Memoria,
adapted from a James Franco short story, tells about a lonely teenage boy, Ivan
(Dillon) who is teased and bullied at school, although he does have a group of
about six friends he runs with. He
is socially awkward and doesn’t have much ambition, even with the encouragement
of his English teacher, Mr. Wyckoff (Franco). Ivan’s home life is troubled, and he sorely misses his dad
who left the family to return to Russia.
His mother is married to a man who has no idea how to connect with Ivan
and says and does all the wrong things.
Partly autobiographical, the story follows this
group of friends who indulge in drugs, sex, smoking, and alcohol without giving
it much thought. Even though they
have sense enough to designate a driver for a party night, the driver has no
such commitment, which creates a major problem later on.
At the Q&A after the screening of Memoria at the Austin Film Festival,
Franco acknowledged that his short story is based on someone he actually knew
in high school who was getting into trouble for more serious infractions than
the rest of the crowd. It was only
much later that Franco heard about what happened to him, and was moved to write
the short story.
One of the co-directors, Nina Ljeti, also went
to high school with Franco and knew the boy in question. The other director, Vladimir de
Fortenay, and Ljeti made significant changes in the Franco story, with his
endorsement. Under their
direction, the film has several strong points, particularly the opening scenes
with a bridge and a figure looking out over it as if pondering whether to
jump. The scene immediately
switches to a swimmer, but one in swimming trunks, leaving it ambiguous as to
whether the person jumped or not.
A drawback of the film in my opinion is that we learn almost nothing
about Ivan’s mother, someone who must have played a role in his current
psychological state.
Sam Dillon and the actor playing the younger
Ivan (Kaden Ecklund) interpret the role well, showing a taciturn, somewhat
sulky, boy who will do the polite thing if prodded, but is basically
nonaggressive, except for his military fantasies in the privacy of his
bedroom. The kid is obsessed with
a father he may never see again.
He was young enough when the father left that later he has to wonder if
his memories of him are actually true or are made up out of his longings.
I believe Memoria
reflects accurately the teenage scene and how adolescents of today cope with
the world. It is interesting, but
does not offer much in terms of insight or a really fleshed out picture of
Ivan’s world.
A fairly typical picture of
contemporary teenage life.
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