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Junebug January 22, 2006 |
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One of the best films of 2005 that you probably didn’t see, “Junebug”, has just been released on DVD, in time to benefit from a potential Oscar nod for one of its stars. It’s okay that you missed it, I did too, dropping an opportunity to see it for free in its very short Buffalo run last fall for something less urgent, I’m sure, but what I missed on the big screen is just as funny and perceptive on the small screen, a film of everyday nuances and delights that, quite poetically and aesthetically, puts life as we know it into profound introspection. This is a movie about family, not mine or yours, but everybody’s, about the way children grow up, get married, and come home, about afternoon church luncheons, pleasing American factory jobs, post-retirement wood crafting hobbies, cigarette breaks, pregnant wives and expectations. It serves a purpose, to present human interaction, alienation, and family growth through a set of small town happenings, recognizable characters, and quaint filmic aesthetics, without patronizing the characters, the plot, or the setting, rural North Carolina, a character unto itself. You get the feeling, like in all the best realist films, that the characters, never over-the-top or pretentious, could be as true to real life as they are to fictional storytelling; a jealous younger brother, a happy-go-lucky pregnant daughter-in-law, an eccentric artist, a quiet first born prodigal son, a shy father, his strong, controlling wife, and a Chicago art dealer married to the eldest son who tries her best to fit into her new family, a situation everybody has faced, meeting a mate’s family for the first time, anxious, overly nice, and nervous as can be. You go into the movie not knowing what to expect (what exactly is a junebug anyway?), but quickly take to it’s sense of living, how a core family unit, while rooted in the same place decade in and decade out, is a continually shifting entity, one that takes a marked level of adaptation to get use to, and come out of the film knowing that maybe, the next time such and such changes in your own family unit, there are precedents, fictional or not, that have been set for you on how to adapt, and make it through with the least amount of pain possible. Pain, inevitable, is all over “Junebug”, but so is nostalgia, happiness, quirkiness, and moving on, accepting life for what it is, and living, happy or not, with the consequences. First time director Phil Morrison’s film takes place in the countrified backwoods of North Carolina, where George (Alessandro Nivola), a hotshot art dealer now living in Chicago, is coming home with his bride of six months, Madeleine (Embeth Davidtz), to meet his family and scope out a local artistic talent. George hasn’t been home in three years, presumably because he’s too busy, but also because it’s too much of a big deal, being the first born, and the only one to move away and obtain a good big city job, his golden boy status is a heavy burden, and a strain on his relationship with his bitter younger brother Johnny (Benjamin McKenzie). Johnny is perpetually perturbed about something, and the return of his successful brother, with a beautiful new wife in tow, alienates him more from his family, though with a decent job at a china factory, and a sweet, very pregnant wife, Ashley (Amy Adams), by his side, his life really doesn’t seem all that bad. The focus of the movie is on George’s return, Johnny’s funk, and Madeleine’s attempts to warm up to the parents, quiet father Eugene (Scott Wilson), and loving yet overbearing mother Peg (Celia Weston), but that’s just the basis for a story of complex relationships and human understandings, little nuances that can make or break a friendship, partnership, or brotherhood, in an instant. Each relationship has its own moment of quiet introspection; Ashley’s hilarious attachment with the refined and somewhat exotic Madeleine, Peg and George’s hug before his departure, Ashley, lonely and pregnant, longing for the oblivious and annoyed Johnny, Johnny awkwardly accepting school-work help from the bookish Madeleine, George and Eugene discussing Johnny’s mood over a stalled car, Johnny enjoying life away from family at work on a cigarette break with his co-workers, and seething with jealously as George, in the film’s most beautifully poetic moment, sings a church hymn to the luncheon congregation as Ashley, Madeleine, and Peg all look on in wonderment. The film is composed of small moments like these, moments of real life that don’t necessarily enhance a plot, but collect an overall and necessary feel of interaction, character development by way of personal relationship, and the outcome is a film of stunning perception and enlightenment. Filmed in and around Morrison’s hometown of Winston-Salem, “Junebug” celebrates the awkwardness and deep emotions of family change and small town living with a keen eye for structure, and polished, professional framework. In one scene his camera cuts inside the family house in one stationary position from object to object, empty room to empty room, the way Japanese master Yasujiro Ozu used to examine, in a similar editing style, the inner workings of the traditional Japanese household, in one viewing setup, cut after cut after cut of basic household spaces. In fact, in describing the film to an acquaintance that had never heard of it, but shares a similar love for Ozu, I couldn’t help but equate Morrison’s intense study of human interaction, quietly structured directing style, and themes of progression vs. traditionalism, with the classic Ozuian model, even if Morrison’s intent has nothing to do with Ozu’s own perfection in studying basic familial relationships. The cast of the film is exceptional, but Amy Adams as the pregnant, hyper, and slightly naďve Ashley is the standout, a precious sparkplug ignored by her brooding husband, in awe of the big city visiting couple, and nostalgic for the days when Johnny, her high school sweetheart, thought of her as the moon and the stars. “God loves you just the way you are,” she says to him in the film’s most quotable scene, “but He loves you too much to let you stay that way.” Both funny and heartbreaking, Adams will likely win an Oscar nomination for this fine performance, and if voters take the time to study all of their screener DVD’s, could very well take the prize home. Likewise, Angus MacLachlan’s perceptive and smart script is worthy of Oscar consideration, though with acting this effortless, and direction as smooth as Morrison’s, it’s likely to be overshadowed as just part of one near perfect package, in lieu of flashier stuff like “Good Night and Good Luck”, and the equally as painful family comedy-drama “The Squid and the Whale”, for which “Junebug” shares a few similarities. Whether Oscar shines down on it or not doesn’t matter, what ultimately impresses about the film isn’t the acclaim, but the unflinching, humanistic ways it goes about getting that acclaim and respect, with views on everyday life, from weighty emotional family baggage to basic household props, broken ceramic birds and half-eaten boxes of donuts, it knows about living in a society, a family, and how hard it can sometimes be. The characters are all well rounded, slightly eccentric (I never even got around to the strange, phallic obsessed, southern outsider artist Madeleine courts for her gallery), and always believable, crucial to the film’s very personal ideas on humanity, community, and family responsibilities. Had I seen “Junebug” in its initial run, it may have bumped something from my top ten list, but that’s life, and no film from last year would know it better than Phil Morrison’s lovely and amazing southern charmer.
“Junebug” has been released on DVD with added material,
behind the scenes footage, and an actor’s commentary. by Adam Suraf
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