MEDITATION AT THE MOVIES: Lean on Pete & You Were Never Really

This week, two of my favorite films of the year are being released. They have in common a meditative, lyrical quality, but that is just coincidence. They represent the best of what storytelling can be, no matter what the subject. If you like arty, auteur-styled cinema, this is your weekend.

YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE

It took six years from the success of We Need to Talk about Kevin to the release of writer/director Lynne Ramsay’s new film, You Were Never Really Here, which opens nationally this weekend. Based on a novella by writer and raconteur Jonathan Ames, the story is about Joe (Joaquin Pheonix), a veteran with PTSD, who tracks down and rescues girls from sex trafficking. When violence is necessary, as it often is, he uses a ball peen hammer. He lives his days struggling with depression, constant flashbacks, and suicidal ideation. His only moments of joy involve caring for his dementia-suffering mother (Judith Roberts). One job turns out to be far more complicated and dangerous than expected, sending Joe down a vengeful path that may get him, and those he loves most, killed.

Joe is like an arty Brian Mills, Liam Neeson’s character in Taken. The film itself, as written and directed by Ramsay, uses sound, character, and scenery with such care and consideration that watching the film becomes a study in concentration. There are also moments in the story that subvert what is obviously a movie trope, the damsel-saving damaged veteran finding redemption. Ramsay finds ways to show Joe has used his hammer without the usual grotesquery, and depicts death and dying with depth one rarely sees in revenge genre films. It may sound like an hour and a half of unpleasantness, but actually there are such moments of such poignancy, it’s worth being steeped in the darkness surrounding them.

During the process of writing You Were Never Really Here and and preparing for filming, Ramsay imagined and held firm to her ideal casting of Joaquin Phoenix as Joe. Her instincts were right, and the two proved to be a professional match made in cinema heaven. They have much in common. Both director and actor avoid social media, preferring to let their work speak for them. They also appreciate the balance of visuals, music, and character that make up the language of cinema, and see all aspects of filmmaking as collaborative. Their connection is evident in every frame of the film. Pheonix, shows once again his facility with a difficult role, one which would be hard to imagine in lesser hands. There is a beautiful truth in his work, marking You Were Never Really Here is one of the best performances of his career.

So far, audiences have agreed. Although an unfinished version of the film was shown at its Cannes premiere, it was given a seven minute standing ovation and Ramsay won Best Screenplay, with Phoenix winning Best Actor.

It’s hard to imagine i’ll love a 2018 release more than I did this one, even as I watched it through splayed hands, or felt the heartbreak happening onscreen. With You Were Never Really Here, writer/director Lynne Ramsay has created a spectacular cinematic journey that will remain in audience’s memories far into awards season. I have every hope those who hand out trophies will do the same.

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LEAN ON PETE

Lean on Pete is by acclaimed filmmaker Andrew Haigh (Weekend, 45 Years), and is based on the novel by Willy Vlautin. The story is centered on fifteen-year-old Charley Thompson (Charlie Plummer), who is new to Portland, Oregon, having been brought by his single father Ray (Travis Fimmel). Ray’s life starts falling apart, but Charley’s starts looking up when he gets a job at the local racetrack caring for an aging Quarter Horse named Lean On Pete.

When Charley discovers Lean on Pete is about to be sold for meat, he decides to save the racehorse, with whom he has forged a bond, no matter what the cost.

All of Haigh’s films seem to resonate with quiet longing, loneliness, and the kind of lasting love that sustains us even through our darkest periods. In his quest to bring those qualities to the screen, he has learned to excel in his casting, which is certainly a major aspect in which Lean on Pete is successful. Charlie Plummer as Charley is an emotional magnet for the audience, and he spends nearly every moment of the film onscreen. Chloe Sevigny, Steve Zahn, and Steve Buscemi, as secondary characters important to Charley’s journey, as well as Fimmel as Charley’s dangerously neglectful dad, carry an authenticity and realism that help carry the viewer through Charley’s heartbreaking internal and external journey. There are difficult scenes, it should be mentioned, for those who have problems seeing animals in peril, or who might be triggered by seeing physical abuse onscreen.

The cinematography the score, and the musical choices are also all elements that enhance the story. There are long periods where we witness Charley and Lean on Pete traversing the landscape and experiencing nature, during which it feels like we, the audience, are part of a meditation, or perhaps a prayer asking for their safety and a positive outcome. Check out my interview with Lean on Pete’s composer James Edward Barker, who created a gorgeously spare, elegiac score that punctuates the most powerful or weighty moments. Actually, Haigh has often chosen to have his films be completely devoid of a score, but he was wise to see what an important element Barker’s score is in moving the story forward and capturing tone in Lean on Pete.

Heartbreaking it is, but the story of Lean on Pete never fails to deliver truth, both moment by moment, and in its ultimate conclusion.

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About Cinema Siren:

Leslie Combemale, who writes about women in film and artists behind the scenes and below the line at http://cinemasiren.com/, is a movie lover and aficionado who aspires to get more people back into the beautiful alternate worlds offered in dark movie houses across the country. She has also been the owner of ArtInsights Gallery of Film and Contemporary Art (https://artinsights.com/) for over twenty five years, promoting artists who are the unsung heroes essential to the finished look of films and their campaigns. She interviews actors, directors, and production artists from all over the world, and writes about film for sites like AWFJ.org, thecredits.org, http://www.animationscoop.com and likeabossgirls.com, and is often invited to present at conventions such as the San Diego Comic-Con, where she has been a panelist and host for The Art of the Hollywood Movie Poster, Classic Film History, Disney & Harry Potter Fandom discussions, and now produces a panel at SDCC called "Women Rocking Hollywood”, in its third year.