If we
continue the talk about independent movies and stay thrillers aside, indie
drama films should definitely take the place in this trend. Among inexperienced
directors drama films are even more popular than thrillers because you have no need
to invent an interesting storyline rather make the action and narrative more
and more weird and deviant. We could call this “tension”, a thing analogous
with suspense in thrillers. Thus we obtain hundreds of films about completely
odd things and completely odd people, up to disgusting and abomination, and the
one question remains: for whom are they fucking filmed?
Often the
necessary concentration of tension (like suspense) is maintained and supported
by a story background related with a kind of deviation, from sexual to social.
Sexual ones are used more often, maybe just because in case of social one
(sociopathy - child trauma - family troubles) it is harder to formulate and
solve the conflict, leaning on psychology. Sex and its role in human life are
lucid by default, intuitively, so, using the words of V. Pelevin, it all is a
direct trial to control audition through wow-impulse (preferentially oral).
Background
of sexual deviations (from sexual side of relationship in isolated microsociety
and up to deep psychiatry like paraphilias) is not a token of profanation in state of art or act
that aspires to be one, but usage of such provocative substrate should have
strict story foundation and be supported by all (ALL, I said) auxiliary means
from actor’s performing to light distribution in a single frame and soundtrack
subtleties; otherwise such trial has to be considered as an attempt to have an
easy ride without any perspective, in other words, this is a straight road to B
type.
Director of
“The Quiet” definitely was impressed as fuck with Sam Mendes’ “American
Beauty”, and with this impression he started to build his own “American
Beauty”, with black jack and hookers. Just compare actors representing two of
main personalities: Elisha Cuthbert is definitely a reminiscence of Thora
Birch, and Michael Donovan is a price-off variant of Kevin Spacey. Moreover,
airtight type of action in movie (almost always in the house, close to
classicistic unity of time and place), and conflict distributed between the
characters of gender and age gap are reminding Mendes’ film more and more. But, as it was to be expected, this variant
became less interesting and a bit secondary, so then director decided to
tighten the screws.
First of
all, from story of conflict between teenager and adult Babbit transfers the
drama into space within the whole family, endowing the action with the huge
piece of sickness. Second, transparent and quite expectable main storyline is
equipped with merely weird satellite tale of Dot the Deaf yet Cute Girl, whose
still gaze drills viewer and whose mute speeches gather chills near the neck.
She thoroughly listens: how the guy like to masturbate, how the girlie hates
his father, how mother slowly goes nuts due to medications, and all this with
ultimate poker face. Cool story, ha? Like a lever?
So, is “The
Quiet” just a cheap family drama about silly daughter and naughty father,
peppered with some kind of parallel winking sidestory? However not, it is not,
because I would like to guess that all aforementioned things was the screen,
that should overshadow the real movie sense. Dot, from adornment of originally
poor storyline, become the linchpin of it. She isn’t a passive onlooker
beholding on true inferno gaping near her, although it seems to be opposite; her inner struggles are
not background anymore, and words she pronounced silently with such reluctance
are not mere words.
As in
“American Beauty”, additional personality placed in the storm’s eye become a
catalyst, a spit that gives rise to avalanche, and directly with the help of
Dot this anthem of self-destruction went right to the chorus. Moreover, the
action is dramatically expanded by the trace Dot leaves on the plot while
reacting with another people. Simple alchemy of teenager interrelationships kneaded
on sex, sport and pop culture became feeble when stood face to face with her,
and only with her severe, self-merciless monologues movie get its wholeness.
And of
course, the real pearl of this motion picture is Dot herself performed by peerless Camilla Belle. Her image
combines almost touchable fragility and simultaneous utter, ultimated hardness;
she is definitely like a string – trembling, thin and seemingly weak, but made
of metal and able to bring death, the string that was broken in that grand piano,
the string that has become the solution of all. Dot carries emptiness with
herself, a kind of shell that constantly surrounds her with the center in her
bottomless grey eyes, and all the sounds and intentions are slowly withering
approaching this center.
As A
Result: movie with false bottom, whole and stylish
Watch It?:
yes
