There’s no easy way to start to criticise what I loved most about the film because all the elements seemed to fit together perfectly. However, if I had to pick one it would be the casting of Mickey Rourke. Rourke himself, who has battled for a long time to reinvent himself and return to the big screen, couldn’t have been more perfect for this film. At times he plays it more like a documentary about himself than a fictional film about a wrestler and his final monologue is clearly not just about Randy’s torment, but Rourke’s. Even from the opening credits which show flyers from Randy’s wrestling career, it cannot help but be felt that it is not Randy’s face in those images, it is Rourke’s and if he doesn’t make his comeback from this and win and Oscar for it then it will be a sad day.
The way the film has been shot is also documentary-esque: the use of hand-held camera work may have seemed an obvious choice, but when coupled with the 16mm film stock that it was shot on, it somehow feels refreshing and appropriate for the subject matter. The use of 16mm also leaves a seemingly improvised feel to the film which works perfectly with the improvised feeling of the dialogue. This is not to say that these are weaknesses to the film, on the contrary they enhance the experience and draw you into the actions on the screen, leaving it with a phenomenal sensory experience that enhances the realism of the film to levels that are unimaginable.
The use of the sound in the film is also quite special as it is such a mixed use of natural sound which has been manipulated and produced in a way which is utterly swarming with realism. The natural sound when Randy is outside of the ring used the theatre space to give a close and tight experience that is quite claustrophobic, something that is reflected perfectly in the way in which it has been shot, not only in the film stock and hand-held, but in terms of shot choice and composition: the majority of shots were in extreme close-up to medium shot, which left it very flat and hued. However, the wrestling scenes used a similar type of sound which was very natural; however, the volume of overwhelming level of crowd noise was clearly manipulated. This mustn’t be considered a flaw or poor filmmaking, but rather a perfect replica of the sensory experience of being in a wrestling match. The actual volume and impact of the soundtrack can only be compared to David Lynch’s Wild at Heart – at times deafeningly loud but the way in carried itself was mind-blowing as it worked on every level and was so engulfing it filled the entire space of the theatre, leaving you feeling quite dizzy but the time the end credits roll.
In a recent Sight and Sound article, Aronofsky said that The Wrestler is a departure from the way in which he has made films before, instead adopting for a new crew and new approach to his filmmaking style. However, I don’t see this to be particularly true, as the themes of obsession and desire are still present as are the way in which he shows an uncomfortable level of violence and also how he has this gripping sense of realism which is at times shocking. In a sense, The Wrestler is more like his earlier work; PI and Requiem for a Dream rather than his last film The Fountain. As a curious little side note to the film and its relationship to The Fountain, it seemed quite fitting that Aronofsky produced The Wrestler after the infamous troubled production of The Fountain. Perhaps he has now learnt to take a greater control of his films and if this is so then it’s all the better for him as The Wrestler is potentially the finest of his work – it had all the potential to be a phenomenal film and it used all its potential with stunning results.
No comments:
Post a Comment