ANXIETY (1998)
"We must die with dignity, mustn't we?"
1 out of ****
Starring Irene Papas, José Pinto, Leonor Silveira, Luis Miguel Cintra Written & Directed by Manoel de Oliveira, from stories by Agustina Bessa-Luís, Prista Monteiro, and António Patrício Cinematography by Renato Berta
When writer/director Manoel de Oliveira first conceived of ANXIETY, it probably sounded like a really good idea. It would be a sombre, literate meditation on mortality, told through three interwoven stories, each story resonating with the others to create a whole greater than the sum of its parts. That, indeed, sounds like a movie I would enjoy.
ANXIETY is not that movie. It is one of the most excruciatingly tedious experiences I have had in a theatre in a long time, an opinion shared by the friend who endured it with me and (evidently) the two dozen or more people, wiser than I, who left before it was over.
What is wrong with the film? Almost everything. On an intellectual level, it does offer some thought-provoking ideas, but that's of little use when those ideas are removed from any human context. De Oliveira's approach to his material seems to be one of philosophic detachment, but he was entirely too successful with the detachment part. The characters exist so that they can debate certain ideas; they have no personality traits beyond those immediately required. They have no passion, no life. The acting is stiff, and everyone appears to have only one emotional register, viz., sober reflection. Characters mostly sit in one place and talk, using very formal, 'written' language. The camera is static. The men philosophize about women, while the women ... well, the women sit around so that the men can philosophize about them.
Worse, the production values are shabbier than any I have seen for quite some time. The sets are bland and unappealing, the lighting dim. The editing and mise-en-scène seem like the work of an amateur, although they are not: de Oliveira made his first film in 1931. He is 89 years old and still at work. I am sure he is a fascinating human being. I am sure, with all those years of life lived, he has some fascinating things to say about mortality. I just wish he had come right out and said them, rather than making this movie.
Bits and pieces of ANXIETY show promise. There are some nice images, like a shot of a rough-hewn tunnel lined with candles. There is a blackly humourous moment at the end of the first part, which concerns a father and son arguing about whether the son should commit suicide so that he will remain famous after he's dead. As I was watching these things, I was thinking, "That would have been interesting, if I actually gave a damn about what was going on."
There is also a neat twist in the transition from the first story to the second story, but unfortunately the second story is the worst of the lot, devoted largely to the musings of one man about a courtesan he has slept with, and what it is that she represents in the grand scheme of things. The man's repeated invocation of the phrase "poor Suzy" becomes unintentional self-parody. By the film's third act, a myth about a 1000-year-old 'Mother of a River' who passes on her knowledge to a young girl, I was numb to any possible pleasures, and simply looking forward to the end credits.
This is by no means the worst film I have seen; at the very least, it has some potentially compelling ideas, which is more than you can say for some movies. The screenplay might actually make for good reading, but it just doesn't translate onto the screen. De Oliveira seems to have been striving for the sort of static, contemplative mood used so successfully by, say, Tarkovsky. But the artistry that makes a movie like THE SACRIFICE so mesmerizing is lacking here. The fact is, I don't think most people would enjoy this movie even if it did succeed on its own terms, just as most people are probably put off by THE SACRIFICE and similar works. I, however, am part of the target audience for ANXIETY, and I hated it. That's never a good sign.
A Review by David Dalgleish (October 2nd, 1998)
dgd@intouch.bc.ca
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