First Reformed

Paul Schrader’s got one of the weirder careers Hollywood has yet produced.  If you know his name, it’s likely because he’s the writer of Scorsese’s seminal classics Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, as well as other collabs with the great director, like The Last Temptation of Christ and Bringing Out the Dead.  But he hasn’t stuck with screenwriting, no, he’s also dabbled in directing.  Starting with flicks like Hardcore and American Gigolo, he would go on to helm some decent things like Auto Focus and Dominion, one of the two Exorcist prequels made in 2005.  Most recently, he gave us a glimpse of Lindsay Lohan’s body (just short of a decade too late for us to actually care) in the ludicrous The Canyons, and then he hit the straight-to-video market with a couple of Nicolas Cage vehicles, Dying of the Light and Dog Eat Dog.  I don’t know if these just didn’t challenge him enough, or if they weren’t successful enough, but he redoubled his efforts, and, in an interview, told the world he was working on a project different from anything he had done before, aiming at a style reminiscent of Bergman or Tarkovsky.

Gotta tell ya, he came pretty close to those lofty goals.

First Reformed centers on the priest of a small upstate New York church, played by Ethan Hawke.  He’s ill, a touch alcoholic, mentally unstable, and keeping a journal, providing a source for the narration that pervades the proceedings.  He is approached by an expecting couple, because the husband favors an abortion, not wanting to drag a child into a world whose environmental degradation will only lead to major problems.  From here, we see his sanity degrade with his physical health, all while he prepares for his historical church’s 250th anniversary reconsecration.  Fun times.

Hawke, as the critics in the trailer agree, is excellent here, giving one of the best performances I’ve seen from him to date (let it be known, I thought everything about Boyhood was overrated, included Hawke’s performance, though I did think it pretty solid).  You definitely get a sense of the conflicts raging in his character’s brain and soul, and his usual understated nature works well within the confines Schrader has made for him.  Some strong support comes from Amanda Seyfried (the expectant mother), Philip Ettinger (her whacked-out husband, who, from one vantage point, looks like my buddy Derek), and Cedric the Entertainer, whose role as head of Hawke’s church’s benefactor church organization allows the funnyman to give an admittedly surprisingly rich and textured performance.  Under Schrader’s eye and with his words, everyone delivers to their utmost, and it shows.

Meanwhile, Schrader and his relatively green cinematographer Alexander Dynan do wonders with the camera to drag us into Hawke’s mental space.  The aspect ratio is a nigh-claustrophobic 1.37:1, approaching a square, forcing feelings of confinement while accentuating vertical lines, orthogonals, and symmetry.  Indeed, Dynan’s framing is replete with symmetrical shots, though they’re often just off of perfectly symmetrical, a sign of the apparent balance in Hawke’s life that rests upon an unstable foundation.  Schrader’s script adds to this uncomfortable and hemmed-in atmosphere, drip-feeding us Hawke’s situation, past and present, and leading us down the path along with him in a welcome, steady pace.  The confluence of systems of corruption and the corruption of systems is brought into focus, showing us how purity can be perceived where its not, lost where it never was, and born into where it isn’t necessarily destined to thrive.  It’s a bit heavy, but the effort and ability brought to the project by all involved guide us along without drowning us.

It’s a damn fine film, to be sure, though I’m not sure it’s for everyone.  If you’re into dark, individual character studies, definitely give it a go, but don’t expect too much of a vein of humor or levity to buoy you through it.  It’s worth it, though, kids, trust me.