Todd Haynes' May December, streaming on Netflix, is a bracingly sardonic take on the Mary Kay Letourneau saga. Samy Burch's screenplay differs from the case in ways that make its seamier details a teeny bit more palatable, it was child abuse after all, and helps the film function as an auto-critique. Gracie (Julianne Moore) and Joe's(Charles Melton) relationship does not begin in the classroom, but at a pet store where they are co-workers. This makes the union between the two seem slightly less exploitive, though Joe's status as a victim who was thrust into manhood too early is painfully established by the film's end. The action of the film occurs two decades after the couple's affair became a tabloid sensation. They have raised three kids and have uneasily settled in the town that birthed their affair, Savannah.
An interloper is introduced, Elizabeth (Natalie Portman), a well-known actress who bird-dogs Gracie around town as research for an "indie film" that will be based on Gracie and Joe. Haynes emphasizes the access Elizabeth's celebrity status provides her with tracking and static shots of her gawkers. Everyone in town peripherally related to the duo is eager to spill their guts to Elizabeth. Everything for Elizabeth is grist for the mill. She is a self centered user who shows little regard for anyone, including her fiancée. Her passive aggressive manipulativeness is mirrored by Gracie's, who belittles her children and infantilizes her husband. Haynes seizes upon this by including multiple shots of mirrors and shots from the point of view of a mirror (like above). This proves more effective that the Sirkian use of the same device in Far From Heaven because Hayes and Burch are exploring multiple perspectives instead of monophonically echoing Sirk's critique of 50s conformism. The device here is also a homage the the melding of personalities in Bergman's Persona. The difference being that Elizabeth doesn't bond or meld with Gracie, she just dons Grace's persona as part of her artistic process.
The script seizes between Gracie and Elizabeth's class differences and Haynes and his players are alive to the satiric intent. Gracie is happy to embrace the veneer of the American petit-bourgeoisie. Savannah in the film is a bourgeoise playland with nary a wilted flower or homeless person in sight. Gracie seems desperate to keep herself busy through cooking and flower arranging classes. Elizabeth is an elitist and that can't help but rub against Gracie and her lifestyle. Because of her glamor and psychological astuteness, Elizabeth is able to manipulate Joe into an affair, but to no good end. Haynes uses high angle shots to stress the manipulation going on, most meaningfully during Elizabeth and Joe's act of consummation. Normally, shots of sex stress the intimacy of the act, but that is not the case here. Elizabeth and Grace are succubae draining the life force from Joe. Joe is drained and wallowing in a premature midlife crisis. He is more nurturing than his wife (or Elizabeth). He's good with the kids and, in a metaphor too far, even cares for Monarch butterfly pupae. However, as Elizabeth notes even as she gets in her licks, he is damaged inside and cannot hope to find his way in life.
The last sequence of May December shows Elizabeth performing in the film about Joe and Gracie. The scene displays Gracie brandishing a snake and seducing Joe in the pet shop. The sequence depicts how the media both glamorizes (the pet shop stock room is a veritable love nest compared to one in Savannah) and vulgarizes its subject (that damned serpent). As with the conclusion of Killers of the August Moon, the myths and legends produced by American media are shown to be artificial and somewhat fraudulent. Since The Karen Carpenter Story, Todd Haynes has often used postmodern devices to distance his audience from his subject matter. May December is likewise alienating. Its two leading females are unlikeable and there is no comforting message. This explains popular indifference to the film and also why Charles Melton has won most of the acting plaudits. His character is one of the few sympathetic figures in the film, but I don't think his performance is particularly superior to his co-stars. They are all superb. May December is a knotty, multi-layered film that will reward repeat viewing. It ranks among Mr. Haynes' best films which include Safe, I'm Not There, and Mildred Pierce
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