ANNA PARCERISAS
I’m going to start my first post of my new blog introducing one of my favorite movies. 'Martha Marcy May Marlene' is what I call an extraordinary powerful psychological drama but, at the same time, it contains some aspects of the thrillers. This indie movie shows us the topic of the cults from an impartial point of view; in any scene of the movie the director postulates for and against the cults, what’s more, when any character uses the word cult, they refer to it by calling it “The Family”, which reminds us of Charles Manson’s cult. It arouse in California in the late 60's and soon Manson's notoriety spread rapidly throughout America and the rest of the world because of his numerous murders including pregnant Hollywood actress and Roman Polanski’s wife, Sharon Tate, who was brutally killed (16 times stabbed following a Satanic ritual) along with four others .
The movie begins showing us a group of people, who they mention as “The Family”, living in some kind of a hippie hut. As soon as the film progresses, we can see that they all throw on some behaviors out of the normal - they only eat once a day and at a specific time, all the members of the group live under strict rules established by a leader who they accept, respect and consider these rules as something normal in their lives.
Among these members of “The Family” there is Martha (Elisabeth Olsen), a girl who escapes from the cult running into the woods in order to reach the city center. After that, she calls up her sister Lucy (Sarah Paulson), who she hadn’t talked to or even communicated with for the past two years.
Lucy lives in a house in front of a lake with her husband Ted (Hug Dancy). In there, they will try, especially Lucy, to get back all the time they hadn’t spent together.
Nevertheless, no sooner is Martha settled in her new home than she starts having a weird behavior - she mixes up reality with fiction; and her dreams, paranoia and a stream of stressing, mysterious, and out of line events is what keeps the spectator glued to the screen every single minute of the film. In these scenes Martha is constantly haunted by flashbacks, which take the spectator back to her life and experiences in the commune. In these flashbacks we can see the cruel, tormenting and haunting process that the new members of “The Family”have to undergo, including rapes, hard work on the farm, orgies, a drastic change in their nutritional habits, etc. All controlled and managed by their charismatic leader - Patrick (John Hawkes).
In one of those days in the commune, Patrick sings a song to Martha which is called “She’s just a picture”. The song isn't a compliment to Martha at all, it's just another way to manipulate her. She thinks he's singing a sweet song about her when actually it's just about how empty he thinks she is. Once more we can link that aspect of Patrick spending time singing and playing the guitar in the commune to Charles Manson.
Anyway, the end of the film is one of those that leave the viewer with haunting images and moments of the movie for hours on end, not for what it shows, but what it doesn’t show, the unanswered questions. The first time I watched the movie I thought it was a kind of a joke or something and I just didn’t believe that the film had ended until I saw the credits rolling. So because of that I started to remember the amount of ongoing images watched and trying to find an acceptable ending for the film. Although the ending is excessively open, you can figure out that the car following Martha is Patrick's and two other members of the commune.
So the message of the film is clear: the cult may let you leave, but your mind will never leave the cult.
The technical part is good too, it is based on showing reality and flashbacks which show up between dialogues and silences. Although I have to say that the movie is full of silences, they are very relevant throughout movie. They show us the character’s attitudes with simple stares and images that convey shocking scenes and important dialogues among the characters.
All the performances of the characters are in so many ways most impressive too, especially the young actress Elisabeth Olsen, who shows us the submission that a person that has been in a cult has to undergo, while hiding behind four different names (Martha Marcy May Marlene) that shows us her non-definition, insecurity and manipulation. Another interpretation that has to be said is the one from John Hawkes, showing us the power of the leader controlling all the members of the group as though they were toys.
Martha Marcy May Marlene is one of these wonderful indie movies that are rare and underrated. This film is one of those that give the viewer plenty of food for thought.
1 comentarios:
Great film, thank you for the recommendation
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