Melbourne Film Festival: The Congress (2013)

Year: 2013

Running Time: 122 minutes

Director: Ari Folman

Writers: Stanislaw Lem (novel), Ari Folman (screenplay)

Cast: Robin Wright, Harvey Keitel, Jon Hamm, Paul Giamatti, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Sami Gayle

The Congress screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival on the 28th of July and 8th of August 2013.

The Congress is a film like no other.

With it's combination of live action and animation, The Congress is incredibly creative and original and is visually an absolute masterpiece. However, you can count on one thing when it comes to The Congress, and that is that opinions will absolutely be divided. Some people will love it for it's creativity and original take on the future, will others will find it's surrealistic elements just too strange and bizarre to tolerate.

Robin Wright (played by herself) is an actress faced with the reality that she has not made a decent film in 15 years and is unsure what where her career is going. Her manager, Al (Harvey Keitel) comes to her with an offer that would see her signing her life away to the studio as a result of the changing face of the film business. This decision affects Robin in ways going into the future that she, nor anybody else, ever would have considered possible.

Based on the novel by Stanislaw Lam, "The Futurological Congress", The Congress is really one of a kind. It can be described as sci-fi in it's futuristic qualities. The future in the film is represented by animation and with this animation comes the ability to create a more surrealistic feel to the film, as there is so much more which animation is capable of when creating this world. It is able to do things for the visuals of the film which CGI still would not be able to accomplish. As a result of this mix of live action and animation to tell the story about the future of the film business and then the future of human kind, The Congress is not like any other film. It is completely intriguing and very, very clever.

However, it is the content and visuals combined that will make this film just too strange for some to tolerate a full viewing of. Many of the futuristic scenes contain some very surreal images, especially when Robin inhales hallucinogenic fumes (that could well speak for itself) and the many of the scenes that follow that. If surrealism in film doesn't interest you and you don't find it entertaining, than The Congress will not do anything for you. Indeed it is something you need to be open to and accept in order to see the beauty of the film.

The animated scenes are visually brilliant. The colours used are exquisite and overwhelming in the emotions which they themselves are capable of evoking. What is so incredible about the animation, is that it is not just the main characters and objects that receive the most attention, but everything around them. There is so much going on in each scene that it is impossible just to concentrate on one item or character. One such scene is where Robin and Dylan (voiced by Jon Hamm) are in the restaurant and there are many animated versions of well known personalities wandering around in the background, which is a real treat to try and spot as many as you can!

Robin Wright is the centre of the film. She is really quite wonderful in all the live action scenes of the film which she is in. Her performance, in both the live action and the animation which she lends her voice to, is really very melancholy and she never really seems very happy, which after awhile can become quite distressing to watch. Harvey Keitel is very good in the scenes which he is in. He has one really incredible scene in which he goes from telling and amusing and funny story to ending up in heartbreaking tears. Kodi Smit-McPhee also does well as Robin's unwell son and Sami Gayle does well as her sassy daughter, Sarah.

The Congress will definitely prove a little too weird for some, but for those who are open to the concept of surrealism and the marriage of that surrealism with animation, they will have a wonderful treat.

7/10

You may have also seen Robin Wright in.....
The Conspirator as Mary Surratt

The Conspirator

The Conspirator

Year: 2010

Director: Robert Redford

Cast: James McAvoy, Robin Wright, Tom Wilkinson, Evan Rachel Wood, Kevin Kline, Justin Long, Alexis Bledel

In My Own Words

                I am not going to pretend here that I am an expert on American history because I am far from it. Growing up in Australia, American history is barely uttered in our high school education. I hate to say it, but the first American history lesson I got was by watching The Simpsons. Pop culture is great, isn’t it? Can’t say we don’t learn anything from it! The majority of my American history education comes from my trips to Washington, DC, Philadelphia and Boston, three great cities all with fascinating fragments of America’s history.

One of my friends lives in Washington, DC and certainly knows her US history, so she was the perfect person to have with me to show me the sights and the history behind each place. My favourite sight to see in Washington, DC is the Lincoln Memorial. This memorial is the perfect tribute to the man himself. The statue of a seated Abraham Lincoln is seated in the middle of the memorial as if he is looking back down the Mall towards the Capitol. However, there are some places you can stand in the memorial where it feels as though Lincoln has turned his head and is looking straight at you. The thing I love the most about this memorial is that Abe is larger than life and completely intimidating, just as I expect he was in real life.

One particular scene in The Conspirator which I found particularly haunting was the scene where they are taking Lincoln from the theater to the house across the street after he has been shot by John Wilkes Booth. This film was particularly well made, as it shows the chaos that followed after the assassination. Everybody was confused and distraught, yet wanted to catch a glimpse of their beloved president as he was carried out. The musical score supporting this scene completely enhanced the craziness of this scene as well. The most haunting part about it for me was the fact that I have been outside the Ford Theater where Lincoln was shot and inside the room in The Peterson House where he was pronounced dead. I had never actually pictured all the chaos which was part of that night when I was there, I just pictured a few men running across the road with the president in their arms. The chaos seems far more appropriate for the situation than a quiet night I had always pictured.

These are my own words and here is my review.

Review

It has been awhile since we have seen a good American period film. Admittedly there are a few American historical films in the pipeline at the present time, but it can be said with confidence that The Conspirator will be one of the better ones you will see. Robert Redford has done a great job of bringing this part of American history alive, although there are several parts of the film he could have expanded on which would have taken The Conspirator from a very good film to an excellent film.

It is the 15^th of April 1865, the night which President Abraham Lincoln is shot by John Wilkes Booth. However, everyone knows that one man shot the president, but he wasn’t the only one who orchestrated it. In the days following the assassination, the authorities go after the conspirators and arrest those suspected, including Mary Surratt (Robin Wright) who owns the boarding house which Booth and the other conspirators stayed at and conducted their meetings from. Young lawyer, Frederick Aiken (James McAvoy) is given the job to represent her in her trial, whether he believes she is guilty or not. He is soon faced with the dilemma that Surratt seems to be accepting guilt in order to save her son who has disappeared and is also suspected, and that also of his reputation in Washington being tarnished.

The Conspirator above all is a great history lesson. The time period is represented beautifully in the way which 19^th century Washington, DC is recreated. The scenery is very impressive and you can really feel what it would be like to be in the city in the time following the Civil War. The way each scene is constructed is commendable as each scene means something and contributes towards the film as a whole. Each scene is informative, entertaining and gives you a piece of new information that you didn’t know in the last scene.

However, it does feel like Redford could have pushed harder with several issues that are bought up in the film, but are not represented the way they should be. For example, when Aiken starts to notice how his social life is affected and how people are treating him in general because of the trial, there isn’t really a sense of it causing him any sense of inner turmoil or any sense of discomfort to the audience. Sure he gets denied going into a party and nudged in the street, but Redford should have pushed this point further in order to grasp what a big deal representing a southerner who is being tried for the murder of the beloved president. It is something which was such a big issue in those times especially because the war was not long over and tensions were still high between the south and the north and the idea of someone from the north representing someone from the south was considered shocking.

Redford may have also done well to push further with the relationships in the film. The relationship between Aiken and Surratt is almost a love/ hate relationship and is quite intriguing. Yet, the relationship between Aiken and his love interest, Sarah (Alexis Bledel) is just dull and would almost do better to not be there, much like Bledel’s performance in the role.

The script was quite well written, yet still seemed a bit weak at times. However, there really are some heart breaking moments in the film. The scene where Lincoln is shot and carried across the road is done brilliantly and a wonderful way to start the film.

Robin Wright is the stand out performance in this film. It is not hard to feel sorry for her character and even be drawn emotionally to her. Wright is just so believable in this role. She truly becomes Surratt in every way. James McAvoy also does very well, but we all know he does well in period films. His performance gradually gets better and better through the film. Evan Rachel Wood is also wonderful in this film giving a heartfelt performance as Surratt’s daughter, Anna.

One thing is sure about The Conspirator, it will be a great film for history classes across the United States in years to come. It is very interesting and there are some wonderful points. Mr Redford just needs to push harder.

7/10