We shout out loud with gratitude in the face of an archaic cinema facet revivified by post-modern suspense genre: Silence

Rating: 8/10 (10 May 2018)

What was the last time you watched a nearly-silent suspense film made by a major Hollywood studio? It seems that this question has no answer. The main originality builder here is its ability to evolve in a particular not-talking film, that's already a bombshell. With an over limited use of dialogues and an intrepid skill in conceiving an irrefutably captivating story with coherence and vigor, it seems impossible to make a movie without the actor's voice, for many artists is a requirement for storytelling understandability, since the characters are the link to the viewer, they make the connection, but, not all the stories take this kind of paths. From page one of the script what writers Scott Beck and Bryan Woods wanted was to stick a plot in absolute silence, because precisely this was the thematic thread around the story would derive, its almost complete leading and its unbelievable results become the film into a must-see, because in addition to the pictures, it profits from the unbeatable performances and incredible cinematographic tricks to replace the imperceptible emptiness of any human noise. Broadly speaking, this kinematic tool seems to be the engine of the idea, however, dissecting my own experience and some spectators' opinions, such a factor didn't work in top form. We agree that the first two halves of the film, despite determined exceptional moments, fall abruptly, losing the constancy of its sporadically dynamic, frenetic pace, causing sadly distraction or disconnection in the public with the flick. But these are eventual failures and flaws, quickly saved by the aforementioned sequences, which share authenticity, beauty and horror in comparable conditions.
The second wise move is, of course, the story. Divided into daily chapters, the settling of a not-too-distant utopia sets the plot as a rich center of ambitious possibilities, which knows how to use very well. Around orange woods, a beautiful river and a country house adorned by cornfields, the story puts its eye on an American family that is severely affected by a literally unexplained human extinction, which, in a kind of modern twist to George A. Romero's masterpiece, was aggressively reduced by some annihilating creatures, very similar to Ridley Scott's alien, that possess an overdeveloped sense of hearing, oxide beasts that have imposed just one rule on people who wants to survive: zero sounds. With this setting, the family will undertake a hard survival path to hell in a land where nothing is seen, but everything is heard. Although cinema has often shown humanity as an endangered species- of course, most in YA film adaptations, -a horror story had never used it in such a clever and impressive way, here monumental destructions are not of metropolis or nations, the powerful destructions are the plot twists and the consequences these horrific rust animals stir up. Likewise, the script allows each of the characters to develop in an organic, emotional and cohesive way, as the actions of one member have an impact on the other, thus forming a complex chain in which each character is vital to the other. The twists are perfect, unexpected and painful. Heartbreaking, they're simply afflictive as these are the ones that make to weep many silent viewers, extremely well-achieved tear-jerking moments, a film rich in worries. Nonetheless, many resolutions fall into commonplaces, verbi gratia, putting a major character in jeopardy, at first glance, seems risky, indeed, very few take seriously that something is going wrong, and it's a shame because the incredible tension given to the last act is undermined, but beware, don't trust yourself, because there are surprises, awesome surprises.
It's worth highlighting an underlying social and political character in the script, subjects with a chance of controversy and debate. Placing the first minutes of the movie precisely in the year in which a new American president was elected and scattering enigmatic and renowned newspapers on walls and paths attribute a latent denotation of political nature, perhaps, putting an emphasis on the big role that the United States has inside this annihilation. The origin or purpose of the instinctive creatures is never clearly revealed, but it could attributable some responsibility to some kind of authoritarian rule; a fiction not too distant from our reality.
Only seven characters on screen, three of them are single-use narrative gears, but the story keeps above water in large part due to the refulgent, strong performances. Assuredly the broad recognition of the Hollywood-stars couple helped in the global reach of the film and the feeling of each moment, possibly because father and mother are husband and wife in real life.
There's no complaint as for the artistic field, indeed, here is where the film shows some of its best bets. Mainly, the clever camera movements leading the film because they encompass the essence of the moments; dolly moves, zooms and blurs and some hand-held camera shots behind or in front of the characters produce insecurity and discomfort. Likewise, the angles chosen by the filmmaker/actor are coupled with the meaning of each scene, the picture gets narrative power, necessary due to the absence of constant dialogues. The cinematography of Charlotte Bruus Christensen, who had previously worked in "Molly's Game", "Fences" and "The Girl On The Train", achieves an unparalleled, threatening and alarming imagery all the runtime, the viewers never feel confident, much less relaxed, among the foliage of the forest or the dense corn crops. Leaning on a numerous production crew, the film mutates into a kind of test in which the slightest error (crunch) leads to the worst final, there are marks on the ground indicating where they can and cannot step on, noisy elements are eliminated, nobody wears footwear and all the paths are delimited by white sand that looks more sinister than it should, even a newborn's whining aren't allowed in a world that must remain forever in mute.
Christopher Tellefsen deserves personalized recognition thanks to his decision of reducing as much as possible the length, synthesizing the crucial parts and discarding what doesn't contribute, focusing the core of an entertaining genre film. Time flies by as situations are located in the right place, carefully beneficial choices. After the screening, I found four memorable scenes, dark dreams coming true thanks to a set of artistic and creative components to achieve such level of effectiveness and unbeatable naturalness: The first one takes place at the beginning, just before the main titles make their appearance as vanishing powder; the second one is an incident inside a creepy silo; The third one is a painful sacrifice demanding a few wipes and the fourth one, exhibited in the last act, is starring Emily Blunt in a bathtub and the danger lurking, certainly brutal and the best of all the movie by far.
The sound section is good, but that isn't enough. Despite pictures had to execute the narrative function the dialogues could not, the accompaniment was to be exceptional, as original as the ideas of the script and terribly disturbing as it should be in a horror film. Two Oscar nominations, but Marco Beltrami's soundtrack doesn't have much to highlight because it complies with simple emotional, atmospheric compositions and loudly cheap high-sounding sounds when the creatures make their entrance, it's quite common and unimaginative in a manner of speaking. A huge dissatisfaction with such powerful references, however, the biggest disappointment was the sound editing work, which plays its role half-heartedly, it doesn't use an important feature in the way it should, a terrible flaw. While on several occasions a good frightening impact is achieved by breaking the silence with an accidental sound, all the alternatives the story had are not explored.
With his third work as a director, John Krasinski burst into as an inventive and original voice for suspense genre. His film is a tension construction class, as well as a visual delight thanks to a sensible and exciting perspective on a story that isn't wasted. It's amazing to see how he understands the function of each camera movement, knows how to keep an exquisite timing between the characters and sets up vicious sequences that leave the spectator petrified. We place a value on the prioritization of the coherence and storytelling sharpness, bringing the characters in the foreground, not relegating efficient jump-scares with oppressive atmospheres leading to a breathtaking climax. Like hotcakes on the tables of the major studios, he announces himself as one of the most innovative Hollywood filmmakers and screenwriters at the expense of this spectacular debut that took everyone by surprise - let's just look at its worldwide box office, making "horror" movie history - not for his role as an actor, but for his unexpected endowments as far as cinematographic constructions are concerned.
"A Quiet Place" by John Krasinski is a dystopian, heartbreaking, nerve-wracking nightmare, any reluctant spectator will end up surrendering to the supreme tension of this sci-fi thriller starring the never quiet life of this prepared family. Sometimes intense, poignant and irrecoverably tense; the humanity in its narrative mechanisms, the power of the pictures and the fireproof charm between the leads guarantee one of the best forays in the genre this year; alongside "Get Out" by Jordan Peele, it's really fascinating many comedy actors keep tremendous creative minds for different genres, ironic thing, we find horror in humor. Great achievements and broken promises, the film leaves an inexplicably bittersweet flavor, perhaps more bitter than sweet, because it disappoints to understand that most of the time, when hyper-positive buzz catapults a film tends to be a dissonant marketing squeal.