REVIEWS For Ellen REVIEWED BY TIM GRIERSON
Patience is required when entering into a film made by writer-director So Yong Kim, but with her latest, For Ellen, she rewards the viewer with a nuanced and deeply sad portrait of a father and estranged daughter who might finally connect. Gradual and deliberate but also observant and
moving, Kim’s delicate drama is her first to focus on an adult protagonist. Once again, as with her previous two movies (In Between Days and Treeless Mountain), she explores how frightening and alienating the world can be to those on the mar- gins — and also how difficult it can be to reach out to another person. For Ellen will probably be, like Kim’s earlier
works, a niche commercial prospect that appeals chiefly to the arthouses. However, for the first time she has made a movie with legitimate indie stars — Paul Dano, Jon Heder and Jena Malone — who could well attract additional attention to this quiet, modest film. The Ellen of For Ellen is the six-year-old daugh-
ter of Joby (Dano), an aspiring rock musician who is about to finalise divorce proceedings with his wife Claire (Levieva). However, there is a catch: though Joby has spent most of Ellen’s life on tour in the hopes of furthering his musical career, he does not want to lose custody of her completely.
FORUM
US. 2011. 93mins Director/screenplay So Yong Kim Production companies DeerJen, Soandbrad International sales Memento Films, www.
memento-films.com Producers Jen Gatien, Bradley Rust Gray, So Yong Kim Executive producers Paul Dano, Jonathan Vinnik, Michael Clofine, Tricia Quick, Rui Costa Reis, Dave Berlin Cinematography Reed Morano Editors Bradley Rust Gray, So Yong Kim Production designer Ryan Warren Smith Music Johann Johannsson Main cast Paul Dano, Jon Heder, Jena Malone, Margarita Levieva, Shaylena Mandigo
rative style at play in For Ellen. Emphasising unhurried, understated scenes — set against harsh or hostile environments (in this case, the wintry American Northeast) — Kim prefers an intimate immediacy in which the rawness of her characters’ emotional situation comes through clearly, even if her stories are not filled with a par- ticularly busy plot. It should be said Dano does not wholly con-
vince as a rock musician — there is something a little too studied and inauthentic in his demeanour — but he more than capably impresses as an arrested adolescent who has been chasing a dream so long that he never really transitioned into being a grown-up. Joby’s sputtering anger at his lot in life is at first pathetic, but as For Ellen moves along there is a disarming helplessness to the character’s misery that becomes almost touching. While Heder (best known for Napoleon Dyna-
Consequently, before signing the paperwork to end his marriage, he arranges to meet with Ellen (Mandigo) as a last-ditch effort to form a bond after years apart. Those familiar with Kim’s work will immedi- ately recognise and appreciate the visual and nar-
mite) gets to stretch his wings as a dramatic actor, his portrayal of Joby’s eager-beaver lawyer is a bit forced. But in truth, Dano’s most important co- star is his youngest. Shaylena Mandigo gives such a natural, graceful performance free of cloying preciousness that Ellen’s extended visit with Joby at the film’s conclusion brings the movie to a poignant finale. Some viewers may disagree with Joby’s ultimate
decision, which has the ambiguity and surprise reminiscent of the US New Wave of the 1970s; but on reflection, this luckless, lost character had been building up to this choice all along.
n 18 Screen International at the Berlinale February 9, 2012
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