Off to the Rex Cinema in Berkhamsted for what I thought was a French movie, although it turned out to be an American/international production. Including Fourth and Twenty Eight Films. Based on the true story of Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin Cliquot, (Hayley Bennett) the young wife of Francois (Tom Sturridge seen only in flashbacks). When Francois dies when she is in her twenties, Madame Cliquot is being persuaded by her wealthy father in law (Ben Miles) to give up on her idea of running the vineyard her husband started. But her persistence in wanting to keep Francois' legacy alive nearly ends in disaster. There did seem to me to be too much backtracking to the days of their marriage, but director Thomas Napper does well to keep us interested in a not too interesting story. Although the creation and ultimate success of the champagne Veuve Cliquot was worth telling.
Almost Shakespearean in it's tragedy. Well this is the story of an old and belligerent theatre critic, played by who else but the venerable Ian McKellen. The original play Curtain Call by Anthony Quinn is brilliantly adapted by Patrick Marber. For The Critic we are in 1930's London where critic Jimmy Erskine cannot wait to write a terrible review, especially for the performance of poor Nina Land played by Gemma Arterton. The whole cast are top drawer with Mark Strong almost unrecognisable. I have to say that the sets, the costumes, make up and the lighting are all fabulous. Anand Tucker just about keeps the whole thing together But this film is all about McKellen in a typically effortless role. His Erskine is a terrible person but in the hands of this master actor, you almost forgive him. "A rich and layered performance" said Tom Shone. Sometimes the plot races away in the first half when you struggle to keep up. But later there is more definition to the story. I thought back to January 1968 (that is 56 years ago) when there was this budding young actor playing a gay man in Black Comedy at the Theatre Royal Brighton. I was 23 and McKellen 28.
There is just too much to say about The Substance. The first time I have seen an 18 rated move for a very long time. So why 18? Well there is no sex and only one short bit of violence. The rest is all body horror and a stupid ending. A very modern take on the genre, completely absurd of course but we are hooked into wanting to see what comes next. It's Demi Moore ("horrifyingly good") as Elisabeth Sparkle who has her career in TV fitness brought suddenly to and end by the excruciatingly awful big boss Harvey played by Dennis Quaid. When the invitation to try a new drug comes along, why would she fall for that?
What comes next has something of a twisted Cinderella story but with gore. Out pops Margaret Qualley as the perfection Elisabeth seeks. But what happens next is expectedly gross. And it just gets grosser. How Demi and Margaret agree to put themselves through all the brightly lit nakedness and physical abnormality is a wonder. Writer and Director Coralie Fargeat has not held anything back. It is all in the special effects in the contrast between deteriorating and perfect bodies. But the message is clear. Trying to do anything for the sake of youth and appearance is rammed down our throats. But it is the objectification by the men that is really horrible. And Harvey is the worst.
And then we have the substance itself. The kit and material must have taken a long time to plan and are wonders to behold. Whoever made those should have an award. The score was far too modern for me, but probably suited this type of movie. The fact that the two main characters are the same person was suddenly kicked into touch and that spoilt that whole premise. There was, for me, too much repetition in the middle and the well over two hours should have been shorter. So a completely ridiculous but compulsive movie spoilt by the ending that was a gratuitous mess. There was one message that I thought was good. The young cannot be trusted with the most important task when left on their own with a party and booze. This was their undoing.
The film won the best screenplay at the Cannes Film Festival. Mark Kermode thought it was "impressively outrageous", that it was a huge satire with elements of Jekyll and Hyde (I had not thought of that before he told us) and that he "enjoyed the hell out of it ..... fantastic".
Tom Shone in the Sunday Times thought that the substance itself was "the exact shade of embalming fluid in old Hammer horror movies". (I saw them all at the cinema). He thought it was "compulsively watchable".
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