Weird film this…kinda effed up if you may pardon my French! Just got a 2 week free trial with the BFI streaming thing cos Netflix ain’t doing it for me on the film front recently and decided to kick things off with David O Russell’s 1994 debut which is basically, it turns out, about a young lad boning his mum. The plot summary mentioned some incestuous undertones but sign up for this? I did nae.
I think, though, something I am drawn to in fiction is reprehensible characters, written in interesting ways. I’ve never liked the two-dimensional good vs bad stylings of a lot of trash cinema, because it’s just never rang true. Being drawn to well written, flawed characters is as interesting as finding flaws in heroes. Raymond, our despicable protagonist, is played by a simmering Jeremy Davies – straddling the line between Kind Young Fellow and Violent Nutter expertly, showing dramatic maturity beyond his years. Russell’s now-noted proclivity for blacker-than-black humour and a deep understanding of narrative construction is evident even in his earliest work. The slow build of tension – both sexual and adolescent – seems him masterfully balance highly volatile characters, self-sufficient in a dense world of mistrust and fury. Inescapable, the sex scenes between Raymond and his mother are uncomfortable and raw – though the slow build of this relationship through the first hour is arguably more difficult to watch. An inevitability strewn throughout their encounters.
Great to see young Carla Gallo and Zak Orth doing their things though. Both quality people.
If the plot isn’t off-putting for you, I do recommend giving it a watch. It’s a curious insight in to the mind of a filmmaker who has eventually crossed over in to the indie-mainstream of American cinema. Doubt this one will ever be a household classic though tbh.
