By Lindsey Bahr, Film Writer
PARK CITY, Utah (AP) --No one shows the landscape of human grief and trauma quite like Kenneth Lonergan.
It sometimes seems like the playwright turned director of both "You Can Count On Me" and "Margaret" knows us better than we know ourselves. His movies look and feel like life – it's no wonder our souls can only handle one every few years.
"Manchester by the Sea," his third feature which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on Saturday to a massive standing ovation, is truly a masterpiece.
In its simplest form, "Manchester by the Sea" is about family, tragedy and aftermath. Casey Affleck plays Lee Chandler, a custodian in Boston for some scummy apartment buildings. He lives alone in an unadorned room. He fixes toilets as silently and as stoically as one can. He turns down frequent advances with a simple "that's all right." And he gets into bar fights of his own making.
Then his brother (played by Kyle Chandler) dies and he must return to his hometown to take care of his teenage nephew, Patrick (Lucas Hedges), forcing him to explore the reasons he had to leave years ago.
There is no easy way to sum up what the film is about. Part of its impact is how Lonergan allows the story to reveal itself to the audience as he elegantly weaves together past and present, building tension to a devastating crescendo midway through. To even describe who the other actors play would be too much, but, suffice it to say that both Michelle Williams and Gretchen Mol are pivotal.
And while it might be a drama to its core, it is neither dreary nor self-indulgent. It's also packed with wit and humor as well.
"It's about the relationship between very sad, terrible losses and the connections to other people that make them painful and can also get you through them – or at least keep you afloat," Lonergan said prior to the Festival. "You have a very damaged man and a very good-natured, cheerful, energetic, determined kid who are thrown together in a town where one doesn't want to be and the other doesn't want to leave."
After the film premiered, Affleck told a sobbing audience that the experience has made him a better actor.
Hedges, who had a small role in "Moonrise Kingdom" said, too, that the raw emotion of so many of the scenes are "often more fulfilling and therapeutic than destructive."
The script has been in the works for years. Matt Damon, who produced, said that he and John Krasinski had come to Lonergan with an idea years ago. First Damon was to direct with Krasinski starring, then Damon was going to star with Lonergan directing. But Damon's schedule was just too full.
"I didn't want to get in the way of a great movie being way," Damon said. "I said to Kenny I don't want to give this role up to anybody but Casey Affleck."
Damon and Affleck had done a play with Lonergan in London over a decade ago, and Damon was also in "Margaret."
While it is comically early in 2016, it's hard to imagine that "Manchester by the Sea" won't be considered one of the year's best, if not the absolute best, by this time next year.
"People find ways to live with real tragedy, but some people don't," Lonergan said. "I thought maybe they deserve to have a movie made about them too."
“Heretic” and “Maria” Set As Red Carpet Premieres At AFI Fest
The American Film Institute (AFI) has announced that Heretic, the psychological thriller starring Hugh Grant, and Maria, based on the life of opera singer Maria Callas starring Angelina Jolie, will round out the Red Carpet Premieres section at this yearโs AFI Fest. The Heretic Gala Screening will take place on Thursday, October 24, and the Maria Gala Screening will be held on Saturday, October 26. The complete Red Carpet Premieres section includes the world premieres of Music By John Williams, Robert Zemeckisโ Here, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl and Clint Eastwoodโs Juror #2. All Red Carpet Premieres will take place at the historic TCL Chinese Theatre. The full lineup for AFI Fest 2024 will be unveiled on October 1.
โAt the heart of AFI Fest is an unwavering dedication to celebrating the best in global cinema--together,โ said Bob Gazzale, AFI president and CEO. โWe look forward to uniting artists and audiences once again to be inspired by the art form in a powerful sense of community.โ
Heretic follows two young missionaries (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) who are forced to prove their faith when they knock on the wrong door and are greeted by a diabolical Mr. Reed (portrayed by Grant), becoming ensnared in his deadly game of cat-and-mouse. The film is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods and produced by Stacey Sher, Beck, Woods, Julia Glausi and Jeanette Volturno. The film will be released nationwide by A24 on November 8.
Directed by Pablo Larraรญn, Maria presents a tumultuous and beautiful depiction of one of the worldโs most renowned artists and reimagines the legendary soprano in her final days in Paris, as Callas (Jolie)... Read More