NIGHTCRAWLER:- Contemporary movies are not just documentaries of events or fiction spun around just the protagonist anymore. The true scope of movies has leapt the boundary quite a long time ago but never have been more relevant to the society than in contemporary times. NIGHTCRAWLER is such a movie that touches some of the issues subtly through its showcasing of a character driven story. DAN GILROY(Real Steel, The Bourne Legacy) in this movie has portrayed an amateur crime-scene paparazzo named LOUIS BLOOM(Jake Gyllenhaal) who steps into the life of nightcrawling and in doing so explores a path that illuminates human psychology in its most unrefined perspective. In a world where every person indulges in their own brand of poison, Lous addiction becomes his desire to achieve a sense of control over his own life and others while sniffing the lines of violence and graphic nature of death. So close to death death, Lou never flinches but always remains concerned in distributing this poison to everyone to claim his fame, a desire that chokes his humanity out, if there was any to begin with. Ambition is the prime hamartia of Lou which glides him through the thorn-bed of social judgement which he shrugs off with a nod to his sociopathic tendencies and sweeps it under the rug of professionalism. The movie focuses on the termite called professionalism which gnaws at sympathy to ethics as we see Lou disregarding every codes of morality and social norms. The name NIGHTCRAWLER is a fine allusion to the vampire perspective which is also touched with mentioning of vampire shift of the news network while it may shed light on mainly the vampiristic urges of a journalist to suck out every bit of news from a scene. Contradictory to the previous usage of the word hamartia, Lou is never depicted as a tragic hero but an anti-hero who evokes nerve-chilling sensation through the upholding of a mirror where the reflection is of the dark corners to where human mind travels spontaneously. The movie even vibrates with the issue of evolution and role of media(a matter that is even local with GUWAHATI molestation case of 2012). Cinemtaography by ROBERT ELSWIT and direction deserves praise for tactical usage of a few daylight shots amidst the almost entirety of the movie being in night. The daylights shots come at a time when Lou is yet to trade away his conscience and another time when his inner monster becomes triumphant echoing the reality of life - evil reigns unchecked in a world where lambs are pushed to slaughter and tigers lurk in the corners not to satisfy hunger but to bathe in the sadistic ritual of the hunt. Coming to characterization, it must be said that the array of characters is pretty tight knit with everyone serving as a representation in Lous life. NINA(Rene Russo), the news director becomes Lous destination both from the angle of social status and carnal viewpoint while JOE(Bill Paxton) becomes an example of pre-ordained rule that hes trying to break. At first he aspires to be JOE but upon achieving it he rejects and eyes for more. The sociopathic side is complemented is complemented with the character RICK(Riz Ahmed) on whom he exercises his game of control and makes him a manipulative scapegoat.Jake Gyllenhaal in his portrayal of LOU leaves a bitter aftertaste which can neither be related with totally nor ignored properly because its something human beings are hardwired not to harbor in mind unchecked. He instills an ire instead of sympathy and yet we love him for his disturbing authenticity. Thematically this movie is a marvel in itself and acting is top notch but what remains as a weak point is the lack of authentication when it comes to legal procedures shown in the movie. It can be said to be one of the most technically flawed masterpieces of recent times with the blinding perfection in the portrayal of human psyche. Rating - 7.5/10
Posted on: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 15:15:48 +0000
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