FRANKLYN
UK, 2008, 98 minutes, Colour.
Eva Green, Ryan Philippe, Sam Riley, Bernard Hill, Art Malik, Kika Markham, Susannah York.
Directed by Gerald Mc Morrow.
Tantalising. At least, this is what writer-director, Gerald Mc Morrow, hopes about the beginning of his new film. And, if you are tantalised, you will stay with it, puzzling about the two different worlds we are seeing, then gradually becoming more satisfied as the two worlds come together. But, some may feel exasperated rather than tantalised, finding the two worlds too difficult to understand.
This reviewer was tantalised.
We are put into two worlds without warning, although the central character in a fantasy city that looks to London's Dickensian past as well as showingfuturistic touches, Meanwhile City, announces that he is on a mission to kill. He wears a mask that is not too far away from Friday 13th or Halloween or even The Elephant Man: white cloth, hollow eye sockets... As he walks down the busy and rather squalid streets of the city, he tells us that religion is the compulsion of the day and that he is the only one without faith. His quest is to destroy The Individual who is responsible for the death of a young girl.
Suddenly, we are in contemporary England, then in different sections of London, the world of the rich and psychiatrists, the world of an ordinary young man whose engagement and wedding plans have collapsed and an eccentric young media student who seems to have a death wish.
We go backwards and forwards, following the story of Jonathan Preest (Ryan Philippe) in Meanwhile City, his solitary confinement, treatment by the religious police and authority (Art Malik) and his renewal of his mission. The young man, Milo (Sam Riley) also has his problems but encounters a teacher (Eva Green) who was the little girl companion when his father died. The suicidal young woman (also Eva Green) is trying to get the attention of her mother (Susannah York) to admit her father's abuse of her. And a church warden (Bernard Hill) is searching for his son, David, an Iraq veteran who has escaped from treatment at a mental institution.
Yes, the characters all come together, we understand the nature of the two worlds, the reality and the imaginative creations of disturbed people.
Intriguing.
1.The blend of realism and fantasy? Mental states and imagination?
2.Mental states, illness, madness, hallucinations, illusions, delusions? Relationships, self-image, violence?
3.London as real for each of the central characters, dingy, the suburbs, homes, flats, the hospital? The brighter colour for some sequences? Darker for others? The musical score?
4.Meanwhile City: the world of science fiction, fantasy, the buildings, the streets, clothes, manners, shops, barrows, speakers in the street, the masks? The visual impact? The sound impact?
5.The importance of the religious theme? Faith, variety of faiths, authoritarian, everybody having to register, faith and the secular aspects, exploitation for example the manicurists? Everybody saying, ‘God bless you’? The faith police and their activities? Prison, missions for vengeance? The authorities and their manner? Meanwhile City in itself, in the light of Jonathan Preest? From the perspective of David?
6.The juxtaposition of the two worlds, the revelation of the gradual links between them, people, themes, alternate and parallel worlds? Together?
7.Jonathan Preest and the introduction, his mask, revealing that he was to kill someone, the manner of his dress, the dinginess of where he lived? Evading the police and their pursuit? The walking down the street, the vendors, the preachers, his contact? The violence? Getting the information? His mission to kill the Individual? The story of the girl dying, his search, being caught, sentenced, the authorities, isolation, the passing of the four years? His voice-over commentary? The authorities and their faces? Letting him go, his changing his clothes, wanting to put the bug inside him, his escape? Tracking down his contact, the mission for vengeance?
8.Milo’s story: his mother, Milo as a young boy, his father’s death and his grief, the imaginary Sally being a playmate? The flashbacks showing this? The failure of his wedding, his discussions with his best man, his girlfriend? The worry? Discussions with his mother? Her revealing the truth about his imagination? Seeing Sally, finding her at the school, talking, planning to meet her again? His mother and the photo album? In the restaurant, waiting for Sally, her appearance, the discussion, Peter watching, Milo arguing with her, her explanations and stories, her leaving, his being shot?
9.Amelia’s story: with the psychologist and her mother, her smoking, anger, the exchange role-plays and the attempts to understand each other? Her interest in art, professional, academic, her suicide attempts and their motivation, for her mother? Making the film, labelling the cassettes, her studio? Herself on the monitor, conversation with herself? Her set-up of the suicide attempt, its style, the ambulance coming, her explanations? Pastor Bone and his work in the hospital, his arrangement with her, the discussion, advice? Her meeting the professor and his critique of her work? Her mother and the party, not wanting to interrupt the guests, wanting her mother to admit the truth about her father’s treatment of her, the mother’s comments, embracing her mother? Some healing? Going back to the studio, David arriving, his rifle, the threats, her turning on the gas, David getting her out, the explosion? Her meeting Milo in the street? A future?
10.Peter, from the country, Milo and the wedding and their leaving, his being the warden? The information about David’s visit, going to London, the search, meeting his war companion from Iraq, learning more about David, the doctors and the institution, David’s actual experiences and the escape from the institution, the danger? Peter and the address, waiting in the restaurant, watching Milo, the shooting, the explosion?
11.David, the true story, the audience beginning to understand the relationship between Preest and David? About the events in Meanwhile City and in the real London? The friend, the return from Iraq, into the institution, retreating into his inner world, translating everything to Preest, blaming his father for his sister’s death, his making his father the individual? The religious motivation? His moments of knowing the truth, especially talking to Amelia? The shooting, hitting Milo, the explosion and his death?
12.Pastor Bone, enigmatic, in both worlds? With Amelia? With Peter praying in the chapel?
13.The world of the two stories, the world of imagination, the discussions about fairy stories – and happy and unhappy endings?
