 |
| Scene from Trespass Against Us |
In case you didn't know, A24 is one of the great purveyors of modern cinema. Since 2013, the studio has found a way to innovate independent cinema by turning each release into an event. As a result, A24 A-to-Z will be an ongoing series that looks at every release from the studio by analyzing its production history, release, criticisms, and any awards attention that it might've received. Join me on a quest to explore the modern heroes of cinema by exploring every hit and miss that comes with that magnificent logo. They may not all be great, but they more than make A24 what it is and what it will hopefully continue to be for ears to come.
Released: January 20, 2017
Release Number: 46
Directed By: Adam Smith
Starring: Michael Fassbender, Brendan Gleeson, Lyndsey Marshal
Plot: A man looks to find a way to escape the criminal ways of his outlaw family.
In a lot of ways, 2016 was the start of A24's second act as the independent studio to beat. With a Best Picture winner accredited to Moonlight, the studio had a handle on prestige cinema as well as niche films about farting corpses and Satanists-endorsed period pieces. What lied ahead for the people who finally got things totally right? In a lot of respects, the year to come was another round of hits, but first came the return of actor Michael Fassbender to the camp with director Adam Smith's Trespass Against Us. It's a British film about a lower-class family learning to bond over things other than criminality. It's another abstract drama from the studio, and one that used the technique effectively to bring a quasi-true story to life with all of the heart and personality necessary to pull off a film like this.
The story begins with Smith's relationship to writer Alastair Siddons. Smith was best known for his work on TV shows such as Skins and Doctor Who. He also had a career in underground music, most notably with artists like The Streets and The Chemical Brothers. When he wasn't working on TV series, he was working on documentaries with Siddons. This included Ghetto on Sea, which chronicled the existence of a pirate radio station, itself inspiring a BBC hit series. It was here that Smith and Siddons began to work together more closely. Siddons would go on to work on a documentary of a family called The Johnson Gang for a documentary chronicling their life. He was so affected by their story that he told Smith and they sought out to make a dramatic retelling of their events.
One of the hardest parts of their story was trying to pick out the right people for the job. The one thing that was clear was that Smith and Siddons together weren't working. It eventually came down to Siddons doing it alone. He focused on the father-son dynamic specifically in order to help give the story more emphasis. Since the family was from Cotswolds, they chose to shoot out there. Of the few problems that they ran across, they had issues making exterior shots of the open fields look beautiful and resonate. Feature film making was new to Smith, so the lack of restraints made it somewhat challenging. Still, he worked things out and found a style that worked for the film. Among the trademarks that he used was the use of cars, where he had the position of characters inside the vehicles indicate different forms of separation or closeness.
On the soundtrack side of things, Smith had close connections to The Chemical Brothers, and specifically member Tom Rowlands. There was an interest in working on this project together, so they decided to create a score. The issue was that Smith didn't want a totally The Chemical Brothers-esque soundtrack. He wanted something more organic and raw, occasionally bursting with the pop sensibility for emphasis. What is heard in the film ended up not being the entire piece of score that Rowlands wrote, according to Smith. There's suggestion that there was more music that he wrote that didn't work for the film, and Smith has been encouraging of Rowlands potentially releasing it at some point.
The film was completed sporadically over 12 years, with most emphasis on the script stage of events. The film shot in May 2014, finding distributors throughout the year including A24 in December. However, the film wouldn't have its world premiere until 2016 at the Toronto International Film Festival. There's no sure reason as to what the gap in release was. Still, Smith enjoyed being in touch with people no matter what their reaction was. He noted especially that audiences at screening Q&A's were often positive on the film. With all of this said, the film's January 2017 release as a bit underwhelming, as the film only grossed $488,277. With that said, it was par for the course with majority of smaller films that A24 released during the early months of the year.
Much like its box office success, it received tepid reviews critically. On critics aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, the film earned a 57% rating. Many read the film as uneven, such as Richard Roeper of Chicago Sun Times, who claimed "Director Adam Smith doesn't hit the mark with every chance he takes, but for the most part this is an admirable and successful effort." Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times was a bit more favorable, noting "Though thematically vague, thinly plotted and without a reliably sympathetic soul to cling to, the movie has a mutinous energy and an absurd, knockabout charm; even its violence is more quirky than brutal."Alistair Ryder of Film Inquiry reflected those who disliked the film the most, suggesting "Trespass Against Us is an overwhelmingly forgettable film, telling an unoriginal story with no artistic swagger that can make it feel fresh again."Whatever the case may be, it was another divisive movie with not a lot of a lasting reputation to be built from it.
Trespass Against Us may not seem like the victory lap to start 2017, especially since the last film of 2016 (20th Century Women) still had a strong presence in theaters. With all of that said, it was another valiant effort that showed the studio willing to take chances and make cinema that challenged the notions of what a family drama could be about. It may have not been their best work with Michael Fassbender, but it showed a willing cast making a movie full of energy and passion. The same could be said of the next film, which is a follow-up of sorts to the team that created The Monster (another familial drama). It was a film that mixed the familiar blend of horror and thriller in a tale that would be considered one of the studio's more underrated gems. If nothing else, it was evidence that they were still more than capable of delivering surprises where they hadn't always been successful.
Up Next: The Blackcoat's Daughter (2017)
In a lot of ways, 2016 was the start of A24's second act as the independent studio to beat. With a Best Picture winner accredited to Moonlight, the studio had a handle on prestige cinema as well as niche films about farting corpses and Satanists-endorsed period pieces. What lied ahead for the people who finally got things totally right? In a lot of respects, the year to come was another round of hits, but first came the return of actor Michael Fassbender to the camp with director Adam Smith's Trespass Against Us. It's a British film about a lower-class family learning to bond over things other than criminality. It's another abstract drama from the studio, and one that used the technique effectively to bring a quasi-true story to life with all of the heart and personality necessary to pull off a film like this.
The story begins with Smith's relationship to writer Alastair Siddons. Smith was best known for his work on TV shows such as Skins and Doctor Who. He also had a career in underground music, most notably with artists like The Streets and The Chemical Brothers. When he wasn't working on TV series, he was working on documentaries with Siddons. This included Ghetto on Sea, which chronicled the existence of a pirate radio station, itself inspiring a BBC hit series. It was here that Smith and Siddons began to work together more closely. Siddons would go on to work on a documentary of a family called The Johnson Gang for a documentary chronicling their life. He was so affected by their story that he told Smith and they sought out to make a dramatic retelling of their events.
One of the hardest parts of their story was trying to pick out the right people for the job. The one thing that was clear was that Smith and Siddons together weren't working. It eventually came down to Siddons doing it alone. He focused on the father-son dynamic specifically in order to help give the story more emphasis. Since the family was from Cotswolds, they chose to shoot out there. Of the few problems that they ran across, they had issues making exterior shots of the open fields look beautiful and resonate. Feature film making was new to Smith, so the lack of restraints made it somewhat challenging. Still, he worked things out and found a style that worked for the film. Among the trademarks that he used was the use of cars, where he had the position of characters inside the vehicles indicate different forms of separation or closeness.
On the soundtrack side of things, Smith had close connections to The Chemical Brothers, and specifically member Tom Rowlands. There was an interest in working on this project together, so they decided to create a score. The issue was that Smith didn't want a totally The Chemical Brothers-esque soundtrack. He wanted something more organic and raw, occasionally bursting with the pop sensibility for emphasis. What is heard in the film ended up not being the entire piece of score that Rowlands wrote, according to Smith. There's suggestion that there was more music that he wrote that didn't work for the film, and Smith has been encouraging of Rowlands potentially releasing it at some point.
The film was completed sporadically over 12 years, with most emphasis on the script stage of events. The film shot in May 2014, finding distributors throughout the year including A24 in December. However, the film wouldn't have its world premiere until 2016 at the Toronto International Film Festival. There's no sure reason as to what the gap in release was. Still, Smith enjoyed being in touch with people no matter what their reaction was. He noted especially that audiences at screening Q&A's were often positive on the film. With all of this said, the film's January 2017 release as a bit underwhelming, as the film only grossed $488,277. With that said, it was par for the course with majority of smaller films that A24 released during the early months of the year.
Much like its box office success, it received tepid reviews critically. On critics aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, the film earned a 57% rating. Many read the film as uneven, such as Richard Roeper of Chicago Sun Times, who claimed "Director Adam Smith doesn't hit the mark with every chance he takes, but for the most part this is an admirable and successful effort." Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times was a bit more favorable, noting "Though thematically vague, thinly plotted and without a reliably sympathetic soul to cling to, the movie has a mutinous energy and an absurd, knockabout charm; even its violence is more quirky than brutal."Alistair Ryder of Film Inquiry reflected those who disliked the film the most, suggesting "Trespass Against Us is an overwhelmingly forgettable film, telling an unoriginal story with no artistic swagger that can make it feel fresh again."Whatever the case may be, it was another divisive movie with not a lot of a lasting reputation to be built from it.
Trespass Against Us may not seem like the victory lap to start 2017, especially since the last film of 2016 (20th Century Women) still had a strong presence in theaters. With all of that said, it was another valiant effort that showed the studio willing to take chances and make cinema that challenged the notions of what a family drama could be about. It may have not been their best work with Michael Fassbender, but it showed a willing cast making a movie full of energy and passion. The same could be said of the next film, which is a follow-up of sorts to the team that created The Monster (another familial drama). It was a film that mixed the familiar blend of horror and thriller in a tale that would be considered one of the studio's more underrated gems. If nothing else, it was evidence that they were still more than capable of delivering surprises where they hadn't always been successful.
Up Next: The Blackcoat's Daughter (2017)
No comments:
Post a Comment