Martha Marcy May Marlene
Angelika Film Centre, November 4, 2011
Movie #79 for 2011
Early one morning, Martha (ELIZABETH OLSEN) leaves the Catskills commune she’s lived on for two years and calls her sister Lucy (SARAH PAULSON, who I know and love from “Studio 60” and “Deadwood”) from a bus station payphone. Lucy picks her up and takes her to the Connecticut holiday home she shares with her new husband Ted (HUGH DANCY). Over the next few days it becomes clear, as flashbacks to her commune life unfold, that Martha is far from alright.
Martha Marcy May Marlene is a dark story, steeped in creepiness. Writer/director SEAN DURKIN takes plenty of time developing characters to heighten the impact of the eventually revealed deep psychological scar tissue. Many questions are asked - about normalcy, trauma, paranoia - but few are answered, in a deliciously ambiguous way.
The narrative builds slowly at first, before increasing momentum and tension. The natural lighting, naturalistic characterizations and lingering camera work soften what might have been a RAR!-scary film into something more interesting and, ultimately, more penetratingly frightening. Much of the film has no accompanying soundtrack, and the silence is often very eerie.
All performances are excellent, which is good, because Durkin leaves no room for the mediocre. Olsen is spectacular and JOHN HAWKES (“Deadwood”, pictured with Olsen), as the leader of the commune that Martha flees, is career best-good (although, he seems to do that every time, doesn’t he?)
Ambiguous, creepy and haunting: Durkin has made a remarkable film.
