Movie Parliament
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • This House
  • Articles
  • Foreign Affairs
    • Cannes 2017
    • Cannes2016
    • 2016 Oscars Predictions
    • 2015 César Awards
    • 2014 César Awards
    • 2014 French Bloggers Awards
    • Top10 2014
    • 2013 César Awards
    • 2013 Cannes Coverage
    • European Film Awards 2012
    • (50) Films of Summer
    • 2012 Cannes Coverage
    • 2011 César Awards
    • 2011 Cannes Coverage
  • Film History
    • Classic Films
    • Cult Movies
    • Foreign Masterpieces
  • Awards
    • Awards Decade 2011-2020
    • Awards2020
    • Awards2019
    • Awards2018
    • Awards2017
    • Awards2016
    • Awards2015
    • Awards 2014
    • Awards 2013
    • Awards 2012
    • Awards 2011 >
      • FYC - Best 2011 Film
  • Top 50 of the Decade
    • 2009
    • 2008
    • 2007
    • 2006
    • 2005
    • 2004
    • 2003
    • 2002
    • 2001
    • 2000
  • Summer Movie Wager
  • 2018 Most Anticipated

Maps to the Stars

6/4/2014

0 Comments

 
Photo
Writer: Bruce Wagner
Director: David Cronenberg
Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Evan Bird, John Cusack and Julianne Moore

Review Written By: Arnaud Trouvé (Minister of Foreign Affairs)

Can you believe this is David Cronenberg's first film ever to have scenes shot in the US ?
Set in Hollywood (and while most of the shooting actually took place in director's Canada), "Maps to the Stars" follows an 18-year-old girl (Mia Wasikowska) who comes to Tinseltown to find relatives and a new way of life.
We already feel like some dark secrets revolve around her personality, her scarred face, and even her name: Agatha. On her way, she will meet an aspiring-writer-actor limo driver (Robert Pattinson), a young spoiled teen movie star (Evan Bird) surrounded by his therapist father (John Cusack) and mother-agent (Olivia Williams), and an aging film star slowly going berserk (Julianne Moore).
How these people are connected is entirely up to you to discover.

What strikes me first after viewing "Maps to the Stars" is the sheer joy and anticipation I felt throughout. The screenplay by Bruce Wagner is impeccable, in that it truly lets its characters live and breathe. Every one of them has his big scene, his doubts and twisted view of reality. This carefulness avoids the film to be overly cynical.
Cronenberg's direction is once again spot-on, sharp as a knife. No shot is wasted, and the film flows effortlessly. There is some foreshadowing rifght from the beginning of the film, through props and lines of dialogue, but you will certainly still be very surprised at how things turn out.

The film shows what mainstream cinema hides most of the time (including frontal nudity). You didn't expect less from a Cronenberg film, but that's refreshing nonetheless. I think the film strikes a perfect balance between sadness and hilarity: watching those doomed characters and their ominous fate could be very depressing, but there are scenes where the audience erupted with laughter. And the greatest thing is that it never actually happens while despising those characters, because they are well-described, human after all.
There are chances that, like myself, you were left quite cold by the two previous efforts by Mr Cronenberg: "A Dangerous Method" in 2011 and "Cosmopolis" in 2012, who were both nominated for a Movie Parliament Award for Best Screenplay. "Maps to the Stars" will arguably be a more exciting ride.

The movie title references the roadmaps indicating the stars' villas in Hollywood, and that tourists generally tend to buy. In a witty line, Pattinson's limo driver explains how they are pretty useless, and only indicates the houses of "has-been" celebrities. In a way, the film works like one of those maps, showing stars who are fading, engulfed by the ghosts of their past and their mistakes. In the process, it makes them much more relatable than we've ever seen them, and paradoxically gives them the gravitas that they so hard strive to achieve.
That's why, despite the cameos and frequent name-dropping, this is not specifically a film about Hollywood, but more about the lies we tell us, and the end of private life.
How daring that Jane Campion's Cannes Jury chose to acknowledge the brilliant performance by Julianne Moore. In my mind, she gives a supporting performance (Wasikowska being the true lead), but I agree that acting prizes should go the best performance, be it leading or supporting. She's hilarious, scary, and utterly fearless.

Photo
Summary: A surprising and strangely enjoyable look to the failures and darkest corners of the show business industry, elevated to a tragedy. 

Movie Parliament Rating: MAJORITY GOVERNMENT 

By Movie Parliament Minister of Foreign Affairs, 
Arnaud Trouvé 

Disagree with this review? Give us your thoughts in the comments below. 

I think the movie trailer reveals too much, so here is a clip:
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Authors

    Movie Parliament Prime Minister: Michael Dalton

    Minister for Foreign Affairs: Arnaud Trouve

    Minister for History: Leonhard Balk

    Archives

    March 2019
    October 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    January 2016
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    March 2014
    December 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012

    Categories

    All
    Brad Pitt
    Chris Hemsworth
    Dredd
    Film Review
    Gangster Film
    Kristen Stewart
    New Release
    Sci Fi
    Sci-fi

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.