Post by Casablanca on Sept 7, 2009 22:04:25 GMT -5
"The Coming" (Hanelle)
In my opinion, there is no such thing as a perfect script. I do not think that one can ever precisely label a film as perfect, or “great”, for that matter. All there is are films that we enjoy, to man different and various degrees. This here is one of those films that strives high, only a smidgen lower then “A Moral Aroma”, and just about succeeds. Unlike Hanelle’s films, prior, however, it doesn’t narrow in so much on a specific genre or dramatic structure and is far more viewer accessible, on par with “Miss Fortune”. It is the complexity of the plot and the stylistic, immediately attachable characters which seem to push it forward, throughout the many and diverse segments of this literal ensemble piece. In this as such, there are some very good moments, accompanied by some things I hope to see more delved into; wonderful adventure with nice characterization; and what is more, the dramatically enhanced with the, to say, “sci-fi” essentials, complete with a variation of “take me to your leader”.
As segmented as the film is, it really is hard to take as a whole; on part as well, due to the notion that this is only one out of three parts. You have president Judith Marlow, the character that I believed was not only the most fleshed out, but also the most well done. You had Sam, Patrick, and people on both sides, so to speak, of the fence. Some of these, Sam in particularly, I would have loved to see elaborated on; Krishna and company as well, though with the massive history lesson we were given, a lack of “present” storytelling is easily noticed and forgiven. It leaves much to be desired and much to cover; and this is where parts two and three will come in handy.
The “Act” structure was a smart move, and a neat one. Giving it the feel of a more episodic television broadcast, however, it did make the pace have a structural consistency to it. There were a few, though, “”Act 2” and “Act 5”, which seemed to have more of an emphasis on excitement more so progression of story and dramatic realization, but they were not without pro’s; the ending of “Act 2”, Judith gripping the wooden armrests, is, perhaps, the film’s finest moment due to it’s quiet intensity. It is the other acts though, “6” especially, which really hit things home, The montage at the very last bit of the film, and the mysterious, eerie scene to follow, was, for me, the only real shocker, as well as the most curious bit of the film. This is not to say the other twists were not that shocking- it is only that Judith was so well done, that soon we started to see things from her perspective, so when the alien arrived, we knew as much as she did and was affected as much as she. And that is why I will always consider this a character piece above a twisting adventure, science fiction.
What about the history; and the chronicle of who and when? It worked. We were fed a lot at one time, and , at parts, it seemed as though we would be left with that obnoxious, “will we ever know?” cliffhanger, until, luckily, Hanelle gave in and told us what we immediately wanted to know. There is a mystery here; no doubt, the ending is proof of that- but we are left satisfied enough to not over think what we were given. Granted, the way the film is being handled, a trilogy, makes the director need to pick and choose what to focus on, but that is all inevitability; while a longer film would have sufficed, we would have lost a lot of the impact the other books would have held.
Excitement is one thing that is not lacking here; the way some scenes are done, and paced- I sense no one will walk away bored. There is this nice, fresh style to it that gives it a really uplifting force, and while during the more dramatic moments, this feel fluctuated, it holds its own. The opening is a prime example of tension, as are the ending scenes to every chapter; more so “two”, but I would be fault not to mention “three” and “six”.
Overall, I thought it was a film- very well done- which easily ranks among Hanelle’s top four or five; behind “A Moral Aroma” and “Clocks”. It will be even better as a trilogy, and even better when we know everything that we need to, and can look back, or watch forward, for the character driven suspense. As a mystery, though, it succeeds on so many levels and genres. It is worth checking out for everyone, and is a quick, breezy, emotion touching, 80 page method to watching one of the finer films of the year.
