A Genuine Critique of "Margaret" by Kyler Jones
Margaret (2011), written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan, will leave you saddened yet knowing that you’ve just viewed a possible masterpiece.
Anna Paquin travels back ten years to play a 17 year old upper-middle class teenage girl Lisa, who witnesses and is possibly partially responsible for a tragic accident, which she lies to the police about. This unusual coming of age film drags us through the emotionally trying and unpredictable battle Lisa goes through to try to bring justice to the situation, and at the same time fight with her own conflicts, confusion, and pain. Paquin manages to mix the theatrics and benevolence of Sookie with the cynicism of her role as Zack’s little sister in She’s All That. As for the rest of the cast, it’s true when they say that big actors love to play small roles; the cast is saturated with well-known talent. J. Smith Cameron plays Lisa’s actress mother Joan, Mark Ruffalo plays the antagonist bus driver, Matt Damon plays the understanding math teacher, Matthew Broderick (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) acts as the English class poet narrator, Jean Reno (León: The Professional) is the pretentious pursuer of Lisa’s mother, Kieran Culkin (Igby Goes Down, She’s All That) plays Lisa’s slacker anti-romantic interest, Allison Janney (American Beauty, Life During Wartime) plays the bus victim, and Olivia Thirby (Juno) as a classmate.
The mis-en-scene of this movie is the wealthy neighborhood of Upper West Manhattan. The movie is carefully laden with motifs, such as the recurring, panning shots of skyscrapers and the city landscape. It opens with slow-motion sequences of pedestrians walking, filmed almost exactly like and with the same retro quality of the opening to Jim Jarmusch’s Permanent Vacation. Throughout the movie there are shots of Lisa walking downtown in slow motion. These scenes set the sober, heavy tone of the film. It leads the audience to expect to be psychologically and intellectually engaged by the plot, rather than view the film for surface-level, entertainment value. While recurring, subtle themes serve to layer the plot and contribute to the film’s unique complexity, they can also be marvellous an straightforward.For example, the repeated scenes of Joan (Lisa’s successful actress mother) acting the same scene on stage for her popular play, models the changes in the relationship of Joan and Lisa. Joan and Lisa clash throughout the movie for they are both being eaten away by outside forces and struggling to connect with one another.
There is not much to be criticized about Lonergan’s portrayal of a 17 year old prep school girl. He does a surprisingly great job of this, partly because he has more freedom due to him gearing it towards adults.
Lisa’s character is surprisingly authentic. One might suspect criticism directed at authenticity; how could a middle-aged man capture the psyche of a 17-year-old girl as she develops in the face of challenges? An explanation for this can be that he is writing for an adult audience, he appropriately portrayed Lisa in a more sophisticated light.
The candid darkness and depressive condition of this story that makes it depressing to watch might lead one to believe that the story is simply nihilistic. It is hard to watch a plot constantly spiralling wayward as the character’s world is increasingly unveiled and those stone walls of the Upper West Side begin to crack. The beauty of Lonergan’s story is that, buried within the dreary saga are challenges that still leave agency in the hands of the viewer. For example, the viewer makes the choice of whether Lisa is righteous or self-serving. Does she truly caring about bringing justice to this dead woman, or does she only want to feel better about herself?
Negative reviews of the film seem to bring up interesting perspectives this movie explores.If you think that white jewish prep school teenaged women are the epitome of all things western,privileged, stupid, spoiled and intersectionally incorrect then you are probably prone to hold the same views as the top IMBD reviewer of this movie.
I find this view to be problematic, for Lisa is obviously not one-dimensional, perfectly confident or empowered, not totally mature and definitely naive, and is vulnerable.Her class and race don’t erase that.
This movie compares to movies about the fall of wealthy youth like Igby Goes Down, based off of “The Catcher and the Rye”, which happens to star Kieran Culkin. Strangely Igby, in Igby Goes Down, isn’t called a white spoiled, selish, melodramatic brat.The difference between Igby Goes Down and Margaret is the that Igby Goes Down is more of a comedic tale that entertains and caters to mostly middle class boys, while Margaret might make boys not want to have sex with women anymore1.
Who are the phonies of Upper West Side Manhattan New York? In Margaret their are no phonies just terrible circumstances brought by evil people “because they like it”2.
Sources:
1http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0466893/board/nest/213218442?ref_=tt_bd_6
2Lonergan, Kenneth, writ. Margaret. Perf. Paquin . Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2011. Film. 29 Mar 2014.
Anna Paquin travels back ten years to play a 17 year old upper-middle class teenage girl Lisa, who witnesses and is possibly partially responsible for a tragic accident, which she lies to the police about. This unusual coming of age film drags us through the emotionally trying and unpredictable battle Lisa goes through to try to bring justice to the situation, and at the same time fight with her own conflicts, confusion, and pain. Paquin manages to mix the theatrics and benevolence of Sookie with the cynicism of her role as Zack’s little sister in She’s All That. As for the rest of the cast, it’s true when they say that big actors love to play small roles; the cast is saturated with well-known talent. J. Smith Cameron plays Lisa’s actress mother Joan, Mark Ruffalo plays the antagonist bus driver, Matt Damon plays the understanding math teacher, Matthew Broderick (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) acts as the English class poet narrator, Jean Reno (León: The Professional) is the pretentious pursuer of Lisa’s mother, Kieran Culkin (Igby Goes Down, She’s All That) plays Lisa’s slacker anti-romantic interest, Allison Janney (American Beauty, Life During Wartime) plays the bus victim, and Olivia Thirby (Juno) as a classmate.
The mis-en-scene of this movie is the wealthy neighborhood of Upper West Manhattan. The movie is carefully laden with motifs, such as the recurring, panning shots of skyscrapers and the city landscape. It opens with slow-motion sequences of pedestrians walking, filmed almost exactly like and with the same retro quality of the opening to Jim Jarmusch’s Permanent Vacation. Throughout the movie there are shots of Lisa walking downtown in slow motion. These scenes set the sober, heavy tone of the film. It leads the audience to expect to be psychologically and intellectually engaged by the plot, rather than view the film for surface-level, entertainment value. While recurring, subtle themes serve to layer the plot and contribute to the film’s unique complexity, they can also be marvellous an straightforward.For example, the repeated scenes of Joan (Lisa’s successful actress mother) acting the same scene on stage for her popular play, models the changes in the relationship of Joan and Lisa. Joan and Lisa clash throughout the movie for they are both being eaten away by outside forces and struggling to connect with one another.
There is not much to be criticized about Lonergan’s portrayal of a 17 year old prep school girl. He does a surprisingly great job of this, partly because he has more freedom due to him gearing it towards adults.
Lisa’s character is surprisingly authentic. One might suspect criticism directed at authenticity; how could a middle-aged man capture the psyche of a 17-year-old girl as she develops in the face of challenges? An explanation for this can be that he is writing for an adult audience, he appropriately portrayed Lisa in a more sophisticated light.
The candid darkness and depressive condition of this story that makes it depressing to watch might lead one to believe that the story is simply nihilistic. It is hard to watch a plot constantly spiralling wayward as the character’s world is increasingly unveiled and those stone walls of the Upper West Side begin to crack. The beauty of Lonergan’s story is that, buried within the dreary saga are challenges that still leave agency in the hands of the viewer. For example, the viewer makes the choice of whether Lisa is righteous or self-serving. Does she truly caring about bringing justice to this dead woman, or does she only want to feel better about herself?
Negative reviews of the film seem to bring up interesting perspectives this movie explores.If you think that white jewish prep school teenaged women are the epitome of all things western,privileged, stupid, spoiled and intersectionally incorrect then you are probably prone to hold the same views as the top IMBD reviewer of this movie.
I find this view to be problematic, for Lisa is obviously not one-dimensional, perfectly confident or empowered, not totally mature and definitely naive, and is vulnerable.Her class and race don’t erase that.
This movie compares to movies about the fall of wealthy youth like Igby Goes Down, based off of “The Catcher and the Rye”, which happens to star Kieran Culkin. Strangely Igby, in Igby Goes Down, isn’t called a white spoiled, selish, melodramatic brat.The difference between Igby Goes Down and Margaret is the that Igby Goes Down is more of a comedic tale that entertains and caters to mostly middle class boys, while Margaret might make boys not want to have sex with women anymore1.
Who are the phonies of Upper West Side Manhattan New York? In Margaret their are no phonies just terrible circumstances brought by evil people “because they like it”2.
Sources:
1http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0466893/board/nest/213218442?ref_=tt_bd_6
2Lonergan, Kenneth, writ. Margaret. Perf. Paquin . Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2011. Film. 29 Mar 2014.