I saw Nine Lives this evening at the Virginia Film Festival both producers (Julie Lynn and Kelly Thomas) were also there, along with Sissy Spacek, Kathy Baker, and Rodrigo Garcia, for a short talk after the screening.
This is a gorgeous film. It's both strong and delicate, treating the interwoven nine lives of the title with uncompromising authenticity. Each portion is preceded by a woman's name, the name of the woman focused on in that section and then we dive into what Garcia describes as "looking through the window into someone's house", the examination of nearly fifteen minutes of that life, each done in one take. Yes, just ONE take -- the camera follows and weaves about the characters as in a dance. The result is moving, powerful, luminous.
The nine lives are not so intertwined as to be confusing instead, we occasionally recognize faces: "ah, that's the cop from before", "oh, she was the mom in the other story".
What a pleasure it was to watch a film in a huge, sold-out theater where the audience was so rapt that for many minutes at a time the only sound was the film's dialogue. And what dialogue! Garcia's touch is determined, yet infinitely tender. Each major character is treated with kindness and truth. From the teenage girl called "the heart of the house", to the pregnant woman who unexpectedly runs into her ex-husband, to the frightened, angry woman about to undergo surgery, all show us what they are, how they are underneath while trying to camouflage themselves from others. They deal with loss, with anger, with connection (I was reminded of E. M. Forster: "Only connect"), and, ultimately, with acceptance.
Yes, all the stories involve strong feeling, but humans can be very funny at times the whole audience broke up in laughter! There's not a bad, mediocre, or tired performance in this film, and that includes the smaller roles. If I had to pick one actor as most lambent, however, it would be Robin Wright Penn. She is nearly transparent with emotions fleeting, transitory, erupting and reappearing, as she struggles not to reveal herself.
Go see Nine Lives. It's a movie to savor and rejoice in. These days, that's pretty unusual . . . but Nine Lives holds hope for our journey toward possibility.
This is a gorgeous film. It's both strong and delicate, treating the interwoven nine lives of the title with uncompromising authenticity. Each portion is preceded by a woman's name, the name of the woman focused on in that section and then we dive into what Garcia describes as "looking through the window into someone's house", the examination of nearly fifteen minutes of that life, each done in one take. Yes, just ONE take -- the camera follows and weaves about the characters as in a dance. The result is moving, powerful, luminous.
The nine lives are not so intertwined as to be confusing instead, we occasionally recognize faces: "ah, that's the cop from before", "oh, she was the mom in the other story".
What a pleasure it was to watch a film in a huge, sold-out theater where the audience was so rapt that for many minutes at a time the only sound was the film's dialogue. And what dialogue! Garcia's touch is determined, yet infinitely tender. Each major character is treated with kindness and truth. From the teenage girl called "the heart of the house", to the pregnant woman who unexpectedly runs into her ex-husband, to the frightened, angry woman about to undergo surgery, all show us what they are, how they are underneath while trying to camouflage themselves from others. They deal with loss, with anger, with connection (I was reminded of E. M. Forster: "Only connect"), and, ultimately, with acceptance.
Yes, all the stories involve strong feeling, but humans can be very funny at times the whole audience broke up in laughter! There's not a bad, mediocre, or tired performance in this film, and that includes the smaller roles. If I had to pick one actor as most lambent, however, it would be Robin Wright Penn. She is nearly transparent with emotions fleeting, transitory, erupting and reappearing, as she struggles not to reveal herself.
Go see Nine Lives. It's a movie to savor and rejoice in. These days, that's pretty unusual . . . but Nine Lives holds hope for our journey toward possibility.