Chromophobia

I totally disagree with the negative comments I have read about the film Chromophobia. I went to see the film with no preconceptions at all and I came away feeling I had had a thoroughly entertaining evening. The film was fairly bleak in parts but I came away feeling positive and uplifted. The characters were complex and the script kept them totally believable. There was contrast in the subject matter and storyline as well as in way it was filmed. I think there were some highly ambitious ideas explored in the movie. The pace was perfectly pitched and hit the emotional level it was trying to achieve. The cinematography was superb and the music pulled the whole movie together. I felt the film was not a showcase for famous actors but rather a way to use their talent in a very modest way. The casting was spot on and created the opportunity to give the actors some challenging work.

Renting this DVD in 2010, the film encapsulated the decade of the noughties in all its extreme materialism, consumerism, and negation of personal relationships. To begin with, I thought the film was going to be too depressing and overly precious in style and content, but as the themes developed, the intricacies and subtleties of character and plot wove carefully into a seamless whole, and the result was a satisfying, if excruciatingly cynical, survey of London society at the beginning of the 21st century. As it is necessarily a work of fiction, and not a reality show, the characters were allowed their melodrama, such as Penelope Cruz playing a prostitute dying of cancer, inexpertly 'helped' in her distress by a wonderfully subtle performance by Rhys Ifans as a social worker. Some of the darkest scenes in this dark, dark story, depicted the state of the social work system and its inefficient, uncaring way of managing those in need of the service - a scathing critique worthy of Dickens. In many ways, this film worked like a novel - it had a beginning, middle, and end; the structure was deliberate and meticulous, the style perfected, and the whole brought together by a superb cast of actors. Kristin Scott-Thomas is, to me, one of the best British actresses ever; she can play any part with subtlety and nuance and express the minutest detail of emotion with a change in her eye expression, or a slight movement of her mouth. She is painfully affecting as the ignored and bored wife, shopping expensively to no purpose, neglecting her son because she has neglected herself, feeling frustrated, and considering breast implants to restore her self-esteem (a knock at the prevalence of cosmetic surgery in present society). Her performance, understated, with more expression than dialogue, presages her Oscar-worthy acting in 'I Have Loved You So Long'. Having just seen Damien Lewis in a bravura performance as Alceste on the London stage in 'The Misanthrope' - a brilliant re-working of Moliere's play by Martin Crimp - I could see the origins of what he brought to the character of Alceste in the way he played Marcus in this film. All Marcus really wanted was to play the guitar in a band, not waste his life in the corporate world of high legal protection of privileged and corrupt professionals. Ben Chaplin, Ralph Fiennes (playing himself as usual, but effectively), Ian Holm, and Harriet Walter, were all equally good and as the disparate characters weave in and out of each others' lives, the ensemble piece comes together in a moving and impressive drama. I was not sure about the redemption ending, but maybe Martha Fiennes felt the film was just too deeply dark not to have some kind of cathartic closing. After all, Dickens does the same and we love him for that. So you will love this film. Stay with it: you will not be disappointed.

So far only seen at Cambridge /Oxford special showings. A visually distinctive, intelligent, beautifully scripted, classy contemporary drama. Marcus, a successful lawyer (Damian Lewis) is the son of a High Court Judge (Ian Holm) now married to a dog-&-garden-obsessed - though emotionally repressed wife, (Harriet Walter). Gloria - an immigrant, single mum and Hep C suffering sex worker is played by Penelope Cruz - who finds herself aggressively resisting the tentative aid of a fragile social services worker, (Rhys Ifans). Marcus's wife, Iona (Kristin Scott Thomas) is a privileged, sexually frustrated, shoppaholic mother who becomes perturbed by her young son's relationship with his godfather, (Ralph Fiennes). At work, Marcus unwittingly discovers a momentous secret - ripe for exploitation by his old friend Trent (Ben Chaplin), a struggling investigative journalist, desperately in need of a break. The stories interweave with others and the film explores the psychology, dynamics and value systems of modern city life. Each character is forced to confront their lives and their disengaged flawed lives they inhabit. A brilliant cast all acting their socks off, the movie is a thought provoking visual feast. This is a thinking, feeling emotional/ psychological film. Gripping and sumptuous. It is a contemporary and challenging.

This film is about the lives of several individuals who seem unconnected to each other, but in the end everyone is in fact connected to each other and play a part in the final catastrophe. This film is stylishly made. The way that the story is told reminds me of Babel which I watched several days ago. The story telling is effective and gripping. As the film goes along, every individual's connection with each other becomes clear. Everything falls into place with time. Despite the slow pace, it does not seem boring at all. In fact, it gives us time to digest all the information that is given. Acting by the cast is excellent, particularly Kristin Scott Thomas and Penelope Cruz. Kristin Scott Thomas is a frustrated mother who destresses herself by being a shopaholic. The minimalistic house she resides in also adds to the atmosphere that she is trapped in a bare castle. Penelope Cruz is a single mother who is battling with cancer. Her performance is also excellent. I am also amazed by how the filmmakers actually got footage of a female breast being cut open for breast augmentation surgery. It looks too realistic to be fake!

The other reviews here leave me and 76 friends I watched this with dumbstruck. I have never witnessed such a self important film in my life, truly mind numbing and empty. I was surprised about 45 minutes in after the vast array of credible actors in the film and couldn't for the life of me figure out why they had agreed to perform after reading such a terrible script, devoid of narrative, substance and style. Then it became obvious when you see Ralph Fiennes' sister wrote and directed it then you realise she woke up one day and wanted to be a film maker, tomorrow she probably wants to open a boutique in Upper Street, the next day raise cattle to sell organic meat. I expect she has the money and free time to take anything up on a whim, hence the stars are her family and friends, it is the only explanation as to why they appeared in this film. It is a pompous work of utter self indulgence. The attempt to weave characters together was so flawed, if you want to see this when it works, see Robert Altman's Short Cuts. if you want to see a film with the cream of British talent, see anything by Mike Leigh. There is no redeeming aspect of this film

It is a shame that critics have buried alive this wonderful film when at the same time they praise so many repetitive, stereotypical productions. It is a brave, innovative movie with great acting, intelligent, witty plot set in a contemporary setting and fabulous stylish photography. It features controversial themes of today (juvenile crime, alienation, corruption) and realistic, multi-dimensional characters that evolve and grow as the film progresses. Moreover, despite its multiple thread storyline, the plot has an Aristotelian nearly perfect structure that so many contemporary films lack. It is puzzling that it took so long for this film to be released (and it is a very limited release), and even more puzzling that it has been welcomed with such animosity by the professional film critics. It just shows that one cannot trust them when choosing which film to go and see.

source: Chromophobia

Chromophobia