Saturday, November 15, 2014

Review of WHITE BIRD IN A BLIZZARD: Lurid Melodrama

November 15, 2014




Kat's mom, Eve Connor, was an elegant woman who did not relish her married domesticity over the years, becoming miserable and unstable. When Kat was 17-years old, Eve suddenly just disappeared from their house without a trace. Her dad Brock was devastated and distraught. Kat though moved on quite easily with her raging hormones. love affairs and college. When Kat comes home from college on a break though, unsettled issues about her mom's disappearance simply refused to die down. 

American indie film director Greg Araki directed this film with his own screenplay adapted from the novel by Laura Kasischke. The story is a strange mishmash of various genres, from family drama to police drama, to teenage angst drama. There is a heavy dose of sexuality here, with lead star Shailene Woodley actually having nude scenes. 

Woodley carries the film well as the central character Kat. Earlier this year, she just broke through into mainstream consciousness in two big hit films, as heroine Tris in "Divergent" and as Hazel in "The Fault in Our Stars". She plays another teenager here, but with different adventures, mostly of the sexual kind. Her daring was quite unexpected for a serious young lead actress in this day, unlike the 80s or 90s. 

Solid and sexy as Woodley was though, she was still upstaged by Eva Green playing her disturbed mother, Eve. This vitally sensual woman simply has a commanding screen presence that her other co-stars in any film would find hard to match. From "Kingdom of Heaven" and "Casino Royale", then recently in "300: Rise of an Empire" or "Sin City: A Dame to Kill For", Eva Green always ends up as the star audiences will remember most.

The male actors play support to the ladies here. Playing the father Brock is the charismatic and reliable actor mostly known for his TV work, Chris Meloni. During the flashback scenes, Meloni and his toupee provided that little touch of humor this film needed. Thomas Jane plays the macho cop assigned to the Connor case, who gets a little to much involved. Shiloh Fernandez plays the libidinous boy next door who got Kat started on her sexual escapades, among other people.

For me, this film was two different films each of which could stand on their own, but these two are connected with a tenuous and awkward bond. One was about Kat and her issues.  One was about Eve and her issues. Together though, the totality of the film comes across as an uneven and lurid family melodrama that is not exactly easy to digest. 6/10.




21 comments:

  1. This sounds great, i haven't heard of it before. Definitely one to look out for.

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  2. Melodrama movies are totally Filipino in nature, and it takes heavy emotion to release the content of the plot. Sex scene do makes me feel the energy flowing in watching the film.

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  3. Shailene! This sounds interesting! I haven't heard of this but I'll definitely watch it!

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  4. Haven't heard of this one before but will definitely put it on my to watch list. Being an indie film caught my eye as I don't tend to care too much for mainstream movies.

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  5. I guess it has two intertwined stories in Kat's Life and Eve's issues This looks like a good movie with nice storylines.

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  6. Hmmm, I have to admit, this girl is interesting. Her beauty is not the conventional type.

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  7. Sounds interesting..it will be interesting to watch how Evens life turned out once she left her family for other goals

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  8. The story you wrote actually sound pretty good. But once again, your ratings is so different from the description! What got me interested was woodley acting in it!

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  9. Shailene Woodley is just so big right now I can't wait to see what she does next! :)

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  10. Based on the plot, it seems to be a good story but the rating you gave is ... kinda low. I think I might still want to watch this one - the story is promising. I wonder if it's executed well.

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  11. This movie sounds really interesting and I cant wait to watch this one! I somehow enjoy movies with a lots of drama and twist to the story.

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  12. I love shailene woodley! Definitely gonna catch this!

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  13. Sounds likes a great movie! Woodley has done a great job :)

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  14. This kind of interests me to see how the issues of both the mother and daughter would be connected since it's both tackled in one movie. I hope their issues got resolved in the movie and not just tackled. Because if not, then it's just right to give such rating.

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  15. Interesting watch! :-) The way you described the woman made me want to search for this movie.haha :-)

    It intrigued me how the plot was delivered with its message.

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  16. Interesting story. . I am intrigued more by eves life and how it turned out once she left her daughter.

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  17. Shailene has become a favorite to watch for myself and my daughter. I am not so sure thought that this one would be age appropriate. Tris has grown up, lol

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  18. I haven't heard about this movie, but I've read an article about Shailene portraying a sexual teenager role. This must be a good watch.

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  19. I stopped at lurid melodrama! Oh dear... I haven't seen movies like this in ages and doubt I'd start now. I always appreciate your sincerity.

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  20. great review.. I never heard of this story nor movie.. Wonder if it's shown here..

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  21. Thanks for the review. Hopefully it will reach my country cinema one fine day :D

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