Detachment [A Tony Kaye Talkie]

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Synopsis: Director Tony Kaye (American History X) creates a unique and stylized portrait of the American education system seen through the eyes of substitute teacher Henry Barthes (Adrien Brody). Henry wanders in and out of students' lives, imparting knowledge where he can in the short time he has with them. Then a new assignment places him at a failing public school run by Principal Dearden (Marcia Gay Harden) and alters his insular world. Henry's stoic front is slowly chipped away by three women who impact his view on life: a student (newcomer Betty Kaye), a fellow teacher (Christina Hendricks), and a teenage runaway (Sami Gayle).

Cast: Adrien Brody, Marcia Gay Harden, James Caan, Christina Hendricks, Lucy Liu, Blythe Danner, Tim Blake Nelson, Bryan Cranston, William Petersen

Clip: http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/archives/watch_weird_kind_of_overwrought_clip_from_tony_kayes_detachment_with/

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My light spoilers review on The Playlist:

Though it had flown mostly under the radar, cinephiles were pretty thrilled a few weeks ago when the Tribeca Film Festival announced the addition of "Detachment" to its lineup. Not only was the cast top notch but behind the director's chair was British provocateur Tony Kaye, the filmmaker behind the controversial "American History X," a picture made over 12 years ago. In the interim, things have been tough for the notoriously difficult director and "Detachment" is only his third feature and first narrative film since 1998. "American History X" had its own infamously troubled history when star Edward Norton essentially took over the film, edited it on his own without the director, and Kaye subsequently made a gigantic stink in Hollywood, putting ridiculous ads in Variety and eventually tried to take his name off the film and replace it with the pseudonym Humpty Dumpty. Norton would go on to receive an Oscar nomination for his performance but Kaye (following an unsuccessful attempt to sue New Line Cinema) ended up in director jail for nearly a decade.

His next film, the excellent 2 ½ hour abortion documentary "Lake Of Fire," would go virtually unseen though it seemed like things were back on track when Kaye was hired to direct the New Orleans set thriller, "Black Water Transit" with Lawrence Fishburne, Karl Urban and Brittany Snow. Despite completing the film sometime in 2008 the producers became engaged in a lawsuit, one of them calling it "unreleasable," and it's looking as if that film may never see the light of day as three years have gone by without a release date. Known for his outlandish eccentricities, it's difficult to discern how much the drama that encircles Kaye is just bad luck and how much he brings on himself (unless you read that 2003 Vanity Fair profile back that certified him as a nut). But after viewing "Detachment" (and witnessing Kaye's loopy introduction to the film), it becomes clear that Kaye is his own worst enemy.

Adrien Brody stars as Henry Barthes, a substitute teacher who floats around between troubled inner city public schools and may have a troubled past of his own. Opening with candid interview footage with (presumably) real teachers, the picture then dovetails into an interview with Brody's character talking about the educational system. These faux confessionals are woven throughout the film as one of several narrative devices. Henry arrives at a particularly troubled school run by Principal Deardon (Marcia Gay Harden) who informs him of his sterling reputation, which is unusual in his line of work. Within minutes of arriving in the classroom, Henry is nearly assaulted by a student and a cutaway shows another teacher being spit on and threatened with gang rape.

The rest of the faculty (and rather motley crew cast) includes Christina Hendricks, Lucy Liu, James Caan, Blythe Danner, Tim Blake Nelson and William Petersen as teachers and administrators all being pushed to the brink by the oppressive hopelessness of some of their students. Unfortunately, for the most part their roles are reduced to mere minutes onscreen. (Petersen gets the worst of it, appearing in a dozen scenes but never given anything to do besides break up a fight between students.) Besides a brief flirtation and date with Hendricks' character, Henry's main role seems to be that of a savior. He tries to help an artistic but suicidal student (Betty Kaye) and also befriends a teenage prostitute (newcomer Sami Gayle).

A loner, as evidenced by Henry's empty apartment in the ghetto, the film's endless flashbacks shed some light on his traumatic childhood responsible for his behavior. Unfortunately the flashbacks are both repetitive and numerous, and don't end up revealing much more than you might have assumed already from his disposition. Other story elements are rushed. When Hendricks' character walks in on Henry consoling a student she automatically assumes there's something inappropriate going on but considering their close relationship it seems like a leap for her character.

Even as the film is bad, it's compulsively watchable. There is also some pretty obvious foreshadowing in the film and a tragic finale that recalls "American History X" but here it feels rote. Kaye's shock tactics seem obvious and juvenile but the biggest waste here is the cast, who are completely dedicated to the material or whatever message Kaye thought he was getting at, but are squandered throughout. Written by first time screenwriter (and former L.A. public school teacher) Carl Lund, it's an earnest and passionate effort, but it's just not very good, and Kaye's experimental ideas seem to undermine the narrative at every turn. Between his unconventional shooting style and his method of filming (handing the actors pages of dialogue just minutes before a scene) it's hard to tell if there was a decent movie in there somewhere that needed rescuing by another filmmaker.

Though the story is simple, you've seen it before in everything from "Dangerous Minds" to "The Class," Kaye dresses it up like fever dream. He wants to provoke but can't seem to get a hold of a truly provocative idea. The director operates the camera himself, frequently letting parts of the frame go in and out of focus as if he's so interested in capturing the performances he can't be bothered to keep up with pulling focus. His wide angle lens turn domestic scenes, like the principle's husband (Bryan Cranston in a brief cameo) trying to comfort her, into a grotesque farce. You'd like to think Kaye is in on the joke but the whole thing is sadly just deadly serious.

A bizarre, well intentioned mess, at the very least, "Detachment" is never dull. During the film, Henry brings up the term "doublethink" (popularized by George Orwell in "1984") describing two mutually contradictory beliefs. Whether intentional or not, the film seems to send two conflicting messages. Its bleakness is contrasted by almost comical scenes of earnestness. Is the film an indictment of our educational system or is it a character study of a man coming to grips with his past? The picture can never quite decide and the two never coalesce either. So much time is spent on Henry's outside relationships (his dying father, his teenage prostitute gal pal) that you never really get to see him getting through to the kids in his classroom. So when towards the end of the film, a previously violent student tells Henry that he's going to miss him after he's gone, you're left scratching your head. While another film about a teacher with the determination to get through to his class could have been interesting with a fresh perspective, Kaye simply can't find it, resulting in a film that feels like it's going to have be left back to repeat a year. [D+]

[Reel]

Cool, glad to see him back. I'd be interested to see a Directors cut of AHX, it was rly good up until the end, the prison part seems cut short and is unsatisfying. The biggest mistake of his career was how he lost control of the Brando documentary on acting "Lying for a living" I wanna fuckin' see that!!

[OrHowILearnedTo]

So, whatever happened to Black Water Transit?

[MacGuffin]

Trailer here.

[socketlevel]

Cool, glad to see him back. I'd be interested to see a Directors cut of AHX, it was rly good up until the end, the prison part seems cut short and is unsatisfying. The biggest mistake of his career was how he lost control of the Brando documentary on acting "Lying for a living" I wanna fuckin' see that!!

he was never gone too long, well at least in 2006 he made a great doc, "lake of fire." so good, you shouldn't miss it.

[Reel]

I didn't.

[72teeth]

a talkie, a? First 3 dimensions, now this!? What's Next!?!

[MacGuffin]

Watch: Tony Kaye Discusses 'Detachment, Working With New York School Actor Adrien Brody & Tells A Bizarre Fish Story

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-tony-kaye-discusses-detachment-working-with-new-york-school-actor-adrien-brody-tells-a-bizarre-fish-story?utm_source=dlvr.it

[MacGuffin]

So, whatever happened to Black Water Transit?

Tony Kaye Says He's Still Editing Long-Lost 'Black Water Transit' Film; Still Plugging Away On Experimental Project 'Lobby Lobster'
Source: Playlist

Tony Kaye's first film this decade is "Detachment" -- and his follow-up is called "Attachment." Though they're not part of the same story, the two projects are related, the director told The Playlist.

"Both films are about love," Kaye explained. "It's the journey from detachment to attachment in 'Detachment,' and it's about the love of mankind. And 'Attachment' is about love for the self alone, with no interest in how the other person feels, and how that is damaging."

"Detachment" follows a substitute teacher as he learns to engage with his high school students as well as a fourteen-year-old runaway, while "Attachment" revolves around a college-age student (Tom Felton, who just joined the cast today) who is obsessed with and starts stalking an older woman (Sharon Stone) after they have a one-night stand. "It's a continuation of my exploration of love," Kaye said. "Maybe all my films are."

Most of Kaye's other projects have been in limbo for years, including the unreleased "Black Water Transit" and "Lobby Lobster." Kaye shot the bulk of the post-Katrina thriller "Black Water Transit" in 2008, and screened it at Cannes in 2009, but the film has been stuck in the courts ever since. (It's set to go to trial at a still-to-be-determined date, as Miramax co-owner Ronald Tutor and financier David Bergstein continue motions in Los Angeles Superior Court.) [Read the complaint here]

Lamenting the ongoing legal struggles, Kaye noted that he wasn't the only director affected by all the litigation with the financiers, citing David O. Russell's "Nailed" (which is mostly shot save for one crucial scene) as being a similar situation. "We all got caught up in this, and we all ended up on the washing line," Kaye said. "But I'm in constant touch with the producer and we're going day to day to see how this plays out."

Despite the delay, the director still says that he hasn't made any progress with the project in the past year, but hopes to finish it soon. "It's a wonderful story, with a number of powerhouse performances from the likes of Brittany Snow, Laurence Fishburne, and Stephen Dorff," Kaye said. "It takes place three or four months after the flood, and it's about the connections between each of them, but I won't be sure what it's all about until I'm done with it."

Since he's been editing "Black Water Transit" for "quite a while," Kaye said he never really knows what a film is until it's locked. "The film we made so far is not the film they expected," he said. "But as you edit, you learn more about the subject matter, and more about the actors, and nothing is set in stone. Movies are made many times -- once in the writing, once in preproduction, once again during the shoot, once again in editing, in post, and again when you put it in the marketplace. These things, they change all the time, and that's what I love about it, the constant reinvention."

"Lobby Lobster" is also already shot, for the most part, since the director has been working on it for over a decade. "We're still working on it all the time," Kaye allowed, "but we're getting there eventually."

The experimental film features Nat Faxon, now an Oscar winner for his work on the screenplay for "The Descendants" with writing partner Jim Rash and Alexander Payne. "There's no real script, which is wonderful," Kaye said, "but I really don't know what it's about. Perhaps it's about chaos, or connections, or how chaos is mapped out and calibrated in a mathematical way. There are no accidents."

Which will hit theaters first -- "Attachment," which shoots in April, or the already shot "Lobby Lobster" or "Black Water Transit"? "Please, God, let it be one of them!" Kaye laughed. "I've learned how to walk, and I want the opportunity to run. I think 'Detachment' is going to give me that. I got an email from Bob Shaye who used to run New Line last week -- just completely out of the blue, I don't even know where he got my email from, he's never even phoned me before -- and he pointed out how emotionally engaged he was with 'Detachment.' That was a fantastic email."

"Detachment" opens this weekend in limited release and is on VOD now.

[Robyn]

So what did you guys think of this?

[picolas]

amazing trainwreck. sprinkled with truly compelling and horrible thingies throughout. lucy liu's monologue is as bad as it gets. can't really remember the best parts anymore, but there are a few. it's kind of thrilling in terms of how terrible it gets, then it takes a turn and you think it might crawl out.. but then something else happens.