Graphic Journey Blog

Slow cinema

Anna Paquin as Lisa Cohen.

I raved about 'Manchester by the Sea' earlier this month, for which I sincerely hope that both director/writer Kenneth Lonergan and actor Casey Affleck receive BAFTAs and Oscars – we'll see.

It made me curious about Kenneth Lonergan's work. Since 2000, he has only directed three films: 'You Can Count on Me', 'Margaret' and 'Manchester by the Sea'. Most of his career has been as a playwright and screenwriter. But his ability as a highly individual director is, to my mind, astonishing. I picked up a copy of 'Margaret' (2011), his second film. I watched it last night and it was the 186 min extended-cut version. I was completely blown away by the power of the film. It is an exemplar in in-depth storytelling. A superb script with astonishing performances, masterful editing and beautiful cinematography.

Mark Raffalo as Maretti  

What makes Lonergan's work so special is the space he allows around the main drive of the story. He creates seemingly throwaway moments surrounding the daily lives of the characters and their environment – a passing snatched conversation, an elderly person negotiating some difficult steps, helicopters crisscrossing the Manhattan skyline, or a slow pan across an apartment building, glimpsing the different worlds going on inside. All of this gives the film a mesmerising atmosphere and room to think.

Like 'Manchester By the Sea', 'Margaret' has a catastrophic event at its core that has a profound effect on the main protagonist, Lisa Cohen (Anna Paquin). We witness her spiral into an obsessive state that engulfs her life. She is a bright, quick-witted, articulate middle-class 18-year-old student living with her divorced actress mother and younger brother in New York while coping with the long distance between her and her LA-based commercial director father.

Kenneth Lonergan (right) on location with Anna Paquin and Matt Damon 

The New York setting could easily be the world of Woody Allen or Wallace Shawn, but it very much has the unique fingerprint of Lonergan. It is a densely beautifully scripted film with some intense collisions of characters that are exhilarating and exhausting to witness. The performances of Anna Paquin and J. Smith-Cameron, who plays Joan Cohen, Lisa's mother, are outstanding.

Like Terrence Mallick and earlier Stanley Kubrick, Lonergan uses existing music, rather than commissioning a complete score. This can be a little patchy, but at times it creates some very poignant moments.

J. Smith-Cameron and Anna Paquin.

I am now moving on to watch. 'You Can Count on Me'. Lonergan is a wonderful find and I look forward to much more from him. He is currently writing a TV mini-series of E. M. Forster's 'Howards End' for the BBC.

Watch the trailer here.

 

Wise words

Listen to a wonderful slow version here.

Things I like...

I came upon this delightful painting from the late 1960's. It is by Ray Mead. He was born in Watford, England in 1921.

He studied at the Watford School of Art, and with Gilbert Spencer at the Slade in London. He moved to Toronto, Ontario in 1946. Working in oil, watercolour, acrylic, ink, monotypes and collage.

I can find little of his work but this one is a real treat. He died in 1998.  

I kind reader sent this link for more info on Ray's work.

 

Things I like...

I stumbled on this charming collection of books in a local charity shop.

They were published by William Collins during the second world war when paper was rationed.

The first one I opened was published in 1944, the very same year I was born. I held in my hand thinking we are the same age. I love these coincidences Even with the paper shortages Collins managed to publish 50 odd titles in the series called, Britain in Pictures. I love their directness and one colour simplicity. 

 

 

Graphic Journey’s mini creative review of 2016

Of the many things I’ve seen and heard this year, the following, in my view, are the best, with a few of the worst that really infuriated me.

TV

The Icelandic noir crime series Trapped was one of the better crime productions, not only for its creepy storyline but also for the wonderful, relentless, snow-swept locations.

Happy Valley. Series 2 was as magnificent as the first series, with consistently outstanding writing from Sally Wainwright and wonderful performances from the entire cast, especially Sarah Lancashire.

Fleabag. An amazingly revealing and original series from writer and star Phoebe Waller-Bridge. It is funny, edgy and very moving. 

Going Forward. Another outstanding writer/comedian is Jo Brand, and Going Forward was funny and touching in equal measures. 

Films

Joachim Lafosse’s, L'Économie du Couple (After Love). An intense observation of a marriage breakdown performed with utter commitment by the film’s two leads Bérénice Bejo and Cédric Kahn. More

20th Century Women is set in Santa Barbara in the late ’70s and focuses on Dorothea Fields (Annette Bening), a wonderfully eccentric single mother and divorcée living in a dilapidated but charmingly eclectic house where she lets two rooms to help make ends meet in order to bring up her son as a decent human being, with much angst and hilarity on the way. Written and directed by ex-graphic designer Mike Mills, whose earlier film Beginners was a delight too. More

I, Daniel Blake is Ken Loach’s precisely targeted indictment of our welfare state. It is Loach at his very best. More

Following A Single Man, director Tom Ford follows up with Nocturnal Animals and proves that he is to be taken seriously in this nearly perfect thriller. More

Manchester by the Sea. An incredibly powerful and moving story of loss, with an Oscar-deserving performance from lead Casey Affleck. 

Ethel and Ernest. The story of Raymond Briggs’ young life. Despite it being an animated film, it pulls no punches. Humorous, beautiful, moving and tragic. Watch it

Product

Terence Woodgate's elegant  Solid - Carrara marble table lamp.

Theatre

Yerma. The Young Vic restaging of Federico Garcia Lorca’s 1934 tragic masterpiece ‘Yerma’, reset in 21st-century hip London society. With two standout performances from Billie Piper (in the main role as ‘Yerma’) and Brendan Cowell as her husband. More

The Almeida’s stunningly brilliant production of Uncle Vanya. Imaginatively staged and directed by Robert Icke, with a wonderful cast headed by Paul Rhys. 

Architecture

 

The Switch House Tate. One of the most inhospitable, dismal architectural experiences of 2016. Bleak and cold, with no attempt to create an uplifting experience for the visitor. More

Graphics/Branding

Two diabolical rebrands appeared on the scene. First was the hideous Addison Lee courier and car service. It could have been so good in the right hands. 

British Steel introduced a shamefully embarrassing new identity, as opposed to reintroducing David Gentleman’s perfectly thought-out original.

But there was a welcomed and brave move in accepting that an earlier logo from the 1960s still works perfectly. Sean Perkins at North resurrected the baby from the bathwater of the ill-judged Co-operative rebrand of a few years ago.

Nat West's so-called "gentle evolution" of their logo by making what was originally simple complicated. It will be hardly noticed by most but will cost many millions to implement. Such is the insulting disregard that banks have for the public's view of them.  More

This is graphic design at its very best: simple, meaningful, intelligent and witty. Created by Paula Scher at Pentagram NYC for The Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada. 

Posters

2016 saw another group of inept ‘fine art’ collection of posters, this time for the Rio Olympics. Repeating the dreadful mistake of the 2012 UK Olympics with equally dreadful posters, again headed by Tracey Emin. An insult to all serious poster designers. More

Books

A Life in Letterpress. Alan Kitching’s life work in print. A doorstopper of a book, beautifully illustrated.

Nobrow has published the graphic novel, Audubon that centres on explorer John James Audubon’s ornithological quest across America during the 19th century. Written by Fabien Grolleau and sensitively illustrated by Jérémie Royer. 

Advertising

Wales’ Christmas drink-driving campaign, by the Cardiff- based agency Bluegg, underlines the tragic loss of a loved one on Christmas Day.

Art

The Royal Academy of Arts, Abstract Expressionism exhibition was an absolute joy but rather too crowded.

Stamps

Agatha Christie: An intriguing series of six stamps designed by Jim Sutherland and Neil Webb, complete with hidden clues.

TV Commercials

The wonderfully pure Wes Anderson envisioned Christmas train trip for H&M. Watch it

Radio

Florian Zeller’s award-winning stage play The Father, translated by Christopher Hampton for BBC Radio 3. Centred on a man disappearing into the world of dementia. With a moving performance from Kenneth Cranham. 

Things I like...

Wall panel 1971 designed by Alexander Girard RDI (1907 – 1993). Known as Sandro, he was an architect, interior designer, furniture designer, industrial designer, textile designer and gave great joy to all.

Peter Brookes: Nib assassin

Royal Designer Peter Brookes, the stalwart political cartoonist of The Times, has been awarded the CBE – Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire- for his services to the media. Many congratulations to him.

To learn more about his life and career you can hear a recorded interview I made with him a few years ago here.

Thank you