Green Book (2018)

Although I had read good things about it, specifically about Ali's performance, I wasn't planning on seeing Green Book, in part because it's a Peter Farrelly movie, in part because of all the controversies. Then my cinema decided to have a free preview screening —last time they did this it was 2015 and the movie was Paul Feig's Spy— and I decided to go. 

Set in 1962, the film follows an uneducated racist Italian-American, Frank "Tony Lip" Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen), who, after losing his job as a bouncer, becomes the driver of a well educated African-American classical pianist, Dr. Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali), and takes him on a concert tour into the deep South. 

The plot is very simple and lefts a lot to be desired as it keeps moving forward in a very unrealistic way —the events portrayed aren't unrealistic, but their resolutions are— and it ends up being predictable and quite annoying, to be honest. Also, it has the potential to do much as it's essentially the story of a black man who struggles to gain the respect of his fellow African-Americans while trying to resist the racism that kept him from being as successful as a white man with his talent would have been, but unfortunately, it is always dropped so that Green Book can be a feel-good movie about race relations and friendship.

Overall though, the film still manages to be compelling and engaging and the characters deserve some of the credits for it. While both Tony Lip and Don Shirley embody some of the stereotypes of Italian-American and African-American respectively, at the same time they also shatter them. They feel like caricatures at times, specifically Tony Lip, and yet they are believable and watching these two different men interact and change each other was quite fascinating.

As for the performances, Viggo Mortensen yet again gives a strong performance as he's very convincing as the stereotyped family-devoted Italian-American. It's Mahershala Ali that absolutely steals the show though as he manages to convey the emotions, the sadness, and especially the loneliness of his character through his eyes only.

Universal Pictures

The most astonishing thing about Green Book is that Peter Farrelly directed, co-wrote and co-produced it. He is certainly not famous for making serious movies —it's the opposite, actually, his films are the definition of dumb— so it came as a shock to me that he was able to handle the serious subjects in a serious and yet humorous manner. The balance between drama and comedy isn't perfect, but overall, it works and makes the film quite delightful to watch.

Eastern Promises (2007)

A few weeks back, the theme for Thursday Movie Picks —a series hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves— was gangsters and David Cronenberg's Eastern Promises was one of the most popular titles. Since I like Cronenberg and Viggo Mortensen (and his full-frontal nudity), I checked it out.

The film revolves around the London Russian mafia and centres around the death of Tatiana (Sarah-Jeanne Labrosse), a fourteen-year-old girl who died in childbirth. Midwife Anna (Naomi Watts) finds her diary and decides to find the girl's family so that the newborn can live with them. She asks her Russian uncle (Jerzy Skolimowski) to translate the diary for her; in the meantime, she follows the trail of a business card found in the diary, and she winds up at a Russian restaurant owned by Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl) who promises to help her to translate the diary from Russian to English. Little does she knows Semyon is the mob's leader and his family is involved in Tatiana's death. 

It's a very thin, simple and predictable plot so much so that you can predict what is going to happen next for most of the film's running time. The twists aren't twists as we are told about them when convenient instead of being shown them. The ending, easily the worst part of it, just doesn't feel right with the rest of the story and was a huge let down. 

The plot, however, isn't that important in Eastern Promises as Cronenberg is far more interested in the characters than he is in telling a memorable story, and he does a wonderful job at creating believable characters the viewers care about —whether they are good or evil, likeable or not, they are living and breathing beings and as such we connect with them. Naomi Watts's Anna is too naive and clichéd though. 

By far the most compelling aspect of the film is the acting. Viggo Mortensen gives one of his best performances in the role of Nikolai Luzhin, a very mysterious, intelligent and ambitious man who serves both as a driver and a cleaner for Semyon. He is so intense and menacing and yet he plays the character in a way that you are attracted to him. Vincent Cassel, although his accent did not convince me at all, is also terrific as Kirill, the alcoholic and sexually repressed son of Semyon who is constantly trying to live up to his father's criminal expectations. Armin Mueller-Stahl is sublime as Semyon as he manages to deliver the good and the evil man through his eyes, both at the same time. At last, Naomi Watts gives an underrated performance as Anna, as she manages to be vulnerable and tenacious at the same time. 

Focus Features

Eastern Promises is also visually interesting as the cinematography provides an authentic atmosphere, and so does the production design, and the editing is excellent. There also are some scenes, very violent and filled with gore, that definitely aren't for everyone but add to the film's authenticity.

Despite this, the film didn't quite work for me. I guess it was the lack of tension throughout the film or of a compelling story, but I just found it a dull. I'm not sure I would have kept watching if it wasn't for the excellent cast.

Captain Fantastic (2016)

I've been meaning to watch Captain Fantastic for the longest time because of Viggo Mortensen and his praised performance and yet I kept putting it off to the point that I forgot about it. Thank god Margaret exists, or else I probably would have never seen this gem. 

Set in the Pacific Northwest forests, the film follows Ben (Viggo Mortensen), a father of six who has decided to raise his kids in the wilderness with his wife, Leslie (Trin Miller). When Leslie commits suicide after being hospitalized for bipolar disorder, Ben and the kids decide to travel to the funeral to fulfil her will of being cremated, and they are forced to face modern society.

It's a very simple and yet one of the most interesting plots I've seen in a while. It's the kind of story that keeps you glued to the screen not because of  surprising twists and turns, or an involving romance, but because it addresses important issues such as mental illness, kids' exposure to violence and sex —how is it okay for them to play violent videogames but is it not okay for them to know how babies are made?—, and the flaws in the American education system.

The great thing about Captain Fantastic is that it doesn't say this is right, this is wrong —although that's basically what Viggo Mortensen's Ben says to his kids all the time—, it provides a debate on how kids should be raised and how we live our lives based on societal norms and influences. I didn't always agree with the main character as I found living in the wilderness like that a little bit extreme, and I don't think it's right to make fun of someone because they believe in God, but I loved how brutally honest he was about everything with his kids, how he did not sugar coat anything.

The characters are also very compelling. Ben is both arrogant and loving with everybody around him which makes him such an interesting man. What I mean by that, since interesting is a non-word, is that his positions and actions are wrong at times and yet we sympathize with and care for him —as we do in Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita. He's a man with strong beliefs and won't change them for nothing in the world but at the same time is open to a different opinion as long as it is properly argued. Viggo Mortensen's performance is simply spectacular. He is able to make you cry and laugh at the same time, he is believable as the father and he wonderfully delivers Ben's struggle to come to terms with the fact that the way he decided to raise his kids was not that right after all. How did Casey Affleck win that Oscar instead of him?

Bleeker Street, Universal Pictures

The kids, on the other hand, aren't equally developed. While Bodevan (George MacKay) and Rellian (Nicholas Hamilton) are solid characters, both standing up to their father, the rest of them are pretty thin —the two older sisters, Kielyr (Samantha Isler) and Vespyr (Annalise Basso), basically are the same person; the youngest daughter, Zaja (Shree Crooks), and son, Nai (Charlie Shotwell), only have one personality trait: the first loves wearing a gas mask; the latter loves going around naked. Despite the script, the young cast is amazing.

Technically speaking, Captain Fantastic is pretty much flawless. The cinematography is gorgeous and captures both the beauty and the danger of the Pacific Northwest forests. The score by Alex Somers is excellent as it enhanced the emotional depth of the story. And director and writer Matt Ross finds the perfect balance between comedy and drama.