Young Adam (2003/2004)
Note: Some spoilers. This is a great
film and worth seeing cold.
Murky, dark, atmospheric, sooty
and dense, these adjectives describe the life of the
characters seen in the troubling "Young Adam" as much
as they do the film itself. This is a complex and
scummy film, one that has so much hidden under its
opaque surface that diving into its depths may very
well leave one feeling even more dirty than they did
when on the surface. This is a film about loss of
naivete that is never simple, often enigmatic, and
as ceaselessly as intricate as lace work.
Set in the claustrophobic and initially
colorless 50's, the film highlights its cramped and
fettered emotions by being set upon a small coal barge
which travels up and down the canals in Scotland.
Here we meet young Ewan McGregor as he works for the
drunken Les (Peter Mullen) and his blanched and stoic
wife Ella, played by Tilda Swinton. The three travel
back and forth on the canals nearly wordlessly for
the first half of the movie as McGregor and Swinton
find themselves being pulled deeper and deeper into
a sexual affair. Oddly, this sexual liaison is not
liberating but rather evokes even more claustrophobic
and constriction.
Swinton is simply astounding as
the venomous and hard Ella. Able to express complex
thoughts and emotions with a simple frown or a glaring
eye, Swinton's enigmatic rage is consistently boiling
just below the surface for most of the film's run
time. Her female character is strong yet vulnerable.
Bus still, even at her weakest, most humane moments,
a tough veneer seems to shield her from becoming too
comfortable, too at ease. Ella, as brought forth by
Swinton, is constantly swaying at the arch of destruction.
But ultimately the film is about
McGregor's young stud, Joe. Seen here attempting to
melt the ice statue that Ella has become and, in flashback,
shown seducing young Cathie (Emily Mortimer) on the
beach (where color finally emerges), we are consistently
exposed to more and more troubling aspects of Joe's
nature as the film unspools. (His seduction of Cathie
seems almost like 50's homosexual cruising). Joe is
not evil nor cruel, but rather simply himself, almost
innocent in what he is doing as he wrecks the lives
of the women with whom he comes in contact. Yet when
ladies' man Joe finally snares Swinton's harsh Ella
after pursuing her for several minutes of film time,
he ultimately seems more like the fly than the spider.
And this is where the title comes
into play. After seeing the film, I was left astounded,
impressed with the acting, the gorgeous cinematography
and the compelling plot, but at a loss to understand
exactly what the point of it all was. Then the title
came back to me. This is about the loss of innocence.
Not by a naive, ignorant young man, but by a worldly,
intelligent and sexually knowing one. Joe, like Adam
is tempted by the flower of womanhood and finds himself
inextricably caught up in all sorts of tension and
drama as a result of his Lothario nature. Meanwhile
the women, themselves no innocents, seem to consistently
offer Joe the forbidden apple only for it to turn
poisonous an sour while in his mouth. All women want
to have him, and he obliges, but it is never for the
better.
When tragedy strikes, events here
set in motion a true moral dilemma for Joe, one that
is completely outside of his grasp of morality. And,
in an effort to make things right, Joe realizes that
his sexual nature has left him helpless and without
the ability to make use of his moral compass. Joe
is stuck, not due to an evilness or a willingness
to do wrong but rather because events have culminated
around his choices which have left him bound by his
own Narcissism and immorality. This isn't, however,
a morality play where Joe is shown to be doomed due
to his debauchery but rather one where his nature
leads him into a purgatory of ambiguity, where he
is stuck and unable to do right without impending
his own freedom and innocence. Meanwhile the women
around him are only using him for his sexuality. More
than enablers, they are, in fact, enticers, much like
Eve herself.
The performances here by the astounding
cast, including the supporting actors, are just phenomenal.
While McGregor has certainly played the swinging cock
before in film, the level of coy assurance he exudes
here exposes a new trick in his arsenal. No longer
the all-knowing, wide-smiling Cheshire cat, McGregor
moves into the next level of respectability in his
career with a performance that is more on par with
his work in "Trainspotting" than it is with the hokum
of "Big Fish" or the atrociousness of "Down with Love."
Swinton, meanwhile, performs with
a daring not seen in her work for eons. Not simply
remarkable because she is willing to do nudity and
sexuality in this film, Swinton is a revelation here
because of her naturalness and ease within the boundaries
of playing a shrewd, sexually devouring harpy. This
is a performance that is more perfect than any other
you will see from a female this year. Swinton reveals
herself to be the equal of Kate Hepburn or Bette Davis
in a willingness to present a frank openness that
exposes a female character unafraid to be taken at
face value.
Filmed perfectly by cinematographer
Giles Nuttgens and director David Mackenzie, each
individual frame of "Young Adam" could stand as a
work of art in a gallery. The slow and murky essence
of the film consistently draws us in as each mysterious
and darkened images flickers across the silver screen.
This is wonderful filmmaking, the kind that never
falters.
Even when the film borders on the
ridiculous, it somehow manages to be amazing and jaw
dropping in its visual audacity. The most astounding
moment in the film features a naked Mortimer and a
bowl of custard in a scene that makes "Nine and 1/2
Weeks" look like a kindergarten play. Bold, visually
stunning, superbly acted and reeking with enough atmosphere
to pollute a major metropolitan city, "Young Adam"
is simply marvelous, a film that will haunt the viewer
long after the last murky frame has passed in front
of the flickering xenon bulb.
Notes:
Based on the novel by Alexander
Trocchi. The script is adapted by Mackenzie.
The amazing score by David Byrne.
Filmed in Scotland.
The film was nominated for several
British film awards.
The film is rated NC-17 in America.
Sony Pictures, who are distributing the film in the
U.S. considered cutting out some nude scenes to get
an R rating but McGregor complained and convinced
them to leave the film as it is.
The film premiered in Cannes in
2003. It's U.S. premier was at Telluride that same
year. Released to the general public in September
2003 in the U.K., the film did not received an arthouse
run in the U.S. until April 2004.
Viewed at the Dobie at a press sneak
in May 2004.
