Tuesday, February 26, 2019

MANCHESTER BY THE SEA - THE ART OF SHOW AND NOT TELL


Movies have different effects on different people. No matter what the flick is about you’ll encounter those who loved it, hated it or simply dismissed it. And it happens with every movie. Not even so called greats like The Godfather or Citizen Kane escape criticism.

Enter “Manchester by the Sea”. This drama set in a small New England town is filled with emotions that appeal to every viewer. I mean, family deaths, especially children, will have an effect on people. This is not even up for discussion, but a cold hard fact. The trick is how to deliver the message, how to tell the story and how to portray a grieving father and a broken family.

The story begins (an ends) with Lee Chandler (played by Casey Affleck), a lonely and reserved janitor living in a small basement apartment in Boston. From the start it becomes evident that Chandler has personality issues and avoids human contact. A loner and even an asshole who doesn’t hesitate in getting into a bar fight or speak his mind to customers. Then he receives a call telling him his older brother Joe has passed away in Manchester, a small town just outside Boston, a town where he grew up. In flashbacks, we’re told of the heart disease Joe suffered and that his death was imminent. Director Kenneth Lonergan also throws a few more flashbacks depicting the close relationship Lee had with Joe and his son and also of Joe’s drug and alcohol addicted wife.

When Lee goes to the solicitor’s house for the reading of Joe’s will, he’s told that Joe’s wish was for him to be the guardian of his underage son Patrick (Lucas Hedges). This decision, which seemed logical after we were shown how close Lee was with his brother and nephew, deeply shakes Lee. While he’s letting this sink in, memories of his past life and the fire that killed his three young children and ended his marriage are brought up in yet another flashback. In the span of three minutes many things click into place. Lee’s life was destroyed and the reason he left Manchester was to escape the demons of his past. His rude, distant and aggressive behaviour starts to make sense and so are his reasons for not wanting to commit to take care of his nephew, no matter how much he loves him.

In my view Kenneth Lonergan carefully manipulated the story telling in order to drop the right bits of information (an emotion) at the right times. To some viewers the pace of the film may seem slow, but I think this was done intentionally. Can you describe or explain the grief a human being goes through after such a tragedy in one scene, one page in a script? Not at all. Lonergan wanted us to follow Lee Chandler’ movements and build up his personality before dropping the bomb midway through the movie in a superb exercise of show and not tell.

One of the most powerful scenes takes place when Lee runs into his ex-wife Randi (Michelle Williams) who’s already re married and with a son. She wants to re establish a relationship with Lee and tells him she still loves him. Lee rejects her out of fear, of having to re live what they went through years before. A very dramatic two minutes of dialogue between tears masterfully crafted by two great actors.

The ending of the movie couldn’t have been more realistic. No lovey dovey hugging between Lee and Patrick. Just a commitment where Patrick stays in Manchester and is adopted by the family’s best friend and Lee stays in Boston, unable to live in Manchester anymore. The relationship between both remaining strong but at a distance.

In saying this, I would have ended the movie when Lee and Patrick were walking back home from the cemetery, tossing a rubber ball to one another. No words, no telling. No need to explain anything else.

The one thing that struck me as odd (and it doesn’t mean it was incorrect) was the laid back attitude of Patrick towards his father’s recent passing. He was enjoying his teenage freedom with girls and rock’n roll too much to stop doing so because of his father’s death. A brief crisis with frozen chicken woke him up briefly but that seemed to be the extent of his grief. I don’t know, everyone reacts to life events differently, maybe this was his way of coping.

In the end, the movie moved me left front and centre. Affleck couldn’t have delivered a more perfect performance and Lonergan’s story telling was no less than brilliant. Michelle William’s brief stint was worthy of an award. A powerful piece of film making which I’m anxious to see again. I don’t rate movies, but if I had to I’d give this one 8.5 out of 10.

At least that’s my opinion. And I might be wrong.


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