| Morvern Callar | | Cast : | Samantha Morton, Kathleen McDermott, Linda McGuire | | Director : | Lynne Ramsay | | Studio : | Lions Gate Home Entertainment | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby, Surround Sound, Digital Sound | | Released Date : | January 01, 2002 | | DVD Released Date : | December 16, 2003 | | Language : | English (Dubbed) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | June 14, 2005 | | Summary | Morvern Callar: Requiem for a Plot | Content
 | The pretentious film goer has never had a greater ally than Lynne Ramsay's Morvern Callar.
What is little more than a bland stew of typically successful indy film techniques (hand-held shot, character-based, amoral, unique, hip, naked) becomes an immenitely defensible, but truly awful film.
To merely skim the surface:
Why Morvern is touted as a study of progress, liberation, or self-discovery is dificult to see when both the plot and character remain static throughout the film; indeed the initial party scene and lingering final shot seem to echo each other in a way which makes the beautiful cinemotography seem little more than a thoroughly convincing blue screen selected to flash in time with a cautiously hip soundtrack.
Although other indy film goers may crucify the non-believers, this sort of movie is equally disgusting as the bloated star-powered behemoth that has equally little depth of thought or genuine vision. That sort, however, is only after our money. Morvern Caller is after something much more dangerous: our admiration.
For more information on Lynne Ramsay's film, see: "No Skin Off My Nose," a succesful, art-house play prominately featured in The Fountainhead.
|
| Rating | | | Date | March 05, 2005 | | Summary | Huh... | Content
| I guess some folks really didn't dig this one... It has some flaws, but I still thought it was one of the better films of the last 5 years. There's a feeling of the potential of film here beyond the played-out 3 act structure of theatre. For me, at least, that's a good thing! |
| Rating | | | Date | December 18, 2004 | | Summary | Don't be fooled... | Content
| This is pretentious nonsense at its worst -- cinema for the stoned or for those with incredibly short attention spans. The director does not appear to be able to commit to any particular scene or mood. There are scores of scenes where Ms. Morton appears to have been directed to just "do anything while I pan the camera over you." The one potentially interesting development of the plot, Morvern's sale of her dead boyfriend's novel manuscript, ends up leading nowhere. There are brilliant, unconventional films where the visual fabric dominates the conventional storylines, and then there are films like this that get by on being so jarring and pretentious that viewers are afraid to say it sucks. |
| Rating | | | Date | December 16, 2004 | | Summary | read the book, it doesn't translate well as a film | Content
| Fortunately I read Morvern Callar in one sitting before exposing myself to the film. The film isn't bad, it just doesn't translate well. Translation is one of the problems, the characters accents are so thick at times that it's very difficult to follow what they're saying. I was hoping for a subtitle option in the extras menu. Morvern Callar deals with how Morvern copes or rather doesn't cope with the suicide of her boyfriend by working during the day and drinking, drugging and partying during the night while her boyfriend's corpse decomposes on her kitchen floor.
It's easy to get into a completely character driven, nearly plotless novel dealing with a character coping with grief but I found after the first 40 minutes of watching the film, it didn't capture my attention. The party scenes are expertly filmed, the director does a incredible job of capturing Morvern's sense of despair and the soundtrack is excellent. However, the overall feel of the novel was lost. Even the end is different. Morvern returns to Spain to party some more in the film but in the book, Morvern disappears to a tiny fishing village on the coast of Scotland after discovering she's pregnant with what may or may not be her boyfriend's baby. That ending certianly does give the story a different feel.
Read the novel, skip the film. An interesting adaptation of a really good book. 2 1/2 stars. |
| Rating | | | Date | December 11, 2004 | | Summary | Released from the Mundane | Content
| Didn't anyone realize there is more to meet the eye than the superficial and assumed events that occur during the film? I fail to see how anyone could be attracted to this movie without being able to analyze it for its more expressive content.
Morvern is awakened and released from her monotony by an otherwise crippling event. It could be said that she is immoral, or, that she is thrusted into an opportunity. She chooses a life outside of her mundane existence. She only takes Lana with her because she assumes her friendship will continue to be meaningful. Morvern doesn't really want to party. She simply doesn't know how to adjust. Her "sexcapade" was actually her revisiting her late boyfriend. This event evidently serves as some closure for her, whether or not it was an actual physical occurrence. As her trip progresses, she is rewarded for her adventurous free-thinking, and later is stripped of her extraneous attachments. The movie finishes without a conveniently tied-up end. Whereas this might annoy some, others might realize there really aren't any answers. And trying to find one in a movie about a girl who discovers her dead lover won't get you anywhere but thinking of your own.
In addition, it is important to note how the soundtrack serves as an integral part of the movie. It is at times stark, and both emotionally and vacantly touches the void left in the boyfriend's wake. |
|
|
|
|
