Nocturnal Animals Film Review – Story within a Story.
This is a highly stylised, thriller from Tom Ford. A violent film with a revenge theme, a theme reflected in several of the characters.
The opening title sequence shows several obese women, gyrating in burlesque costumes (weird!), this is evidently a human art installation, and we then learn that the female lead character 'Susan' is an art dealer.
Susan, receives a package in the post, a draft manuscript from her ex-husband 'Edward', who was a struggling author and who she hasn't spoken to for 20 years. The book is called 'Nocturnal Animals' and is dedicated to herself. She begins to read while her current husband is away on 'business' and imagines the scenes set out in the book.
As she continues reading she begins to question her current loveless marriage. There are many flash- backs to her early life, when she first met her ex-husband. The atmosphere is clearly illustrated by a flash-back involving her mum, who warns her not to marry the author due to his inability to financially provide for her. Susan is in love and not concerned, but her mum knows best and says 'we all turn into our mothers'. The author's story is about himself 'Edward' on a road trip with his wife and daughter, they're run off the road and are abducted. The wife and daughter are both raped and murdered.
Edward is too weak to confront the situation in a violent manner, maybe Mr. 'everyman' would behave in the same way. Enter Michael Shannon's character, he gives a standout and award worthy performance as the detective who is assigned to the case. He has an unorthodox approach to allowing Edward to avenge the murder of his family. His style of law enforcement is one I agreed with.
Throughout the film there are several flash-backs to Susan reading the novel, this reminds us that the action is fiction. But we can't help wondering whether this really happened? The author's skill makes the book seem really real. The story builds to a dramatic climax.
You may already know that Tom Ford is also a top fashion designer and so from the world this film depicts, he appreciates that part of society more than most and has created a complex film certainly worth watching, and probably more than once.
8/10.
The opening title sequence shows several obese women, gyrating in burlesque costumes (weird!), this is evidently a human art installation, and we then learn that the female lead character 'Susan' is an art dealer.
Susan, receives a package in the post, a draft manuscript from her ex-husband 'Edward', who was a struggling author and who she hasn't spoken to for 20 years. The book is called 'Nocturnal Animals' and is dedicated to herself. She begins to read while her current husband is away on 'business' and imagines the scenes set out in the book.
As she continues reading she begins to question her current loveless marriage. There are many flash- backs to her early life, when she first met her ex-husband. The atmosphere is clearly illustrated by a flash-back involving her mum, who warns her not to marry the author due to his inability to financially provide for her. Susan is in love and not concerned, but her mum knows best and says 'we all turn into our mothers'. The author's story is about himself 'Edward' on a road trip with his wife and daughter, they're run off the road and are abducted. The wife and daughter are both raped and murdered.
Edward is too weak to confront the situation in a violent manner, maybe Mr. 'everyman' would behave in the same way. Enter Michael Shannon's character, he gives a standout and award worthy performance as the detective who is assigned to the case. He has an unorthodox approach to allowing Edward to avenge the murder of his family. His style of law enforcement is one I agreed with.
Throughout the film there are several flash-backs to Susan reading the novel, this reminds us that the action is fiction. But we can't help wondering whether this really happened? The author's skill makes the book seem really real. The story builds to a dramatic climax.
You may already know that Tom Ford is also a top fashion designer and so from the world this film depicts, he appreciates that part of society more than most and has created a complex film certainly worth watching, and probably more than once.
8/10.
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