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DVD The Truth About Emanuel
 Run time: 91 min Rating: 6.0 Genres: Drama | Thriller Director: Francesca Gregorini Writers: Francesca Gregorini, Sarah Thorp Stars: Kaya Scodelario, Jessica Biel, Alfred Molina |
| Storyline A troubled girl (Emanuel) becomes preoccupied with her mysterious new neighbor (Linda), who bears a striking resemblance to her dead mother. In offering to baby-sit Linda’s newborn, Emanuel unwittingly enters a fragile, fictional world, of which she becomes the gatekeeper. Written by Francesca Gregorini |
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| Details: Country: USA Release Date: 10 January 2014 (USA) |
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Writer/Director Francesca Gregorini brings a unique and entertaining voice to her new film Emanuel and the Truth about Fishes. This is a darkly comic yet dramatic film about a young misfit girl who befriends her new next-door neighbor who is a single mother with a newborn.
This film is about, among other things, dealing with loss, motherhood and relationships with mothers. Not being able to be a mother but wanting to, not having a mother and wanting one. It may not sound exciting, or it may sound like a set-up for a romantic comedy of sorts, but this film has elements of horror, mystery, surrealism and gets quite intense at times. The film while it is dramatic and has many moments of the above is surprisingly comedic which helps balance the darker aspects of the film. Few films can pull off the level of comedy and heart- breaking reality that this film employs.
I knew fairly early on that I was going to like this film, the way it played perfectly with the audience's emotion and the striking production design. It is amazing how fresh and different this film feels, there is always an undercurrent that something is wrong which latches you to everything on screen.
I was emotionally invested in our main protagonist Emanuel (played by Kaya Scodelario) and in-turn with the single mother Linda (played by Jessica Biel). Between this and Wuthering Heights, I think Kaya Scodelario is an actress to keep an eye on. I've never been a Jessica Biel fan, until now, she is perfect in her role as 'the perfect mother'. The family dynamic too feels authentic with great supporting roles by Alfred Molina and Frances O'Conner.
The only thing that doesn't quite work in this film is the ending; it ends a bit abruptly and offers some emotional satisfaction but in terms of 'reality' feels like more should have happened to find a resolution for the characters. Maybe that's the point though, in difficult situations like these there is no neat bow to tie and make everyone feel perfect and the dissonance at the end is a manifestation of that. Other reactions may be more mixed but thematically and emotionally it was engaging and I appreciated it a great deal.
More a surreal allegory than a realistic narrative, 'The Truth about Emanuel' portrays how two women deal with loss. One of them is Emanuel, an abrasive seventeen-year-old whose mother had died at her birth, who becomes increasingly alienated after her father's remarriage. The other is Linda, who moves into the next-door house with a new-born infant. After Emanuel impulsively offers babysitting services to her neighbor, she soon learns the older woman is more troubled than appearances would indicate.
Emanuel and Linda supposedly establish a bond which gives them an opportunity to heal their respective traumas, but their relationship isn't very convincing, and the stylized nature of the film also chokes off any real connection to the characters. Although there's some competent acting and luminous cinematography, most of the time everything is too self-consciously strange and slow. Linda and Emanuel are supposed to be oddball personalities, but they're actually rather dull, and the obligatory big revelation doesn't contain any surprises. The resolution of their issues is both glib and implausible, and as a result, the climactic scenes play out without much emotional impact.
Well that was a lot deeper than I expected it to be, but most Jessica Biel movies are. So the question that you are asked is: What do you owe to someone who dies so that you can live? How do you make payments? They seem to say that the answer is: When you feel like you are so deep under water that you just cant breathe, then you need to let go, and trust that the currents will carry you to where you are supposed to be. I guess. This movie is creepy, but not scary.(Take it from someone who's first real memory is like the awakening scene in this movie) There has been a lot of loss, and these characters are trying to fill the emptiness. You will not know who are the bad people in this movie, and it is to the credit of the actors that you will side with the young Emanuel from the start, and everyone will seem suspicious. If you like really long drawn out dramatic movies that never seem to get anywhere fast, but that finally pay out fully, and with extra butter. Then you will Enjoy this movie a lot. If you would rather remove your own eyes than watch a bunch of women sitting around talking(not what this is, just what it represents), then miss this one.
This is a very dark movie…it explores different facets of what goes into a persons mind when its very difficult to let go a person who was near n dear to us.
The best part was the climax where the two characters blend together into one similar situation to achieve one goal of letting go of the person who was so loving and in a very unique way proclaiming their death.
The script is very strong and amazingly presented by the director.
Kudos to the protagonist as well who has put so much soul into this character.
****This movie is not for a person who wants the movie to be fast paced or for someone who do not understand the emotions of death.