ANIMAL KINGDOM (David Michod, 2010)

-

David Michod's debut film ANIMAL KINGDOM is an instant crime classic from the first frame. Teenager Joshua "J" Cody (James Frecheville) goes to live with his grandmother, Janine "Smurf" Cody (Jacki Weaver) after his mother, Smurf's daughter dies of heroin overdose. Living basically with his uncles, who all have a tainted history with the law, J quickly learns survival in a cruel world. He starts out as an observer first, but when you live with armed robbers and drug dealers, and a mother who tolerates them, you are unwittingly either an accomplice or a pawn.

A cold-blooded murder sets things in motion, and the sudden appearance of the eldest of Smurf's sons, Pope (Ben Mendelsohn) becomes a test of loyalty for young J. When his uncles randomly murder two uniformed cops as retaliation, the police grills the whole family for a confession. The detective assigned to the case, Detective Senior Sergeant Nathan Leckie (Guy Pearce) pays particular attention to J, knowing he is the easiest button to push. J is then faced with some serious decisions ahead, not to mention the complication of having his girlfriend Nicky (Laura Wheelwright) around. 

The film's plot is cleverly described by the title itself. The family environment where J is forced to live in is a jungle, and while there is potential for the family members to become actual human beings, most often than not they act out as animals. The film's title and poster are complete giveaways. You'd readily know there is no happy ending to this morality tale. But who survives in the end?

Writer-director David Michod navigates this tale of crime with clever precision and enough levels of intensity to just have us guessing how the story will end. Five minutes before the credits I have my predictions, but they were not certain. It was right, though I did not have any way of verification, or I simply chose to ignore the signs. The film is that good in concealing motives and surprises. 

Janine's transformation from a caring mother to a vicious animal is surprising, and intense. Jacki Weaver, with those eyes that could fool anyone of her motive, is compelling in her portrayal of Janine. 

The film could use some more explanation on the cold-blooded shooting earlier mentioned, and a further peek at how Janine could wield the power that she has when she wants to, because by then we'd better understand how fucked up this family really is. 

But aside from that, topnotch acting from all, especially that subdued turn as a cop by Guy Pearce. Frecheville is a revelation in that bathroom scene where he breaks down upon learning the tragedy that he may have caused. 

Even the smallest parts are inspired performances. Nothing is overdone or underperformed.  

There goes your deconstruction of the family as the basic unit of society. 

RATING: 5/5

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ANINO SA LIKOD NG BUWAN (Jun Lana, 2015)

-
Image
* English title "Shadow behind the Moon" The best term to describe Jun Lana's latest film would be a cinematic charade- a game of identities, of motives, of suppressed passions, and of uncertainty. Or the film equivalent of a Russian doll, if you will. "Anino sa Likod ng Buwan" only has three characters- husband and wife Nando (Anthony Falcon) and Emma (LJ Reyes) and military man Joel (Luis Alandy). What started as a seemingly routine banter among friends gradually and intensely escalated into an examination of society, where the definition of immorality is blurred during a time of insurgency.  And in fact, the film does discuss the subject of immorality from various paradigms. When does adultery become acceptable, and to whom? Is sexual liberation more heinous than murder? Why is immorality always a double standard? The film plays out the ideas in endless games. Or are they really games at all? Lana could have stopped there, but he didn...
Read more

TUHOG (Jeffrey Jeturian)

-
Image
Film within a film-structured movies are always interesting watch. Not only do they provide a much-needed deconstruction of form and content of cinema itself, but also that much-needed emotional punch a cinephile would surely love.  Like in BAD EDUCATION (Almodovar, 2004), we witness the characters tell the back story via montage, as if we are part of the cast of characters watching an actual movie. The form was successful in evoking pain and regret, and also of empathy. In TUHOG, Jeffrey Jeturian and screenwriter Bing Lao tackles sensational media in the Philippines, especially in cinema. The film opens as a film producer hears a pitch for a possible movie- a story of a grandfather who rapes his own granddaughter.  The director of the film soon after visits the victim of the crime, Floring (Ina Raymundo). Coercing both she and her mother, Perla (Irma Adlawan) to sell them the movie rights to their story, we witness as exploitation cinema unfolds. To think of it, capitaliz...
Read more

BIGKIS (Neal Tan, 2014)

-
Image
As an advocacy film, BIGKIS (INTERTWINED) gets its message across. The state of maternal healthcare in the Philippines is downright depressing, with mothers seated on the floor of public hospitals due to shortage of beds, medical equipment and hospital staff. The baby better be gaping through the birth canal before the mother receives serious medical attention.  Such social issue has been featured countless times in local documentaries and even in a feature film (2011's BAHAY BATA), but BIGKIS pushes the envelope further by bridging a connection between mother and child by means of breastfeeding, and in doing so, promoting breastfeeding in the process.  As a drama, the film tends to squeeze too much tragedy from the downtrodden lives of its characters that a lot of the dialogue feels staged for us to feel sorry for their countless miseries. Mariel (LJ Reyes), a teenage mother deals with an unwanted pregnancy and worse, the abandonment of her baby's father (Pancho ...
Read more