Beginners

“It’s very easy to end up alone.” Even banalities can be touching if they’re delivered with feeling. Beginners, an Freudian interior tragicomedy, seems fresh despite not offering anything radically new in terms of form or content. The fragmentation of the cyclical narrative, depicting life experience in the post-modern age without a beginning or end, and the absence of greater drama and lesser conflict distinguish the film from more straightforward relationship dramas with a clear goal (as does the “indie” look with melancholic autumnal colours). The relationships between the characters are not conceived in a trivial manner. The only thing that’s regrettable about the film, though understandable given the autobiographical nature of the script, is the focusing of all attention on Oliver. The others – his father, his mother, his new girlfriend and his father’s lover – thus serve only as the key to understanding his personality, by himself and by us. The possibility, or rather capability of self-expression is the film’s central theme, from which Mills takes a slight, fidgety (of course, in accordance with the chosen form of the narrative) detour into politics, civic engagement and old films. After the death of his father, who for a long time could not give expression to his homosexuality, Oliver withdraws into himself instead of letting the world know that he is here, that he is lonely (because of his nature), sad (because of the past and memories) and filled with worry (because of the future). Unlike the gay men whose voices were silenced for decades, the only thing that stops him from screaming is his own inability to accept the change in his life brought about by his father’s death. He is drawn back into the world of talking (i.e. not canine) heads by – psychoanalysts, take note – a girl without a voice, disguised as a man when they first meet (or she is at first just a substitute for Oliver’s father, filling the empty space). Anna and Oliver’s outwardly simple and ordinary coming together uses a number of romantic clichés that involve breaking up and making up and, in light of the doubly irrational relationship between Oliver’s mother and father, raise questions that don’t come up in an ordinary romance. For example, the most basic question – why do two people stay together? On the relationship level, it’s obvious how personal a film Beginners is for Mills. The crucial word is “sensitivity” and the actors give it meaning. Ewan McGregor, whose restrained speech corresponds superbly to Oliver’s state of mind, for once falls under the suspicion that he is playing his part under the influence of Valium. The veteran actor Christopher Plummer, who enjoys his role as an “old queer” as much as Mélanie Laurent relishes her role as a charming protector, about whom you can know everything and she will still give the impression of being mysterious. She is thus a bit like a being from another world, outwardly unburdened by any serious concerns, but again that slightly buck-passing excuse comes up – Anna serves exclusively for the protagonist to find himself, so a more thorough depiction of her is not desirable. Beginners managed to avoid that stupidly optimistic, everything’s-going-to-be-okay, everyone-is-happy feeling and yet, despite a certain unevenness, it leaves you with a thoroughly pleasant feeling. A feeling that you don’t have to be ashamed of. 80% (18/11/2011) (moins) (plus)