The Keeping Room Review (TIFF2014)

Posted 9 years ago by myetvmedia

Daniel Barber’s exquisite directing and stunning visuals combined with Julia Hart’s strong script make “The Keeping Room” one of the most moving and memorable films I’ve encountered in years. Making it’s World Premiere at TIFF 14 in Toronto, this is the story of three Southern women; Augusta (Brit Marling), her sister Louise (Hailee Steinfeld), and their African-American slave Mad (Mun Otaru), who are struggling to survive during the later days of the American Civil War. Brit Marling and Hailee Steinfeld are hypnotic and Muna Otaru’s debut performance in a major film role will leave you wishing she had more screen time.

It is 1865 and these women find themselves left without their men and struggling to keep their farm and their lives together. Their once dynamic farming community has been decimated by the war. When two Yankee soldiers who have broken away from the Union army that is fast approaching, invade their farm and threaten to destroy everything and everyone, the lives of these women become even more complicated. While lacking monumental battle scenes or images of hundreds of men dying on the battlefield, “The Keeping Room” manages to superbly portray the gruesome horror of war and it’s consequences through subtle imagery and dialogue.

Layered characters are the most interesting to watch in any film and Hart’s script delivers just that. Augusta, Louise and Mad are strong women who maintain their femininity and unique perspectives despite the oppressive world they must deal with. To come across a film with such strong women portrayed so vibrantly and realistically was a joy to watch. These women aren’t portrayed as “ass kicking”, super strength, “tough chicks” that chase after the antagonists like deer in hunting season, they are instead portrayed as three normal women placed in a dangerous, terrifying and heartbreaking situation.Their strength comes from their determination to move forward. Frequently during the film I was reminded of the famous quote “courage is not the absense of fear but rather the ability to act in the presence of fear”. What Hart has done with the script is illustrate just that; true courage and characters that play to the ideologies that were prevalent in 1865, yet she makes it very relevant to this day and age.

Sam Worthington, who plays one of the Yankee soldiers is more than just a Yankee terror. Exploring what happens to a person who goes off to war and is “forced to become a monster” as Hart explained, then to see what that ‘monster’ is like when reintroduced to society where there is no battlefield is part of what makes “The Keeping Room” fascinating. Sam Worthington is the soldier who “doesn’t know how to stop killing”. He will disgust you and break your heart. The film could have delivered an even more powerful element had this complex character been further explored but perhaps there just was not time.

These situations could have happened, these moments could have been real and the actions of anyone in these situations would have had lasting consequences, I think that’s what makes this story, and these characters so appealing”.

Brit Marling TIFF Masters Session following the film.

“The Keeping Room” only touches on a multitude of themes without delving too deep into them. Some would cite this as a weakness of the film, however I enjoyed the cursory examination of each character. I felt I understood the characters well and their struggles did not feel superficial. Two themes; that of sexual curiosity versus rape as a power tool and Mad’s slave versus survivor mentality could have been further developed. The film opened a lot of doors that make it ripe for expansion into a riveting TV series. While the performances and the script were what initially led me to enjoy the film, it was the technical elements that made me fall in love. Cinematographer Martin Ruhe creates a stunning backdrop against which “The Keeping Room” plays itself out. The impressive imagery of the opening scenes of the film; the sun-flecked keeping room, rich, honey hued landscapes change subtly as the tension rises everything organically darkening and closing in yet maintaining a strange brilliance.

What the “The Keeping Room” room lacks in theme exploration it makes up for with it’s solid script, performances from its cast and stunning visuals. Highly recommended.

Lauren Schell

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