(USA)
2015 Santa Barbara International Film Festival
Elliott Lester's "Nightingale" is an intriguing proposition. It is a new addition to what is becoming a new genre showcasing the talent of just one actor to drive the narrative of a movie similar to what saw Robert Redford and Tom Hardy did in the films "All is Lost" and "Locke", respectively.
In this film, it is British actor David Oyelowo's turn to show his acting range and he delivers a tour-de-force, sterling performance as a man suffering from multiple personality disorder.
David plays Peter Snowden, a war veteran, who murders his mother, hides the crime, records a video blog, lies to his sister, stalks a former army buddy all in the confines of the house he shares with his mom. The audience is immediately introduced to David's madness with an arresting opening sequence showing him rambling and ranting in front of his laptop confessing to the crime he just committed. We do not yet know the extent of his madness but the audience will eventually get to discover how deeply insane Peter has become when his only means of communication with the world is through telephones, behind doors, his reflection in the mirror and his job at a grocery (but even that part could have been just his imagination as well.)
The screenplay is almost fault-free. The character is written in such a way that if the audience starts to sense a weakness in the story, one is immediately struck with the thought that perhaps that very weakness could be the manifestation of Peter's madness as well. When Peters rants on the phone as he tries to get hold of his old buddy, one wonders if Peter is gay and is in love with the guy while at the same time he could just be making it all up as well. We never get to hear the voice on the other end of Peter's conversation so we never know which characters are imagined and which are real. Even when a priest decides to visit David to check on his mom, we only hear the voice of the character behind the door but we never get to see whether there really was a real person.
But we do not question because David makes us all believe that his madness is real and the audience, who are observers to his breakdown, are left defenseless, mortified. And what's more interesting is despite the fact that Peter was insane, we do not even feel an ounce of sympathy for him - we just don't care. We don't care because we are, the audience, are the very people that have abandoned Peter and driven him to his madness.
Rating: 4 ½ Stars
(Note: Brad Pitt's Plan B will release the film later this year. Meanwhile, below are pics I took from Sunday's screening of "Nightingale")
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| Raymond with David Oyelowo |
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| Elliott and David for the Photo Op |
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| More Photo Op |
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| And more Photo Op |
XXX
Raymond Lo
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