Other than murder Animal
Kingdom and Strangers by the Lake
seem to have little in common. Yet, in both we witness the lack of even a thin
line to separate we humans from the coldest killers of the animal kingdom. Cinematically,
there is a kinship as well. It is how this chilling reality is portrayed. While
the camera lacks sympathy, it is richly intimate. It is as if the viewer is there, unseen to be
sure, an invisible peeping Tom, witnessing the events, knowing what’s going to
happen next yet unable to do anything about it. We are so close, so
powerless. And it may be this frustration that keeps us from achieving any emotional
satisfaction when the films end.
In Animal Kingdom,
Joshua, 17, played by James Frecheville,
had been living with his heroin-addicted mom. He comes home one day to find her
dead. An overdose. It is an awkward time
for her to die. He’s not ready
emotionally or financially to strike out on his own. He turns to his mother’s understandably estranged family. Should be better, shouldn’t it? His grandmother (Jacki Weaver) invites him in — frying pan to fire — and he is unfortunately accepted by
the pack of criminal relatives. It’s
clear that his upbringing or lack of it didn’t prepare him to question whatever
the world dealt him. By the time he
understands his situation it is much too late.
We would like to have warned him. Yet as I mentioned earlier, our
powerlessness to do so is the point. Like our protagonist we were unable, in
the end, to change things. Life set him up. The film was written and directed
by David Michôd.
It was well accepted critically.
In
Strangers By The
Lake, we desperately want to save Franck (
Pierre Deladonchamps) from himself. Though he is unaware of our
presence, we are with him every second of the film.
We see what he sees. We can almost feel the
heat on the rocky beach, the breeze, and the coolness of the water. Despite its
slow, low-key tone or perhaps because of it what we experience seems natural,
real. The acting, too, is invisible. And I suspect the very explicit sexual
action among males might seem
too
real for many. That too is intended.
Similarly, once we understand what’s going on, how serious it really is,
we want to change the direction of the film.
We want to warn the protagonist. But the end seems libidinally destined.
The film was written and directed by the award-winning
Alain Guiraudie.
If you have family or friends who seem determined to ruin
their own lives even though their choices should be recognized as horribly
destructive even to them, these two films will strike painfully familiar emotional
chords. They are also crime film
originals.
Both films received all the stars they could from Rotten
Tomatoes. As an accompaniment in honor of the French influence on both films, I
suggest Pernod.
Humans walked on the moon for the first time. Richard
M. Nixon became president. 100 counties signed a nuclear proliferation
treaty. Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi
overthrew King Idris of Libya. The U.S. Supreme Court demanded an immediate
end to segregation in public schools. Alcatraz
was seized by Native Americans who demanded the land be returned to them
pursuant to another treaty not honored. Stonewall Riot began gay rights
revolution. Chinese-Russian border clash
resulted in 100s dead. Golda Meir
became prime minister of Israel. Sirhan
Sirhan was sentenced to death for killing Robert Kennedy. Senator Edward
Kennedy left the scene of a drowning, ending any chance for a presidential run.
Kennedy dad, Joseph Kennedy, died. James
Earl Ray pled guilty to the killing of Martin
Luther King. Electron microscope was
developed. First in vitro fertilization
of a human egg occurred. Woodstock happened. DDT was banned. Paul McCartney
was forced to deny he was dead. Rolling Stones fan killed at Altamont. The
last episode of “Star Trek” aired. Mario
Andretti won the Indy 500. Willie Mays hit his 600th home run. Cabaret closed on Broadway after 1166
performances. Joe Orton’s What The Butler Saw premiered in London.
The Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to Samuel Beckett. We read The
Godfather by Mario Puzo, Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth, The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles, and Slaughterhouse
Five by Kurt Vonnegut. The
Mystery Writers of America gave their top prize to Jeffery Hudson for A Case of
Need. On the silver screen we watched Midnight
Cowboy, Butch Cassidy and the
Sundance Kid, The Wild Bunch, Easy Rider, and Anne of a Thousand Days.
Beatles’ album Yellow Submarine was released.
We also listened to “Sugar, “Sugar” by The
Archies, “Aquarius” by The Fifth Dimension, “I Can’t Get Next
To You” by The Temptations, “Honky
Tonk Woman’ by the Rolling Stones, “Everyday
People by” Sly and the Family Stone,
“Dizzy” by Tommy Roe, “Hot Fun in
the Summertime” by Sly and The Family Stone, “Build Me Up Buttercup” by the Foundations, “Crimson and Clover” by Tommy James and the Shondells, and “I’ll
Never Fall In Love Again” by Tom Jones.
Shuffling off the mortal coil were Dwight D. Eisenhower, Judy Garland, Jack Kerouac, Sharon Tate, Boris Karloff,
George “Gabby” Hayes, Thelma Ritter,
Robert Taylor, and Sonja Henie. Taking on the coil were Jack Black, Jay Z, Jennifer Lopez, Jennifer Anniston, Simon
Baker, Gerard Butler, Edward Norton, Matthew McConaughey and Marilyn
Manson. If you were around, what were
you doing this year of the earth rooster?
