Another Earth – Film 1 of 15
So I spent this past week at the Sundance Film Festival. I thought that doing reviews of the 15 films I saw, as well as doing a few posts about Sundance in general would be a great way to get back into blogging. I’ve gotten really into twitter lately, so if you want to follow me there, my username is franklyboring. I update that at least five times a day, so that will keep you really up to date on my life. Anyway, here’s my first review, the Sci-Fi drama, Another Earth
Another Earth
I figure the best way to start these reviews is with a synopsis of the film. I’m just going to use the ones that they produce, because if I write my own it will have too many spoilers.
Synopsis: Rhoda Williams, a bright young woman recently accepted into MIT’s astrophysics program, aspires to explore the cosmos. John Burroughs, a brilliant composer, has just reached the pinnacle of his profession, and is about to have a second child with his loving wife. On the eve of the discovery of a duplicate Earth, tragedy strikes, and the lives of these strangers become irrevocably intertwined. Estranged from the world and the selves they once knew, the two outsiders begin an unlikely love affair, which reawakens them to life. But when one of them is presented with the opportunity to travel to the other Earth and embrace an alternative reality, which new life will they choose?
The film itself was excellent. A really well made indie sci-fi that is honestly more of a character drama than a science fiction film. The discovery of Earth 2 is a catalyst, but the planet itself takes a backseat during a majority of the film. It serves as a presence, as a reminder, but don’t go into this expecting some wild space adventure. We never journey outside our own atmosphere. The overarching theme of the film is about taking responsibility for your actions, and setting things right. It is a piece about second chances, and whether or not we deserve them.
So as you can see from the still (which highlights how gorgeous the movie looks), Earth 2 serves as more of a presence in the film than anything. But back to my opinion.
I was with this movie the whole way. The pacing was really spot on, and the plot was focused and driven. I really fell in love with the characters and how broken they were, and I was completely invested in the film from start to finish. I felt that the piece deserved the payoff it was given in the end, and I left the movie feeling satisfied with the piece as a whole.
As far as the other elements go, the acting was stellar, with newcomer Brit Marling taking on the role of Rhoda and really nailing it. I thought she was absolutely beautiful, and the transformation her character undergoes was really wonderful to witness. WIlliam Mapother (Ethan from LOST) also did a fantastic job, and I really felt his struggle and hoped for his success.
I was really impressed by the direction, as the film is Mike Cahill’s first feature. The style of the piece was consistent and everything felt natural as far as the flow of the piece and the characters without. He also wrote the piece, and the writing is really stellar. Some of the sci-fi might not be water-tight, but again, I didn’t see the film for the science fiction, so I didn’t mind all that much at all. The interaction between Marling and Mapother was really what drove the film, and they worked off of each other fantastically.
Something else I really loved was that the special effects were really solid. There is one shot involving a car crash that is absolutely fantastic, and the integration of Earth 2 in the background was extremely believable and really reminded me of the work done on films like District 9 (the ship as a presence in the background).
So yeah, that’s Another Earth. Next up will be my review of Perfect Sense, and I’ll go over some of the fun involved in procuring tickets for screenings.
