Post by Boz on Sept 3, 2006 17:09:22 GMT
Election
Directed by Alexander Payne
1999
The now-much-admired, but then-relatively-unknown Alexander Payne released Election in 1999. It was a simple story about a high school election, its contenders, the overambitious Tracy Flick (Reese Witherspoon), the well-intentioned but clueless Paul Metzler (Chris Klein), his sexually confused but decidedly rebellious sister, Tammy Metzler (Jessica Campbell), and their teacher, Jim McAllister (Matthew Broderick). Reflecting on the cast alone, this is a film that surprises many, considering none of the three principal players are especially known for making quality films, but it does not disappoint.
Payne’s direction is the real star here. His use of rapid cross-fades, in conjunction with multiple narrators and seamless chronology changes produces a style highly reminiscent of early 90’s Scorsese. Election is the only film I know, besides Goodfellas and Casino, with multiple narrators, (Goodfellas has 2, Casino has 3, and Election actually has 4) a very unique style that consistently results in some interesting moments. The narration here also drifts in an out of being directed towards us, the viewers, at times, and being an inner monologue of the characters at others. Payne, like Scorsese, holds the narration as the guiding hand of the whole film, with the point of view changing, and sometimes even the style of the film as a whole, as the narrator changes. The narration also switches in and out of past and present tense, and early on we learn that ominous occurrences are on the horizon due to this technique.
There’s a moment later in the film where Paul refers to a vague trip to Yosemite in a tone that seems to indicate it has been previously referenced, but we in fact know nothing about it. This further reinforces the sense of personal ownership over the narration, with no regard for the viewers. That’s then immediately followed by a breaking of the 4th wall where Paul’s narration is suddenly directly spoken to the camera. And then near the conclusion of the film, in one of the standout moments of this unique narration style, Jim McAllister looks directly into the camera and replies verbally to his own posing of a question in his narration. The complex writing and interweaving is daunting, impressive, and almost mind-boggling at times. This style perhaps reflects the fact that the film is literature-based, although I can’t be completely sure of this, as I haven’t read the book.
In style and technical execution alone, this film could easily be mistaken for the work of Scorsese. There are even some directly copied moments, like when Jim is shown turning and looking at the clock twice in a row, in two separate shots placed back to back to express his frantic and panicked mood. This is eerily similar to the moment in Goodfellas when Henry is in his kitchen cooking and he is shown looking up at the door twice in a row in two separate shots placed back to back, also because he is panicked and jumpy. It is the subject matter that clearly sets this film apart from Scorsese’s work.
All of Alexander Payne’s three films thus far (Election, About Schmidt, Sideways) have been stories of small-town, relatively unimportant people and their lives. Payne seems to acknowledge this, and maybe even poke fun at it when he chooses to add a dramatic orchestral score to certain scenes in this film that gives the whole thing this sense of fraudulent vast importance. Payne’s use of tribal music in the suburban setting as well is seriously one of my favorite directorial choices of all time. At one point Payne even seems to be commenting on the fact that he’s treating such throwaway subject matter with such an air of importance when Jim remarks in his narration “it’s not like anyone was dead.”
Overall, Election is a consistently funny, well-directed, and sadly overlooked film. I’ve urged others in the past and I will reiterate, if you’re a fan of Payne’s later work, if you’ve seen it before and don’t remember much, or if you’ve just never seen it in the first place, watch this movie. It may surprise you how truly great it is.
^ One of my favorite movie posters.
Directed by Alexander Payne
1999
The now-much-admired, but then-relatively-unknown Alexander Payne released Election in 1999. It was a simple story about a high school election, its contenders, the overambitious Tracy Flick (Reese Witherspoon), the well-intentioned but clueless Paul Metzler (Chris Klein), his sexually confused but decidedly rebellious sister, Tammy Metzler (Jessica Campbell), and their teacher, Jim McAllister (Matthew Broderick). Reflecting on the cast alone, this is a film that surprises many, considering none of the three principal players are especially known for making quality films, but it does not disappoint.
Payne’s direction is the real star here. His use of rapid cross-fades, in conjunction with multiple narrators and seamless chronology changes produces a style highly reminiscent of early 90’s Scorsese. Election is the only film I know, besides Goodfellas and Casino, with multiple narrators, (Goodfellas has 2, Casino has 3, and Election actually has 4) a very unique style that consistently results in some interesting moments. The narration here also drifts in an out of being directed towards us, the viewers, at times, and being an inner monologue of the characters at others. Payne, like Scorsese, holds the narration as the guiding hand of the whole film, with the point of view changing, and sometimes even the style of the film as a whole, as the narrator changes. The narration also switches in and out of past and present tense, and early on we learn that ominous occurrences are on the horizon due to this technique.
There’s a moment later in the film where Paul refers to a vague trip to Yosemite in a tone that seems to indicate it has been previously referenced, but we in fact know nothing about it. This further reinforces the sense of personal ownership over the narration, with no regard for the viewers. That’s then immediately followed by a breaking of the 4th wall where Paul’s narration is suddenly directly spoken to the camera. And then near the conclusion of the film, in one of the standout moments of this unique narration style, Jim McAllister looks directly into the camera and replies verbally to his own posing of a question in his narration. The complex writing and interweaving is daunting, impressive, and almost mind-boggling at times. This style perhaps reflects the fact that the film is literature-based, although I can’t be completely sure of this, as I haven’t read the book.
In style and technical execution alone, this film could easily be mistaken for the work of Scorsese. There are even some directly copied moments, like when Jim is shown turning and looking at the clock twice in a row, in two separate shots placed back to back to express his frantic and panicked mood. This is eerily similar to the moment in Goodfellas when Henry is in his kitchen cooking and he is shown looking up at the door twice in a row in two separate shots placed back to back, also because he is panicked and jumpy. It is the subject matter that clearly sets this film apart from Scorsese’s work.
All of Alexander Payne’s three films thus far (Election, About Schmidt, Sideways) have been stories of small-town, relatively unimportant people and their lives. Payne seems to acknowledge this, and maybe even poke fun at it when he chooses to add a dramatic orchestral score to certain scenes in this film that gives the whole thing this sense of fraudulent vast importance. Payne’s use of tribal music in the suburban setting as well is seriously one of my favorite directorial choices of all time. At one point Payne even seems to be commenting on the fact that he’s treating such throwaway subject matter with such an air of importance when Jim remarks in his narration “it’s not like anyone was dead.”
Overall, Election is a consistently funny, well-directed, and sadly overlooked film. I’ve urged others in the past and I will reiterate, if you’re a fan of Payne’s later work, if you’ve seen it before and don’t remember much, or if you’ve just never seen it in the first place, watch this movie. It may surprise you how truly great it is.
^ One of my favorite movie posters.