As I Lay Dying
★★★
Dir: James Franco
(2013)
James Franco’s directorial debut, As I Lay Dying, is visually impressive (once again, a young director somewhat reminiscent of Terrence Malick), however, the film’s characters and basic plot lack substance. Based on the novel by William Faulkner, the story revolves around a poor, uneducated, southern family who feel compelled to deliver their recently-deceased mother’s casket to a designated place in order to honour her beseeching request. They come across almost as pilgrims on the outskirts backwater country of an America from ages ago.
As usual, Tim Blake Nelson shines as Anse Bundren, a boorish, white trash father who acts callously and selfishly but still proves to be a devoted husband to his late wife, Addie (played hauntingly by Beth Grant). The supporting cast is superb – Danny McBride as Vernon, Jim Parrack as Cash, Logan Marshall-Green as Jewel, and Ahna O'Reilly as Dewey (among others) – but Franco (as Darl) appears too intelligent and out of place to be convincing.
Throughout most of the film, Franco uses split screen to manipulate time and bring life to the breathtaking cinematography and scenery. Nonetheless, at times it is overdone and distracting. Overall, Tim O’Keefe’s music score is chilling, while hovering lightly and seamlessly in the background (a sound which blockbusters like Gravity and Prometheus should have entailed).
The implicit (anti-) religious overtones attempt to elucidate the family’s ignorance about the modern world regarding medicine, premarital sex, death, etc. They take pride in their perverse familial bonds and the work they have set out for themselves while remaining social deviants and outcasts. Unfortunately, the characters fail in their execution to draw empathy or compassion despite their strong convictions and belief system. For the most part, they are morose and not admirable, and the flashbacks do not provide enough clarity or explanation about their backgrounds or motivation. Perhaps Franco’s screenplay could have plugged some of these holes we are left questioning in the end.
