Big screen: Psychological and environmental issues

DOWNHILL

(dir. Nat Faxon, rated M)

Based on 2014 Swedish comedy Force Majeure, directed by Ruben Ostlund, a film of hard edges and harsh truths. The new version, however, starring a game Julia Louisdreyfus and Will Ferrell, is a little less sharp, trading the irony of the original for mid-life malaise. The story remains roughly the same — a family is holidaying in an idyllic stretch of the Austrian alps when a controlled avalanche narrowly misses the restaurant where they’re dining. As the mother grabs the children and cowers in fear, the father grabs his cellphone and runs away, leaving his family behind. It is Louis-dreyfus who burns up the screen, articulating her character’s pain and resentment with real force. As opposed to the original, Downhill turns inward, trying to “solve” the characters’ psychological issues as a way of explaining the event, which robs the film of some of its power.

DARK WATERS

(dir. Todd Haynes, rated M)

One of the finest living American auteurs, Todd Haynes’ films have always been interested in the sick, the dying and the infectious. In Dark Waters, those interests are drawn toward perhaps the most accessible subject matter the film-maker has ever set his eyes on. Telling the true story of Robert Bilott (as portrayed by a wonderful, subtle Mark Ruffalo), the lawyer who took on Dupont Chemical after it was revealed they had willingly engaged in the poisoning of a small West Virginia town, Haynes has never been more overt or pointed. It’s largely effective — a procedural courtroom drama, lit and shot like a psychological thriller and featuring sumptuous cinematography from the great Ed Lachmann. It is, perhaps, the least abstract picture Haynes has ever put his name to but what it lacks in nuance it largely makes up for in raw, elemental rage at an unfair, rigged system designed to keep the working class down. Do I wish he took a few more risks on this one? Perhaps — but Dark Waters is the kind of bleak, urgent filmmaking that reflects the times we’re in without flinching. A pessimistic Erin Brockovich for the modern era.

This is my last regular column for Canvas.

It has been a real pleasure.

I’ll still be writing about film (on Letterboxd @thaugustine and Twitter @tom-augustine). Cinema is a wonderful thing. In the words of Martin Scorsese: “Movies touch our hearts and awaken our vision and change the way we see things. They take us to other places. They open doors and minds. Movies are the memories of our lifetime. We need to keep them alive.”