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@_xkrow_
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In anticipation for “The Green Knight", I decided to watch David Lowery’s breakout hit,“A Ghost Story”. Going in, I was anticipating another new age horror film (an assumption, I
admit, was based solely on the title), but what I got was a touching meditation on grief,
loneliness, and memories – those made and those left to be made. I will try and highlight its
qualities without spoiling anything, but this is honestly a film worth seeing without knowing an ounce of detail, something I am glad to have done. So, overall review: it's one of the most original films in recent memory that most will find to drone on about nothing much, but for those that can connect with the white ghost and his time bending journey, it will be an experience like nothing else. From now on I will attempt to talk about the details.
The plot revolves around the sudden death of C (Cassey Affleck) and his transformation
into a ghost that wears a white sheet and observes his girlfriend, M (Rooney Mara) grieve andultimately leave past the house they called home leaving a note in the wall that he struggles tomfind until the last moment of the film. He does not follow her – instead opting to be bound by the place he lived, something he is unable to move on from. Here, we spend the rest of the run time, watching the house he loves be occupied by other people, his connection to the living worldweakening, as we follow C’s process of grief.
One of the first things I noticed about A Ghost Story is how quiet it was. Right from the
get-go, you don’t feel as if you are watching a movie but something more akin to found footage. Like a camera that was left running accidently and managed to capture the realistic glimpse of life possible. This feeling is also captured by the presentation of the film: being shot in 1.33:1 with rounded edges that emulate old school photos and, in my opinion, enhances the “out-of-time” mood. There are lines of dialogue, of course, but for the most part it is so focused on showcasing grief that the few conversations we do hear feel so wrong. After C’s death, and his return to the house as the covered ghost, we get a scene where for almost 10 minutes, we watch M come home, look at a note, grab a pie, and then simply sit on the floor and eat it as tears slowly trickle down her face as C stands by watching her with us. Many have called out this scene as a pretentious bore fest (a criticism that has also been levied against the film as a whole),but to me, what it represents is a heart breaking and realistic portrayal of grief. It isn’t something dramatic or “cinema worthy” – it's slow, it's painful, and it lingers far longer than you want. So, if you felt that 10-minute sequence to be an hour long, congrats! You felt exactly what was intended. And when that realization came, there was no longer anything left to be bored by because I wasn’t looking for something to happen anymore – I was watching her and her alone, that dead look in her eyes, that slow chewing, and the trickles of water making they way down her cheeks.
On that matter, massive praise must be given to Lowery’s direction and the cinematography. The lighting and mood were fantastic, adding meaning to the blank stares that fill the film. And the jarring yet smooth transitions between the scenes added tremendously to the
increasing loss of touch with the regular flow of time and gives a unique outlook to the afterlife.
The music too was mind blowing. Though I enjoyed the visual storytelling, it wouldn’t have
been able to touch me so deeply without the music’s help, with “The secret in the wall” being my favorite track. The piano and ambience evoke so much emotion inside and the soundtrack by itself can transport me back to my exact experience that night.
So, in the end, I come back to what I said before – watch this if you want an experience
like nothing else. It's not for everyone – it's extremely slow and I honestly can’t defend against detractors because it's just something you are either on board with or not. But, if you do make it to the end credits, you will find it occupying your mind far longer than you intended it to.
Who watches his house become occupied, in order, by a new family (something that
makes him quite angry), some young people that party, and then, after it is demolished, by a corporate building, stretching far into the sky. He then jumps off the building, finds himself flung into the past, observes the death of those that first settled the area where his house now stands, and then, after finally reading the note his girlfriend hid in the house for him, he poofs out of existence – finally gone from the world. In interpretation, I find this to be ultimately a journey of acceptance – not just of C’s own death, but of our disappearance from the world. There will come a time when we no longer exist, and that’s alright. Its okay for people to move on. What mattered is the time that we lived and the memories we made with those around us. C becomes irrationally angry when he sees the house that has made so many memories in being desecrated with new ones of the family – he feels he is being over written. From the party, a hipster presents a long nihilistic monologue on how our time on earth doesn’t really matter as it will die in many million years – something that again makes C angry. And then when he sees what ultimately becomes of his house – a building – he cannot take it anymore and flings himself off the building, feeling his own powerlessness at not being able to stop this change. But what he finds is not the afterlife, but a family that called his house home before him and he observes their deaths. He didn’t know them when he was alive, but they made memories in the place he called home. This is the revelation he needed – this wasn’t his house; he was simply borrowing it for a bit. As we are all. His life does not invalidate theirs just as the new family does not invalidate his. This is where we see a scene from when he was alive – he finally tells his girlfriend that he is willing to move houses, after his lengthy refusal of her wish. And its only after he goes on this journey, reconciling with his grief and memories, does he come back in time to when his house was intact and finally manage to pull out the note and read it, causing him to disappear, having accepted the idea of change.
By @_xkrow_
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