#every writer now feels the need to have a self-aware protagonist commenting on the occurences in the text as a wink to the audience

[meezer]

series of dominoes where the first one says "martin luther posts the 95 theses" and the last one says "every contemporary book, movie, game, fanfiction protagonist is snarky and sassy as a mirror for an audience that is in constant dialogue with the text"

[spryfilm]

“Hostiles” (2017)

Western/Drama

Running Time: 133 minutes

Written & Directed by: Scott Cooper

Featuring:  Christian Bale, Rosamund Pike, Wes Studi, Ben Foster, Stephen Lang, Jesse Plemons, Rory Cochrane, Adam Beach, Q’orianka Kilcher, and Timothée Chalamet

Rosalie Quaid: “Sometimes I envy the finality of death. The certainty. And I have to drive those thoughts away when I wake.”

I absolutely love Westerns; the genre keeps giving audiences some incredible films with a massive amount of sub genres that always produce some real classics every few years. Writer/Director Scott Cooper has made his, I eagerly hope his first, Western, “Hostiles” (2017) with a few of his recent collaborators, producing a work of pure cinema that all great Westerns can do which is to transcend its own genre to make comments on modern life. This film also  clearly illustrates what it means to be a man as well as how people treat each other in extreme situations; most of all it is about doing what is right even when this is against your own best interests. What is interesting is that Coopers previous films, the Oscar winning “Crazy Heart” (2011), the underrated “Out of the Furnace” (2013) and what should have been an Oscar contender the mixed “Black Mass” (2015) all have aspects that clearly feature in the Western genre. My feeling after viewing “Hostiles” was that this is the film that Cooper has been warming up to, based on a book that he has adapted, he is in total control of his environs, with a hand picked cast that help lend some authenticity to the film. Over the past ten to fifteen years “Hostiles” stands out as a very special film indeed.

Like all great films “Hostiles” invites not only a deeper reading of its story as well as its narrative but calls for more than one viewing, as just on the surface it has some fantastic actors giving great performances. Part of the narrative that was refreshing was not to have flashbacks or explanations about characters pasts but to just experience their turmoil or damage as in real life there are very little backstories given by people. Cooper has managed to, like many Westerns before, create a simple story that is loaded with meaning about very different people thrown together to become allies if not more. The director has shown in previous films that he is not afraid to create real pauses and space to give environments and characters time to make impacts on the plot as well their compatriots. What this means is that at times while it may seem slow, it is reflecting what life could possibly have been like, it brings to my mind a film much like “Unforgiven” (1992) in particular with its central protagonist as a three dimensional character.

“Hostiles” is set in 1892, where Captain Joseph Blocker is called to the office of Colonel Abraham Biggs, who informs him of his final orders before retirement, direct from the President: escort dying Cheyenne war chief Yellow Hawk, along with his family, back to their tribal lands in Montana. Under threat of a court-martial if he refused to follow the orders, he reluctantly accepts, despite his history with the chief, who was responsible for the death of several of his friends and comrades.

“Hostiles” would not work without the actors Cooper has cast as they all, top to bottom one hundred percent believably authentic, with an Oscar winner as well as Oscar nominees and some of the best character actors working in film today. The other aspect is that all of these actors are great film actors, they are all acutely aware of the placement of the camera as well as how to play to that camera, so that they recognize when subtlety is required which is definitely something needed in a film like this one. At the top of the call sheet is an actor who is as adept at playing leads as he his playing real characters, Christian Bale, an Oscar winner who here has to play a man full of hatred, loathing but loyal to his men, also as someone who with his arc has to recognize that hatred is a self consuming emotion that takes effort and strength but festers effecting not only oneself but all those around you. While not the most well-known or flashiest actor in this film, Rory Cochrane is almost the result of Bale’s character. Cochrane plays Master Sgt. Thomas Metz a self confessed murderer of men, woman and children all Indians, a fact that has taken its toll on the soldier who attempts to, throughout his journey convince Bale’s Blocker of this, but seemingly fails – he does have the final say though.

Through their journey the group encounter Rosamund Pike’s Rosalie Quaid who has had her own horrendous encounter with a war party as we as eventually some white fur traders, she comes to know her ‘enemy’ as well as someone who is one of the bravest people in this film, Pike plays her to perfection, reminding me of similarities to her character in the Oscar nominated “Gone Girl” (2014). There are multiple other actors featured such as Ben Foster, Stephen Lang, Jesse Plemons, Timothée Chalamet and Peter Mullan who all know their jobs which they all perform well in support of the main characters, all give believable performances of soldiers at very different stages and levels of their respective careers, each also have their own opinions of their mission as well their commanding officer which offers an element of realism to the film.

One of the highlights of the film is the casting as well as the treatment of the Native Americans with the standouts being Wes Studi, Adam Beach and Q’orianka Kilcher who all speak in their native tongue as well as being the beating heart of “Hostiles”.  As the real co-lead of the film, Studi who has been acting for decades maintains his stoicism despite his sickness as well as the fact he is a prisoner who is the face of the hate that all the soldiers feel. He also acts as a victim of the encroaching push into the frontier as well as cost that has been paid by all of his people when the white men arrived to take their natural resources. In fact the encroachment that his people face as well as the cancer he is dying of could be considered to be a metaphor for the issues that are facing the environment we now find ourselves in. The fact that the Earth is facing serious environmental issues after the mass consumerism as well as rampant industrialism that has occurred ever since the Western expansionism is seen in Chief Yellow Hawk’s sickness. It is always a treat to see Adam Beach onscreen especially playing his ethnicity which is not something seen all the time, not that this is a negative but Beach is such a gifted gentle actor it is great to see him in a film that is special. Finally there is Q’orianka Kilcher who famously appeared in “The New World” (2005) as Pocahontas here is has grown into an expressive actress that adds to the heft of Studi’s character, we feel his pain as she feels hers as a daughter who is trapped metaphorically as well as literally.

“Hostiles” looks as you would expect lush with a variety of locations, weather and time, shot by Masanobu Takayanagi who has worked on almost all of Coopers films as well as a few that have specialized in the outdoors, “The Grey” (2012) comes to mind here has to be proud of his efforts. There is the feeling of both grand scale as well as intimacy, the world in which this film is set is a varied one and so we have night vistas of camps against fires as well as rain, shifting to wide open plains in Montana that reflect the open road Chief Yellow Hawk is ultimately going to take, even in the closing moments with the choices that Blocker has to make all in clear slow motion with the oncoming technological revolution that will soon overcome all of society.

“Hostiles” is at once a grand looking and feeling film but with many intimate moments that illustrate how lives can be reduced to singular events or emotions but it is ultimately up to individuals to decide whether they will be shaped by events or they will make something of their lot, through very simple emotional decisions. It seems clear that this film is saying that moving forward not getting caught in a game of blame is the healthy way to go.

Film review: “Hostiles” (2017) “Hostiles" (2017) Western/Drama Running Time: 133 minutes Written & Directed by: Scott Cooper Featuring:  Christian Bale, Rosamund Pike, Wes Studi, Ben Foster, Stephen Lang, Jesse Plemons, Rory Cochrane, Adam Beach, Q'orianka Kilcher, and Timothée Chalamet…

[nixonproject]

My Blog: Working on The State vs a Fetus (university project.)

Early sessions of studio theatre production class included sharing individual stories which could be used as stimulus for future group work. Around thirty new people had joined that year totalling the group to sixty (approximately.) Actors, writers and phycologists tell us to appreciate the importance of larger groups in terms of capacity for change, as well as for understanding culture and society (Schneider, Weinberg, 2003, P15.) After listening and trying to understand someone’s story, social barriers can be broken down and you can feel closer to a complete stranger. Therefore, making theatre with someone you don’t know can be helped by the experience of sharing personal stories.

AIMS + AUDIENCE 

One particular story about the struggles of being a young mother struck home with myself and Ellie, Naomi, Amy and Laurie-Ann (my group members for the project.) Once in a group, we began working on our interpretation of the story. One member of our group was a young mother and she shared her insights into how having a child changes your life. This developed the team’s understanding of motherhood greatly but without wishing to be bias to one opinion, we explored further. In a blog (via the Huffington post) April Salchert mentions that women who have children because of societal pressure many times believe they will love their child simply because they are female. The blog continues by stating that women are letting society dictate their behaviour, their lives and their uterus. (Salchert) With conflicting opinions in the group about abortion the idea of staging a court case sprang to mind. Our project’s aim was to show audiences that just because social norm states women need to have children doesn’t mean they need too.  After pitching the court case idea to the group, they agreed and we began writing and devising a naturalistic courtroom drama. In the writing of the piece it became clear that we were writing for a young audience between eighteen to twenty-five. We wanted the project to be accessible to all ages but we felt that the story could start more conversations about abortion between young people, especially women.

STRUCTURE

Improvisation was a key tool to develop the structure and dialog of early scenes. We wanted to explore the idea of interpretations for example: how Nay’s (our protagonist) Mother and Father felt about the pregnancy. The concept of the male gaze arose in one particular session as this improvisation ended with Nay’s father pressuring his wife and the court for Nay to have an abortion. Conflict consistently arose in improvisations about gender roles and society’s stigma towards young mothers. Amelia Hill (2016) suggests the biggest reasons for society’s attitude towards young mothers is cultural, a lack of education and stigma. Although sexual and relationship education are far better now than they once were, we felt this article via a mainstream paper proves that social stigma around young pregnancy still exists and attitudes needed to be addressed.

Script finished, confidence in rehearsals was high and the aim of what the piece was trying to translate to the audience felt strong with our final scene involving a killing of the fetus on stage. We wanted to leave this moment open to suggestion for our audience as we followed the moment with a drinks party scene, the platter served being the fetus.

FEEDBACK

Scenes had been blocked to a point where we could show the opening ten minutes to module leaders. Our module leaders gave constructive criticism highlighting that our naturalistic approach wasn’t working. Their interpretation of our project didn’t suggest naturalism but expressionism. Looking back at this stage of rehearsals it’s clear that we seriously lacked theory to influence our practice. This was a pinnacle moment and due to being halfway through the rehearsal process it was extremely important to react positively to the change of performance style.

WIDER WORLD OF DRAMA / KEY DRAMA THEORIES

Researching expressionism, our light bulb moment happened! It started to dawn on the group that the style fitted perfectly with the dialogue and worked within our project’s structure. The work we had initially created channelled towards consistent themes of fear, internal conflict (of Nay) and identity: how would Nay change if she aborted the baby. This feeling of isolation is common in expressionism according to author David F. Kuhns who argues that the most common experience of the Expressionist generation was the feeling of social and spiritual fragmentation. (P11, F. Kuhns, 1997.) Fragmentation was the perfect word for our work as we decided to set the court case inside Nay’s head. Her emotions would become lawyers and witnesses who multi-roled as parents furthering the concept of isolation and unawareness of people around her.  A voiceover throughout the piece played the role of the judge and this developed the sense of the unknown, providing gravitas to an off-stage character representing judgement.

Usually a naturalistic writer, August Strindberg’s A Dream Play became a huge inspiration as within A Dream Play characters are split, double, multiply, evaporate, condense, dissolve and merge. But one consciousness rules them all: the dreamer’s (Badley, p148, 2010.). Similarly, we tried not to name characters in rehearsals (apart from Nay) but frame scenes through moments instead. We kept the script but decided to begin rehearsing with techniques from the wider world of drama. For example: in one rehearsal we blocked a scene where Nay takes the bus to meet a friend, a simple task. The rest of the company create the bus and the characters within it before bursting into a hectic song/dance covering a rock version of the wheels on the bus. The song was an interpretation on how a fond memory can be viewed differently once a traumatic experience happens.

 In this rehearsal we blended Strindberg’s writing in A Dream Play (duality of character) with preparation of theatre director Vsevolod Meyerhold’s technique ‘shooting a bow.’ This technique makes the actor hold an imaginary bow and allows the actor to comprehend in spatial terms, acquire physical self-control, develop elasticity and balance (Braun, 2016.) For the first time in rehearsals, we really challenged ourselves and used a technique that speaking personally, was extremely difficult to master. 

It was clear that the company started to place more importance in movements as in this bus scene, the company moved, made sounds as a unit while being aware spatially. Another scene where we used the technique is where the mother and father of Nay were having sex. Instead of actually showing sex physically, we internalised it and played a game of volleyball on stage. The back and forth of the ball mixed with the rest of the company making sensual sounds provided a tense, strange but hopefully sexual feel to the scene. Why Meyerhold’s technique was so important here is because with every ball hit, we had to subtly allude to an expression of a troubled sex life. We did this by making the game build up (like sex) but become violent both in the dialog and more aggressive hits of the ball. The ball represented trust, passion and love, three things the couple started to lose through the stress of their daughter’s situation.

WHAT WORKED?

Upon reflecting, what really worked was the company’s commitment to the piece. The final performance showed dedication in movements and belief in scenes that felt wonderfully weird and real. We’d really paid attention to detail, physicality and the narrative throughout the piece. Ultimately, the story appealed to audience members who spoke of being both angered and empowered by the open ending of Nay’s abortion. We believe this ending was a strong social comment and warranted an emotional response from the audience. The piece also kept in-line with our initial aim of starting more conversations regarding social norms for women and abortion which was extremely positive. 

 WHAT DIDN’T WORK AND WHY?  

What didn’t work was our use of puppetry as we only worked on the puppetry at a very late stage of rehearsals. No research occurred for puppetry practice due to sound and lighting design taking over in the final week. This had a negative impact and made the performance less believable. Also, with our staging being ‘in-the-round’ lines were lost as well as some important puppetry moments for a few audience members. The onesie costumes also didn’t make sense with the overall production concept and was another last minute decision. More thought into these parts of the project along with reworking some abstract scenes would make the piece more accessible to audience members. Sound design (the voiceover) could have been mixed once more as the volume altered throughout the performance and became dominating in places.  

IF WORKING ON THE SAME PROJECT, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE? 

If working on the same project again, further research into drama techniques, performance style and staging would develop the overall production. At times, rehearsals for scenes were improvised which didn’t always work in the latter stages of the rehearsal process. Also, a time tabling schedule for all the company would definitely be produced. Many rehearsals were missed due to group members being unavailable, which became unprofessional and slowed the project down.