Nocturnal Animals

Tom Ford is once again dealing with loss. Visually and narratively, he goes one step further than when he introduced us to A Single Man, but this time it is much more unpleasant, although certainly not unfriendly to the viewer. It's just that the Texan noir that the main character reads is so dark, depressing, and hopeless that at times I didn't even want to look at the screen. But that would be a shame because the flood of metaphors, which can drill a decent hole in the viewer's head, is enormous, and the resulting impact is tremendous. The parallels between the book and Susan are incredibly clever, and although the ending itself ruins the enjoyment for some with its antikathartic boldness, it burrowed into me almost painfully. (10/29/2018)

There’s power in simplicity. I guess that’s how I would evaluate this film after watching it. At the beginning, it offers fairly strange opening credits, through which it tries to create an atmosphere of mysticism and I was a bit worried that what I might be getting was another successor to David Lynch. However, I was quite lucky that this didn’t happen and the slow-paced life of the protagonist, who is portrayed by Amy Adams, began to unravel. But then the story jumps forward and I was watching a whole different story penned by Jake Gyllenhaal. And even though the two stories didn’t actually intertwine, there was such an interesting ending that I actually had to admit that the point couldn’t have been any better. The film looks mysterious but in the end it is a very solid drama. And by the way, Michael Shannon is really good in this one! (02/07/2017)

Bulls-eye. I seemed like I was watching something that I had written. Ford does some fantastic work with narrative levels. The message (even that of the sub-story) isn’t revolutionary in any way, but the journey toward it is thought out down to the smallest detail. The same as the contrast between good and evil, between the decadent and the ordinary inside you conceals an unusual magic reality. Both Gyllenhaal and Adams are excellent. Fantastic music. Plus stylish opening credits with the current face of America. (11/25/2016)

A lavishly filmed romp that justifies its own existence in one of its opening scenes, when a character (who otherwise has no role in the story and never appears again) explains to Susan that in absurd times there is nothing to do but enjoy the absurdity, because that's all life has to offer. And by that time, Ford had explained himself to me and could do whatever he wanted. And he did. The dark intrusion of lost, sincere love into the nihilistic burnt-out decadence of the upper class (however it may be parodied here) is a tricky subject that reeks of moralizing didacticism. And yet Ford manages to avoid it brilliantly and instead handles the whole subject intimately and personally, without compromising his visual magnificence. The whole composition then skillfully coalesces in a devastating finale. In short, a beautiful example of how the magic of the film medium can dust off even a somewhat threadbare script, relying on coincidences and trusting that someone would be willing to publish such an unremarkable book. Oh, and I was also moved by the opening credits, and that counts for something. (03/26/2017)

Ford had me spellbound in a way, no doubt about it. In terms of direction, this is truly first-rate stuff with the highly addictive and suffocating atmosphere of the Texas backwoods, for which I have an indescribable fondness on the movie screen. The story has laudable intentions and really does a brilliant job of illustrating the contrast between the opulence and absurdity of the L.A. lifestyle with the uncompromising arid wasteland, but it still comes across as somewhat disjointed, failing to deliver anything very new in the individual details, some of the dialogues could have been better written by Dežo from Most, and the twist is weak, not so much in meaning as in the way it’s delivered, including the final passage that basically says nothing (the only direct criticism of Ford). But what elevates the whole spectacle is the delicious atmospheric soundtrack, and above all the actors; but while Adams and Gyllenhaal are good by default, Johnson surprises madly and gives his characterless boor a lot verve, as well as the amazing Michael Shannon as a detective, who once again shows that he is one of the most interesting dramatic actors of today... In their company, and under Ford's firm guidance, I'm looking forward to the next screening quite a bit. This film will mature a lot. (12/11/2016)