What Does the Title “Prisoners” Mean? ***THIS WILL SPOIL THE ENTIRE FILM IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN IT***

Over the weekend I saw the film “Prisoners” twice.  This is NOT a happy, uplifting film.  This is a film about two children who are kidnapped on Thanksgiving Day in broad daylight.  So why did I see it twice?  Why did I put myself through that intense, brutal emotion?  The answer is because I couldn’t NOT see the film again.

“Prisoners” has a simple premise: kidnapping.  The premise is simple, yes, but the film is far from it; a major reason being the main characters and what they represent:

Keller Dover: 

Played flawlessly by Hugh Jackman, is a father trying to find his daughter; simple?  No.  Keller IS a father BUT he is also incredibly flawed and in my eyes disturbed.  Something haunts this man.  Something haunted this man way before his daughter was taken.  It could have been his father’s suicide but I feel it is more than just that.  Keller’s past haunts him.  He is an alcoholic although it is only spoke of in two lines in the film.  He is also a violent man.  The film begs the question, was the violence brought out due to a horrible situation OR was it coming inevitably?  That I do not know, but it is a question and I do wonder.  Was this man always haunted by violence OR was it this due to this terrible ordeal?  My inclination is his anger and violence came out do this terrible, violent ordeal.  That being said, there is/was darkness in Keller Dover and no one had to point it out to us (the audience).  All of this came out organically through story, something not often seen nowadays. 

So, Keller Dover was disturbed, was violent and was prepared for anything.  One of his first lines in the film is to his son, saying something to the effect of: the best thing your grandfather taught me was always be prepared.  Oil goes dry, no food in the grocery stores.  People turn on each other.  Keller was prepared.  He was prepared for everything as his basement shows.  He is stocked for the apocalypse with guns, ammunition, food, water, a gas mask and many other things.  This man was prepared for anything and everything, accept what happened to his family, what happened to his daughter.  He wasn’t prepared for her to be taken.  He couldn’t be.  No one could.  This is a horror no parent expects or can imagine and Keller wasn’t prepared but he did turn on people.  As he stated in that line, HE turned on people. 

I think in many ways Keller turned into whatever he despised or was running from.  Keller went from victim father, to perpetrator kidnapper.  When the police let a suspect go due to lack of evidence Keller Dover becomes a man obsessed.  He becomes so obsessed he tortures, starves and beats a man with the IQ of a 10 year old.  So, did the victim remain the victim or become the perpetrator or both?  I say, both.

Detective Loki:

The best performance I’ve ever seen from Jake Gyllenhaal.  It is stated very early in the film that Loki has a 100% success rate.  He saves people.  A lot of people had issues with Loki’s eye twitch.  I found it very, very interesting because ever time Loki twitches, it is an intense or important scene.  There is brief mention that Loki was in a boys home… is that why he has the twitch?  Every time Detective Loki was in a scene I couldn’t help but focus on the pain behind his eyes.  Was Loki hurt as a child, kidnapped, molested?  I tend to think so.  He is SO focused, he doesn’t sleep.  He doesn’t have a family.  After all, the first time we meet him is Thanksgiving night and he is eating dinner at a Chinese food restaurant ALONE.

When Loki works this case, when he interrogates suspects, you see it in his eyes.  He is NOT okay.  This is a damaged man.  This is a hurting man and this is another man who is obsessed.  He is obsessed with helping find people who were hurt.  Does this represent his past the way the violence represents Keller’s?  I think so.  Loki goes to the home of a suspect to talk to their aunt.  The suspect is the man with the IQ of a 10 year old who Keller kidnaps.  In the man’s possessions, Loki finds a toy car.  This seems like nothing in that scene, but later it is not.  When the case for the girls goes cold after a suspect who may have the girls dies, Loki goes to his desk, smashes everything on it and we once again see that toy.  He takes that toy and like a child pushes it back and forth, once again the pain behind his eyes.  This man is as damaged as Keller but for very different reasons. 

In the end of the film, the man Keller tortured turns out to be a drugged kidnapped man himself.  So lost, so drugged, he now has the IQ of a 10 year old boy.  That man did lead Keller to his daughter’s kidnapper but instead of trusting the police, Keller took matters into his own hands and winds up in a hole, with a bullet in his leg, still without his daughter.  Loki finds the kidnapper and saves Keller’s daughter.  The last scene of the film is Loki and the police at the kidnapper’s home casing the ground because numerous children had been kidnapped over time.  As it begins to snow and the ground goes cold, the police leave.  We, the audience know Keller is in a hole - not fifty feet from Loki with a whistle but Loki, does not.  The lights go out and the wind picks up.  There is a faint whistle blow.  Loki looks around and decides it’s the wind.  This happens twice more and then the whistle blows loud.  Loki looks to the direction of the hole and the screen blacks out and the word PRISONERS appears.

In my eyes, the word PRISONERS appearing shows that every character in the film is a prisoner.  The girls were prisoners to their captors.  Keller was a prisoner to his violence and his past and Loki was a prisoner to his past and his obsession to his work.  They are all prisoners to something….

The film asks us, what are we prisoners to?

    

     - George McCann

PRISONERS Review

PRISONERS REVIEW

“Prisoners” is a new film from director, Denis Villeneuve and is written by Aaron Guzikowski.  This film tells the story of two families, the Dover family and the Birch family.  These two families are meeting for Thanksgiving dinner, when their two youngest daughters step outside and go missing.  When these two girls go missing, Detective Loki is called in to head the investigation (played brilliantly by Jake Gyllenhaal).  There is an intense drive for Loki to find these girls that goes beyond the normal police officer.  When the case begins to go cold, Keller Dover played by Hugh Jackman considers taking matters into his own hands.  This film is a gut punch of emotion.   Hugh Jackman portrays a distraught, angry, disturbed father uncomfortably well.  As for Gyllenhaal, he steals the show.  There is an intensity that goes beyond the surface.  His eyes are mixed with full force outward emotion and anger, an Oscar worthy performance and my favorite of the year.  Also, Terrence Howard, Maria Bello, Viola Davis, Paul Dano and Melissa Leo all give great supporting performances.  Roger Deakins’ cinematography is beautiful and haunting.  The writing and direction is top notch; you never know where this story is going to go.  For a film that could easily have been very generic, this film is not.  “Prisoners” is one of the best films I have seen this year BUT it is intense and disturbing, so be aware of that before entering the theater.  This film is worthy of MAJOR Oscar consideration and wins.  If you can handle the subject matter, see “Prisoners”.

   

    - George McCann

The Glory of “Glory”

***SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT SEEN “GLORY”***

There are some films that make such an impact, they can never be duplicated. “Glory” is one of those films.  For those of you who may not be familiar, “Glory” is the story of the first black company in U.S. military history.  The 54^th Infantry was formed during the Civil War and was a volunteer company; but enough with the history lesson.  Edward Zwick directed “Glory” and it, in my opinion, is one of the most important films of all time.

“Glory” is such an important and amazing film for many reasons.  One that resonates with me is the fact that it pulls no punches.  Although the film does take some historical liberties, it does not portray the North as “the good guys” in the Civil War.  The film shows the honest truth; there were just as many racists in the North as in the South. This was a brave step for Zwick to take.  It would have been very easy to portray the North as “the good guys” - the people fighting for justice, a righteous cause.  The simple fact is not everyone in the North was good and righteous and for the film to point that out, gave it great credibility. 

“Glory” is a very emotional film.  We see a small glimpse of what some of these men went through up until this point, (joining the 54^th).  Denzel Washington gives, in my opinion, the best supporting performance from an actor ever.  His character is a man filled with rage and anger and why wouldn’t he be angry after what life has put him through?  The beauty of his character is we see his anger, but we also see his heart.  It is never one sided and it is never forced.  The places these men went and the hardships they went through just to get a pair of shoes are heartbreaking.  One scene always stands out to me. It is a scene with one tear; when that one tear drops, so do our hearts.

Although there is clearly anger in the men of the 54^th, there is even more heart.  Morgan Freeman’s character gives a perspective that adds so much to the film.  He is the man who says what is what and who is who, but never in an obnoxious way.  The character is always honest and always brave and possibly the core of the infantry men of the 54^th in the film.  Freeman has a scene with Washington that makes your hair stand up.  That scene changes Washington’s character for the rest of the film.  That scene also shows the morals and code that Freeman’s character has lived by and continues to live by throughout the film.

When you think of historical films, you don’t think of the lead actor as the guy from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” but it is.  Matthew Broderick stars as “Colonel Robert Shaw” (a real man).  Let me end any doubt in anyone’s mind, Matthew Broderick was amazing in the film.  Colonel Shaw started the 54^th and brought these men together and that changed history. 

In a film that lives in a grey area, Shaw is flat out a good man.  The men of the 54^th were good men.  It was the rest of the world that needed to get on board. 

In the climax of the film a formerly bigoted character says “Give ‘em hell 54^th” as the regiment marches to a certain death.  When those words are spoken, I always get the feeling that some of the world has gotten on board.  Maybe not everyone… but that line from that character says, there is hope.

The definition of the word glory is praise, honor or distinction by common consent.  That is also the definition of the film “Glory”.  This film is a true story of truly glorious men who died trying to do something honorable and dignified.  The men of the 54^th deserve that dignity and “Glory” is truly a glorious film.

To the soldiers of the 54^th Maine, thank you.

-  George McCann

Why Steven Spielberg is the Greatest Living Director

There is one director who I believe will go down as the greatest director of all time; his name is Steven Spielberg.  Spielberg is truly a master of his craft in every way.  The man knows how to not only tell a story through visuals but he knows how to make you feel like you are IN that story.  When I watch films like “ JAWS”, “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial”, “The Indiana Jones Trilogy”, “Schindler’s List”, “Saving Private Ryan” and “Hook”, I feel like I am in that film with those characters.  I am with them through every laugh, heartbreak and challenge they must face.  This truly is the mark and stamp of an amazing director.

In Hollywood there are tons of great, truly talented directors but there is something about stepping into the theater to watch a Spielberg film that is extremely different compared to sitting down to watch a film from any other director in the industry.  I think this man was just born with a gift that had to be shared with the rest of the world.  His films transcend the imagination. You are there.  Something I find very interesting about Spielberg’s work as well, is the fact that every single film he has made has re-watch value, some more than others but all of them have it.  Even if you look at “Saving Private Ryan” or “Schindler’s List”, it may not be a fun visit to go back to those films but people do, for the historical importance as well as the masterful filmmaking. 

Look at “Schindler’s List”.  In that film, all the choices made in production were so impactful; for example, the choice to shoot the film in black and white or the one scene of color with the red dress.  These choices could easily have never come up in production.  The film could have been filmed in color but it would have had much less of an impact.  The film is SO emotional and SO impactful and SO amazing that we need to watch it now and again so we don’t forget, so no one forgets.  I think that is a gift from Mr. Spielberg.  He showed harsh truths in a brilliant film and now schools show the film in history classes. 

The other film in that same vein would be “Saving Private Ryan”.  “Ryan” takes the viewer out of their seats and transports them to Normandy for 3 hours.  We experience D-Day as close as one can, who wasn’t there firsthand.  This is a tremendous feat for a director to accomplish and another history lesson from Mr. Spielberg.

Another thing I find fascinating about this man is the way he can jump from genre to genre.  The man has worked in Sci-fi, Drama, Horror, Action/Adventure, Family and Animation and done it all with ease and grace, which is astonishing.  I can’t think of another director in history to jump from genre to genre that way and excel with success. 

I have gone to this topic in many of my articles and it seems to be a common theme and that is story.  I think Spielberg always goes with story first.  Look at the man’s resume. It is very far and few in-between to see a film that doesn’t have an amazing story.  This may be what is so very different about Spielberg compared to other directors working today.  Nothing and I mean NOTHING this man directs, lacks passion.  To be honest, it is the exact opposite. His films ooze passion.

 “JAWS” is a great example of passion and perseverance for the craft of filmmaking.  There were tremendous production difficulties with the filming of “JAWS”.   There was a pesky character on set named Bruce who didn’t always cooperate. (Bruce was the mechanical Shark, for those of you who may not know.) Anyhow, this damn Shark malfunctioned left and right.  Due to all the technical issues with the shark, Spielberg and production decided to not show the shark and that decision, that bold move, made “JAWS” so much more frightening.  We have the fear of the unknown. What is below our feet as we swim?  These are the types of things that Mr. Spielberg comes up with that make him both an innovator and a master of his craft.  Not to mention his remarkable execution.

Let’s jump ahead to the year 1981, shall we?  That year, we got the adventure film that defined adventure, “Raiders of the Lost Ark”.  The use of practical effects in “Raiders”, as well as heart and story made the film a genre of its own.  It is a genre that will never be repeated, a film that can never be topped.  This is the power of a master at the top of their game.

In 1993, we were handed “Jurassic Park” on a silver platter - a film that changed the way the world looked at special effects.  “Jurassic Park” is yet another film that transports the audience to another world.  This is the way of Spielberg, transporting rather than just entertaining.  Yet, he never sacrifices story or substance for beautiful scenery and “Wow Factor”.  He earns “Wow Factor” through story first and the rest falls into place on its own.

Steven Spielberg will go down as the greatest director of all time because he transports.  The man puts the audience in a time machine and sends them to the past, future or someplace not existing in the present.  The talent this man has is immeasurable and the best may still be yet to come because when you have a master, you never know what card they will pull next.  I, for one, can’t wait to see what it is because if I need a history lesson or a trip to the future, Mr. Steven Spielberg is always there to open the door.

 For that, Sir, I salute you.

  - George McCann