THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE

Jessica Chastain     Andrew Garfield     Cherry Jones     Vincent D’Onofrio

 Fredric Lehne     Louis Cancelmi     Sam Jaeger 

             A little girl with a rejecting mother finds redemption for herself at a Second Adventist Church when she bursts in on a service (against her mother’s wishes) and the preacher accepts her testament of faith.  She is so overjoyed she begins speaking in tongues, whereupon the congregation is convinced she is from God.

            A young man driving his father’s car gets distracted and hits a young boy, seriously injuring him.  The teenager is so distraught he prays for the child, promising God that if the child lives, he will devote himself to preaching the Gospel.

            Tammy Faye (Chastain) and Jim Bakker (Garfield) meet, fall in love and elope before Tammy’s mother knows what is going on.  He aspires to become a television evangelist a la Pat Robertson, and Tammy Faye fits herself right in with a singing voice and creativity in appealing to anyone—adults or children—who listens.  They’re both talented, and building on childhood dreams, manage to develop a following among evangelical Christians.  Of course, this provokes the interest of Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell who aren’t quite ready for the competition.

            Those of us of a certain age remember the Bakkers and their making religion more entertaining with playful puppets and delivering messages like “God doesn’t want us to be poor” on their PTL (Praise the Lord) network.  They even recruit Gary Paxton, a Grammy winning songwriter who comes up with something like “Don’t Give Up; You’re on the brink of a miracle” for Tammy Faye to sing.  For her, God is a loving god with tolerance for everything he has made.  When Falwell is condemning homosexuality and claiming that AIDS is God’s punishment for it, her approach is that we should love all God’s creatures, because “God don’t make no junk.”

            This starts to be a fairy tale story, as the Bakkers’ messages—and confessions—strike a chord in the hearts of Christians and the donations coming in go over the top.  Jim’s plans and dreams grow in kind, as in elaborate water parks and vacation lands on the PTL property, along with Tammy Faye’s social programs (e.g., homes for unwed mothers and children with special needs).  Unfortunately, the Bakkers are susceptible to human enticements, and no one in their organization has learned money management, which ends up being a major problem.

            Certainly, the outstanding part of this production is Jessica Chastain’s performance as Tammy Faye.  She so encapsulates the character, the viewer ceases to see Chastain at all—only Tammy Faye.  Chastain captures Tammy’s chameleon personality flawlessly, and we get seduced just as all the characters are by her enticing charm.  There is a genuineness in Tammy Faye that Chastain has picked up on that makes her a sympathetic character rather than one usually disdained.  Andrew Garfield is likewise perfectly cast as one who, though mostly sincere, is naïve, easily influenced, and devoid of a sense of practicalities. 

            There are a couple of problems with an otherwise well produced movie.  One for me is that the two characters become wearing over time, with their inability to grow and change and their persistent denial of reality, even though I realize this is probably how people experienced them at the time.  But the filmmakers could have used more judicious editing and omitted some of the scenes--especially toward the end—when the movie seems to drag on and on.

            I did appreciate the honesty of both of these characters when they are confronted by each other; ultimately, they were truthful—at least with one another.  Whether or not that holds for the real people, I couldn’t say.

 

Tammy Faye shows how even those with good intentions and caring hearts can be seduced by fame and fortune to their detriment.  Nevertheless, the voyage in getting there may make it all seem worthwhile.  Didn’t the characters say in the end that they didn’t regret anything?  I was left with that impression.

Grade:  B                              By Donna R. Copeland

IT CHAPTER TWO

Jessica Chastain     James McAvoy     Bill Hader     Bill Skarsgard

Isiah Mustafa     Jay Ryan     James Ransone     Andy Bean

     This reunion of childhood friends after 27 years isn’t going to be typical; for one thing, a fat kid is now trim and fit—rather than everyone being more portly—the usual reunion preoccupation.  But of course it will be out of the ordinary in so many other, more important, ways.  It’s important to know that this group of reunion members are from the “Losers Club”, and “losers they will always be”, BUT they have pledged as a group to defend against a dark force.

     These friends are called together based on a promise (sealed in blood) made at a time when they thought they had done away with Pennywise (Skarsgard) the wicked clown who preys on young children.  Now Mike (Mustafa) is sending them all urgent messages to come to Derry, Maine, at once.  This will be no easy feat, because they’ve all (except for Mike) left Derry to establish careers and, sometimes, families.  We see each of them attempt to disengage from their commitments to honor the childhood pledge.

     Only one (Stanley, played by Bean) chooses not to go, but the rest brave all kinds of obstacles to return to Mike in Derry, Maine.  He has brought them all together, of course, to tell them that Pennywise has resurfaced and is killing children.  He has done enough research to learn that an ancient Native Indian tribal ritual is called for.  Each of them must find his/her own distinctive “artifact” (from childhood) and bring it to resolution in a ritual.  It’s a bit Jungian in that each must discover his/her shadow and resolve the conflict, one of the stronger assets of the film.

     Beverly (Chastain) has issues with her father, Richie (Hader) has unresolved sexual identity issues, Bill (McAvoy) is carrying the weight of his brother Georgie’s death on his conscience, Ben (Ryan) is still suffering from his “fatness” and the rejection of his childhood flame, Eddie (Ransone) has Mommie issues, and Mike has to come to terms with prejudice against his race.

     Much of the movie covers each person’s struggle with the psychological issue significant for him/her, emphasizing the “losers” aspect (“and we will always be losers”) and the group sticking together to accomplish a noble goal.  I enjoyed these parts of the movie, directed by Andy Muschietti and written by Gary Dauberman based on a Stephen King novel. 

     Unfortunately, the film degenerates into a showcase for special effects, making it insufferable in its length (almost three hours), and completely unbelievable in plot.      Additional nonessential sequences were in the beginning about brutality against gays and toward the end in gay references, neither of which fit in with the main story. The filmmakers seem to be making a side point—which I sympathize with—but find the sequences “stuck into” the plot.

     It Chapter Two has A-list actors in the major roles, and they are superb in what they are given by the script, but their roles are limited.  Jessica Chastain has little to do other than react to the male actors. With her talent, she is wasted in this film.  James McAvoy’s character is a little more filled out, but fails to make him the forceful presence he should be.  Probably the standout is Bill Hader as Richie whose ambivalence and neurotic characteristics gives him more of a platform to exploit his range and ability.

     Most of all, Director Muschietti can be faulted for getting so caught up in special effects, he lost sight of the “meat” of Stephen King’s works having to do with friends sticking together, the drama in the growing-up years, and the influence of early traumas on adult life.  He addressed these, but then covered them up with showy special effects and extended final scenes with Pennywise to an almost unbearable length.

Pennywise and pound-foolish seems to fit this rendition of a Stephen King novel.

Grade:  C+                                    By Donna R. Copeland

DARK PHOENIX

Sophie Turner     Jennifer Lawrence     James McAvoy     Michael Fassbender

Nicholas Hoult     Tye Sheridan     Kodie Smit-McPhee    Jessica Chastain

     Enter the world of super powers where the X-Men need only concentrate—perhaps with furrowed brows and taut faces—and the most formidable foe or metal structure can be violently repelled or disintegrated into a puff of smoke.  When you get a whole cast with these powers it can be dizzying, but that doesn’t keep you from being engaged in the story.

Jean is a child in the back seat of her parents’ car tooling down the highway, complaining about the music they’re listening to.  Suddenly she’s in a hospital asking where her parents are. Dr. Charles Xavier (McAvoy) appears and gently verifies her fears that her parents are dead.  It will be OK; Dr. Xavier has a school that might be just right for her, since she is “special” (which she scoffs at). But seriously, he says, it’s a place where children are taught to take pride in their differentness.  It’s clear from this short introduction that Jean has realized that she is different, and can harm others, so despite her misgivings—which voices later on—she agrees to enroll in the school.

     That’s Jean’s childhood; now she is almost grown up (played by Sophie Turner) and has joined the Xavier’s X-Men, albeit still in training.  She’s chosen to go with the group to rescue the NASA space flight of Endeavor, which has run into trouble.  During this mission, she is asked to do a heroic save in the last few seconds, and it’s apparent when she barely escapes with her life that she is changed.  That is, her powers are much stronger.   

     How this happened is a puzzle, although another character later on explains that “it” was given to her for a specific purpose.  The rest of the story is about these powers and the havoc they create for Jean, along with anyone around her.  The story hearkens back to Dr. Xavier’s when he first met Jean; that is, that such “gifts” to someone can be used for good or ill.  The person receiving them can make the decision as to how to exert them.  Although Dr. Xavier will be discredited from time to time, many of his principles will come back to Jean when she is in dire turmoil and pulled in two directions.

     Directed and co-written by Simon Kinberg, who was a producer on previous X-men films (X-Men:  Apocalypse, X-Men:  Days of Future Past, X-Men:  First Class), the film moves along at a fast clip, doesn’t overstay its welcome (less than two hours long), and incorporates substantive moral/ethical issues and emotional truths into an engaging story.  That is, it depicts remorse for mistakes, tensions around the use of power, the importance of “family”—however constituted—and the construction of an identity that “fits.”  

     Following her “Game of Thrones” success as a girl/woman undergoing numerous transformations, Sophie Turner proves she is ready for big-time movies and a starring role.  Aided by creative special effects, as Jean she is transformed into a “phoenix” (mythologically, a bird that regenerates) with powers that overwhelm her at first until she can figure them out.  Here, her upbringing—such as it was—will guide her in making decisions about who she wants to be.  Turner personifies these subtleties in good and evil to a tee.

     An unnamed character, a deliciously evil being without a soul and preoccupied with a quest for power, then appears to try to swing the odds.  She has in mind to use Jean to resurrect the power of a race in decline.  Jean has been a surprise all along, so we wonder what she will do…

     Fine casting strengthens this film’s success in storytelling.  James McAvoy embodies the person who has achieved acclaim but has to come to terms with mistakes he’s made.  The remorse shown is palpable.  Michael Fassbender’s initial befuddlement and subsequent resolve helps keep the tension at an optimum level, and supporting actors, Nicholas Hoult, Tye Sheridan, and Kodie-Smit-McPhee contribute significantly to the drama.

     Although knowledge of previous X-Men films will help in making sense of this rendition, it’s not a strict necessity, except perhaps in identifying the characters.

An exciting journey into the X-Men universe, with women holding their own—even starring.

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland

MOLLY'S GAME

Jessica Chastain     Idris Elba     Kevin Costner     Michael Cera

Jeremy Strong     Chris O’Dowd      Bill Camp     Brian d’Arcy

     This is one of the few, or only, major films showing a female character who is strong, cheeky, brilliant, daring, and successful, and who chooses an honorable path regardless of the consequences.  Often, we see a film showing men in that position, but not women. 

     Molly Bloom (cunningly played by Chastain) is a cheeky woman brought up by her sports-obsessed father (Costner) to compete to the death on a ski slope; he’d had great success with her older brothers.  When she was 12 years old, after major surgery for scoliosis and doctors’ recommendation not to ski again, she went on to compete in the Olympics as part of the U.S. team.  Bad luck came in the form of a small piece of pine embedded in the ice slope, which ended her skiing career forever.

      Nevermind.  This is a woman of many talents and formidable determination.  She’s set to go to law school, but against her father’s wishes, she chooses to move to Los Angeles from Colorado and find “temporary employment” as a waitress in a nightclub and as an office assistant, just for a break.  Her employment as office assistant turns into a 24-hour a day job for Dean Keith (Strong) who runs a gambling casino in the Cobra Lounge.  Molly is nothing but smart, and quickly learns everything she can about poker; moreover, she draws up spreadsheets (something Dean has never heard of) showing the bets, wins, losses, and financial information. 

     When Dean sees how much she is making as his assistant, he tries to stiff her (as will another character later on, both planning to do an age-old con on a woman), but she is already ahead of him and opens her own place of business.  Keep in mind that all along, Molly takes great effort to see that her business is legal and above board.  She is circumspect in not indulging in many of the activities men in her position have a history of doing. 

     However, the money is so good, and she takes a few risks in cutting corners.  But she is back on track toward her goal of enrolling in Harvard Law School when she is arrested by the FBI.  This brings her in contact with Charlie Jaffey (Elba), a high-priced, circumspect lawyer who doesn’t regard her as rich enough or ethical enough to warrant his law practice.

Their interactions and conversations are quintessential Aaron Sorkin—fast-paced, erudite, and funny.  Molly has to convince him to take her on as a client with drawbacks that are against his standards of practice as well as money.  That’s when the film takes on the elements of a thriller and an inspiring life story.

     Chastain brings her considerable talent to this role, most likely reinforced by the nature of the character’s challenges and struggles.  It’s another victory of brains and ethical grounding winning out over masculine pride and ego, including those of a psychologist-father, who took many years to understand how much grit she had and how much like him she was.  Chastain tackles the role as she always has in grasping all the elements that make up her complicated character.  Idris Elba is just as much master of his role, and the two of them make an excellent pair in shaping the action.

     This film should be an inspiration to women aspiring to achieve success and to men who want to understand these women in a non-stereotypical manner.

A refreshing and different take on a crime thriller.

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland

THE ZOOKEEPER'S WIFE

Jessica Chastain     Johan Heldenbergh     Daniel Brühl

     The film opens on a sunny morning with Antonina (Chastain) on a bicycle riding through the Warsaw zoo, happily greeting the animals owned by her and her husband Jan (Heldenbergh).  It’s obvious she has a natural way of connecting with them, and when they respond, they seem very human-like.  She holds them, pats them and kisses them, and when there’s a medical emergency, she’s right there helping to make things right again. The Zabinskis actually live in the zoo with their young son and an assortment of animals.

     But it’s 1939, and the idyll will not last, for the Germans have decided to invade Poland.  Bombs start dropping on the zoo, killing many of the animals and barely missing Antonina and her son out on a balcony.  Jan wants Antonina to leave the city, but she refuses, actually wanting instead to have her best friend (who is Jewish) hidden in their villa. 

     Before long, they are visited by a German officer, Lutz Heck (Brühl).  Being a zoologist, he is sympathetic to their plight, informing them that the German leadership wants to use the zoo for their headquarters, so most of the animals must be killed.  He has toured the zoo and realizes that among the animals are exotic species.  He offers to take these to Germany and house them until the war is over.  His stake in it is that he does genetic research and wants to bring back an extinct species through breeding.  Antonina’s husband is away, but being a canny woman, she agrees to the plan, wanting to stay on his good side to protect themselves and what they have.

     Further, the couple proposes to Lutz that they open a pig farm, which would provide food for the German troops.  The plan is submitted to Goebbels in Germany, and upon his approval, pigs are indeed shipped in.  Unbeknownst to Lutz, the Zabinskis will use the farm to rescue and shelter Jews imprisoned in the Jewish Ghetto in Warsaw.

     This fascinating (and almost unbelievable) account is based on a true story written by Diane Ackerman who drew her information from the unpublished diary of Antonina Zabinski.  Angela Workman turned it into a screenplay for the film directed by New Zealander Niki Caro (North Country, Whale Rider).  When WWII films about civilians are as imaginative and eye-catching as this one, it shines a light on the ingenious ways people caught up in some kind of horror survive.  In this case, Antonina and Jan form an effective couple—one using political skill, and the other using his compassion as motivation to act.

     Although not a Meryl Streep in the accent department, Chastain does a reasonable job in speaking English with a Polish accent.  In a way, she is in the same boat as her co-lead Heldenbergh who is from Belgium, although as a European he probably speaks several languages.  Nevertheless, Chastain plays her role to the hilt, needing to charm animals and humans in equal measure.

     I found The Zookeeper’s Wife to be a moving account, not only as a reminder to us (we have so many freedoms) of a significant time in history when freedoms were revoked, but as well a warning about how maintaining freedom is an ongoing effort that needs to be nurtured.

The effects of war on ordinary men, women, and children—and even animals—is patently clear in this film, along with imaginative ways to circumvent its damage.

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland

MISS SLOANE

Jessica Chastain     John Lithgow     Gugu Mbitha-Raw     Mark Stuhlberg     Mark Strong    Alison Pitt     Sam Waterston     Jake Lacy

          If you like exciting courtroom dramas that have key relevance for our time, you will love Miss Sloane and another captivating performance by Jessica Chastain.  Miss Sloane is a Washington lobbyist with the reputation of being the best in the city.  She is more than intellectually sharp and in speaking her mind, lets the facts roll off her tongue like automatic gunfire.  [Pun intended, as she is lobbying for a gun control law.]  She is unpredictable and usually many steps ahead of anyone else involved in an issue.  “Never be taken by surprise”, she says, and “play your trump card after they play theirs.”  (A demonstration of which she uses brilliantly in the final moments of the film.)  She teaches her six or so protégées maxims, tossing them out in rapid fire while working together on a project. 

          To the screenwriter Jonathan Parera’s credit, we get a bird’s eye view of the lobbying industry in Washington, D.C. and its corruptive influence on Congress members.  Along with Chastain’s portrayal of Sloane, this is the most valuable aspect of the film.  Viewing television coverage of the Lobbyist Jack Abramoff scandal in 2005 inspired Parera to write the script about lobbying. Independently, Chastain read Abramoff’s book in preparing for the role.  She also interviewed female lobbyists to guide her in portraying one of them.  The true-to-life quality of the film is likely a reflection of the Abramoff case and the additional research by Parera and Chastain. 

          Unfortunately, Director John Madden has chosen to use the ploy that seems to be a fad now in movie making, that of presenting events out of order in time.  Not only does this distract us from following a complex set of events and the import of Sloane’s rapid verbal output, it’s confusing for the viewer.  I was frustrated in not being able to process everything that is said by Sloane and her team.  Jumping around in time one has to spend a lot of attention on re-orienting.

         Supporting cast deserve recognition for the excellent roles they play in the drama.  Gugu Mbitha-Raw in particular, eloquently shows the sensitivity of her character on one hand and a sharp investigator on the other.  Mark Strong and Sam Waterston live up to their fine reputations by playing CEOs of lobbying groups, along with their staff members Mark Stuhlberg and Alison Pitt.  Jake Lacy is perfect as a studly character available to single women.

          Winning is the mantra in Miss Sloane, which we see as an all-important motivator for all the lobbyists, Sloane included.  Winning elections is key to survival for Congress members, hence their vulnerability to pressures coming from all sides.  But implicit in the story are questions about the costs sometimes involved in winning, whether that should always be a primary goal, and what happens to a person for whom that is a fundamental aim.

An exciting courtroom drama that has timely relevance.

Grade:  B                                    By Donna R. Copeland

THE HUNTSMAN: WINTER'S WAR

Chris Hemsworth     Emily Blunt     Jessica Chastain     Charlize Theron

            The film, loosely based on the Snow White fairy tale, is a prequel/sequel to the 2012 Snow White and the Huntsman.  It opens with a brief flashback showing Ravenna (Theron) killing her husband, the king (Robert Portal), who is also Snow White’s father.   And it gives a picture of the relationship between the two sisters Ravenna, older and dominant, and Freya (Blunt) submissive and emotionally positive.  After Ravenna destroys Freya’s chance for happiness, Freya, feeling betrayed and cynical, takes off to the north to set up her own kingdom.  Her new ability to magically create ice gives her the reputation of the “Ice Queen” and serves as a special power (Yup; think Frozen, 2013).  Her castle containing an enormous ice tower juts up into the high mountains covered with ice and snow.

            To build her army, Freya kidnaps hundreds of children and brings them to her castle to be trained for warfare by her huntsmen.  Two children are standouts for their superior combat skills:  Eric (Hemsworth) and Sara (Chastain).  Unfortunately, these two eventually fall in love, which is against Freya’s law prohibiting it.  Love is a sin, the Ice Queen has decided.  What happens to them is the major action of the ensuing story.

            With such a talented cast, excellent cinematography (Phedon Papamichael), production design (Dominic Watkins), and costumes (Colleen Atwood), it’s a shame that the story lacks substance.  It’s as if the writers (Evan Spiliotopoulos and Craig Mazin) put the few elements of the Grimm brothers’ Snow White into a bottle with whatever came to mind, shook it up and threw the contents out on the table, putting them back together in such a way the plot comes out rather jumbled and marked by unfortunate stereotypes of women.  Give them power and they become controlling and mean (Ravenna).  If they start out being loving, they become controlling and icy and/or they get duped (Freya).  They’re unmerciful if they’ve felt betrayed or were misled into believing it to be so (Sara).  Out of all this mishmash, the gist of the tale is “Love conquers all”, which is stated sarcastically in the beginning, but expressed genuinely by the end, as if that is the conclusion the audience is supposed to draw.  However, what transpires in between is not convincing. 

            Light moments in the film that are intended as jokes seem out of place and out of context.  When one character gets proof that her betrayer actually loves her—a tender moment she shows with tears in her eyes—the mood is broken by the question, “Are you crying?”  And we’re supposed to chuckle at this misplaced joke.  There are numerous jolts like this which are intended to be funny, but that take the focus away from a fairy tale atmosphere to present day culture.

           

A story more a jumble than a fairy tale.

Grade:  C-                        By Donna R. Copeland

THE MARTIAN

Matt Damon   Jessica Chastain   Jeff Daniels   Chiwetel Ejiofor   Kate Mara   Donald Glover   Sean Bean

          The Martian is so exciting, the 2 ½ hours fly by as the viewer is transfixed on the screen, first watching Mark Watney (Damon) using his considerable skills to survive all alone on Mars by producing water, setting up a farm for food, and making electronic equipment work for him; and second, watching as NASA and other scientists and the crew on a returning spaceship, the Hermes, make difficult decisions and work together to try to bring the abandoned astronaut home. 

        The crew of Hermes, led by Commander Lewis (Chastain) are busily collecting data on Mars when a fierce storm comes and blows Watney away.  Lewis risks her life in going out to try to find him, but can’t, and logically concludes he is dead.  In order to survive, the team needs to leave and head back to earth and they blast off.  However, Watney is not dead, and when he regains consciousness, he has a major wound he must treat and finds that he is on his own.  Oh, f---!

      For a good part of the film after that, we observe this very proud botanist problem-solving ways to get food and water, get battery power for the Rover, and attempt to reconnect communication lines with NASA.  Then we get good glimpses into organizational politics and see hypotheses formed, and policies made with insufficient information.  When astute observers see evidence that Mark is indeed alive, agreements have to be made about what to do with the situation and how wide the net of information to others should be spread, including the returning spaceship crew.  There are major setbacks along the way, and finally, the U.S. must rely on a foreign power for assistance. 

        I understand that the book on which the film is based is laden with technical information difficult for the average reader to wade through, so director Ridley Scott and writer Drew Goddard are to be congratulated on making the film just technical enough to heighten the drama of the plot.  Damon fits the role perfectly, with its blend of male-type analyses, wry humor, and drive for adventure.  He is the only one on screen for a significant amount of time and is entirely watchable throughout.  He deserves nominations at awards time. 

       The supporting cast members hold their own as well.  Jessica Chastain gives a solid performance as a female commander, Jeff Daniels as the bad-guy administrative head of NASA, Chiwetel Ejiofor as a scientist willing to take risks, Sean Bean as an advocate for major players lower on the hierarchy, Kate Mara as an astronaut with electronic know-how, and Michael Pena as an astronautic navigator and friendly competitor with Mark.  Kristen Wiig steps out of her usual comedy routine to be an able assistant to the head of NASA, Teddy Sanders.  Donald Glover is a stand out as Rich Purnell, a nerdy astrophysicist who stumbles out of bed after a late night of work and steps up with plans for rescue that make the higher-ups take notice. 

       Throughout, we get glimpses of the players’ personal lives, but the most entertaining and valuable aspects of the film have to be the ingenuity involved in survival and the ethical-moral-practical decisions that people in charge must make on an everyday basis and at critical times.  The point is well made that these are gut-wrenching decisions and that the best ones are those made by all involved, not just the people at the top.

An exciting, nerve-wracking, informative picture about what it takes to be a successful astronaut.

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