(USA, 100
min.)
Dir.
Jean-Marc Vallée, Writ. Bryan Sipe
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Naomi Watts, Chris Cooper, Judah
Lewis
Programme: Galas (World Premiere)
 |
| Photo courtesy of TIFF. |
Jean-Marc Vallée returns to the wild, beautiful, and
terrifying terrain of grief in Demolition. The Québécois filmmaker shows the
range of his skill by following up Wild,
his best film to date, with a film of similar subject matter, but an altogether
different approach. Whereas Reese Witherspoon takes a walk in the wilderness of
her grief in Wild, Jakes Gyllenhaal rumbles with the best of male aggression in Demolition. This newest film from
Vallée, which screened as the Opening Night selection of this year's Toronto
International Film Festival, continues the director's innovative approach to
film and character as he exposes the soul of a man whom audiences haven't seen
before. Demolition is a bold risk
that succeeds.
Demolition breaks down the male ethos when Gyllenhaal's Davis last name loses his wife Julia (Heather Lind) in a car accident and fails to respond with a messy blubbering cry face. Instead, he does what comes naturally to little boys and men who need to release done steam: he breaks shit. As Davis dismantles his refrigerator (wife's last words to him were a reminder to fix it), Vallée shatters the audience's prescription of this life rocked by grief. Davis unleashes his restlessness in a series of attacks on physical objects, and Demolition similarly fragments the narrative with shards of Davis's life
Vallée's uses shards of memory sparingly, as Demolition plays with loss and memory
more conventionally than the memory game of Wild
does. Memories play as intercuts and reminders, rather than as pieces of a
puzzle, but they bridge the film to its own appropriate catharsis as the black
dramedy peaks. One wishes that Vallée himself had edited Demolition as he's done with his other films, but Demolition still has the hallmarks of a
Vallée film even if it the montage mosaics appear fleetingly. The
cinematography by Yves Bélanger is moody and fluid, and the aesthetic straddles
comedy and tragedy by rejecting the high key lighting of studio comedy in favour
of moody palettes that keep spirits bright. The soundtrack still swells as it
always does and it vividly and intensely throbs with the psychology of its
characters. Songs take on new meanings as, say, Heart becomes an anthem of
sadness. His hand with the actors, similarly, is once again excellent.
Gyllenhaal adds another commendable credit to his recent
string of complex and versatile roles. Demolition
plays shrewdly into Gyllenhaal's enviable looks, as ample shots of him shaving
and manscaping his chiseled chest introduce a man acutely conscious of an image
of masculinity he wants to project. The film challenges Gyllenhaal physically
and spiritually as Vallée calls upon him to break down the burly wall of
Davis's physique and unleash the stronger, more sensitive man within.
Gyllenhaal is funnier and more nimble with his emotions in Demolition than he is in many of his past performances. It's an
altogether different side of his skills after Southpaw.
Naomi Watts, similarly, brings the right blend of cautiousness,
awkwardness, and humanity to a character that sells a storyline that could have
been fatal in lesser hands. Watts plays Karen a customer agent who reaches out
to Davis with unorthodox means. Karen and her son Chris (Judah Lewis) form a
surrogate family with Davis. With them, he finds genuine love and support,
unlike the coldness and calculated composure he find with his in-laws (Chris
Cooper and Polly Draper) who mirror the sterile orderliness of Julia’s home
that Davis smashes. Demolition sheds
its weight as Davis rediscovers himself with his new pseudo-family as he shares
letters with Karen and smashes stuff with Chris. Vallée’s real kaleidoscopic
signature here, which usually arises through the editing in his films, twists
in the various tones that piece together the stages of Davis’s grief and collides
them together for a unifying catharsis.
The only fault one can find with Demolition is that it's a good film that Vallée has already made,
and he did it better before. Call Wild
and Demolition the Woody Allen films
of Vallée's career as he makes back to back films with similar stories end
themes, but with different tones and approaches. However, one can still admire Irrational Man even if one loves Crimes and Misdemeanors, so Vallée's deeply
humane and darkly funny Demolition continues his recent winning streak.
Rating: ★★★★ (out of ★★★★★)
Demolition opens in theatres April 8 from VVS Films.
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