Friday, February 10, 2012

Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)

Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)

Genre: Drama
Director: Sean Durkin
Starring: Elizabeth Olsen, John Hawkes, Sarah Paulson, Hugh Dancy
Language: English
Duration: 102 min.
Rating: 7.4  

Summary:
Haunted by painful memories and increasing paranoia, a damaged woman struggles to re-assimilate with her family after fleeing an abusive cult.



Martha Marcy May Marlene is the debut feature film by writer and director Sean Durkin. It premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, where Durkin received the Best Director award. It was also selected to screen in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.

In this chilling story, a young woman named Martha, (Elizabeth Olsen), escapes from a dangerous hippie cult run by a sinister leader (John Hawkes), and tries to go back to normal life.  She's taken in by her older sister Lucy (Sarah Paulson) and her husband Ted (Hugh Dancy), but she remains greatly psychologically damaged and struggles to separate the events from the past from the present.

Two things immediately stand out here: The first, is Elizabeth Olsen's remarkably devastating performance as a shell shocked young woman unable to cope with her trauma. I'm sure it's been mentioned many times, but she is nothing like what you would expect from the younger sister of the Olsen twins. Though her role here doesn't exactly require or display a lot of range, it is entirely believable and always engrossing.

The second is director Sean Durkin's clear skill behind the camera. He possesses a great eye for composing every frame with great care and attention, and also offers consistently seamless transitions between Martha's current reality and her distressing memories of the past. This latter aspect does end up being slightly too overused by the end, and doesn't much help the coherence of his narrative, but the contrasts and juxtaposition do work to provide some understanding of Martha's unraveling state of mind.

Even with great acting and directing, the overall ambiguous story doesn't quite hit the mark. Maybe I was expecting too much after seeing this on so many top 10 lists, but I found it frustratingly spins in circles never quite going anywhere, and even the well timed reveals don't reveal much.  Still it is a pair of impressive debuts from Durkin and especially Olsen who is destined to become a big star.

Bonjour Tristesse








14 comments:

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Yeah Hawkes has impressed me a lot lately. He plays the menacing creep quite well. Thanks for the comment Margaret.

Margaret said...

I loved John Hawkes's performance but Olsen was impressive too. The movie was slightly above average, but the depiction of her mental state was spot on. Nice write up!

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Thanks, it's not easy but I always try to maintain a balanced perspective.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

I'm glad we agree Sam.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Thanks!

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Yeah too grim and not enough substance to warrant multiple viewings but still effectively done. Thanks for stopping by 365.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Yeah it would have been nice to see her nominated for something big.  It really was a fantastic performance.

365 moviesandsongs365 said...

Martha Marcy May Marlene didn't have a lot of story or dialogue, but as you mention had an excellent performance by Olsen, and a  haunting atmosphere created by the director, so I couldn't look away. Not a film I'd revisit, though. Good review. 7.4 sounds about right.

d_4 said...

I like this type of review. It takes something I was expecting too much of and gives me a realistic point of view to break from. I still want to see it, but maybe I won't be let down now.

Hoi-Ming Ng said...

Oh, I just read about this in Costco Connection. I hadn't even realized the Olsen family had another child.

NeverTooEarlyMP said...

I really liked this one, and was really hoping that she might get some awards love, beyond the Indie spirits. I think I liked the story and ending a little more than you, but I agree with most of what you've written here.

Michaël Parent said...

I'm looking forward seing this film! Nice review BT.

Sam Fragoso said...

Wow you echoed my sentiments exactly. Impressive and chilling, but it doesn't go really anywhere. Olsen is brilliant though.

The Angry Lurker said...

Good for her I hope......

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