Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.
- "Amazing Grace," John Newton
Somewhat fitting lyrics for this feature.
Ryan's Gosling's debut touches on numerous things. The elusive American Dream, hedonism, family, heart ache from past journeys, friendship and community. As you go down that list the movie touches more solidly the topics nearer to the end. Even then the narrative is a little beefier than a Jewish concentration camp prisoner. You want to give it food, but you can't because you aren't its maker or its savior.
Detroit is known by many, both natives (not Native Americans in this context) of the country and foreigners as a once thriving city gone down the drain by various factors - it took decades to reach its current shape and condition. It may never see an ounce of its glory days for many reasons. Of course, those who know better, not all of Detroit and its metro are like what the media presents. Two films have used Detroit and its dilapidated buildings as backdrops and characters. It Follows is one of them and Gosling's Lost River is the other. The former movie does so more truthfully and more realistically despite both movies implementing the fantastical in the lives of its characters. It's like how Harmony Korine picks the oddest individuals of a backwater town and makes a movie out of them, making their eccentricities more pronounced than what reality is. It's ballsy, but it's also dishonest.
Gosling's Detroit, like his directing, is a mixture of many things. Think of the production like BioShock - the video game - with its steampunk vibe, Korine's depressing-thrift-shop-wearing characters who smell like dried sweat and neon-lit surroundings. Think of Terrence Malick's quiet and smooth camera movements as they walk about their world. You want out already, right? So do I. But trust me, it's not that bad. That's the issue with the Detroit that is portrayed in LR. It's a combination of "patches," none of which are remotely the same color, and none of the patches effectively create a world that slowly sucks in its potential residents. You know it's a created world as you watch, so you never actually are willing to pay the rent or take out a loan. You don't have anything to stay for.
The fantasy in LR is introduced then fades into existence only to be brought up again near the end as a "Oh, yea, there's this supposed monster that happened to put a spell on this city ... " and the interwoven stories of each individual are somehow able to grab a hold. I am not sure if Gosling meant to have this tone, this heavy on atmosphere but light on actual narrative, but I'll take that the story somehow got lost in its own style. This not to say that the characters that embody this particular Detroit are nothing. Oddly enough Gosling is able to add just enough of desperation, loss and hope within his protagonists that the movie doesn't completely crumble by real estate demolition.
Billy (Christina Hendricks), Bones (Iain De Caestecker) and Franky (Landyn Stewart) are a family of three. Billy is need of work in order to pay rent for a house that should be checked on by the city health inspector (in fact, all of the houses that each character lives in should). She isn't bitter and carries herself with a sense of dignity despite her failings as a parent and provider. Bones, given his living situation, is the ideal son. Caring, resourceful, brave and hard working, he has inherited his mother's sense of dignity; he hides his frustration and sadness by searching for copper in exchange for money (instead of cans and bottles, like most cash-strapped people do). Franky is adorable - innocent in every way; a bit chubby like his mother (no offense Hendricks, that was meant as a compliment). They love each other and they get by with what they have. The company each spends with each other is lovely. Next door (more like half a football field away) lives Rat (Saoirse Ronan), a quiet young girl who calls her self "Rat" because "I have a pet rat," who is named Nick. Rats aren't nearly as popular as, say, dogs or cats when it comes to house pets, but those who do have them show immense affection and recommendation to future owners. You can say they are misunderstood. Like pet rats, Rat is a hidden gem of a friend. As you get to know Rat she is charming, a hidden beauty, and shares similar qualities as Bones. Her isolation - no parents, no friends besides her pet rat - seems to enhance her ability to observe the world she lives in. You wish she thought more of herself because she is, indeed, more (names herself Rat). She is the wisest of the neighbors. These two, Rat and Bones, are the parents to their guardians (Rat a 'parent' to her grandmother). They do it without complaint, they do it with a sense of duty.
In contrast to these families are Bully (Matt Smith) and Face (Torrey Wigfield). This is a different type of family. Bully, when he sees his partner-in-crime fail, abuses him to a point of horrific consequences. When you insult Bully you insult his inner demon. Sociopathic, greedy and "all-knowing" Bully is one of the unofficial mayors of the city - as he says "This is my city." Bully, by name alone, can metaphorically represent all the crooked politicians keeping the good residents from upholding a stable, happy life in Gosling's Detroit. Either you comply to his demands and warnings or face the consequences, that is if you don't move out of the city. Dave (Ben Mendelsohn) is another unofficial mayor. Unlike Bully, Dave is less violent in his advances to get what he wants. By day he's a loan officer (represents the world of banking) and by night he runs a club that "caters to every human desire." Of course, this club is on the other side of town nowhere near his bank or where said characters walk and sleep. In someway he's the MC from Cabaret, where his club shows off the grotesque (Gosling's commentary on the indifference of violence as a form of entertainment).
Probably the one character that represents the "American Dream," at least according to Gosling, in this Detroit is the Cab Driver (Reda Kateb). He goes about his job - taking Billy to her job, offering her kindness and expecting nothing in return for his small-talk (in contrast to Dave). Cab Driver talks about people who think America is filled with riches, and that when you arrive the money is at your feet (there is a perception by foreigners that most Americans are all monetarily rich, driving a Mercedes-Benz, living in gated communities). Now contrast that with many poverty stricken areas in America and, no doubt Gosling picked the city for this very reason, Detroit. Now contrast that with being monetarily rich with being rich on a more deeper plain -- family & friends. There is a point in the movie where Billy finds her own ride to various points in the city without Cab Driver - public transportation with Franky where she meets a strange man, and by Bones in their once broken down car. It then cuts to Cab Driver, his cab in front of a deli, eating a sandwich alone as he smiles at a low-income class family whom he later makes small-talk. Like Billy, Bones, Franky and Rat, he is trying his best with what he has -- no complaints. A part of you feels for him. There is no romantic hints between Cab Driver and Billy, in a way that is refreshing, but a part of me thought "You deserve Billy and Billy deserves you." Out of all the metaphors in this feature, Rat holds a conversation with Bones asking him why he stays in this town, after all he does have a car (at that time broken) to which Bones replies his family. Cab Driver, the most mobile out of all the character besides Bully & Face, stays in Detroit. Why? As he and Billy talk for the first time, he mentions the American Dream and the possibility of eventually "catching" it -- that's what's makes it worth it. Maybe Billy, Bones and Franky are his "American Dream" whom he can drive away when the situation arises.
The similarities between Cab Driver and Rat I cannot help but recognize. The sense of duty (Cab Driver to his job and Rat to her grandmother - taking direction from someone else) are both isolated individuals. This is not out of their inability or refusal to form relationships, but because of their situations in life. This isolation is a blessing where it gives them a safe distance from the sadness that is right outside their door - they see what is happening and they asses it. What Rat is to Bones, Cab Driver is to Billy. The house that Billy wants to preserve is part of her past that should be left behind, remodeled or demolished. Rat's grandmother is literally the past who has no motivation to share love to her lineage - she neither talks to her granddaughter, her missing parents nor about her deceased husband that has her fixation. There is no love or concern from her. These are anchors, and of the wrong kind. Dear grandmother is neither living nor dead (hording, watching re-runs of her wedding). Both Billy and Rat deserve much better anchors.
There is also a competition between Dave and Cab Driver. Though the two never meet, they are rivals. Dave appears to have everything that would make a modern woman lean towards him as a sugar daddy, if not a "partner." In this Detroit he is a celebrity, a somebody. His daytime job as a loan officer can intimidate people to make poor financial choices in order to help make the "American Dream" a reality; this job needs cleverness and charm. By night he's the head honcho at a macabre club - he alone has the power to fire & hire. He sets the rules, he has the power. Then there's Cab Driver. His job is taking requests by other people; he may be in the driver's seat but he isn't in charge and the passenger can bolt without paying. Being a cabbie isn't seen the same way as Dave's jobs - it's much lower on the "attractive" job hierarchy with no authority. He is equal to a burger flipper/cashier when standing next to Dave. Add to the fact Cab Driver is never given a name in the movie, he is a 'nobody'; he was never formally addressed as a character once I think about it - he appears because his service is needed. Socially and materially the cabbie is several steps behind Dave, but yet he has his dignity (like Billy). Dave straight out tells Billy that he finds her attractive and then later that he is sexually turned on by her. Whatever attraction Cab Driver has for her it is kept silently away; he does not let her know nor hints to any possible attraction. Dave sees people as items to "fuck," to control and to seduce. The opposite is true for Cab Driver. Both are fully aware of their status in this fictionalized city - one is pumping it to the max for his benefit (one can take this as crony capitalism since Dave is a financial loan officer by day), and the other treats his job as a job - it does not define him and shows content with it. Unlike Dave, cabbie - as a foreigner - does not know the city as well, but he does know enough. His job lends him to "get to know" the streets of this godforsaken city, and in return he gets to know its people. A king verses a carpenter. A celebrity verses a burger flipper. Who has the better hand? Who has the better heart? Who has "made it"? Who really is the 'somebody'? Who deserves Billy?
I'd be willing to pay & watch Gosling's second feature, that is if he found a voice of his own.
This directorial debut is a mixture of several directors: Terrence Malick, Harmony Korine, David Lynch and Nicolas Refn. Malick for the sweeping vertical camera movements; Korine for his VHS, gritty, desperate and tinge of dried sweat individuals; Lynch for is camera angles & quick violence and Refn for his visual flair. It's a soup that has many different spices from an apprentice soup maker. As you sit down and taste the liquid you can't help but say silently to your self "I recognize this, is it .... ?" You nod your head as your mind affirms and you continue on eating. The soup isn't necessarily bad nor is it anyway near original as the maker wants it to be. It can be, but he needs time on his own away from his inspirations to find his own mixes - not really his own spices. Gosling is trying on too many trendy pieces of men's wear; less is more.
It is ambitious in its style, but in the end it's really not a "style" - more so fashion. It is not really brave as it is timid to really "just be." Fashion is disposable and only out of luck do some trends hold some ground. Lost River is style over substance (though there is substance), promising, but no more promising (or exciting) than any Terrence Malick-esque hopeful director who premieres his shorts on vimeo/youtube than film festivals like Cannes or Sundance.
The only thing missing was a random, naked bed mattress with one of its characters standing on it with a look of absence.
** Interesting character names. Billy is a diametric name for a female; Bones actually has meat (courage); Rat is more than she seems; Bully is a bully; Face because "Look at his face!"; Cat because she's friendly, if not insidious in nature. The only people that don't have odd names are Franky (innocence - not corrupted/jaded enough to have one), Nick the rat (not even human) and Dave (the pervert who lives two lives). The cabbie was never given a name (he's listed as "Cab Driver" in the credits). He is below Franky - not really 'belonging' to the city to have an ill-fitting or strange name, but not 'something' to even have a title in Gosling's Detroit.
Lost River - C
Gosling's perception of the American Dream with purple saturated effect, and how family - both biological and not - can act as a saving grace.
The soundtrack, done by Johnny Jewel, mostly turns to synth. I have grown to like synth soundtracks (see: Maniac, Hanna, Drive) and just the music genre in general; this ones just 'alright.' As individual tracks, at least half don't stand alone upon repeated listens - "Tell Me," "Carousel," and "Yes" are memorable, and when you don't remember most of the soundtrack while pondering the movie that's a sign that it may be weak.
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