Ira Sachs’ film Married Life (2007), based on the novel
by John Bingham, is aptly named. Much
like the institution that informs its subject, the film carries certain
expectations going in but reveals something wholly unexpected beneath its facade.
Set
some time in the 1940s in an unnamed city, the film centers on “Harry Allen” (Chris
Cooper), a man living through a very routine marriage to his wife, “Pat” (Patricia
Clarkson) while being enamored with his beautiful mistress, “Kay” (the
ethereal Rachel McAdams). He wants out
of his banal marriage but cannot bring himself to ask for a divorce for fear of the social and psychological consequences to Pat.
So, in order to spare her the pain and embarrassment of divorce, he “logically”
decides to kill her. To complicate matters, he confesses his intent to his best friend,
the rakishly debonair “Richard Langley” (Pierce Brosnan), an unrepentant
womanizer who eventually falls for Kay as well.
The plot smacks of
David Lynch-ian sensibilities and could have easily fallen into melodramatic “whodunit”
territory. Surprisingly, Sachs and
co-screenwriter Oren Moverman avoid the temptation to do so. Rather, Sach’s film is an exploration of the mores
and hypocrisies found within relationships both in and out of wedlock,
and presents same with refreshing honesty and maturity that, for the most part,
succeeds.
This film could not
be done in the present day, for many of the plot twists (of which there are a
few), could easily be unraveled with a cell phone or a laptop computer. The decision to use post-war America is also
practical as it presents marital infidelity during a time when it was
considered scandalous taboo. The music by Dickon
Hinchliffe is nondescriptly melodious and acts as a perfect reflection to the subject
matter. Peter Derning’s cinematography,
which presents a combination of Art Deco and film noir sensibilities, creates a
stylistic confluence evocative of both yet adhering to neither.
The strength of
this film lies in the characters. Chris
Cooper is quietly engaging as the middle-aged Allen, a complex man to whom killing
does not come easy. Cooper, who is
perhaps best remembered as the head of Treadstone in The Bourne Identity, manages with a look to convey the conflicting,
rumbling emotions that his milquetoast exterior belies. Patricia Clarkson is a revelation in her
portrayal of Pat, a woman who may not be as fragile as everyone assumes her to
be. As the mistress/divorcee, Rachel McAdams radiates a physical beauty evocative of Veronica Lake .
Unfortunately, of all the characters, hers is the most two-dimensional. She is more ethereal muse than flesh-and-blood person to the
two male leads, inspiring them to consider avenues of thought they hadn’t
before. As to the other male lead, why
is it that Pierce Brosnan seems to be closer to the literary James Bond post-Bond
than he was ever allowed to be in his tenure as the cinematic
super-spy? As in his turns in The Fourth Protocol, The
Tailor of Panama and most recently the critically-acclaimed The Matador, Brosnan infuses his
character with a rapscallion flair and rapier wit. Yet despite his betrayal of Allen’s
friendship, he infuses Langley
with charmingly disarming sensitivity and depth. It is perhaps Brosnan’s most nuanced
performance to date, and it is a superb turn.
This film will
probably not be at the box office long because it is a film that does not
follow standard formulaic clichés, nor is it filled with moments of exaggerated
action or pathos. Like the lives it
depicts, the film is a quiet affair (pun intended) which presents its conflicts
and resolutions (or lack thereof) in a human and adult manner. Sachs’ purpose in this film is to show that a
married life is not a fairy tale that ends “happily ever after” or that passion
overrules all, but that true love and affection take time to build. Every frame shot, every character
interaction, shows that this film is a product of that which makes a good
marriage: A labor of love.
Families are faced with so many challenges today Familientherapie
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