Play Crazy Game Trusted Gaming News Portal
A social worker and single mother, Sylvia suffers from alcohol addiction, but has not drank a drop for thirteen years, the same age as her daughter Sarah. At the end of a reunion where she reluctantly went, Sylvia is followed by Saul, a former classmate. Concerned at first, she learns that the widower is actually suffering from early dementia. A collusion will develop between these two lonely beings that will prove surprising and poignant due to later revelations. Written and directed by Michel Franco, Memory It features two great performances from Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard Duty Can listen during virtual conference.
“I read the script before I met Michelle, but after watching her previous films, I knew it could be quite dark,” Jessica Chastain explains during the videoconferencing event.
“During the scene in the park (where Sylvia recalls the attack on her), I immediately thought: ‘Okay, I understand: this is a film in response to the movement. Me too”, A revenge film, with a woman who will wreak havoc… but the more I went on, the more I realized that what was beautiful about Michel, the way he wrote, It’s that it goes against expectations and clichés. On every page, in every scene, I found that I had no idea what was going to happen next to the characters. ,
Responding to the words of his playing partner, Peter Sarsgaard admits that the mentioned sequence, where Saul follows Sylvia to her house, was the most complicated for him to play.
“I felt it was important that there was a hidden part of the character, Saul, that the public wondered about, and a visible part. I knew this scene needed ambiguity regarding my character’s intentions. But for my role, as an actor, I had to have a very precise idea of why Saul acts the way he does. ,
So the actor remained associated with the image of Saul’s dead wife. Like Sylvia, the deceased was also red-haired, as can be seen in a photograph. Had Saul simply confused the two women in his mental fog? In MemoryNo visual detail is trivial…
“The thought of Saul’s companion kept coming to my mind again and again. She was always on my mind. It was wonderful to play a man who respected women so much: it made me think that Saul’s relationship with his wife should be loving and egalitarian. This is why Saul has so much love to give, but nowhere to keep it. And then Sylvia appears, and Saul is going to give her as much love as she gives him,” continued Peter Sarsgaard, who won Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival for his remarkable performance.
Will he get an Oscar nomination for Best Actor? Only time will tell.
Meanwhile, it’s the past that lies in the heart Memory, A past with which the protagonists have contrasting relationships: while Sylvia, in post-traumatic shock, is its victim, Saul, whose cognitive abilities are disintegrating, no longer has access to it.
Mismatched, the pair become strangely complemented when Sylvia agrees to take care of Saul.
control speed
The rest, delicate, dynamic, subtle, is presented in a series of long shots or medium shots, often still, like a painting animated only by the characters. Stripped down, the device is both diagnostic and revealing: it is not for nothing that Michel Franco was nicknamed Diversity “Mexican Michael Haneke”.
“Mitchell’s approach, which favors these wide shots, ensures that it is we, the actors, who control the pace. That’s why I was so happy to have Jessica in front of me: All the little organic and complex things that happened between us in each take could live and breathe instead of being reproduced in various cutaway shots. It makes things a lot easier, especially the emotional part,” says Peter Sarsgaard.
Besides the fact that the filmmaker’s directorial choices also pleased Jessica Chastain, Jessica Chastain particularly appreciated the minimal – not harsh – filming conditions. actually, but Memory, there was no private trailer or lodge. The team was so small that the actress was responsible for her own costumes, hair and makeup.
“I started this profession by acting in small theater productions, where that was all I had to do. It’s normal to do your own hair and makeup in the theater. So it didn’t bother me at all. This movie is the one that immediately followed the Oscars tammy faye eyes ,Through the eyes of Tammy Faye), and Michelle admitted to me that some of her friends were convinced I would abandon the project for something bigger. People have this preconceived notion about actors that they are creatures of luxury and comfort at all costs…”
When it comes to Jessica Chastain, nothing could be further from the truth. On the contrary, she takes risks.
embrace the unexpected
Precisely, in the area of risk taking, in the area of ”danger”, Memory Satisfied the actress. Indeed, just as he manages many narrative turns, Michel Franco reserves many surprises for his interpreters.
Recalls Jessica Chastain: “When I arrived on the first day, I found that I was at a real Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, with a group of real people who had agreed to participate. I was not at all prepared for this. Except that by working this way, as an actress, it forced me not to be an actress, but simply to be a human being; to be present. I liked working this way. ,
In short, these unexpected events, instead of worrying both stars, encouraged them to invest like before. It’s no wonder that since the Venice and Toronto festivals, in particular, it’s been on repeat that Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard give the best performances of their respective illustrious careers. To conclude first:
“Michelle likes people to come with an open mind and open heart. ,
And it turns out that this applies just as much to the audience as it does to the actors.
the film Memory Will be released in theaters on January 19.
