“May December” directed by Todd Haynes with Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, Charles Melton
“May December” is a film of rare richness and complexity, bolstered by Todd Haynes’ ability to keep his point of view unmistakable in everything he shows us.
There are at least two films in “May December” and many ways to understand each of them, aspects of this captivating story. Todd Haynes’ first great achievement is this articulation between two stories, two very different worlds. And the way, slowly, the film moves towards the third point, or rather the third person, creates a hollow portrait. Rarely has a narrative ballet been so well managed, against a backdrop of hiccup music – a successful variation of the theme of “Messenger” originally composed by Michel Legrand – and saturated, phosphenogenic light reinforcing the typical humid atmosphere of the savannah, where a city . The film is located. All this is as mysterious as it is magnificent. Once again, Haynes proves that he is a demanding formalist and virtuoso director.
The plot, first of all. Through the eyes of actress Elizabeth, played by Natalie Portman, we explore the daily life of Gracie Atherton-Yew, a controlling woman whom we gradually realize is the small extent to which she believes she controls the perimeter. And fragile, judging by appearances, Elizabeth at the age she’s supposed to be playing on screen, seems like a major life choice for a criminal relationship. Julianne Moore expertly interprets this complex woman-child role reminiscent of Lea Drucker. last summer, Both fragile and carnivorous, are constantly threatened by the fall. While she literally occupies all the space, at least in the couple, Todd Haynes, without losing interest in her, subtly focuses on the character of Joe, mute and inarticulate, restrained and dependent, trapped in a control that surpasses him. But of which he knows how to show, with constant sympathy, the signs of an emerging salvation. By examining his character, falsely subordinate, justified and dynamic, whether in brief scenes with his father and then with his son, but especially in one of the most terrible couple scenes ever seen, he shows this “despair” that he faces. , and which makes him realize how far he finds himself, to use one of Haynes’ earlier works, “far from heaven”. Just in describing this relationship, this abuse of power but also the possible rebalancing of forces involved, the film is remarkably interesting. is
But there is another layer to the narrative, and this layer is also what gives the film all its ambiguity. This second layer is the way in which the Hollywood actress, so thoroughly researched that she becomes both fascinating and uncomfortable, enters the couple’s intimacy, confronting Gracie from her own perspective. – necessarily failing – consents to all of this, and offers Joe, in behavior that can be considered manipulative and altruistic, the possibility of entering adulthood. Portman carries all the contradictions within herself, all at once girl next door And to turn to a province which is perhaps too red-hot in his eyes, and whose perfectionist and over-intellectual approach which he chooses to apply, would prove to be quite futile. This is what, in our opinion, creates all the originality of the film, this constant confusion that it creates in the viewer, causing him to connect what he feels with what he sees and then what he thinks. ‘He must feel it.
What if the film is a metaphor for how cinema can capture the most complex stories, illegally distorting reality after picking its pockets? Haynes suggests this, having fun infusing his film with heavy animal symbolism – and not just in the epilogue – and offering his two actresses mirror roles as brilliant as they are despicable. From the pasty idealization of this TV series couple to the strange and disturbing extra characterization of a rival actress couple, to concluding with the vulgarity of a crude soft porn, Haynes reveals a collective failure to present the abuse of a minor for what it really is. is
