Hail, Caesar! An oddball critique of the Studio's system of the 50's

Rating: 8/10 (26 April 2016)

The Coen Brothers 2016 film Hail, Caesar! is a delightful and entertaining critique of the Studio system of the 1950's. By mixing elements of film history and cinematic techniques they pay tribute to the genre films of the 50's, when Hollywood was considered the ultimate manufacturer of dreams. To many the film may seem alienating, as it borrows techniques and tropes of movies from the period; which to today's audiences may seem outdated. But to film enthusiasts the film not only explores the dark side of the studio system (which has always been an element of speculation and intrigue for tabloids), but also looks into the process of American movie making and its historical placement in the 1950's.
In a nutshell the film tells the Story of Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) a so called fixer who works for a mayor movie studio making sure that any scandal is dealt with so that the studio's image is not tarnished by gossip. The main arch to the narrative is the kidnapping of the studios biggest star Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) by an anonymous group called The Future, (SPOILER ALERT!) who eventually identify themselves as a group of communist writers. As Mannix navigates through this ordeal, and his own personal ordeal, we encounter smaller arches of narrative and their array of colourful characters. There is Hobie Doyle (Alden Ehrenreich) the western movie star, DeeAnna Moran (Scarlet Johansson) the shinning siren of the aqua musicals, Burt Gurney (Channig Tatum) the musical star, Laurence Laurentz (Ralph Fiennes) the grand director, Thora and Thessaly Thacker (Tilda Swinton) the gossip columnists and many, many more. Their narratives eventually all tie into the main arch in that very characteristically oddball Coen Brother's sense of humour.
The Coen's; in my opinion have recreated with great care and precision the techniques utilized by their predecessors to masterfully bring to life their vision for the film. The entire film has this beautiful nostalgic quality to it, an element found in many old movies. The use of saturated colours, the play of shadows, the shot composition even the voice of God narration that accompanies the film are all elements of classic Hollywood film making. The production values mirror those of the era; in short glimpses we see how movies such as the Religious Epics, the Aqua Musicals, the Melodramas and the Western came to life. I like to think that these small tableau's are an homage to Cecil B DeMille, Esther Williams, Gene Kelly and Charlton Heston.
What separates Hail, Caesar! from the movies of the era and thus making it an homage is its acerbic sense of humour which allows the film itself to be a critique on the studio system. We fully appreciate this when we are given glimpses into how studios managed their scandals and image. It is well known that back in the 50's the studios thought of themselves as moral compasses for Americans. Their aim was to present wholesome values, American ideologies of patriotism and religious discourses. It was also during the 50's that communist film makers, writers and anyone associated with them and their ideologies were persecuted and blacklisted. Regarded as a very dark chapter in film history it also reflects the turmoils of American society and the omnipresent effect of the Cold War. The Coen's play with this idea by making the kidnappers a group of communist writers who believe that if they convince the studio's biggest star in believing their ideologies they may well indeed crack the system and win, even if they do recur to the use of blackmail.
The other interesting aspect to the critique is the studios treatment of their 'Stars'. They owned them, lending them to other studios only if they could profit from it. Quite literally they were treated like cattle, every aspect of their life was manufactured to fit the Studio's demands. In doing so they made sure that any trace of scandal was dealt with and in return they created auras of wholesomeness, which suited the studios image. It was a marionette show, pull strings here and there and voilà! A star was made, not born!
I personally found the movie very entertaining. As a film student and enthusiast I found delight in the cinematic references poured into every frame. I thought it was clever and well-constructed and it managed to intertwine an oddball sense of humour with elements of film history. The Coen Brothers not only are great film-makers; they are also well versed cinema scholars and in Hail, Caesar! they bring all this knowledge to play.