Day
120 You
Were Never Really Here [2017]
Screenplay Lynne Ramsey
Based on ‘You Were Never Really Here’ by Jonathan Ames
Director Lynne Ramsey
Cinematography Thomas Townend
Music Jonny
Greenwood
Leads Joaquin
Phoenix, Ekaterina Samsonov, Judith Roberts, Alessandro Nivola, John Doman
Production Film4 Productions, British Film Institute, Why
Not Productions, Page 114
IMDb 7/10
Rotten Tomatoes 86%
I
need to watch this again. I’ll hold my hands up and admit that I fell asleep in
this. I want to stress that it was because I was jetlagged and not because the
film sucks. Although don’t watch it if you are sleepy because, despite the
graphic violence in it, the cinematography and music are dreamy and mellow, and
there is little dialogue. Joaquin Phoenix plays an army veteran who suffers
from PTSD and now is a hitman who hunts down sex traffickers/kidnappers. The film
tiptoes along a thin fence that separates hallucinations and reality, creating
many discombobulating scenes. Phoenix is eternally good, yet again proving he’s
one of the best actors of his generation. I’ve mentioned it before (excuse my
bad memory of when), and I’ll say it again; being able to act with little to no
dialogue and still give a mesmeric performance is what separates the legendary
actors from the Anne Hathaways of the industry (cheap shot – sorry Anne). Think
DiCaprio in The Revenant, Hanks in Castaway – it’s the purest
form of acting and it’s what makes Charlie Chaplin so iconic. He was a
brilliant orator, as we learnt during his speech in The Great Dictator,
and yet he is famous for bringing whole audiences from tears to laughter
without uttering a syllable. Phoenix isn’t quite there yet but perhaps it’s
unfair to compare anyone with Chaplin. The hazy camera work and moody music
skip hand in hand around Phoenix juxtaposing his troubled character. I liked it
because it felt original, so Ramsey must be commended for her work. You won’t
all like it – that I can say with confidence – especially if you’re more Order
of the Phoenix than Joaquin Phoenix.
Acting 4 / 4
Writing 3 / 4
Cinematography 3.5 / 4
Music 3.5 / 4
HWF rating 3 / 4
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