Limbo
**
Rated on a 4-star
scale
Screening venue: Cornerhouse (Manchester)
Released in the UK by Columbia TriStar on January 21, 2000; certificate 15;
126 minutes; country of origin USA; aspect ratio 1.85:1
Directed by John Sayles; produced by
Maggie Renzi.
Written by John Sayles.
Photographed by Haskell Wexler; edited by John
Sayles.
CAST.....
David Strathairn..... Joe Gastineau
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio..... Donna De Angelo
Vanessa Martinez..... Noelle De Angelo
Casey Siemaszko..... Bobby Gastineau
Kris Kristofferson..... Smilin' Jack
Kathryn Grody..... Frankie
Rita Taggart..... Lou
"The nights aren't that long this time of year,"
a man named Joe says, which suggests that it is summertime. But the surroundings
are dull and damp, as they would be in autumn, and Joe and his companions
are shivering and worrying about pneumonia, as they would be in winter. This
sense of confusion persists throughout John Sayles's
"Limbo", in which nothing ever really seems definite. How
intentional the mood is, I'm not sure. I do know that it makes for depressing
cinema.
"Limbo" takes place around a small Alaskan fishing
community, where big businessman have begun to exploit the landscape as a
sort of giant theme park for elderly tourists, who want to see the wilderness,
but want it tame. One tour guide even takes vacationers into a nondescript
local tavern, to talk of its "local significance". They click their cameras,
muttering and pointing, as if they are in a museum, and the locals are
exhibits.
Those locals have come to the bar to drown their
sorrows. There is no longer any great demand for the fish their area produces,
so its cannery has been shut down, and all its workers laid off. The workers
react with neither anger nor attempts at positive thinking; they just seem
to hang around, confused, not knowing what to do.
Sayles, the writer and director, spends time exploring
the politics and hierarchy of this locale, then selects three main characters
and uses them to veer off into another direction. The underlying sense of
uncertainty is even present in the characterisations of these people: Joe
(David Strathairn) was once a bright and successful chap, who lost a lot
of his nerve in an accident at sea, and may or may not have recovered. Donna
(Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), his girlfriend, is a low-rent singer who can't
decide whether to be a mouthy bitch or a sweet and caring lady. Her daughter,
Noelle (Vanessa Martinez), is going through a bout of depression that may
be typical teenage angst, or may be something more sinister.
As the result of plot happenings that are not
really relevant here, this trio find themselves stranded on a miserable,
freezing little island, possibly pursued by murderous gangsters. After some
initial terror, and worries about starving to death, Joe, Donna and Noelle
simply gather edible matter, and firewood, and do what they can to survive.
There's no high drama; everything keeps unfolding as vague
inactivity.
I suspect this is the intention, judging by the
film's title and its cryptic ending. Or perhaps the film was loaded with
symbolism that I just didn't pick up on. "Limbo" is certainly not engaging
on a straight dramatic level -- if Sayles wanted the material to be taken
that way, he would have depicted the situation with more raw, menacing detail.
Instead, no event seems as important in itself than as in terms of some bigger
picture; the story is constantly moving on, as if to some grand thematic
payoff. The payoff never comes, and that's the point. We're left in
limbo.
This is very watchable: Strathairn, Mastrantonio
and Martinez are intense performers, and the cinematographer, Haskell Wexler,
is a fascinating mixer of realistic brightness and rich colours. But "Limbo"
is pretty much impossible to like, as it deliberately sets out to leave the
audience unsatisfied.
Next week I'll be reviewing "American Beauty",
the current front-runner to win the Oscar as best picture of the year. I'll
be recommending that film because it carefully studies isolation, loneliness
and alienation; "Limbo", on the other hand, creates such feelings. One character
says she knows she's in limbo because "it sure ain't heaven and it's too
cold to be hell". Not a worthwhile experience, then. Sayles should have
remembered that before making this movie.
COPYRIGHT© 2000 Ian
Waldron-Mantgani
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