A Different Man (2024)
★★★½
This review may contain spoilers.
the thing here that impresses me the most is the blocking from scene to scene there is just so much life to the world that the director is trying to bring to life, the beginning apartment scene has overlapping conversations, move of actors to hit a mark and distant extras doing the same and it all comes together in a pretty impressive way, this continues up until the end where background extras don't feel like extras but like people who are inhabiting the world that Edward is living in, which is a very nice touch, while I do love the track, towards the beginning the score feels a bit repetitive at least it did on a first screening,
I really enjoyed the score here, quite pensive when it needs to be but very brash at other times gives a film that early on has some horror elements a good backdropping that complements the setting really well and later when it becomes a dramatic performance piece a brash soundtrack to completement those moments, the soundtrack stays the same but evolves with the subject matter much like the character stays the same but evolves to fit a different persona but really is the same at the core.
I do think that this movie is about identity to some degree obviously he becomes a different person and it's how do we identify the differences between the two but I resonate so much more with the aspect of being seen which is a thing that the film is trying to explore, for the entire film Edward just wants to be seen, he is walked over, shoved to the side and squeezes to get noticed to get into his apartment and those are just the opening moments, the film then introduces Ingrid who is the first person who truly see's him for who he is, the only problem being that his want to keep this being seen by here thing a thing is what starts him down the path of getting the surgery, becoming a different person and later coming back to work at the theater to start a relationship with her, he can't be himself not really as he has said that Edward is dead but that is when the film makes those questions of identity really pop when it starts to toss them in-between those questions of being seen, who are we if we are not seen, who is Edward now that people aren't looking at him, in a deeply dark way before people were noticing but choosing to ignore, now they aren't noticing and don't care, they are only using him for his looks in both realms but it has becomes mirrored flipped in all aspects, which is kind of crazy commentary, how do we escape a hell like this? the film tells us to notice ourselves, to understand who we are and maybe we can escape the trappings of a forever mirror's loop, or to put another way, sometimes you bust a door and have to replace it with a red door, which then needs to be painted black again by the end of the film.
I do like the meta commentary that is being made her, as the film comments on the nature of it existing and if it is getting across the point that it needs to or if it is actually doing more damage than good, I was not expecting the meta commentary to become text so that was quite surprising, a very nice suprise.
I do think the pace of the film is a bit off, dragging particularly in the end of act one just before things get interesting and towards the beginning of act three, it's a result of needed to slow down a bit as the pace for the movie is actually quite fast so it's a weird complaint but it did feel like we were kind of repeating the same things by the time we reached the beginning of the third act, it's only the beginning of that third act that introduces some new moves that make the thing moving forward pick up and gain my interest
again.
the 16mm film stock looks absolutely breath taking, god film looks so good and visually interesting, the color palate looks really good as well, great understanding of how to use colors to tell a story.
I like how Ingrid's wardrobe evolves throughout the film telling a very stunning story in of itself, at first her colors are a red, harking back to the time that she paints the door for him, and the time he gives her that typewriter but slowly her outfits loose that color as we learn that she has never used the typewriter and that is when her colors start to shift more towards outgoing colors to match her eventually meet up with Oswald.
Sebastian Stan is the obvious stand out to pin here, with the dynamic performance that he gives her it be obvious to give him the credit, the way that he is crying on the bed is so tragic to the breakdown that he has in the real estate office, the quiet moments are also there with his blanketed stare on the couch as the two talk around him to the quiet fumbling of his words and the nervous shy awkward energy that he brings to the early convo's with Ingrid. I also really do like Adam Pearson in the role of Oswald, his outgoing nature gives him a lot of screen presence and it really does look like he is just having the best of time with the performance that he is giving, doing nuances like apologizing in quiet to him so that the real estate people can't hear it which feels quite sincere to the way that he tries to provide that support that he knows and see's that Edward needs probably because Oswald needed the same support at one point.
a joke I thought of during the screen was oh no. now he has become two different men, someone greenlight the sequel. very funny thank you for reading.
notes below
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- I like the opening score.
- I really like the blocking of this apartment scene, it's so busy and so much overlapping things, really impressive.
- red door to red typewriter to red shirt.
- I like that it starts with the impression that he is in a real commercial and reveals that is cooperate training video, great reveal.
- I liked the lighting in the surgery scene, the way it cascades is very nice.
- I like this shot, that set with the rain looks really cool.
- like the light on the ceiling.
- I really like the cut from the hospital to the street, that was some cool editing.
- oh no now he is a different man, okay but serious the score in that scene was fantastic, the choice to score these scenes with some light horror elements in it with Jazz is fantastic.
- good fade to black.
- WTF!
- Oswald's introduction to the movie brings forward a lot of interesting thoughts and parallel's to Edward / Guy, so great and well done.
- the meta commentary going on in the film is pretty great as well.
- I really didn't expect the meta commentary to become text, but holy crap this thing is enhanced by that.
- that guys hand is wrapped.
- loved that long shot on the couch.
- there painting the door black.
- nice callback with the quote there.
- you are one, he has become Edward I am sure this is obvious.
