Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Film Is a Battleground #17 (Mysterious Skin, Layer Cake)

MYSTERIOUS SKIN (in theaters)
LAYER CAKE (in theaters)

MYSTERIOUS SKIN (Gregg Araki, 2005)
*** (A must-see)

I used to try to explain the power of Scott Heim’s novel by insisting that it explored the complexity of evil. After seeing Gregg Araki’s fine adaptation, I realize that my explanation was wrong. The evil, central act of the story, a Little League baseball coach molesting two eight-year-old boys isn’t complex and one’s revulsion is a simple, natural reaction. As in Lynch’s FIRE WALK WITH ME, this sort of evil, perpetrated by an adult on a child is insidious and destructive. Both are great horror films that use the supernatural as a metaphor for the terrible reality of souls being stolen.

Because Heim neither exploits the horror of the crime nor demurs from detailing its completeness one’s revulsion could be overwhelming. Araki matches Heim’s courage and artistry. His two leads do the same. Brady Corbet demonstrates both the personal humility and technical gifts to play an adolescent unable to mature beyond childhood because of the trauma of his violation. Joseph Gordon-Levitt embodies the charismatic nihilism of an alchemist who transforms the acts that destroyed his ability to feel for other people into the one time that he loved and was loved in an attempt to make sense of the trauma.

MYSTERIOUS SKIN is unpleasant to watch. As it should be. The film, Araki’s first conventional narrative effort, marks a serious improvement on the uneven, enjoyable films Araki made in the 1990s. Because those films, in their best moments, used a personal vernacular to capture particular cultural moments they will, despite their disinterest in narrative and a frustrating/admirable allegiance to gags that don’t really work, be relevant as long as there are disaffected young people to appreciate those qualities. One needn’t be on any particular wavelength to appreciate the accomplishment of MYSTERIOUS SKIN. Its power is as undeniable as the story is upsetting.

LAYER CAKE (Matthew Vaughn, 2005)
* (Has redeeming facet)

Matthew Vaughn demonstrates a far lighter touch than Guy Ritchie, whose first three films he produced, but fails to bridge the gap between Ritchie’s travesties and the accomplishment of Mike Hodges’ GET CARTER. More successful than Paul McGuigan’s GANGSTER NO. 1 (though similarly reliant on its actors’ charisma), LAYER CAKE attempts to recapture the hard-boiled glory of both Hodges’ film and the opening, James Fox scenes in PERFORMANCE. LAYER CAKE’s modesty works to its favor as much as GANGSTER NO. 1’s willful garishness revealed its lack of original ambitions. The nostalgia and wish-fulfillment which permeates the conception of both films dooms their attempts. One can’t re-create timely artistry. That’s what makes those films timeless.

Daniel Craig, alternately resembling Steve McQueen and Michael York, does his best to create a tough guy for the pantheon. Craig commands the screen even when working alongside Michael Gambon, Colm Meaney, Dexter Fletcher, George Harris, Kenneth Cranham, or Sienna Miller.

Vaughn rarely tries to make too much of his functional, hard-boiled story. It doesn’t add up to anything, but it’s a better than painless experience.

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