Mudbound (Netflix Originals) - review

2017 was quite the year for Netflix. Not only was it the year that it broke through with its original film programming, it was the year I finally discovered that "Netflix and Chill" was not just about watching movies on the sofa!
They had quality genre hits such as The Babysitter and the excellent Gerald's Game that caused several people, including me, to do this...

But 2017 was the year that Netflix decided that they wanted to compete with the big boys and be taken seriously. Could they do it? "Yes we Cannes!" and Netflix went to France to compete in the Cannes Film Festival with Book Jong-Ho's Okja and Noah Baumbach's The Meyerowitz Stories.
Did it go as planned? Not quite. The French in particular were against the idea of films playing in competition that would not receive a cinematic release, head judge Pedro Almodovar said that the films would never win a prize and the controversy overshadowed two good films and a very rare thing... a great Adam Sandler performance.
Netflix decided they were not going to let that stop them and have doubled down on their original programming; organising a deal with Curzon for limited runs of the films to appear on their screens, financing $100 million for Martin Scorsese's The Irishman starring DeNiro, Pacino and Pesci and now they have gone legit are entered the Oscar race with Mudbound.
Amazon Studios were the first to the podium last year with Manchester By The Sea but Mudbound is the sole streaming film in the race this year and received 4 Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actress, Best Song, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Cinematography.
The cinematography nomination is well deserved, and history making as Rachel Morrison became the first female cinematographer to be ever receive one. The film looks stunning and every shot captures the feeling of the Deep South in Forties America.
Mudbound tells the story of two families, the Macallan's and the Jackson's. Linked by land, the film explores their relationships defined by race, class and the fall out of WWII with both families giving their men to the war but find they are treated differently upon their return.
Performances across the board are as strong as the liquor and tensions that brewed in Mississippi, with particular standouts being Garret Hedlund, Jason Mitchell and Jonathan Banks as the deeply racist Pappy.
The film really comes into its own once the war is over and it explores the friendship between Hedlund's Jamie and Mitchell's Ronzell, which will ultimately come to define both families.
The main issue with the storytelling is the decision of director Dee Rees and screenwriter Virgil Williams is the over-reliance on voice-over narration.
Given it is adapted from a novel and this was the structure of the book, it is understandable however as Robert McKee in Adaptation would scream "...and God help you if you use voice-over in your work, my friends. God help you. That's flaccid, sloppy writing. Any idiot can write a voice-over narration to explain the thoughts of a character."
So not only does the audience get one voice-over, it gets six different characters narrating their own parts of the story and at times, the narrative becomes as clear as mud.
Thankfully the narration does not overshadow the performances and the result is a film that shows that if the commissioning team at Netflix continue to fund films and stories like this, they are Bound for glory.

3 stars

Top 5: Edinburgh International Film Festival

Last month I was lucky enough to host some Q&As at the Edinburgh International Film Festival including Daphne and This Beautiful Fantastic.

However I did manage to fit in a few screenings during my time in the Auld Reekie. Here is a quick rundown of the best films I saw at the Festival.

1. Kaleidoscope

Easily the best film I saw at the festival. The less you know going in the better so no spoilers here but this dark psychological thriller features standout performances from Toby Jones and Anne Reid in the most disturbing mother-son relationship since Norman and Norma Bates.

2. My Entire High School Sinking Into The Sea

If you can picture an animated version of a mixture of Saved By The Bell meets The Poseiden Adventure then you are on the right tracks with this crudely animated by quirky and charming disaster movie where characters must not only navigate the everyday troubles of high school but also an ever increasing water level.

3. Attraction

Of the two Russian sci-fi films premiering at the Festival this year, Attraction received a lot less buzz than the Marvel rip-off Guardians but it is a vastly superior film, not only in term of special effects but also in performance and narrative. Billed as Independence Day meets Starman, it features two strong leads as a daughter of a general tasked with investigating an alien landing finds herself in contact and falling in love with the humanoid alien... Much to the chagrin of her current boyfriend. One of the most affecting sci-if films of the year so far.

4. Daphne

Emily Beecham quite rightly won the Best Performance In A British Film (jointly with Anne Reid for Kaleidoscope) for her role as the titular Daphne. She plays a woman who admits she has "lost faith in people" and following a traumatic event, loses faith in herself and starts down a path of self-destruction. Beecham is in every scene and carries the movie drawing the audience into the story of a woman who might not be likeable but is ultimately recognisable, relatable and utterly fascinating.

5. Okja

Now available on Netflix, I was lucky to be able to see this on the big screen. Which given what happened to Bong Joon-Ho's last film Snowpiercer in the UK, is a rarity and should be grasped with both hands and it certainly benefits from the big widescreen presentation. Snowpiercer is one of the best films of the last few years and following The Host and Mother, it was Joon-Ho's first branch out into an East-West crossover featuring a worldwide multicultural cast that proved his can tell a story and make a film that can appeal to all audiences.

Initially Okja seems like a family friendly tale of a young girl trying to rescue her giant super pig friend from captivity but between the strong language and ever-darkening tone once Okja reaches the test facility, this is a much more adult story that looks at our treatment of animals and the way the media is used to influence our decisions about what we eat.

It is thoughtful and vastly entertaining, with Ahn Seo-Hyun's soulful performance as Mija counterbalancing the over-the-top performances from Tilda Swinton as Mirando CEO Lucy and Jake Gyllenhaal's wildlife expert Johnny Morris that is wild but captivating.

You'll come out of it questioning whether you want that next bacon sandwich!