Wooden doll more likeable than Adam Driver in heroically odd musical
ANNETTE â â â
(MA 15+) 140 minutes. Video on demand. In Sydney cinemas from October 11.
Annette has a killer start and a killer finish. Itâs the bits in between that donât always measure up. At 140 minutes, thatâs a long haul for an experimental musical where one of the main characters is a wooden puppet. On the other hand, itâs daring, original and heroically odd, so it has the right to a few flaws. Failing through ambition is better than its alternative.
Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard in the âdaring, original and heroically oddâ Annette.
The director is the somewhat notorious Leos Carax, the (60-year-old) enfant terrible of French cinema. He has had spectacular hits (Les Amants du Pont-Neuf) and spectacular misses (Holy Motors was loved by some, but not moi). He makes films by instinct and feel, rather than full deliberation.
He says he doesnât know how to direct actors, and he canât say what this film is really about. Adam Driver, who plays an iconoclastic comedian, says they never discussed that. No kidding. Carax often crafts memorable scenes, but fitting them together into a structure, an argument, is not his forte.
The idea is not really his, anyway. The music and original concept are by Ron and Russell Mael, the nutty brothers behind Sparks, one of the longest-running bands in rock history. They have been having a big year: Edgar Wrightâs enjoyable documentary about them came out a few months ago.
Theyâve been trying to get this film made for years. Rooney Mara, Rihanna and Michelle Williams were all attached at one point. In the end, the wonderful Marion Cotillard grounds the film as a famous soprano who falls for Driverâs grouchy comedian.
The opening has Carax in a recording studio, waiting for the band to set up. âSo may we start?â he asks. Ron and Russ pick these words up as a lyric. The whole circus then busts out, with Cotillard and Driver striding the streets of Santa Monica in a long take that blends silliness and virtuosity in equal measure.
Weâre not in full musical mode. Thereâs no La La Land dancing as such, and the actors bounce between spoken and sung dialogue, but the singing is in places Iâve never seen it before, like during sex, or when she is swimming. And most of the singing is by the actors, rather than dubbed. Fairly soon, the lovers have a child but the child is like Pinocchio â" a wooden puppet, with subtly lifelike movements. To the parents, he is completely real. After about an hour, weâre a long way from Kansas, as Dorothy famously said.
The Sparks music is not quite Sondheim â" more quirky and hooky, in various styles. The dramatic tension picks up considerably when the film turns darker. Driverâs character is now alone, raising the wooden baby, whoâs called Annette.
Itâs odd to say, but the kid is more likeable than his dad. Driverâs raging bull routine as a comedian-gone-bad would have been more convincing if his shows were actually funny, establishing a reason for his reputation. And without Cotillard for most of the second half, the film lacks a counter-balance. This is where Caraxâs lack of structure is more apparent. He may not care if he bores the audience, but audiences usually do.
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Paul Byrnes is a film critic for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via Twitter.
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