Top stars tackle 1950s New York
MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN
Motherless Brooklyn is Edward Norton’s second outing as director and it’s had a long gestation.
He response to Jonathan Lethem’s 1999 novel impelled him to film it.
Although the novel is set in the year it was written, Norton chose to set the film in the 1950s, the era of film noir.
Norton himself plays the central character of private detective Lionel Essrog, who witnessed the murder of his mentor Frank Minna (Bruce Willis) from afar and is determined to track the perpetrators down.
Lionel was one of four boys from an orphanage who were rescued by Minna and trained by him.
His ‘motherless Brooklyn’ crew includes Tony (Bobby Carnavale), Gil (Ethan Suplee) and Danny (Dallas Roberts), but none seem as determined as Lionel to investigate Minna’s death.
Lionel has Tourette syndrome which causes him to twitch and stutter, a condition he knows alienates people.
His investigations lead him to a Harlem club where Lionel’s brain connects with the rhythm of jazz.
That’s where he meets activist Laura Rose (Gugu Mbatha-Raw).
It seems all roads lead to city planner Moses Randolph (Alec Baldwin).
Norton has created a character that some may find hard to get used to, but he’s actually charming and decent, as he delves into the corruption of New York at that time.
It certainly has resonances to today as developers sweep aside the interests of communities and minorities.
Norton the director, gathered together a sterling cast for his film, they’re all splendid, including Willem Dafoe as the mysterious figure of Paul.
Norton’s aim with this film was ambitious; it’s very well crafted, the design by Beth Mickle is exemplary and Dick Pope’s cinematography resonates with the times.
The plot is admittedly convoluted, it’s sometimes hard to know how scenes fit into the scheme of things, and the film is too long for its own good.
But it’s a brave and absorbing film in many ways and well worth viewing.