A Fantastic Debut Film
I can't believe that Lynne Ramsay had never made a feature length film before this - its subject matter is handled with such care and the cinematography so carefully framed that she seems like a seasoned pro (or, at least, better than some actual seasoned pros). It's gritty yet beautiful, slightly surreal, passionate yet not nostalgic or sentimental. I will definitely be watching this again.
Posted
Wednesday, May 28, 2008 7:32 PM
I couldn't agree more. There seems to be a style of film -- a delicate, evocative, profound study of character and mood -- that rarely gets made outside of independent debut features (although there seem to be more of them coming from Europe). Ramsey, David Gordon Green, and Sofia Coppola have all begun in that vein, and they all owe a debt to the early films of Malick and Breillat, among others. It seems like a degree of naivete, or at least that brazen spark of youth, is needed to make films that can unpretentiously balance those qualities you eloquently noted.