A Ghost Story
Director - David Lowery
Writer - David Lowery
Starring - Casey Affleck, Rooney Mara
*Programming Note*
It is recommended that this film be watched as blind as possible. Plot details will be discussed as necessary in the review and many surprises will not be spoiled but it is still recommended that this be a blind viewing.
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*Programming Note*
It is recommended that this film be watched as blind as possible. Plot details will be discussed as necessary in the review and many surprises will not be spoiled but it is still recommended that this be a blind viewing.
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A Ghost Story is a quiet, mournful, somber meditation on love, loss and legacy. It's a sublime experience. This largely dialogue free movie follows C (Affleck) as a recently deceased man who tries to connect with his wife, M (Mara) after his tragic death. His ghost form is the traditional ghost outfit of a white sheet and two eyeholes but instead of mining this outfit and scenario for humour and wacky hijinx, David Lowery delivers a timeless masterpiece of a film that is more akin to a tone poem that what one might expect.
C and M are renting a house living a largely quiet life of seclusion in their suburban locale. Small incidents occur that indicate the presence of a spiritual force in the house but these are dismissed by the couple as nothing. Shortly thereafter C is killed in a car accident and while lying in the morgue "wakes" up in his ghost form and wanders the hospital halls invisible to the many doctors and nurses he passes. From the hospital he makes his was back to the house where M is grieving his loss. The somber, downcast eyes of C's ghost watch as M eats an entire pie in a single long shot. This grieving plays out from C's perspective as does the rest of the film as it bounds through time with each jump occurring through as astonishing cut.
The cinematography gives the film an old home-movie feeling capturing the duality of memory. Simultaneously timeless and fading. This is our lives. Our memories. Our legacies. What burns brightly will eventually with time become a pile of ash blown away in the winds. A Ghost Story captures this feeling and builds a masterpiece of cinema around it. David Lowery's hold on this tone is sublime, allowing it to wax and wane with uncanny control letting the film unfold itself naturally despite the large scope the script eventually reveals. His touch is both omnipresent and seemingly invisible. He is C, watching over this film, having his presence dominate the air.
This is not a film for everybody. It is a very quiet, meditative picture. Apart from one monologue dialogue is almost completely absent from the moment C rises in his ghost form. Time is played with in an unconventional, yet completely logical manner. It is a mood piece, somber and thoughtful. A film that overcomes you. This film is Lowery's "Ode to Joy."
Schurmann Score - 10/10
C and M are renting a house living a largely quiet life of seclusion in their suburban locale. Small incidents occur that indicate the presence of a spiritual force in the house but these are dismissed by the couple as nothing. Shortly thereafter C is killed in a car accident and while lying in the morgue "wakes" up in his ghost form and wanders the hospital halls invisible to the many doctors and nurses he passes. From the hospital he makes his was back to the house where M is grieving his loss. The somber, downcast eyes of C's ghost watch as M eats an entire pie in a single long shot. This grieving plays out from C's perspective as does the rest of the film as it bounds through time with each jump occurring through as astonishing cut.
The cinematography gives the film an old home-movie feeling capturing the duality of memory. Simultaneously timeless and fading. This is our lives. Our memories. Our legacies. What burns brightly will eventually with time become a pile of ash blown away in the winds. A Ghost Story captures this feeling and builds a masterpiece of cinema around it. David Lowery's hold on this tone is sublime, allowing it to wax and wane with uncanny control letting the film unfold itself naturally despite the large scope the script eventually reveals. His touch is both omnipresent and seemingly invisible. He is C, watching over this film, having his presence dominate the air.
This is not a film for everybody. It is a very quiet, meditative picture. Apart from one monologue dialogue is almost completely absent from the moment C rises in his ghost form. Time is played with in an unconventional, yet completely logical manner. It is a mood piece, somber and thoughtful. A film that overcomes you. This film is Lowery's "Ode to Joy."
Schurmann Score - 10/10
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