FANTASTIC BEASTS and WHERE TO FIND THEM

Eddie Redmayne   Katherine Waterston   Colin Farrell   Dan Fogler   Allison Sudol   Samantha Morton  

Ezra Miller   Ron Perlman   Jon Voight   Carmen Ejogo   Johnny Depp

          This spinoff of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series contains all the excitement and fascination we would hope would follow the previous series.  Exceptionally directed by David Yates (who directed four of the eight Harry Potter series), it is Rowling’s first screenplay and verifies once again her talent as a writer.  It stars the chameleon actor Eddie Redmayne as a “magizoologist” who has written a text used by the Hogwarts School and whose interest is in protecting exotic beasts that the rest of the world seems to fear and want to wipe out.  He regards them as endangered species, and carries a handy little briefcase to tuck them into when the need arises.  From there, they are magically transported to a sanctuary he has built for them.

         Newt Scamander (Redmayne) has come to the U.S. to relocate a beast he has rescued into the Arizona desert.  What he encounters upon arriving in New York, though, is something like a terrorist threat.  The city is under attack from something—nobody seems to know what, and we get only vague descriptions of it, but it is wrecking everything in its path.  In addition, there seems to be tension among factions—those who want to stamp out magic, saying the practitioners are witches, those who want to preserve it (Magical Congress of the United States of America—MANCUSA), and No-Maj people (with no magical powers).  Everyone seems to want to protect these poor souls.

         Typical of Rowling, we see parallel stories develop with characters we care about, others with evil intent, and still others caught in the middle of these two forces.  We see Tina (Waterston) and her sister Queenie (Sudol) trying to use their magic in a positive way despite self-serving superiors like Percival Graves (Farrell) and possibly Seraphina (Ejogo), president of MACUSA, whose sentiments are not always discernible.  We see Mary Lou Barebone (Morton) who takes in orphans like Credence (Miller) and preaches against magic. And we see Percival Graves (Farrell) wielding his power over Credence to manipulate him into searching for someone Graves wants.  The intermixing of all these strains adds complexity and enhances our fascination with the tale.

        Cinematography (Phillippe Rousselot), production design (Stuart Craig and James Hambridge), and visual/special effects essentially carry this film, right along with the story and the characters portrayed by captivating actors.  It’s so rewarding to see Redmayne play a modest hero magically out to do good—but then, he is an expert at that, presumably because it taps into his own personal qualities.  Supporting actors Katherine Waterston, Allison Sudol, Samantha Morton, and Ron Perlman (always creepy) give notable performances that further the elevation of this film’s quality. 

J.K. Rowling:  You got it!

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland

MISS JULIE

Jessica Chastain     Samantha Morton     Colin Farrell

Miss Julie, based on a Strindberg play set in 1890, is meant to be “naturalistic” (realistic, with meaningful conflicts and a minimum of sub-plots), an approach that Strindberg felt strongly about, and which demonstrates his belief in the Darwinian principle of survival of the fittest; here it takes place in the form of a class struggle between the two main characters:  Miss Julie (Jessica Chastain), the daughter of a wealthy baron, and John (Colin Farrell), her father’s valet, who is from a poor background.  Sheltered Julie is curious about, but has no knowledge of, those beneath her station.  On the other hand, John has studied the upper classes all his life and educated himself through books and travel.  Both have lost someone dear early on; his brother died in the same bed as he, and Julie’s mother died when she was young.  She left her daughter a legacy for conflict however; she was taught to hate men; but, on the other hand, be more like a man herself, e.g., wears boots, flirts, barks out commands to her servants, and vies for control in any situation.  Moreover, her mother didn’t particularly like the child, which Julie says left her with a “black hole” inside.  Unbeknownst to Julie, John has loved her from afar since childhood when he would climb the estate fence and gaze upon her as she played in the garden.  She has noticed him now, though, as a young adult, and is attracted to him.  Naïve about social class in some respects, she begs him to dance with her and marvels that he “speaks like what I find in my books.”

John has always been a “ladies man”, so one evening after a day of taunting and flirting, he easily seduces her.  In the 1890’s, that means she is now a fallen woman.  Strindberg now uses her as an example of how the upper classes have become weak and vulnerable, whereas life struggles have strengthened those in John’s circumstances.  The two are very conflicted about perhaps running away together, and each vacillates back and forth about this possibility while wrestling for the power position.  Eventually, he realizes that she cannot “step down” to his level as she suggests at one point.  “No, he counters, “don’t step down; they will say you fell.”  Miss Julie has been very indiscreet about her flirtations with him, and the townspeople are keenly aware of what is going on.  So he comes up with a bitter, harsh solution, and she submits willingly.

There is a third character played by the talented Samantha Morton, who is informally engaged to John; Kathleen provides the Christian religious perspective, which serves as a counter to Darwinism.  She suggests to the two that John should come to Sunday morning services and confess his sins.  She doesn’t concern herself with Miss Julie’s predicament for a number of reasons, and unlike John, she has never aspired to Julie’s station, so doesn’t “see” her, in a sense.  To Kathleen, “Class is class”; one shouldn’t tamper with the existing social order.

The well-known actress in Swedish director Ingmar Bermann films, Liv Ullman, both wrote and directed Miss Julie.  I believe her work brilliantly captures Strindberg’s intent with his play, and she has created a beautiful synthesis of all the elements of filmmaking, specifically in the cast and characters, the music, and cinematography. 

The actors, Chastain, Farrell, and Morton have achieved career highs in their performances in Miss Julie.  Each one could be watched simply to see them mold their characters and capture their conflicts in their bodies, movements, and vocal expression.  Chastain and Farrell particularly must show huge vacillations that show the range of their capabilities.

The music by Mike Figgis—perhaps drawn from his own earlier production of Miss Julie—is beautifully rendered and perfectly captures the setting in time.

A classical piece well worth your time.

Grade:  A                                By Donna R. Copeland