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Savage Grace (2007)

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24 comments in total

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34 out of 48 people found the following comment useful :-
Chilling story, 27 julio 2007

Author: Paul Martin de Melbourne, Australia

Having seen quite a few films produced by Christine Vachon, I recognised a similar aesthetic in this film. Vachon's films often portray unconventional sexuality or other challenging social themes, but in a stylised way that is more accessible to wider audiences than grittier art-house films. This film would make a terrific companion piece to Christophe Honoré's Ma mère, as it tackles similarly challenging themes, though it is based on a true story and is much more digestible for audiences. The parallels between these stories are remarkable.

Julianne Moore is an actress I admire and takes top billing. Her performance was as good as usual, portraying Barbara Daly Baekeland, wife of the Bakelite heir. Eddie Redmayne's portrayal of her homosexual son was for me the stand-out performance. The film is set in various countries - the US, France, Spain and England - and the visuals are excellent. It takes a while to get a handle on where the film wants to take us, but it culminates in a chilling end. Worth seeing for the brave risks it takes and succeeds in delivering.

The Melbourne International Film Festival screening I attended was introduced by the director, Tom Kalin.

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38 out of 68 people found the following comment useful :-
Just one word: beautiful !, 22 mayo 2007

Author: rital06 de Cannes, France

Seen at the last Cannes Film Festival in the Directors' Forthnight selection. More than 15 minutes of applause followed the screening, in the presence of the director (Tom Kalin) and the main character (Julian Moore). Julian is excellent in characterizing Mrs Baekland (wife of Brooks Baekeland, the nephew of the inventor of Bakelite) throughout the lifetime of her child. The costumes, haircuts, settings are just perfect. This real story is told with a lot of respect and even if the subject is rather extreme it is presented in a very fair way. The selection of the locations is also excellent and ranges between half of Europe. Well done Tom ! Definitely worth the waiting.

Cheers, Rital

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16 out of 26 people found the following comment useful :-
A provocative film just for the sake of being provocative, 6 abril 2008

Author: Gordon-11 de Hong Kong

This film is about a rich but dysfunctional family trying to hang on to each other, ultimately destroying everyone's happiness.

I saw this film only because Julianne Moore is in it. Moore is a fine actress who starred in a lot of high quality films. I was hoping "Savage Grace" would be as good as her other films, but I was disappointed.

I find the story slow and poorly developed. Mr & Mrs Baekeland's poor relationship is satisfactorily portrayed, but from this point onwards the film goes downhill. Things happen without buildup and are poorly explained. The final ending is simply ridiculous, as the unexpected twist on Tony's mental state feels very contrived and unconvincing.

"Savage Grace" could have been a thought provoking and engaging drama. Instead, it fails to be engaging, and the characters not sympathetic. In my opinion, the story unfolds provocatively just for the sake of being provocative.

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12 out of 19 people found the following comment useful :-
Dark tale of a mother and son doesn't really connect with its audience, 26 mayo 2008

Author: dbborroughs de Glen Cove, New York

Story of Barbara Daly Baekeland, who married the heir to the Bakelite fortune. We watch as the relationship with her husband slides, the relationship with her son (who narrates) goes weird and everything collides in tragedy.

This is a dark little movie. Almost from the first frames the whole world seems wrong and off. The interaction between Barbara and her husband now that they have a son is at best awkward, at worst strained. Its clear from the start that Mom is paying way too much attention to her baby. Its unnerving. Whats also clear up front is that no one is "normal". Everyone is clearly in their own little damaged world (Dad travels, mom is isolated and the kid just tries to cope with all of the weirdness). As a means to an effect, namely making the audience feeling uneasy, it works in spades. As a means of making a film that is something that we can either relate to or want to watch for any reason other than it intrigues our baser instincts its not really the way to go. Forgive me, but I don't know why I was watching this, I mean let me put it simply, these people are nuts. These are rich people who are just strange.

Its doesn't help that the performances seem very mannered. All of the actors are very good but I felt as though I was watching a very very British mannered drama.The characters seem to be more a collection of ticks and manners then anything else. Yes I understand that everyone is wrapped up in themselves; behavior thats so guarded that each act (especially sex)seems to be for some ulterior reason, and that any unmannered act is one of self revelation, but at the same time it kept me distant. I never cared about anyone or anything, I only wanted to see how twisted this all got(And it gets pretty funky).

Is it any good? Yea, he says begrudgingly. The performances are good, especially Juliane Moore, the film is extremely well crafted and as much as I bitch, it does hold your attention in the same way that a bloody car wreck does (you keep watching to see how bad it gets because you know it has nothing to do with you). I wish it was just slightly better than it is, I wish there was some sign of what life was before the baby came along, I mean why did her husband marry her, I have no clue, nor do I know why he bothered to stay married to her as long as he did. I also wish this was about real people, instead of "martians", I mean most of the characters outside of the central ones seem reasonably normal, I cared more about them then the ones the film was about.

Is it worth seeing? I don't know if I would go out of my way to see it. Frankly the chance to see this kind of fell into my lap so I took it, especially since a friend had asked about the film at the instant the chance to see the film arrived. Would I have wanted to pay for it? In the end no, I want to get some thing else from the film then just feeling dirty.

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7 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
Strangely Unaffecting, 19 junio 2008

Author: mocpacific de Canada

I'm a fan of "Swoon" I loved the semi documentary approach at another, true, high society horror story. In "Swoon" the distance the director took from his subject helped us to understand and to involve ourselves in the twisted mind of the protagonists. In "Savage Grace" it works the opposite way. I needed to be closer I needed to be taken step by step in any way you want it but step by step. The shrill performance by Julianne Moore didn't give me and 8th of what Judy Davis gave me in "A Little Thing called Murder" Here you're on your own. No sense of period or class no dramatic structure and feeble performances. What a pity. I had waited for this film with feverish anticipation.

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4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
A Lost Dog Collar: Impact and Consequences, 29 junio 2008

Author: gradyharp de United States

SAVING GRACE is screenwriter Howard A. Rodman's adaptation of Natalie Robins and Steven M.L. Aronson's brutally realistic book by the same name of a famous wealthy family's downfall. Director Tom Kalin has previously proved that he can successfully mix biopic with drama ('Swoon'), but alas in this tedious film he fails to make the audience care about any of his characters, despite the fact that he cast this strange collection of edgy types with outstanding actors. In the end, after witnessing an incestuous relationship between mother and son and a subsequent brutal murder, the only moment of tenderness is a very lost boy's need to recover the collar of his childhood dog, long dead but hardly forgotten in the murky soup that has been his life.

Knowing that the story is true adds a bit of intrigue: the family of a plastics mogul is in the third generation: Brooks Baeklande (Stephen Dillane) wallows in his wealth without positively contributing to his family reputation; his wife Barbara (Julianne Moor), a former actress and Feline's salesgirl who marries into wealth only to become obsessed with climbing a ladder that repeatedly betrays her 'class'; their only son Antony (Eddie Redmayne) who moves from his mother's worshiped idol to his father's loathed rival at his being bisexual/gay to a series of affairs - none of which he finds satisfying or fulfilling, especially his ultimate incestuous relationship with his mother. The film runs from 1946 (Antony's birth) to 1972 and the tragic finale and during this time the audience is conducted through the superficial corridors of life among the wealthy and influential people of New York, Paris, London, Cadaques. Along the way we meet some interesting characters, paramours of Antony played by Elena Anaya, the gifted actors Unax Ugalde and Hugh Dancy, and a host of other bit parts who enliven the action or act as stimuli for the crumbling downfall of Barbara Baekeland.

The various periods of time are well captured by cinematographer Juan Miguel Azpiroz who manages to give us the 'superficial beauty' of these empty souls while keeping a safe distance from their degrading antics. The musical score by Fernando Velázquez is always too loud and falls between the cracks of elevator Muzak and takeoffs on Wagner's leitmotifs from 'Tristan und Isolde'.

The major problem with this film is that it is nearly impossible for us to emotionally invest in any of the characters, even as well defined as they are in the hands of such excellent actors. It is this distance that sinks the film, a 'biopic' about rather distasteful folks that offers little insight into the positive aspects of their deranged behavior. Or perhaps that void is what Tom Kalin is striving to depict. It just misses. Grady Harp

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4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Thoughtful, but not touching examination of Barbara Baekeland's murder., 3 junio 2008
Author: Beginthebeguine de United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

It is hard to understand the fancies of the elite nomadic American rich without first realizing that they are inheritors of a much lower class and always looking to the European aristocrats for guidance. Brook Baekeland is such a man, who's grandfather Leo invented the first synthesized plastic. His grandfather was a common man but his own father lost himself to social climbing and has left Brook a certain amount of disdain for the aristocracy. This disdain leads Brook to join the army, and seek out exploration in third world locations, perhaps to leave a similar mark as his grandfather did. He draws further away from his wife Barbara who lives for the very social world he has come to deplore.

Barbara also has a touch of disdain for the aristocrats for in one moment she shows a great wit and the next lashes out at the very people she longs to impress. I know that some have commented that she is overtly sexual, but I think the sex here is more of a response. Perhaps, she has begun to hate herself and throughout the movie more and more so till she destroys everything.

Tony, her bisexual son is in the middle of all this. He is the appeaser, the father, the mother and the one afflicted by all those around him. Slowly, he descends into schizophrenia and after participating in a sexual relationship with his mother he kills her and then orders Chinese take out.

There isn't a complete story here in this film. The screenplay has massive holes in it but the rhythm of the film moves along at an even pace. It is well shot and the scenery is pleasant. There was great pains taken to not make the sex scene between Barbara and Tony more uncomfortable then it was and the steady ticking of the clock from the mantel was a good touch. This is a hard story to tell and from a regular persons frame of mind impossible to make the characters sympathetic. The director had great courage to take on such a story and was lucky to have Julianne Moore who did a splendid job rushing from one emotion to the next. The supporting cast was excellent, as was the lighting. I might have seen a Ipod in 1969 France sitting on a wall around their house, but perhaps not.

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7 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
Don't be afraid, it's human(e), 28 octubre 2007

Author: Comandante666 de Vienna, Austria

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

The most disturbing fact about this movie is that it is actually based on a true story. Though it appears to be pretty well known at least in the US I so far haven't had heard of it. Thus it probably struck me twice as hard.

The subject though is familiar and reminds of ancient Greek tragedian Sophocles and his famous play 'Oedipus Rex'. But this is only a very basic resemblance. The story which evolves in several steps around the life of Tony Baekland is set in several countries of Europe between 1946 and 1972.

The environment in which Tony grows up is a very wealthy American bourgeois family which seems to exist pretty independent of much of the outer worlds developments. At one point in the movie Tony reads a statement by his famous grandfather which I'd like to cite from my memory: 'Money allows you to not have to live with the consequences of your mistakes.' Although Tony in the movie doesn't seem very content with the meaning, I guess it summarizes the behavior of the characters very well. They are revolving around themselves and soon the ultimate catastrophe begins.

Tony discovers his homosexuality at a very early stage and is thereupon loosing his connection to his father, Brooks, whom he already had described as being cold and dark, at the very beginning of the movie. Eventually Brooks takes off with Tonys first girlfriend and from now on he is mostly seen only from the distance. Tonys relationship with his mother in contrast is exceptionally close and shows no apparent privacy of either of the two characters. It develops to a full incestuous act at the end of the movie that finally also leads to matricide and the arrest of Tony.

It is very hard to describe this film other than as irritating. But it never goes so far as to repel the viewer. Though it may not be sympathy you feel for the characters it might very well be empathy or at least pity. They are very well described in their perfectness and simultaneous vulnerability and resourcefully embodied by the outstanding performances of the main actors.

Apart of the dramatic content, the movie also captivates because of its beautiful costumes and requisites. I hardly like movies just because of their visual impression. But this one I must say was absolutely impressive in this case. I was stunned by only watching the set and the beautiful people moving around there. It somehow reminded my of the film version of 'Death in Venice'. Don't ask me why, it's just a feeling...

Anyways 'Savage Grace' is a very recommendable movie and I was glad I had the opportunity to watch it yesterday. The director Tom Kalín was present and was kind enough to answer some questions. Thank you Tom, for a very decent movie about very indecent people.

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8 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
Riveting, 27 mayo 2008

Author: mnc20041 (mnc20041@yahoo.com) de Clarkston, Washington

The film has received much criticism for its "slow and episodic" pace, "bad" acting, and controversial elements. I will agree with the controversial aspects. This is not a film that cookie cutters will appreciate. They will be disgusted and more than likely bored out of there mind. I on the other hand come from a very dysfunctional family(not as dysfunctional), and at times related to certain characters. TO me the film was very direct in its approach and honestly quite tasteful for the subject matter. The pacing was as it should be. It was gradual not slow, it helped to build the tension. As for it being episodic, it is because the son is telling the story through his letters and journals. As for the acting I found it to be quite good with the exception of the son. I found his performance at times too emotionless. Julianne Moore more than makes up for it with her performance. She is a powerhouse. Brilliant Oscar worthy performance. The final scenes which I have heard are anticlimactic, in my opinion were refreshingly realistic and not overly dramatic.

So bottom line well-done film with an amazing performance by Julianne Moore, but could've been better with a more personal performance by the son

******* out of **********

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15 out of 29 people found the following comment useful :-
Quite good, actually, 31 marzo 2008

Author: jackojacko

The film is different. It does stand out amongst hundreds of "seen-this-before" flicks.

Juliane Moore is great, of course.

One of her best performances, actually.

The film has the atmosphere that is hard to find these days; moves kind of slowly but the tension continually grows so you know something (bad) is going to happen eventually although you have no idea what.

Cannot understand certain opinions here which, I have a feeling, have been written without even watching the film or, simply, for some unknown reasons, out of spite.

See it. It is really good.

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