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A war veteran's attempt to save a young girl from a sex trafficking ring goes horribly wrong.Directed by Lynne Ramsay
Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Alessandro Nivola
Release Date - April 6, 2018
Clip (https://vimeo.com/218123636)
I honestly thought this was a sequel to I'm Still Here.
I worked on this!
I'm excited! And if that's Jonny Greenwood's music in that trailer: :shock:
(And seriously what's wrong with France, why do they need to change the title to A Beautiful Day. They know the movie won't work and want to cheat people into thinking it's a romcom?)
Don't watch the trailer if you haven't yet! I won't say it spoils anything, even if you can guess the plot of the whole movie watching it, but what is strong and surprising can't be shown. Anyway!
I really liked this movie even if it has flaws; it is a sensorial experience and sometimes what Ramsay films is almost cliché, you feel like you have seen it before, and there is a part of the movie which is an imitation of previous movies (and even if it sounds easy to write: of Taxi Driver) but it is way more nuanced and dense than that. It is a lot of things. A thriller/a nightmare/a gory fairy tale/an arthouse movie. That's why it works as a simple story with a twist. Because there are a lot of twists—even if they are not all working/effective.
The last scene made my heart twist. The sound design is very important in the whole movie—and, by the way, Greenwood is good as usual—because PTSD is also about sounds triggering emotions/memories. Some moments made me think of the way it is treated for Max in Fury Road.
This is a very interesting movie. I'd understand if some people think it is too cliché or something, but I truly think it is its own thing and that it is able—through a collage of different inspirations—to maintain a strong unity.
Ramsay's films aren't ever really about what happens, but about the texture and experience of situations. I haven't seen this new one yet, but her first three films basically start with someone dead (or in the case of WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN, a bunch of people). It's basically a way of saying, "Well, let's start with the most cataclysmic thing that can happen, so that there's nothing else that can really happen to top it, so you can put that question out of your mind and experience the movie tonally." Her focus then becomes images, sound, and psychology. And my god, is she fucking great at that. The simplicity of her stories and the fact that nothing really happens in them (it gets all the "happening" done in the first 10 mins, usually) aids in this.
Things do happen during the course of this one, but always with a strange and fascinating calmness.
SPOILERSRelease date moved to April 6, 2018
The american trailer is almost the movie scene by scene in a chronological order. Don't watch this one too.
I saw this at Glasgow Film Festival last week. An incredible piece of work. I don't think she's capable of making a bad film. A couple of scenes in this are going to be hard to top this year. Jonny Greenwood's score is amazing and different to what I expected - in the best way.
Ramsay talked at a Q&A afterwards about wanting to make a B Movie of sorts - but her version of one. It does flirt with cliché at times but she knows it and deliberately avoids it and sidesteps expectations. It seems she and Phoenix had a great working relationship - I hope they do more together.
Quote from: Shughes on February 26, 2018, 06:23:58 PM
It seems she and Phoenix had a great working relationship.
That was not the impression I and much of the rest of the crew seemed to have regarding their working relationship during the shoot, it often felt a bit contentious and begrudging per my recollection, based both on moments I witnessed and many things I overheard via various departments. Then again, it was a pretty high-pressure, jam-packed shooting schedule with lots of overnights, and that summer in NYC was one of the most over-heated I can remember, so perhaps this should all be taken with a grain of salt. I did witness a number of sweet, happy moments between them as well...glad to hear it seems to have come together quite brilliantly! It opens on my birthday and I could not be more excited. A terrific team of true sweethearts made this thing and I'll always remember it fondly, despite the relative day-to-day stress of the experience.
Interesting to hear a conflicting first hand report. I guess we'll never really know how they connected or didn't. It's possible the friction and tension brought them closer. We'll see if they work together again.
She did also talk about how damn hot and exhausting the heat of the New York Summer was for the 29 day shoot.
I'll be catching this one again on opening weekend in the UK - so much talent involved. I'm glad to hear the team were great and it's inspiring to see such work being made.
Individually, they both could not be nicer, happy to report. I got a few cool keepsakes, too - like Ramsay's book of visual references assembled during prep, her leftover pack of smokes...and her Bluray player!
Quote from: eward on February 27, 2018, 05:29:47 PM
Ramsay's book of visual references assembled during prep
This sounds amazing - how extensive is it? Can you share any details/what it included? Way more valuable than the Bluray player (though that's pretty cool too).
Quote from: Shughes on February 28, 2018, 04:51:03 AM
Quote from: eward on February 27, 2018, 05:29:47 PM
Ramsay's book of visual references assembled during prep
This sounds amazing - how extensive is it? Can you share any details/what it included? Way more valuable than the Bluray player (though that's pretty cool too).
It's quite thick and extensive, containing a number of images I believe were directly restaged for the film (we'll see if they made the final cut). I'll post some pics this evening.
That would be great. Thanks!
Behold (A Sampling):
Wow, these are great! Some of the images I recognise as the root of other images in the film instantly. I love the cap too, haha.
Thanks for sharing these. It's really interesting to see how one of my favourite directors prepares a look book/mood boards - very simple, one image per page. And a practical book to take on set is great - it's printed images on each page right, rather than cut out and stuck in? I assume that's to be able to print multiple copies for collaborators too.
Really great to get an insight into this. Thanks again for sharing.
This is the film I think I'm most excited for this year. Jonny Greenwood's score is out now and it's excellent. Joaquin Phoenix. Lynne Ramsay visuals. The plot seems short and sweet, but if it's really intense and immersive, I think it'll be great. Plus, others have mentioned it's more than just a simple plot and is very dense and full of meaning. I'm hoping it opens somewhere near me in Canada ....
a-and Kermode gives a highly glowing review of You Were Never Really Here!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gy_8Srv9Dtc
Finally got to see this last night. Spent most of the screening totally distracted by a continual rush of memories brought on scene to scene of the actual experience of working on it, so a second viewing is a must, but my feelings as of now are pretty conflicted. Perhaps I'm just overly familiar with the various incarnations of the material, but this felt way too thin to me. The story was chopped to shit, and too many scenes try to skate by on atmosphere alone and there just isn't enough there. Joaquin is good as always but he's been far better in far better films. This character just isn't especially compelling or memorable. Some nice visuals, etc, but nothing extraordinary. Perhaps my feelings will change, but I'm pretty disappointed. Just bounced right off me.
It worked so well for me. I loved the approach to the material - it felt very subjective and focused to me, rather than thin. It sidestepped cliché at every turn and could easily have fallen apart in different hands - a character study rather plot heavy. And Greenwood's music was incredible - this and Phantom Thread (with)in the same year - what an achievement!
I'd be curious to know how you feel if/when you see it again. It's interesting, and inevitable, that your memories of working on it colour your viewing of it. And my awe of Lynne Ramsay probably colours mine.
Yeah, in the days since that screening I've been rolling various aspects of it over in my mind, and strongly suspect I may feel differently after my second viewing. I need to go again, alone this time, to the loudest screening in NY, forget everything and let it just wash over me.
loved this. visceral, purely cinematic, at once tremendously painful and beautiful.
Caught this last night. Immediately wanted to see it again. This is my fav sort of film, where the performances and environments inform as much about the protagonist'z headspace as anything, better than any exposition might. Weirdly, I found myself relating it to a Paddy Chayefsky'z Marty. In the sense of swirling loneliness, and that it felt modern and ready to eviscerate the metropolis/city as toxic to human spirit, its gestalt empowering all the wrong sorts of ambition.
The quick cuts to Joe's time in the military, or his memory from that time. That's where I was sold on its staccato beats. Then, the underwater bit, well, that's poetry to me.
Jonny... A fkn master. Even if the film's not playing in your area, check out the score.
Really eager to see it again. It's been growing in my mind since I saw it and all the disconnect I felt has faded. Your guys' enthusiasm is exacerbating this.
This piece tracking Joaquinz roles via physicality (http://birthmoviesdeath.com/2018/04/03/you-were-never-really-here-and-the-anatomy-of-character) articulates quite well how profound expression can be achieved in subtle moves.
You Were Never Really Here, so far, is my favorite film of the year. Interesting comparisons to Taxi Driver: a film I consider terrible. Ramsay accomplishes in only 90 minutes what Scorsese fails to do in almost 2 hours. Many people walk away from Taxi Driver thinking Travis Bickle is cool; regardless of whether or not this is Scorsese's intention, it is an observable result of the film. Scarcely any could walk away from YWNRH and feel the same way about Joe or what he does in the film. The effects of violence are so honestly shown: this is the heartbreak of the film's few final scenes.
Interested in what others consider cliche in the film, as I found it fairly subversive of cliche. Perhaps it's subversions themselves were cliche? I could see how one would view perhaps the use of upbeat music during dark/violent scenes as a cliche, but I feel Ramsay uses this music only diegetically in scenarios where characters are using this innocent/happy music to cloud their dark acts as a defense/coping mechanism -- a conscious form of dissociation, if you will.
saw it again in a edifyingly near-full theater and loved it even more. it may even have supplanted paddington 2 as my favorite of the year so far.
that ramsay accomplishes such emotional and philosophical depth in a brisk 85 minute art house revisionist film noir that flaunts style for days is a cinematic christmas miracle. it's possibly the most effective, harrowing, disturbingly entertaining film about living with depression and suicidal ideation that i've ever seen.
These thoughts from you guys are really building my anticipation up to feverish heights. Unfortunately, I doubt the film will play near me for some weeks, if at all. Hopefully, since Amazon Studios in distributing it, it'll stream from them fairly soon.
Well, by an unforeseen turn of circumstances, I was able to see this movie! Samsong, I really like your thoughts. "Brisk 85 minute art house revisionist film noir that flaunts style for days," indeed, and I'm thankful that movies like these are being made.
Quote from: WorldForgot on April 11, 2018, 12:00:43 PMThis is my fav sort of film, where the performances and environments inform as much about the protagonist'z headspace as anything, better than any exposition might. Weirdly, I found myself relating it to a Paddy Chayefsky'z Marty. In the sense of swirling loneliness, and that it felt modern and ready to eviscerate the metropolis/city as toxic to human spirit, its gestalt empowering all the wrong sorts of ambition.
The quick cuts to Joe's time in the military, or his memory from that time. That's where I was sold on its staccato beats. Then, the underwater bit, well, that's poetry to me.
Jonny... A fkn master. Even if the film's not playing in your area, check out the score.
Yep, great reflections there. I found myself thinking that the photography is excellent and beautiful, but then feeling cold from the swirling loneliness and modern evisceration the metropolis/city that's toxic to human spirit.
The underwater bit was amazingly photographed. I'm really impressed. Poetry indeed.
Quote from: raptoroblivion on April 12, 2018, 09:56:39 PMThe effects of violence are so honestly shown: this is the heartbreak of the film's few final scenes.
In addition to seeing beauty and feeling distance and coldness, those stark images of blood and the physicality of the human body were harrowing and communicated Joe's headspace, as WorldForgot mentioned above. This is very much a visual film. There's barely any dialogue. I love the anamorphic photography and the way that Lynne Ramsay uses focusing and bokeh.
And then there were moments when Joe's depression and suicidal ideation really came through. The persistent blandness of experience and sense of no hope were expertly communicated, and then those "staccato" cuts to quick flashbacks really captured the way that PTSD flashbacks can intrude unexpectedly and continue to haunt the psyche. The scene in which Joaquin cries in the diner really got me, and he did a great job there.
Quote from: eward on April 06, 2018, 10:44:34 AM
Perhaps I'm just overly familiar with the various incarnations of the material, but this felt way too thin to me. The story was chopped to shit, and too many scenes try to skate by on atmosphere alone and there just isn't enough there. Joaquin is good as always but he's been far better in far better films. This character just isn't especially compelling or memorable. Some nice visuals, etc, but nothing extraordinary. Perhaps my feelings will change, but I'm pretty disappointed. Just bounced right off me.
Think I can see where you're coming from even though I liked it a lot. There's clearly a more plot-focussed iteration in the mix and at a few points I thought the movie was gonna snap into a different mode but it really sticks to its guns. Atmosphere alone is right. Pure cinema, all that. Applied to subject matter that seldom gets this treatment. Rather than tell you a story about this guy doing these things, it locks you in the guy's fucked up head and just sort of keeps you there for a while. Things happen but they're secondary to being there with him.
This was supposed to come to my local theater this Friday and just saw they delayed it until May 4th. Anticipation was so high I took half the day off to catch an early showing, not happy!
Drawbacks for living in a small city (Portland, ME) with one art house theater :(
This was very good; the images and mood lingering in my thoughts almost 24 hours later. I'm not fully convinced it's the masterpiece I'd like it to be, but have not ruled that thought out at all. Feels like the structure was toyed with excessively in post, the conventional material deliberately chucked in favor of creating something new, a moody spin on the vigilante genre. The entire film put me in a trance, the many tracking shots with no actors on screen adding to that effect. The running time, about 80 minutes without credits, is perfect, any longer and Ramsay's camera techniques would border on pretentious. There are a few weird scenes that I can't say I'd seen in a movie before, such as a moment Joe has with a baddie he just shot, that help the movie stand out, if the visual narrative doesn't stand out enough for you. Overall what was really good is the mood sustained by Ramsay, I think she really found the movie in editing. I loved it while watching it and love it now while reflecting on it. Phoenix is a big reason why, he's interesting in every frame and carries the movie without much effort, remaining naturally sympathetic. You really get a sense of who Joe is with nary an expositional word of dialogue uttered. It's just an inventive, melancholic piece of arthouse grind, made by one of the more visual directors working in the medium.
Finally was able to see it and I'm really glad I saw it in a theater, it was well worth the wait.
Fantastically intense and focused, I really didn't know where it was going in the last 1/2 hour and that's a great thing.
Music was awesome too! Will try to see it again in the theater before it leaves. I have a feeling seeing it on a smaller/home screen will lose some of the intensity, especially with the sound design and music.
Finally got a chance to watch this again and am happy to report that whatever experiential blinders I'd had on previously have been totally eradicated, thus I WAS ABLE TO FULLY ENTER AND LOVE THIS MOVIE. A forward-lurching, psychologically-splintered, gorgeously grotesque odyssey through the nightmare of one man's existence...
SPOILER
...with one of the most terrifyingly upbeat endings in recent memory. Proud to have been a part of it (I made those sides every morning like a motherfucker!)
love that ending, too.
SPOILER-y
sometimes you just gotta tell yourself it's a beautiful day and finish your milkshake.
glad a revisit was rewarding.
My first impression was very similar to eward's. The movie seemed too thin. But I've been warming to it quite a bit. This has some of the most idiosyncratic scenes I've seen in a while. And some of those images and moments are just not leaving my mind. I strongly suspect I would love this on a second watch. It probably is a masterpiece.
I'm pretty torn, because I wish this were an hour longer, at least. It left me wanting more. This is probably misguided, though, because the magic of the movie is the way it forces you to fill in the gaps. That's how it gets its hooks in you. (Which is not to say it leaves you guessing. It gives you just enough information.)
SPOILERS
I hesitate to say this, because it's pretty dumb, but wouldn't a sequel be awesome?
I would also accept another movie with this story entirely from the girl's perspective.
Quote from: eward on May 29, 2018, 11:30:05 AM
Finally got a chance to watch this again and am happy to report that whatever experiential blinders I'd had on previously have been totally eradicated, thus I WAS ABLE TO FULLY ENTER AND LOVE THIS MOVIE. A forward-lurching, psychologically-splintered, gorgeously grotesque odyssey through the nightmare of one man's existence...
SPOILER
...with one of the most terrifyingly upbeat endings in recent memory. Proud to have been a part of it (I made those sides every morning like a motherfucker!)
I knew you would come around, eward!
this is very very good. to me it worked as a thought experiment on how to re-represent violence's devasting/not-fun aspects in a society increasingly accustomed to it in audiovisual forms. agony and suffering have always necessary subjects in art, but their aestheticization is more problematic than ever.
Quote from: Jeremy Blackman on June 07, 2018, 06:49:56 PMI strongly suspect I would love this on a second watch. It probably is a masterpiece.
Correct.
This hit me much harder on rewatch. Because everything actually makes sense. And there is no expectations game. Strongly recommend revisiting this if it didn't quite work for you the first time.
Specifically:
I finally understood why Joe is so affected by Nina's story and why he has such an outsized level of empathy and attachment to her.
(1) Joe is still tormented by the domestic abuse he suffered. Notice that Nina's coping mechanism mirrors his (counting).
(2) He's haunted by all the child sex abuse that's he's seen doing his job.
(3) He has PTSD from his experiences in war, where he saw at least one child commit violence.
Nina hits all 3 of these pretty hard. The first two are nothing new for Joe, but when he realizes that Nina's been forced to become a murderer herself, and that she might have even learned from his example, it's just too much. (This is when he breaks down in the bedroom near the end.)
It breaks his heart because he knows from experience how difficult her life is going to be.
But I might also speculate that he's deeply affected by her resilience—perhaps an emotional strength that he never quite had. Notice how in the end he is entirely dependent on her hope and optimism. That is, in fact, illustrated explicitly.
Saw this again recently and, yeah, nail on the fuckin head, man. Happy to have been even a tiny insignificant part of it.
A little late - and I havent seen the movie yet, but I just watched the international trailer and noticed a possible reference to the Yoko Ono album "season of glass" at 1:31 could be a coincidence but I thought i'd mention it. looking forward to watching this one soon.
After two viewing in one week, this is slowly creeping into personal favorite territory.
Will never get the love for this. I can't help but think that people were just worried for Ramsay after the Jane Got A Gun fiasco that they were heavily behind her no matter what she made. Liked her first 2 films (particularly Movern Callar) but the last 2 were bordering on awful. Why has she become so damn heavy handed all of a sudden? It's like she had only one idea and filled the running time with flashbacks (er, not a great, nuanced portrayal of PTSD) and bait-and-switches. Don't think Joaquin brought much to this either.