FAST COLOR
The movie that I have chosen for my most underrated film
of 2019 is this sadly under-seen gem, “Fast Color” directed by
Julia Hart. It is about a mother who is simultaneously on the run
and attempting to reconnect with her eight year old daughter, after
her super powers are discovered by the government who want her for
themselves. It is essentially almost an origin story of a superhero,
except that the film's focus is more on the family drama rather than
the bigger superhero side of things. with the film written and
directed by a woman, and the three main characters themselves being
female, it is fair to say that this is a superhero film from a
woman's perspective, and it is one that is much more emotive than its
male counterpart. Something interesting that I read that director
Hart said about the film is that while superhero films from the
normal male point of view focus heavily on destruction, her film is
the opposite as that it is more about “creation”.
I loved this film; it is such a beautiful tale of love
and redemption and for fighting for your family. The main characters
are three generations of women from the same family, all who possess
supernatural powers but keep them hidden from the outside world. The
main character of Ruth is the middle generation, and she is estranged
from her mother and daughter at the beginning of the film because her
powers are so powerful that she struggles to contain and control
them. After almost inadvertently killing her daughter, Lila, when
she was her baby via her powers, Ruth abandoned her daughter, leaving
her with her own mother, Bo, to raise her grandchild. After that
Ruth started dabbling in drugs to dull the sensations in her body and
thereby squashing her supernatural abilities. However as time has
passed, all she wants to do now is to be with her little girl and
raise her, but when her family's safety is threatened by the
government, it is the catalyst for Ruth to learn how to harness and
control her ultimate power to protect her loved ones.
As you can see from the above, there is that
supernatural bent to the story, but believe me, the real heart of the
story is the emotional connections between the three women as they
work through their initial pain and hurt to fight for redemption,
remake a connection and love each other once more, while learning at
the end that there is no greater power than love itself. Reading
back on that sentence, it sounds a little corny, but it really isn't
thanks to Julia Hart's sensitive handling of the material that she
co-wrote with her husband Jordan Horowitz. All of the performances
in the film are very good, particularly Gugu Mbatha-Raw who plays
Ruth. At the start of the film she has a hard edge to her, due to
the rough way she had brought herself up, but as the film moves on,
she begins to soften and become more and more maternal. And the girl
who plays her daughter, Saniyya Sidney, is bloody adorable; she just
lights up every scene she is a part of. Another performance that I
want to mention that is small but impressive is that of David
Strathairn whose role in the film I won't reveal, as it is a lovely
moment when we find out his purpose in the narrative. He is so soft
spoken and quiet in his performance.
“Fast Color” is also a magnificent looking film
filled with colour, especially during the scenes when the girls use
their powers. The colours do hold a large significance within the
film so I will not ruin their purpose either, but it leads to some
stunning visual moments.
This is a film that I really wish a lot more people
would know about, as it is a little different but it is very well
done, and is good family entertainment. Filled with emotion, this is
a superhero film that is not the norm, but one I highly recommend.
“Fast Color” also has one of my favourite movie posters of 2019
too.
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