Capo
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Post by Capo on Apr 7, 2007 13:39:48 GMT
Little ChildrenTodd Field 2006 USA A man and woman have an affair in a town in fear of a recently released child molester.
Ambitious follow up to In the Bedroom for Field, but a very disappointing one. The opening shots are promising, setting a disturbing, haunting tone left over from the (amazing) trailer. But there's an awkwardness to this film which begins when the von Trier-like, over-literate, all-knowing voice-over is introduced. It is thematically very confused, bringing two or three separate narratives together which don't seem to really connect - the relationships between the married man and married woman and the paedofile and his mother seem to be taken from two separate films, ones which would have had little to say and even less to explore, and the ex-cop who seeks last-minute redemption could have been discarded altogether. The narratives certainly don't compliment one another, or justify any of the others' existence. Field is interested mainly in humans and their relationships with one another within society, which means the film is often of interest, but the means by which he explores his preoccupations is very frustrating. It will most likely enhance one's appreciation of films which tackle their difficult moralities more confidently, such as Solondz' Happiness, for instance.
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