This is actually the second film I've seen titled “Dreams” at this year's MIFF, with the first being Dag Johan Haugerud's Norwegian drama, which is a wonderful and loving look at a teenage girl's first crush that just happens to be on her school teacher. Warm, funny, honest and at times, a little painful; it is a beautiful film. Michel Franco's “Dreams” is something else entirely; it is a look at immigration and the perils of entering the U.S from Mexico illegally for love. Whilst it is initially a bright film full of love, it takes a turn to the dark towards the end and then becomes uncomfortable and unnecessarily cruel.
Michel Franco's “Dreams” was actually one of the films that I was really looking forward to seeing at MIFF as I have become a bit of a fan of this very talented Mexican director's work. I have now seen his last five features and what I like about Franco is that he is never afraid to tackle difficult material head-on, and he also never over-extends his films. They are totally stripped back to the story's essential elements, and I feel his films are stronger because of this. Sadly though, I have to say, that after delivering his best film to date with his previous “Memory”, he has followed that up with my least liked film of his so far, “Dreams”. It has been exceptionally well made though, like the rest of his work, it is just that I found myself reacting negatively towards it due to how cold an experience it turns out to be.
“Dreams” is a very well acted affair with Franco re-teaming with his “Memory” star Jessica Chastain who plays Jennifer, a very rich woman who, along with the rest of her family, is the head of a number of charities and foundations that help the poor and underprivileged. Whilst on the outside she looks quiet and unassuming, underneath that facade is a ruthless business woman who will do anything to get her way. However facade is a way of life for Jennifer as she is actually in love with a Mexican immigrant named Fernando, who she helped smuggle into the U.S illegally. Knowing her family would disapprove of her relationship with a Mexican, she keeps it a secret (regularly hurting Fernando by this in the process), but when the two of them are alone together, we finally see Jennifer stripped of all her masks....or do we? Chastain does an excellent job of portraying this complex (and cowardly) woman. At times she is so warm and caring, whilst other times cold and calculating. Chastain never really reveals what is the true nature of this woman, which is important when it comes to the film's shocking finale. Fernando is played by Isaac Hernandez, who is actually a ballet dancer and not an actor, so Michel Franco took quite a chance hiring an amateur to go up against someone as fantastic as Jessica Chastain. The gamble pays off though, as the two actors work wonderfully together creating a very believable love, as complex as their relationship is, not to mention the power dynamics within it. It is no surprise though that the scenes where Hernandez truly shines are when he is dancing in the film, as Fernando quickly becomes the lead of a ballet soon after arriving in San Francisco.
Michel Franco's target in “Dreams” appears to be the very rich and philanthropists who on the surface appear to be doing so much for immigrants or the poor, but who actually want nothing to do with these kinds of people in their own lives. Franco is scathing in his attack as he brutally highlights this hypocrisy, and because of this I think it is fair to suggest that “Dreams” shares the DNA of Franco's 2020 film, “New Order”, which is a similarly powerful indictment on the rich and well-to-do. One telling quote in the film comes from Jennifer's father, after she has been spotted with Fernando, who says “I really like that you are helping immigrants, but there is a limit”. There is no confusing what he means, nor that the words spoken are a warning; he is saying that we do not associate with these kinds of people outside of work. The scenes of the family congratulating themselves during speeches at their own foundations, applauding all the work they have done, borders on the grotesque, and I couldn't help but laugh and think of the scene in “Arrested Development” when the Bluth family award themselves “Family of the Year” in an attempt to create some faux recognition and clout.
As I mentioned earlier, Michel Franco is never afraid of tackling controversial (or disturbing) content head-on, and I must say that if you are prudish, beware, as “Dreams” is very frank in its depiction of sex and its dialogue regarding sexual matters. Early on, when Fernando first makes it to San Francisco and is reunited with Jennifer, the sex is hot and heavy (as you would expect when lovers are reunited), and Franco (plus his actors) does not shy away from these scenes. As the relationship gets harder and harder for Jennifer to hide, there is something of a story twist which changes the whole dynamics of the relationship, and what was once warm and healthy, suddenly takes a turn towards a psycho-sexual relationship which is more than a little disturbing.
Whilst I was not surprised by the identity of who initiated this “twist”, I must say that I didn't anticipate where the story would lead to next and how dark and unnecessarily cruel it all becomes, leading to the film's brutal finale. It is quite horrific, very unpleasant and I am sure that anyone watching “Dreams” at the start could never anticipate where it eventually goes for its end.
Overall, whilst I can tell “Dreams” is a very well made and acted film, and I respect Michel Franco for going where he does by exposing the uncomfortable hypocrisy of philanthropy in the U.S, whilst highlighting the dilemmas and powerlessness of illegal immigrants in the country, for whatever reason, I just found myself reacting against the film. I found it a very cold experience, and when it takes a massive turn towards darker material (something I usually enjoy in cinema), I found the cruelty actually hard to stomach. I would never call “Dreams” a bad film though, it is just one that I didn't warm up to. (For comparison, I saw “Dreams” with my brother, who enjoyed the film a lot more than myself).
2.5 Stars.
No comments:
Post a Comment