Alexander Payne makes small movies, in terms of budget. However, his movies are the richly textured ones and judging by the metrics of the heart, his movies are as big as it is beautiful. He is a film-maker, who has only six features under his belt, but with each movie, he is slowly evolving into an American auteur. His last three movies – “About Schmidt”, “Sideways”, and “The Descendants” explored the road-movie genre with a longing melancholy and humor. He was fascinated to show up the dynamic relationships of individuals during the unconventional road trips. They were all moving, enlightening, nuanced, without being overly sentimental. Not sentimental means that it doesn’t have those heartwarming inter-generational discussions. Now, he is back with yet another hazy optimistic road-movie, titled “Nebraska” (2013). Shot in black and white, the film is filled with excellent vistas of flat-lands and desolated farms. It mourns for the loss of the stout Midwestern America, which was once the country’s backbone.
“Nebraska” is home to Alexander Payne, as well as the
birthplace of Woodrow T. Grant (Bruce Dern). Woodrow is a septuagenarian, a
former mechanic and a cantankerous alcoholic. At the start of the film, we see
him walking on a highway with unkempt hair and a wild look. He is interrupted
by a police officer and was taken to home by his younger son David (Will Forte).
The reason for his walking is a paper he had received, which says, “You may
have won a million dollars!” Everyone knows and tells him that the letter is
junk, a scam to trick people into subscribe magazines. But, Woody’s delusion
and stubborn nature makes him believe that this is his own stroke of fortune.
He wants to get back all those decades of diminished dreams through this
sweep-stakes winning. Woody’s plain-spoken wife, Kate (June Squibb), in a state
of agitation, wants her demented husband to be admitted in a nursing home.
Ross (Bob Odenkirk), the eldest son and a local news anchor,
who resents his father’s drunken ways, supports the mother’s view. However,
David – the stereo salesman -- volunteers to drive him from Billings, Montana
to Lincoln, Nebraska (835 miles) (especially to stop him from trying to walk
there). Thus begins a father and son bonding road trip. That is what we might
think, but Woody drunkenly injures himself and the trip takes a little detour
to Woody’s home town called “Hawthorne.” He is reunited with brothers and old
friends and soon becomes a local celebrity, when he announces his winnings. We
learn more about Woody in his hometown, while David and the family try to
protect Woody from his delusions of grandeur.
On hearing the story of “Nebraska”, another movie comes to
our mind: David Lynch’s “The Straight Story.” However, Alvin Straight is a
likeable genial old man, whereas, Woody is an antihero – a harder character
type for us to like. He is stubborn, a pathetic drunk and dismisses his son’s
attempts at bonding. So, he is complicated, unpredictable and very real human
being. Even though, we dislike his characters, in the end, Payne makes us feel
for him. Bob Nelson’s script brings forth the small-town bitterness, once they
have heard about Woody’s million. All the old relatives and friends are lining
up, conjuring us some old debt, and looking for handouts. The atmosphere slowly
turns from being welcoming to threatening. Al though, these are serious things,
Payne handles it with a folksy humor. The existence of these greedy small-town
characters doesn’t mean that the director is being judgmental. It’s just the
opposite: He embraces all these personalities, who are basically flawed,
selfish and petty – just like us.
There is something universal about the family reunion we see
in “Nebraska.” A family reunion after two decades culminates in a dinner where
no one has anything good to say. They are pouring over longstanding grievances
and lurking resentments. These scenes supply the film with a real-world
authenticity. Most of the Midwestern Americans have vouched for Payne’s nearly
accurate portrayal of the modern American small-town. The taverns in the town
are filled with guys above 50 – a reference that these places are slowly dying.
With cinematographer Phedon Papamichael, Payne goes beyond words in his
depiction of tranquil cloudscapes, meandering country farms and rotting rural
backwaters. The long shot of a prairie cemetery and the scene that follows
shows the limitations of lives.
The 78 year old Bruce Dern, an actor for five decades, uses
subtlety to provide this sad, haunted, lovely performance. The stubbornness and
drunken hopes of Woody are not caricatured by Dern (won the ‘Best Actor’ award
in Cannes). Forte plays David, a character, which viewers can identify with
themselves. He excises an effortless balance between the opposing viewpoints of
his parents. We can easily sense Forte’s confusion and frustration through the
conversations he has with Dern. He tries to explore Woody’s past life and
searches for the slightest trace of warmth in his parents' marriage ("You
must have been in love, at least at first," says David, for which Woody’s
reply is "It never came up.").
June Squibb’s Kate transforms from a nagging wife into the
movie’s most adorable character. Woody, David and Kate go to cemetery to pay
respects to the deceased elders. But, what happens is exactly opposite: “I
liked Rose, but she was a whore” says Kate standing before the grave of Woody’s
sister and later lifts her skirt over the grave of an old beau, says, “See what
you could’ve had, Keith, if you hadn’t talked about wheat all the time?” She
constantly badgers Woody for his pointless quest, but at the same time, she was
the first person to stand for him, when the old relatives are looking for some
money. In these later scenes, Squibb brings forth a wife, underpinned by a
thick seam of affection and a shared understanding.
“Nebraska” (115 minutes) is a detailed study of a life and
its roots, offering some thought provoking insights. It is cold and
unforgiving, but leaves us with an oddly buoyant feeling. Alexander Payne’s
deeply humanist film may grow larger on your memory, once you have experienced
it.
Trailer
Nebraska -- IMDb
Rated R for language
1 comment:
good review
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