| |
Movie Review and Q&A
I attended the Hollywood Film
Festival screening and Q&A session for the film
Asylum starring Marton Csokas
(Celeborn, LOTR), Sir Ian McKellan
(Gandalf, LOTR) and Natasha Richardson
yesterday.
The film is based on a book by
Patrick McGrath and was written for the
screen
for Patrick Marber who also wrote
Closer.
The film centers on Stella (Natasha Richardson), who is stuck in a bad
marriage to Max, a doctor who has recently been named to head up a
psychiatric
facility in England. She and her son, Charlie befriend an inmate named
Edgar
(Marton Csokas), who becomes embroiled in their lives.
Having not read the book beforehand, I didn’t have much expectation going
into this film. The moderator made a disclaimer beforehand that if you
were
easily offended by violence or nudity, you should leave before it started
and he
was correct. There is quite a bit of both in this film.
I quite liked the direction by British filmmaker David Mackenzie.
There was
a lovely use of textures of scenery and sound that was very effective.
There
is a reoccurring theme of glass – glass houses, windows, etc., that
particularly struck me. I love the way British films allude to things but
don’t
feel the
need to come right out and hit you over the head with them the way American
films sometimes do. They assume you are intelligent enough to figure
it out,
which is a nice change of pace.
Marton Csokas is really brilliant in this role. Normally he is cast as
a villain – with good reason. He is great at playing a smarmy, evil man.
Here, we
are seeing a bit of chaos. We see Edgar when he is on his medication
and then
when he is off them, and it truly is two different people. He is
violent,
charming, sad, smart – a whole real living breathing person. Oh, and
he looks
really good naked as well!
Sir Ian McKellan is wonderful as the manipulative doctor treating Edgar.
He
can do so much with just a simple look to convey any emotion. Truly
deserving
as one of our times greatest actors.
Natasha Richardson – I found her to be a bit lacking at the beginning of the
film to be honest, but when you get into her breakdown near the end, she
does
some really great work..
There were a few problems in the film. Some of the scenes felt a bit
forced –
the time span of the film was a bit disjointed to me. A few of the
situations were overdramatic and contrived but overall it was a good film.
The acting
is particularly outstanding and while the subject matter is a bit dark, if
you are looking to see a nice British film, check out Asylum.
After the film there was a question and answer session with Marton Csokas
and
producer Mace Neufeld.
Both of them spoke about the importance of the location of filming, which
took place in Yorkshire, England and in Ireland. They had at one time
wanted to
make this film in the US, but felt that it was important to have the
locations
be a big part of the story.
Marton was asked if he brought any of the character home with him during
filming, since it was such a dark role to play. He said he actually
felt it was
quite healthy that he could use the film to get out some of his darker
emotions, it was actually quite therapeutic.
He also went on to say that he was familiar with Patrick Marber’s style of
writing, as he had done two productions of Closer in New Zealand playing the
role of Dan. As he learned, the beat and tempo of the writing in
Marber’s work
is very important to the overall tone of the piece and he used this while
doing
Asylum.
Marton seemed to be a bit nervous during the Q&A – he was very soft spoken
and seemed a bit uncomfortable in front of this crowd. Quite a change
from
Comic-Con where he seemed a bit upset during that panel.
I spoke with him briefly at the reception and he was so attentive and
intelligent – really a pleasure to have a conversation with! He also
has The Great
Raid coming out this month so if you are curious about Marton or are
already a
fan, check out these films in your local theatre!
Asylum opens August 12, 2005 |
Home
Movie Reviews List
Forum
Redbook Diaries |