Broadway on screen: FROST/NIXON, DOUBT (December 08)
We saw the film version of Peter Morgan's Frost/Nixon on Christmas day. My mother and I had seen Langella and Sheen do the play on Broadway. It was an interesting transition; the play features a lot of fourth-wall breaking from the characters looking back on the Nixon interviews. In the film, these instances are done like a documentary, with the actors giving this commentary from a viewpoint after the interviews. I don't think this worked as well outside the already abstracted play; it felt less natural, breaking up the flow of the action.
The other point of interest was Ron Howard's direction. The thing that made Michael Grandage's direction of the stage play really cool was the way the actors were filmed and projected live on giant screens that comprised the back wall of the stage:
That way, the camera operators could use both film techniques and stage ones-- most notably the close-up. There's a saying mentioned in the play/film, "It was the close-up that killed Nixon," referring to the televised 1960 presidential debate with JFK, and later implied about Frost's interview. In the play, it is central that while David Frost lacks political journalistic experience, he is a genius at the media. Frost knows television.
I found it interesting, then, that Howard's direction, especially in the interview scenes, was more conventional and focused on the actors in the moment of the interview rather than outside it, looking at the way Frost manipulated the filming.
The performances from Langella and Sheen were just as stellar as they were in New York. However, I think the direction impaired the impact of Nixon's major speech towards the end of the film. Hunched over the telephone, silhouetted against the stark glow of the stage's screens, Langella was simultaneously eerie and vulnerable-- leaving the audience to later wonder along with the former president whether the scene actually took place. Regardless, it is with that conversation that the power changes hands from Nixon to Frost.
The other film we saw was John Patrick Shanley's Doubt, another adaptation of a recent award-winning play, and also another confrontation piece. Again, we had seen the play with Tony winners Cherry Jones and Adriane Lenox on tour in LA. The film stars Meryl Streep as Sister Aloysius and Philip Seymour Hoffman as Father Flynn, and was directed by the playwright.
I read that part of Shanley's intent was to open up the story into setting-- the Bronx in 1964. I find this direction ineffective, because part of the driving intensity of the play comes from the crushing isolation of the principle characters. The nuns and priests are confined in the school, secluded from the city. Stagnating in their own isolation, the conflict between the old order and the changing times is more evident.
Vatican II is less central in the film. It is significant because one of the main contrasts between Sr. Aloysius and Fr. Flynn is his insistence on change and transition away from the old role and structure of the church, and her strict traditional views and stubbornness. Thus, when Sr. Aloysius lies, saying she with a nun at Fr. Flynn's previous school about his history of molestations, rather than to the head priest, it sparks Flynn's anger. Only then, when his reputation is on the line does he insist on the old order and formal structure of the parochial school system.
I think the strongest performance in the film comes from Amy Adams as Sr. James, for she embodies the crushing effects of her grave doubts on her naivety. There is awards buzz about Viola Davis as Mrs. Muller, for the short but powerful scene that won Adriane Lenox a Tony in the role. Again I feel Shanley's direction of this scene was heavy-handed, making Mrs. Muller and Sr. Aloysius walk together outside seemed an unnecessary way to incorporate more exterior footage. It also throws off the balance, forcing stern Sr. Aloysius to step outside her world into that of the mother's, rather than having Mrs. Muller have to defend herself and her son in the confines of the principal's office.
As Fr. Flynn, I don't think Hoffman had enough of charm that makes the young students respect or even love him. There was too much of the fake joviality and greasy smarm; it seemed clear enough to us that despite Shanley's proclamation that he intended to leave the situation ambiguous, through his adaptation and direction of the film that Sr. Aloysius is correct and justified.
Meryl Streep is a force of nature, deeply invested in her character, her world, and her convictions. To some extent, this works against her. What really stood out to me in Cherry Jones's performance in the role was her subtlety, a variety in inflections and tones. Streep was constantly forceful, perhaps trying to emphasize Sr. Aloysius's sternness, but overall it came off as monotone.
My New Year's resolution is to update this blog more regularly with commentary, news, and at least a capsule review of every show I attend. Thank you for reading, I hope you'll stick around.
Happy 2009!