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I'll try to keep this brief as I think this is one of those films which benefits from being viewed without reading any hype about it beforehand. Also, it did actually get released quite a while ago, however, I'm aware of the criticisms it received due to its less than electric pace and disturbing plot, and feel so incensed by people having dismissed the film that I feel I have to stick up for this little treasure!
It really is an excellent, beautiful and subtle film by the fantastic Lynne Ramsay who concentrates more on the colour and beauty of the film rather than the plot. Morvern Callar is filled with shot after shot of morbid, depressing yet mesmerising photography. Her use of startling colour and tones of grey guide us through the film allowing the narrative to just fall into place whilst we are admire the cinematography.
The film was not well received by some audiences (even though praised by critics) due to the subtlety (some would say boring-ness and lack of an obvious 'story'), and a lack of understanding about the things Morvern gets up to in the film. But it was never about being a typical drug-orientated free-love hippie movie. Morvern Callar's boyfriend commits suicide. She does not know what to do. Thus the chain of events which follow this incomprehensible traumatic event.
Ramsay's attention to detail focus on this feeling of being lost and going into social decline. It's not 'too deep' and for the 'elite' (webjester, Maryland, IMDb.com, a typical less than impressed viewer), and yes, it is not usually the case that girlfriends cut up the body of their recently deceased partners- but that is not what the film is about.
It's not a 'fun' film. And it's quite likely you wouldn't want to watch this more than a few times, but only because it is so powerfully bleak and discomforting. It is certainly not predictable, which makes it more interesting than your typical film. You never know how Morvern is going to react simply because she is not the usual likeable protagonist of the film; she is shown to be insensitive, emotionless, and oblivious and numb to all around her. Ramsay does not try to get the audience to sympathise with Morvern. It is refreshing to watch a protagonist you feel contempt and yet pity for. It is also equally (if not more) refreshing to watch a film about the cold-heartedness and basic oddness of society. Lovely.
It's about a girl with no hope or prospects who, when faced with tragedy, takes unusual steps to survive a grieving process that should overwise consume her.
It's a dark and sombre film which ends somewhat bathed in light, but not necessarily joy. A film to watch alone of with someone close.
Samantha Morton's performance is outstanding; deserving of 5 stars by itself.
Don't ask why. It just felt like the right thing to do, that is part of the brief suicide note that her live in boyfriend has left Morvern Callar (Samantha Morton). It could also serve as a statement by director Lynne Ramsay about her whole film. A complex, intimate and emotionally weird picture that infuriates and astonishes in equal measure. Films like this are beloved by the arthouse set, open to interpretations of meanings, leading to debates and division about art over substance, cranial trickery over straight narratives, it be a place where much is being said without anything actually being said. Little moments are metaphors or symbolic to a character's state of mind, visual flourishes flit in and out of the story, often burning an image into the viewers' subconscious. Music can play a big part, and with Morvern Callar it's one of the most crucial parts of the film, another character in fact.
Thank you for shopping at Pennysaver.
Ramsay's adaptation (co-written with Liana Dognini) of Gen X author Alan Warner's novel, begs for your undivided attention. That's no guarantee you will enjoy it, for it's often cold and, on the surface at least, head scratching in its intentions. But you will react to it in one form or another, Ramsay is a talent, and she wants (and gets) a reaction to her film. She's not throwing out any bones, you find the answers, watch it and draw your own conclusions. Morton is brilliant, with only a few actual passages of dialogue in the film, Morton is required to provide more visually and emotionally to make Morvern a watchable force. And she does and she is. Morton is backed up by Kathleen McDermott, an unknown first timer who as Morvern's good time loving best pal, Lanna, brings a humanised realism to this sometimes bleak fairytale.
This is dedicated to the one I love.
With Alwin Kuchler's striking photography putting an almost ethereal sheen on proceedings, Morvern Callar, both the character and the film, feels otherworldly. Many scenes grab you by the throat, like Morvern sitting alone on the floor opening her Xmas presents as the tree lights go blink blinkity blink, her dead boyfriends corpse still laid out on the floor, rotting. A high jinx baking sequence, snatches of insects at work, or a lonely walk in the middle of nowhere, is it poetry or posing? Or neither? Either way, Morvern Callar is a memorable film, a close examination of the human mind at work under emotional duress. Today I rate it an easy 8/10, on another day, when my mood is at a different setting, I could quite easily rate it 3/10. It's an experience is Morvern Callar, and then some.
Morvern Callar is a dark, minimalistic and dare I say, cheap-budget, kind of film. Read more
I loved it!!!
Not your normal run of the mill fun time film. Read more
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