2014’s Heaven Knows
What, directed by the Safdie Brothers.
Starring Arielle Holmes, Caleb Landry Jones, Buddy Duress,
Necro, Eleonore Hendricks, Diana Singh, Benjamin Hampton, and Isaac Adams.
What is it about?
Harley (Arielle Holmes) is an addict, living in the streets
of New York with her volatile boyfriend, Ilya (Caleb Landry Jones). After a
gesture of commitment to him that doubles as a suicide attempt, she ends up in
the psychiatric ward. When she is released, she connects with Mike (Buddy
Duress) and Diana (Diana Singh), who encourage her love of substances, and Harley
continues her journey into what comes next, and reconciles her feelings for
Ilya.
Why is it worth seeing?
Notable for the film’s genesis, the Safdie brother directors
met Arielle Holmes in New York City, and impressed by her presence and story,
encouraged her to write about her life’s experiences. Composed mainly in Apple retail
stores, Mad Love in New York City, is
Holmes’ memoir about living on the streets of New York, in a toxic relationship
with fellow addict Ilya. Her organic and raw story make for an ideal fit for
the Safdies, themselves fast approaching the stature of Woody Allen and Noah
Baumbach as cinematic statesmen of New York- with the unique Safdies
representing the more desperate and far flung corners of the city.
Armed with material that jives with the energetic passion of the stuff addictions are made of, the Safdies focus in- way in, on their actors’ faces, their bodies, their dirty fingernails, the camera at times frantic with motion. There’s even a scene where a pair of characters tumble together, a decent metaphor- the characters mesh into one another, and just can’t untangle as they roll steadily downhill together. The result is an energy that propels through the homegrown material, from the daily scams to a desperate hit with fast friends, and back to scamming again. There’s little glamorization of drug culture, and the grueling world of unpaid debts, broken promises, betrayal, and the sweet temptation of perpetual numbness intrudes throughout.
Armed with material that jives with the energetic passion of the stuff addictions are made of, the Safdies focus in- way in, on their actors’ faces, their bodies, their dirty fingernails, the camera at times frantic with motion. There’s even a scene where a pair of characters tumble together, a decent metaphor- the characters mesh into one another, and just can’t untangle as they roll steadily downhill together. The result is an energy that propels through the homegrown material, from the daily scams to a desperate hit with fast friends, and back to scamming again. There’s little glamorization of drug culture, and the grueling world of unpaid debts, broken promises, betrayal, and the sweet temptation of perpetual numbness intrudes throughout.
The plot’s rocky addiction themes, of lives filled with
plans that always funnel into a result of scoring, are aided by composer’s Paul
Grimstad and Ariel Pink’s score, creating a horrifically un-organic unease. It
matches well with some of the ravishingly unnatural lighting by cinematographer
Sean Price Williams, depicting a world rich in ecstatic desire that can never
be satisfied- that is until the drab reality of daylight intrudes the next day.
Holmes herself is a revelation, portraying an appetite that cannot be suppressed
until it is annihilated.
Viewers will be impressed by the attention to raw detail, and turned off by those very details- the hallmark of an involving addictions film.
Viewers will be impressed by the attention to raw detail, and turned off by those very details- the hallmark of an involving addictions film.
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