THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES

After the much loved and highly praised “Blue Valentine”, director Derek Cianfrance certainly had his work cut out for him to try and match that film’s quality and emotional honesty with his follow up film.  Unsurprisingly he has done just that with his brilliant new film “The Place Beyond The Pines” which sees him reteaming with his “Blue Valentine” star, Ryan Gosling.

“The Place Beyond The Pines” is a film that is very much separated into thirds telling three different stories.  Each story is their own but elements of the other stories overlap slightly into each segment.  The first section of the film is about a motorcycle stunt-driver who turns to robbing banks in an attempt to provide for his infant son.  The second is about a “hero” rookie cop who after being injured on duty and rehabilitated via a desk-job decides to take on the corruption that is within the police force.  Finally, the last section of the film is about two teenage “stoners”  with daddy issues who find each other at school and come to realize after spending some time with each other that they both share an unwanted legacy that has to do with the past actions of their fathers.

Derek Cianfrance has created what appears to be a crime drama but what is actually a brilliant epic about fathers and sons and the major influence a father has on their son’s life, as well as looking at consequences of actions and how they can also influence for generations to come.  Before seeing this film I really was not sure what I was walking into.  All I knew coming into the film was who directed and starred in it and I think I had only seen the trailer one or two times before, therefore I went into “The Place Beyond The Pines” with little expectations of what I was seeing however I never thought I would be walking into something with such a huge scope like this does.  I was floored by this movie; I really think that it is something pretty special and so far is amongst the two best things I have seen all year.  Everything about the film is done so professionally and you can tell that this is the work of a master filmmaker.  

Personally I found the first section of the film to be absolutely exhilarating, with every decision Cianfrance made to be perfect.  I am quite a big fan of Ryan Gosling and again I thought his portrayal of Luke, the stunt rider, was among his very best work.  Luke is a character that is completely unhinged and yet is trying to do the right thing however he is so used to living in the fast lane that his lack of patience becomes his ultimate downfall.  The (brilliant) opening shot of the film says a lot about Luke as a character.  As it follows him through the carnival, he projects a certain confidence like he is a big shot and in the small world of a carnival, he may be.  However in reality he is anything but; he is a minor player, always broke and looking for a quick fix.  As any parent knows, these attributes do not help in bringing up a child as there is no quick fix for parenting.  It takes time and all of your energy and above everything else you need patience.  Gosling is such a charismatic actor and he uses this charisma perfectly at the start of the film; it is easy to see why people like him, but he is even better later on as Luke becomes more and more desperate.  Even his voice changes pitch as Luke starts to become more panicked at the thought of losing his son that leads him to make some very bad decisions.  By this stage, Gosling portrays Luke with a fierce intensity and you know that this man is a ticking time-bomb.

Unlike the following two parts of the film, this first section moves at a breakneck pace and is so kinetic.  This is mainly due to the motorcycle and the way Luke’s mind functions but it is breathtaking.  I was so impressed by Sean Bobbitt’s widescreen cinematography here (actually it is brilliant all through the film) and thought it really helped define Luke as a character.  While I am not a fan of the shaky cam look at all, it seemed to work here, as it is used mainly to help express how Luke is feeling in the moment which is very confused and erratic.  The camerawork mirrors these emotions perfectly.  Despite the opening shot of the film, another simple shot that I loved was one when Ryan Gosling is stopped at a traffic light.  The light changes green which we can see reflected on his face; everything is telling him to go and yet he stays stationary as cars go around him.  It is such a beautifully realized moment because even though everything is telling him to go (including the traffic light) he decides he is going to do the right thing and stay to look after his son.

Because the first section is filled with bike chases and robberies and moves at a breakneck pace, I will admit that there is a jarring effect when the second, slower section begins.  Once you readjust yourself to the pace of this section, you will notice that the quality of the story hasn’t dropped in any way.  The second story is about a young rookie cop who after responding to a call ends up at a woman’s house that has an intruder inside.  While trying to get the intruder to come out, he is shot and the intruder is killed.  After the shooting has been investigated and deemed just, Avery (the police officer) is publicly hailed a hero but inside he feels anything but.  Knowing the man he killed had a small son the same age as his own and that he is the result that this boy will grow up without a father is almost too much for Avery to handle to the point that he finds it very hard to look at his own son.  From here on the film moves at a much slower pace but the emotional intensity is still very high.  It is so sad to think that just from a man doing his job that two young boy’s lives are going to be affected.  The father / son theme is explored thoroughly in this section because although Avery has issues with his own father (who happens to be a judge) when he finds himself in trouble, it is his father that he turns to for help and like any father would, his father is there for him.  Bradley Cooper is really good as Avery, although he lacks the charisma of Gosling, but his role is far less showy in that regard.  Avery is well educated and controlled and is not used to emotional outbursts.  He is considered in his actions and seems to only do what he thinks is right and Cooper conveys all of this perfectly.  What he does so well is even when he is working on the corruption case, you can still feel the weight he holds on his shoulders over that shooting.  It is almost like he wants to attack corruption as a means to take his mind off the little boy he has left fatherless.  

The final section with the two boys is again quite different from the previous two although in terms of pace, it is much closer to the second section.  Here we have a different take on the father / son theme as this section looks at how a father’s actions from the past can affect their children in the future.  Both of our characters we follow here, AJ and Jason, feel abandoned by their fathers although their stories are completely different.  Whilst Jason’s father actually has died (and his mother refuses to talk about him in any context), AJ’s father is very much alive however due to his job (his dad is an attorney) he just doesn’t seem to have the time for him.  The two boys also have very different upbringings; AJ has obviously been brought up around money whilst Jason has lived rather poor for the majority of his life, nothing handed to him easily, and yet despite the boy’s differences they notice or feel that they are both going through similar emotions and can empathize with one another.  This section is probably the saddest of the three particularly when Jason decides to try and find out about his father and who he really is.  There are a couple of conversations here that are just heartbreaking, but this section also looks at whether or not a son is doomed to recommit the same sins of their father.  Another thing explored in the background is whether it is nature or nurture that results in how someone will turn out.

As I have stated, “The Place Beyond The Pines” is just an amazing cinema experience with all facets of the production coming together perfectly.  I have already mentioned Sean Bobbitt’s spectacular cinematography that just suited this film to a T, but probably my favourite aspect of the film was the truly sensational score from Mike Patton.  The music was so well used in this film, it was stunning.  What it did so well was it elevated the emotional content within the film, but importantly it did not tell you how to feel.  It just felt organic and added to the experience without ever intruding on the story once.  I am not someone that really takes a lot of notice with the music in films except when it stands out (either in good or bad ways).  I just felt the score was masterful here and just added another layer to this already beautifully crafted film.  I also loved the look of the film particularly with the costume design.  Ryan Gosling’s character, Luke, particularly expressed so much about himself through his clothes and tattoos. The fact that he wore his t-shirts inside out and were covered in holes; it just said so much about who he was.  Another thing I loved was the reality of everything being presented.  Everything just felt real; it never felt like a “Hollywood” version of events.  The actors were all prepared to get down and dirty (some literally) and were willing to be dressed down and be make-up free, all to present a reality.

So was there anything bad about “The Place Beyond The Pines”?  Not really, but this is a very man-centric film so a lot of the female roles are either underwritten or barely there at all.  I particularly feel for Rose Byrne who basically plays the wife role (but is very good doing it) and had little to no meat to chew on.

Overall, I thought “The Place Beyond The Pines” was a spectacular film and one of the very best I had seen all year.  It has been expertly written and directed and acted (including some great smaller roles filled out by the likes of Ben Mendelsohn, Ray Liotta and Eva Mendes) and barely has a fault to it.  While the slow pacing may turn a lot of people off, I was stunned by the epic nature of this story about fathers and sons, that I even thought it was comparable in quality to “The Godfather” (and I do not say that lightly).  It is also a fantastic conversational starter as my wife and I were discussing the film for hours after we walked out of the cinema.  Right from the opening frame, I was mesmerized by this film and recommend it to everyone wholeheartedly and I also recommend to everyone to see it on the big screen if possible.  First of all, it looks amazing but secondly this is the type of film that is made specifically for adults that we need to see more of on the big screen, so we need studios and distributors to understand that there is a market out there for this kind of film.  Without a doubt, “The Place Beyond The Pines” will be on my top ten list at the end of the year.

4.5 Stars.