Martha Marcy May Marlene is a 2011 American drama film written and directed by Sean Durkin staring Elizabeth Olsen. It won best Dramatic Directing Award at Sundance in 2011.
This film is a complete trip. It is about a young girl, Martha, who runs away from an abusive hippie cult where she lived for 2 years as Marcy May. In this cult she was drugged and brain washed to believe a different way of life. When she runs away her sister and brother-in-law take her in to their home to take care of her. Martha is having trouble living away from the cult since she is constantly being haunted by memories, which she struggles to distinguish between dreams and reality. She is constantly paranoid and haunted by memories of the cult.
Through the eyes of a filmmaker, this film was exceptionally made. It is made in a non-linear narrative style which helps understand Martha's strange behavior. Through this non-linear narrative structure we are constantly shown flashbacks of Martha's life in the cult. Another thing I enjoyed was the minimal use of closeups. Most of the shots were wide shots that would slowly zoom in. I'm a fan of long shots and in this film there is one that stood out the most to me. During Martha's first days at the cult, everyone is hanging out outside playing the guitar and singing. We see a long shot beginning from one side of the area where they are all hanging out and slowly dollying left until we see Martha. The long shot continues and to dolly towards the center where we see a conversation between Martha and the leader of the cult. It is an exceptionally well made long shot!
This is a MUST SEE FILM! It's a complete trip and will leave you paranoid after watching, well it sure did that to me. Oh and the ending is not the typical type of ending, leaves you wanting more.
No comments:
Post a Comment