A year for auteurs

Rating: 9/10 (8 November 2005)

Shyamalan claims that this is the worst year for film quality, and he may be correct, but it is also a year of directorial triumph. Haggis debuted with the startlingly contemplative "blame everyone by blaming no one" Crash, Foster gave us Stay, Chow did Kung-Fu Hustle, Cronenberg captured small-town secrets, Lucas finished his saga, and Ron Howard went under-appreciated. Now Sam Mendes adds this appropriately subdued power-house complete with stunning imagery, courageous casting, and timely discourse. Jake has gotten lots of buzz for his performance but it will be buried beneath Joaquin's Johnny and Viggo Mortensen's schizophrenia; still there is enough here to quiet his naysayers. Perhaps what I am struck by most is what William Broyles Jr. does not say in this script. How simply and succinctly he omits certain dialogue and lets the intense cast and ridiculous scenery tell the audience all that it has to know. There is so much to say in a movie like this, and whatever isn't screamed is whispered beneath AK shots, loud music, escapism testosterone and genuine emotion.