Budget Diffusers

This is how a charter school budget does diffused photo lighting:
embroidery hoops, plastic tablecloth, panel clips (for drop ceiling installations), and paperclips.

Films That I Finally Saw: Revolutionary Road

In Three Words: This Devastating Stillness

One could say that Revolutionary Road is a story about a couple. To say that might place this film in a category with many others, that have an emotional and intellectual value tantamount to a meal of sawdust. Thankfully, this film is not one of those.

While so many stories revolve around a slow reveal that a seemingly-good relationship is not so good, Mendes tells us that right away. Viewers know immediately that Frank (Leonardo DiCaprio) and April (Kate Winslet) Wheeler don't have a good relationship, or at least that they don't anymore. However, this is not a film about a bad relationship getting good, either.

Though the plot events in following the lives of the Wheelers are captivating, the real power of this story is in the direction. Perfectly timed use of still shots, slow pans, and musical cues create an still air, which is oppressive. In most stories, a relationship goes bad, and we feel bad; in this story, a relationship goes bad, and we feel our souls collapsing.

Despite our many sympathies, one gets the feeling that the turbulence of the Wheeler household means little to the neighborhood. ...that, in the glassy peace of a 1950's suburb, the ghastly disturbances of lives gone horribly wrong would rather be passed-over and forgotten.

Perhaps that's really the point of this film. So many other films want to glorify people and deeds, but when April says "we're not special", it's really true. When happy, the Wheelers made a lovely accessory to the neighborhood; when troubled, the neighbors would rather not talk about them.

Such poignant messages come together with excellent acting and brilliant direction to create a story which is beautiful and haunting. My only issue would be the sparse use of non-linear storytelling, which works, when used, but is far from consistent.

The see it rating still rests at: immediately.

Grade: A