Annette Review

Annette

Dir: Leos Carax

Starring: Adam Driver, Marion Cotillard, and Simon Helberg

2h 20m

 

In the opening 10 minutes of director Leos Carax's musical "Annette," the cast, director, and writers Ron and Russell Mael (alternatively knows as the band "Sparks") break the fourth wall and perform a surreal musical number while walking through the illuminated streets of Los Angeles. It is a moment of joyous cinema, a unique introduction that seemingly prepares the viewer for something special to follow. Unfortunately, 130 minutes later and I was still waiting for the feeling the first 10 minutes gave me. 

 

"Annette" is a complicated artistic vision from two complicated creative artists. Leos Carax, who helmed one of my favorite movies of the last decade, "Holy Motors," is an impressive auteur at twisting fantasy into a distinctive and startling reality. Ron and Russell Mael, featured so lovingly rare and embracingly odd in Edgar Wrights's documentary "The Sparks Brothers," have composed beautiful blends of pop-rock music throughout the 1970s and 1980s. In "Annette," these two creative forces craft a frustrating, confusing musical mishmash of emotions that seldom finds its tone and often struggles to identify what it is trying to say to the viewer. 

 

Henry (Adam Driver) is a comedian with a biting, cutting edge one-person performance piece. Ann (Marion Cotillard) is a world-renowned opera singer whose beautiful voice aches with torment and joy throughout every single note. Henry and Ann fall in love and begin a much-publicized relationship, making media headlines with every transition in life. Their glamorous lifestyle is a shared experience, but also a selfish one; both Henry and Ann have egos that they must compete with, both in the relationship and individually. 

 

Ann gets pregnant and gives birth to a little girl named Annette. Her representation is seen through the use of a wooden marionette. Henry and Ann grow further apart once Annette is born. Henry's career spirals out of control negatively, while Ann's star continues to shine brighter. Henry becomes egocentric, Ann becomes discontent, and Annette watches her parent's future falter. 

 

Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard give committed performances from start to finish. Driver does a great job of embracing the self-loathing, arrogant nature that grows more rotten as the character struggles to maintain relevance. Marion Cotillard lovingly imbues the tender and tormented characteristics of her ambitious opera singer. The issue with "Annette" does not exist in the level of commitment these two fine actors give their characters. Instead, it's the story they must operate.  

 

The Mael brothers have composed albums that challenged the contemporary norms of pop rock music, many times emulating but never copying the popular trends. They have always been distinctly individual creative minds; throughout "Annette," ideas surrounding performance, the artistic process, and even the vessel for this film, the musical genre, shift in tone that straddles the line between mockery and sincerity.

 

Annette, a wooden marionette with expressive features and deliberate movements, represents how the two adults, mostly Henry, view their child. The execution of this element is unsettling. While it defines Henry's devolving mentality in small ways, the story becomes so lopsided with the emotion it is trying to coerce that the subtle pieces get lost in the confusion. As the film progresses and grows less like an incredible performance piece and more like a bleak relationship drama, "Annette" never recovers.

 

While Leos Carax composes a few scenes with dazzling flair and enchanting whimsy, and some of the songs connect with amusing results, the majority of "Annette" feels misguided.

 

Monte's Rating

2.25 out of 5.00

The Sparks Brothers Review

The Sparks Brothers

Dir: Edgar Wright

Starring: Ron Mael and Russell Mael

2h 15m

 

It was at my local record store that I first discovered the band Sparks. A funky combination of synth-centric keyboards, a pulsing drum beat, and the lyric "pulling rabbits out of a hat" sung with passion played on the house speakers. When I asked the clerk who was playing, they pointed towards an album cover featuring a slicked-haired, pencil mustached man holding a puppet in his hand. The music was kinetic, with a moodiness that felt suited for any variety of 1980s movie soundtrack.  

 

On the album cover (1984's Pulling Rabbits Out of a Hat) were Ron and Russell Mael, two brothers from America who formed the band Sparks in 1967. Spanning more than 50 years, through idiosyncratic rock, pop, electro, and avant-garde motifs and characterizations, the Sparks have garnered hefty cult status. They have influenced more than their fair share of artists, bands, and, in the case of the new documentary The Spark Brothers, filmmakers. 

 

Edgar Wright, the skillful director behind Shaun of the Dead and Baby Driver, among others, understands how to choreograph music to influence and engage storytelling. So Wright feels like the perfect artist to tell the tale of the Sparks Brothers. This documentary is packed with information, running 2 hours and 15 minutes. First, Wright details the brother's career with an album by album analysis, displaying the Sparks as clever musicians who have an unorthodox charm and humor and operate to the beat of their own drum. It's an energetic documentary that seldom feels as long as its running time. 

 

The documentary features a variety of interviews from artists singing the praises of the band. Musicians like Beck, Weird Al, and Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers show up, but also unexpected influenced artists like author Neil Gaiman, actor Mike Myers, and comedian Patton Oswalt make appearances to show their gratitude. Throughout the decades, the progression of their music composed a sound that always felt a few steps ahead of their counterparts. In addition, their character as rock stars, with Russell Mael crafting the atypical stoic rock star gaze and Ron Mael contrasting with his Chaplin/Hitler-inspired mustache and smirking look, displays that Sparks forged their creative path.

 

Wright emphasizes the musician's engagement with their music primarily, not necessarily why the two brothers compose their character in such unique ways. It's almost always about the music. Sparks' story isn't imbued with the typical sex and drugs that almost always define the rock & roll lifestyle, so the documentary doesn't have the traditional rise to success and eventual fall to defeat storyline. Instead, it maintains a strong emphasis on the celebration of music. 

 

Edgar Wright is the perfect collaborator to tell the story about Sparks. With his first documentary, the director interjects the film with the same energy the band brings in their music. The verve and mood are achieved through the edit, the unique and different quality is the structure of storytelling, and the love for the music is heartfeltly found in every interview and clip; a perfect match for director and band indeed. 

 

Monte's Rating

4.00 out of 5.00