After a long day filming I wasn't entirely sure if I had the willpower to journey to central London to see a film. However, I forced myself up and out and headed to see 'A Thousand Times Good Night' at an intimate ODEON screen in Panton Street, with just two other strangers to share this rare gem of a movie with.
The story follows conflict photographer Rebecca from serious injury in Kabul, a result of a suicide bombing she knew was going to happen, all the way across the water to the challenges of upholding her role as a mother to two young daughters in Ireland.
Lauryn Canny offered a lot to the screen. She captured the distress of Steph's experience in Kenya, as well as the knowledge and maturity that follows, almost as though she herself had seen it first hand. She had a natural air about her that was infectious, a hunger for knowledge, a sense of adventure and of morality that pieced together a wonderful coming of age story for both mother and daughter.
It was not stylistic like our old photography favourite City of Men. It didn't need to be. The rawness and natural filter meant that it felt almost as if we too were photographers looking for the next snap. It helps the audience feel that they are present within the conflict, which heightens only further as the conflict moves within the family home.
Director Erik Poppe was brilliant in making the film a human story, one where we really saw the importance of pictures. Of single moments, captured forever as the only proof that moment ever existed. Even if that picture is the image if a screaming daughter in the back of a truck fearing for her mothers life, or a series of photos of a distraught mother as she tells her daughter she has to go back to photography.
It was particularly affecting to me as I could very easily identify with both mother and daughter, which made it all the more tragic that they could not understand one another. I saw the anger at the world that allows innocent people to struggle, to die whilst sipping their morning coffee. I felt her need to tell their story, as I feel it too whenever I think of my next documentary ideas. I also however, felt her daughters absolute longing for her mother to just...be a mum. She tries so hard to understand her work, clearly worships her and yet all she wants is a mother.
The screenplay oozed devotion; to work, to family, to recording conflict and to morality. It left me tortured by the fact that I could one day have such a decision in my hands. Do I tell their story, or fix my own?
Alongside, beautiful performances by both Juliette Binoche and Lauryn Canny, it was also nice to see another side to Games of Thrones star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jamie Lannister), one that saw him as a father figure, once again oozing devotion for his children. The scene where he finds out that Rebecca left their daughter in Kenya, leaves him completely dumbfounded. He explodes in a rage of fatherly protection and decimates all that stands in the way of Steph's safety, which just so happens to be Rebecca.
The final scene reflects exactly what our director has done to his audience, broken them. Rebecca echoes the actions at the beginning if the film as she clicks away taking photos of potential suicide bombers. Then stops. Her eyes lock upon a young girl, no older than ten who has been chosen to make the sacrifice. As she is wired up, Rebecca knows she must capture this in pictures and yet every fibre of her being is wrought with injustice. She wanders in torment muttering that they must stop it. They prepare the girl, she says her goodbyes to what looks to be her mother as we frantically urge Rebecca to capture it and make those New Yorkers choke on their coffee. But she can't, she raises her camera again and again, and cannot bear to press the shutter. The girl is driven away with nothing but dust in the air to say she ever left. Rebecca and her guide kneel on the ground, broken. Utterly heart-breaking.
It's a story of twisted emotions, of dedication, of responsibility and of conflict of every kind. It's certainly not an easy watch or at least it wasn't for me. But it's a film well-worth the struggle of battling through your own emotions at the end of a long day. A truly great film.
No comments:
Post a Comment