58

That was a very hard watch. That said, a masterclass in acting, expect gongs all round

intheclouds

Enjoyed the book, looking forward to seeing the film.

celligraphy

Just watched the film , brilliant also read the book last year so I was really excited to see this film. Truely amazing

charlie_says

Thanks added to the watchlist.

mystic86

my god this is such an amazing movie, the acting, the storytelling, it's just so real and really left me thinking so much about it.

What a fabulous director Lenny Abrahamson is, what a portfolio he has so far.

intheclouds

Very enjoyable indeed.

Pity the trailer gave away the key plot points though. They shouldn't have shown anything beyond Room in the trailer. Kind of wrecked the suspense. I'd already read it but hubby knew nothing about it except the trailer and he was amazed that they basically gave the whole thing away.

MilesMorales1

Is Jack not a girl in the movie, thats how it looked in the trailer? Or am I missing a huge point?

Looks amazing though, I'm super excited to see it.

celligraphy

Jack is a boy in the movie just having never had a haircut due to being in the room since the day he was born

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

2.5 years since this thread was started? It's been a long wait.

Basq

4 Oscar noms.. looking forward to watching it this evening!

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

High praise from Mark Kermode.

https://twitter.com/KermodeMovie/status/688070987313721344


https://twitter.com/wittertainment/status/688034162444505092

e_e

A very unsettling and emotionally draining film but I found the second half a tad predictable in its ponderous search for a resolution (similar issue with What Richard Did). Still greatly admire it as a big commercial and artistic step up for Abrahamson though. 7/10

Sad Professor

Narratively Room and What Richard Did are similar in how they abandon any pretense of plot in their second halves. In a storyline like Richard's it's almost an obligation that a pair of detectives or someone representing authority show up, but they never do. Abrahamson pushes all that aside so he can explore his main character's dark night of the soul – which lasts several days and maybe even beyond the final scene.

Room is similar in that Abrahamson is more concerned with his protagonist's spiral into despair (from the POV of her son) than he is with presenting her with a obstacle to overcome that might give the story some kind of satisfying arc. There's no third act where everything is resolved. And I'm not sure there can be given what she has to deal with. The third act is the rest of their lives.

youreadthat

This film is really really good and I'd recommend it to anyone.

Just for balance, I would say that as this film is essentially about the relationship between mother and her child, this works brilliantly in the room and is done to such a good standard that it almost feels bad to criticise the film. However, we already know the nature of parent/child love, even in extreme circumstances, so the outstanding work of the room scenes is needed to make the film something different. Outside the room that relationship focus is lessened and it has a bit of a bio-pic feel to it of a real life events. I would have loved 20 more minutes in the room. They kind of hint at the dreading of the upcoming court case too which is left blank really, odd given that they made sure to mention it 3/4 times.

8/10

SimonTemplar

Am I the only person who thought the child was a girl after first seeing the trailer?

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

SimonTemplar wrote: »

Am I the only person who thought the child was a girl after first seeing the trailer?

I had read the book and thought they had changed it to be a girl

Nervous Wreck

Fantastic film from all angles. Loved it.

johnny_ultimate

SimonTemplar wrote: »

Am I the only person who thought the child was a girl after first seeing the trailer?

I genuinely watched the whole film pretty much expecting it to be revealed that Jack was a girl being disguised as a boy, despite how fairly nonsensical and contrived that would be :pac:

As for what actually happens... If there's one area Abrahmson excels in, it's finding an ideal cast for the material. His largely unobtrusive approach trusts the cast to do their thing. A lot weighs on Larson and Tremblay here, and they handle the burden gracefully, complemented by the director's careful, respectful handful the material.

Taken as an earnest, heartfelt study of two people adjusting to their freshly gifted freedom, Room succeeds. The narrative is presented with clarity and sensitivity, enhanced by several particularly rousing sequences (such as Jack's journey in the back of the pick up truck, a rare moment when the film's largely cloying score hits the right tempo and tone). But I felt sadly the film also struggled to escape its novelistic origin. It uses Jack's voiceover as a crutch - too obvious and over-written to hit the emotional or poetic targets it needs to. Worse, it often undermines the visual storytelling - insisting on something that doesn't need to be insisted on.

Stylistically, TBH, I felt the film didn't work anywhere near as effectively as it could. At times during the film, I'd have been inclined to say Abrahamson's visually subtle, heavily character-focused approach was the right way to tell this story. But too often I confess it came across as stylistically pedestrian instead. For a film so loaded with sensory emphases and presented from a single point of view, it didn't manage IMO to coalesce that into a coherent visual signature. There were moments when it did - a particularly communicative close-up (or, indeed, point-of-view shot) here or there, or when the soundtrack adapted or focused to stress a particularly important noise or sound. Yet as a whole these moments never felt like they all came together to communicate what needed to be in a cohesive and purely cinematic way.

There's one sequence, when Jack wakes up and steps off his hospital bed, that I think really captured the sense of discovery, curiosity, confusion and even terror of the situation he finds himself in - and without the film explicitly telling us all that. There's a few other moments like that scattered here and there, but not quite enough to elevate what IMO quite often came across as a stylistically flat piece of work.

Which is not to say that the script and cast don't do what they need to. They do - the story and characterisation are strong and engaging from the off and remain that way. It's moving and warm-hearted (although the resolutions sometimes feel a bit rushed). But it also feels insistent, more tell than show - while Room is definitely not lacking in strongly defined themes and story, a braver approach to the film's aesthetic identity and more trust in the audience's capacity for reading the images themselves could have seen the good stuff here hit even harder.

MilesMorales1

Hmm. It was very compelling. Very slow pace. But then wouldn't a film about a scenario like this be slow?

Spent a lot more in room than I'd imagined from the trailer, makes sense.

Brie Larson was the MVP of the whole thing. Not that the little guy wasn't good, but he was a kid actor. The only other film I can think of that I've seen that she's the lead in is Short Term 12, and she's better in this, she does a really great job.

the new husband for ma's mother was also good as well. I also like that they didn't flake out on certain things, like the dads revulsion towards the son, the fact she has a much harder time readjusting than Jack does

I thought they did a pretty good job of show don't tell, in a lot ways. Like suggesting things, without saying it anyway.


Really good movie, not perfect. But its great.

adox

My favourite film of the year so far.(yes I know it's only a
Littl over hallway through the first month)

sporina

I went to see Room today - Gosh - I was profoundly moved.. I am not gonna try to critique the movie - all I know is that in spite of my knowing that it is fiction - thought loosely based on a true story.. it got through to my core - unbeknownst to me..

The part when Jack was in the back of the truck - i thought i was going to have a panic attack..

I kept thinking "oh gosh what will he do to Mum when he gets back"..

I think I sobbed hard 3 times; and I am not a crier at all when it comes to movies..

It was so well written/acted/directed.. it must have been - to have that effect on me

Even the subtly breasting feeding scene - which they came back to again.. subtle but effective

But I do wonder if Jack's behaviour/comprehension of the real world Vs Room should have been more obscure? I am not a psychologist, but I would imagine that if a child, who grew up thinking the "room" was my world.. and with so little stimulation/influence/communication etc... could adapt and comprehend so easily?

Also, they looked a bit too healthy?. I mean, apart from teeth falling out, they looked fine? (even though they had no sunshine - no vit D) etc..

Midnight Sundance

sporina wrote: »

I went to see Room today - Gosh - I was profoundly moved.. I am not gonna try to critique the movie - all I know is that in spite of my knowing that it is fiction - thought loosely based on a true story.. it got through to my core - unbeknownst to me..

The part when Jack was in the back of the truck - i thought i was going to have a panic attack..

I kept thinking "oh gosh what will he do to Mum when he gets back"..

I think I sobbed hard 3 times; and I am not a crier at all when it comes to movies..

It was so well written/acted/directed.. it must have been - to have that effect on me

Even the subtly breasting feeding scene - which they came back to again.. subtle but effective

But I do wonder if Jack's behaviour/comprehension of the real world Vs Room should have been more obscure? I am not a psychologist, but I would imagine that if a child, who grew up thinking the "room" was my world.. and with so little stimulation/influence/communication etc... could adapt and comprehend so easily?

Also, they looked a bit too healthy?. I mean, apart from teeth falling out, they looked fine? (even though they had no sunshine - no vit D) etc..

I saw the film today. Really enjoyed it. Usually don't like films of books that I've read but they did a good job putting across the main aspects of the book.
In the book they addressed the vit d deficiencies etc where they didn't as such in the film. I didn't find this detracted too much from the story.
It really got me thinking of those poor women in America who were freed in the last few years and the Fritz case. Must have been so horrific
There has to be awards for this film, especially the little boy. I thought he did a wonderful job

e_e

http://letterboxd.com/larsenonfilm/film/room-2015/

Agree with Josh Larsen here. I think it's more or less a good film that could have been an absolutely amazing one if the film making was as attuned as the acting and inherent emotion of the story. I really felt a visual disconnect at the

carpet escape

for instance.

ps3man

Very glad I saw the film before I saw the trailer. Ruin's a lot of the suspense of the movie.

Also having read a lot of the Fritzel case, I felt it shared too many similarities with that story that for me made the film feel very un-original, maybe I am over analysing it but thats how I felt watching it.

Basq

Put simply - a decent movie with 2 excellent central performances!

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

ps3man wrote: »

Very glad I saw the film before I saw the trailer. Ruin's a lot of the suspense of the movie.

Also having read a lot of the Fritzel case, I felt it shared too many similarities with that story that for me made the film feel very un-original, maybe I am over analysing it but thats how I felt watching it.

It's not supposed to be a suspenseful film. That's not what it's about.

AnonoBoy

ps3man wrote: »

Very glad I saw the film before I saw the trailer. Ruin's a lot of the suspense of the movie.

Also having read a lot of the Fritzel case, I felt it shared too many similarities with that story that for me made the film feel very un-original, maybe I am over analysing it but thats how I felt watching it.

Well the writer said the inspiration for the story came from the Fritzl case so you're bang on the money there but I don't know whether that would put me off the film. I've yet to see it myself.

intheclouds

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

It's not supposed to be a suspenseful film. That's not what it's about.

I completely disagree.

Its impossible for the movie goer to experience the utter desolation of believing that they will never get out of Room if the trailer ruins that up front.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

intheclouds wrote: »

I completely disagree.

Its impossible for the movie goer to experience the utter desolation of believing that they will never get out of Room if the trailer ruins that up front.

The writer and director have said multiple times that the story is never supposed to be about whether they get out or not. It's about the relationship between mother and son. Granted maybe there's a bit of suspense if you don't know in advance that they do but it's not the main focus of the film. They went to great lengths to make sure people knew it wasn't a dark suspenseful thriller, that's why they show them outside in the trailer.

intheclouds

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

The writer and director have said multiple times that the story is never supposed to be about whether they get out or not. It's about the relationship between mother and son. Granted maybe there's a bit of suspense if you don't know in advance that they do but it's not the main focus of the film. They went to great lengths to make sure people knew it wasn't a dark suspenseful thriller, that's why they show them outside in the trailer.

I dont read anything about movies before I see them (or see trailers if I can help it) so that I can experience it with no pre-conceptions.

In this case I had read the book a few years back so I knew what to expect.

I know that the story is not supposed to be about whether or not they get out (if that was the case itd be the final scene), thats not the point - the movie is ruined by showing ALL of the big moments in the trailer.

Its not even about suspense, its about not being able to immerse yourself because you already know whats coming later. Even the dog, the media interview - none of this should have been shown.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

intheclouds wrote: »

I dont read anything about movies before I see them (or see trailers if I can help it) so that I can experience it with no pre-conceptions.

In this case I had read the book a few years back so I knew what to expect.

I know that the story is not supposed to be about whether or not they get out (if that was the case itd be the final scene), thats not the point - the movie is ruined by showing ALL of the big moments in the trailer.

Its not even about suspense, its about not being able to immerse yourself because you already know whats coming later. Even the dog, the media interview - none of this should have been shown.

Showing only a woman and child trapped in a room for the whole trailer and the media going around over emphasising how it's inspired by the Fritzel case isn't going to put bums on seats. If I thought that's what the film was about I would never go near it. I wouldn't want to immerse myself in that film.

I ge your points but I disagree because that's not the story the film is telling.

intheclouds

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Showing only a woman and child trapped in a room for the whole trailer and the media going around over emphasising how it's inspired by the Fritzel case isn't going to put bums on seats. If I thought that's what the film was about I would never go near it. I wouldn't want to immerse myself in that film.

I ge your points but I disagree because that's not the story the film is telling.

Fair enough - I hate when the trailer is a mini version of the full movie personally.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

intheclouds wrote: »

Fair enough - I hate when the trailer is a mini version of the full movie personally.

So do I if it's something like The Danish Girl which bar the ending is literally a 2 minute version of the film. All the major plot points and scenes are shown in the trailer. It made it quite boring sitting through it. I just feel like with something like Room it's more about the performances and the emotional weight of it rather than the events. Each to their own though.

xalot

Saw this yesterday, loved the book and was worried about how it would translate. Have to say I absolutely floored by it. That little boy is just amazing, not at all stage school-y.

It's not easy watching but I found it heartbreakingly truthful and nuanced. I had a couple of sob out loud moments in the cinema (very embarrassing).

I was particularly impressed with how it managed to stay away from sentimentality, the scene where

Jack asks to get his hair cut to give his strong to his ma

could have been very mushy if Joan Allen hadn't played it so straight.

Really recommend it.

sporina

there is a lot of nit picking on here..

I mean, in general, wouldn't one prefer not to know too much about a movie before going to see it?

I did not know how it was going to end and if I had have known, it would have changed the whole experience for me.

The movie is about the whole movie - not whether its a thriller or what ever...

Its defo a journey movie - how it would feel to like in a "room"..
How the mother/child adapts..
How they feel.. in the confined space.. and from the point that the mother has been kidnapped..
How she deals with the fact that she is with a child who's world is the "room"; she has no other adult support..
How the mother educates the child.. how they entertain one another..
Then there is the rest, there is too much to explain..

anyway, if one has not seen the movie, I do not think they should be reading this thread..

But a question on trailers - I don't watch them too often = I just read the description on IMDB - but can they generally give away the story? I guess one has a choice to watch it or not... never thought about it before

For e.g. I am in two minds about going to see The Revenant - I know its meant to be amazing but I not sure if I would enjoy it due to the gore.. so I am watching the trailer.. thats my choice... and I am glad to have it..

I just watched the Room trailer - and it does divulge a lot.. glad I did not watch it before seeing it.. that was my choice..

I don't know, is there a definition of "trailer"? how much they should show/not show?

FortuneChip

Would be very interested in reading the book after seeing the movie, not often I'd do that.

Just really enjoyed it. Two great performances.
I thought they might have developed William H Macy's character a little more, but it was clear how he felt, such a horrible situation to try and comprehend.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

sporina wrote: »

I just watched the Room trailer - and it does divulge a lot.. glad I did not watch it before seeing it.. that was my choice..

I don't know, is there a definition of "trailer"? how much they should show/not show?

Well it depends on the film and what it is the distribution people want to achieve.

Abrahamson himself talked about how he wasn't sure they should show so much in the trailer but the guys at A24 explained why they thought it was necessary and in the end he agreed. As I said before a film you think is just about a woman being held captive in a room is not going to appeal to a wide audience. It being released here now after all the awards success would maybe have gained some interest regardless but back in October when it was released in the US there was none of that. Other than movie buffs people probably wouldn't have been familiar with Abrahmson's previous work so that wouldn't have been a draw as it may have been for some here.

It really just depends on the film and who is marketing it. If it's a big budget full of star names kind of thing you can probably be a bit more vague with your trailer.

The point of a trailer is to make people want to go see it so you have to take into account what the best way to do that is. Sometimes it's be vague. Sometimes it's be very clear as to what the film is about, or more specifically in this case what it's not about.

intheclouds

I would have thought a lot of people would have been interested because of the book though?

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

intheclouds wrote: »

I would have thought a lot of people would have been interested because of the book though?

Maybe but if they'd read the book they'd already know what it was about anyway so showing stuff in the trailer wouldn't have mattered.

intheclouds

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Maybe but if they'd read the book they'd already know what it was about anyway so showing stuff in the trailer wouldn't have mattered.

I was more thinking about people being aware of the book as opposed to having read it.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

intheclouds wrote: »

I was more thinking about people being aware of the book as opposed to having read it.

True. I just think in this specific case appealing to the widest possible audience was the aim and the best way to do that was to be very clear what the film was about.