Daniel Day-Lewis is back, and his son Ronan Day-Lewis has got him.
And while it is a pleasure to see the vaulted actor back on screen after his self-imposed retirement for the last eight years, his new film ANEMONE is a tough sit. It’s a bleak, morose, and even violent film, but impassioned acting from Day-Lewis, as well as his costars Sean Bean and Samantha Morton, manage to eclipse some stumbles in the narrative and overreach in the direction by Ronan. If you like gritty, macho tales about Irish men and their pride, this film has your name written all over it.
Father and son wrote the screenplay here, and the part that the senior Day-Lewis wrote for himself is one rip-snorting part. Ray is a tautly muscled, intense, brooding sort of he-man, the kind of guy who lives on only the essentials in is small, rustic cabin in the woods, goes out to chop wood in the rain, and hulks about scarier than any bear in the woods. Why Ray is living in a self-imposed exile from civilization is the mystery at the heart of the story, and his brother Jem (Bean) has had enough of his absence and wants him home. Thus, Jim sets out to visit Ray to try and coax him back. It will be no easy task. Ray is set in his ways and stuck in his head.
Jem has ulterior motives too. He’s dealing with a teen boy at home named Brian (Samuel Bottomly) who is almost as angsty as Ray. Brian has a temper and sulks about too, and the parallels make for the juxtaposition of two family members that Jem is desperate to reach. When he drop in on his incommunicado sibling, Ray is none too pleased to see him. Even with a cabin guest, Ray barely talks to Jem, has him sleep on the floor, and goes about his business with little regard for his ‘house guest.’ The director finds the drama in their wordless interactions and makes their sharing tea, hiking through the mountains, and watching a storm come roll in, quite riveting. The script is so bereft of dialogue in fact that the Day-Lewis’ script is all about stage direction; the action speaks volumes about the characters because words barely do.
Where the director falters some is in both cutting back to the story at home and in some overly artistic flourishes here and there. Morton and Bottomly play their turmoil well even though it breaks up the scenes of the more compelling tension between the two brothers. As for the artsy-fartsy parts, there are only a few of them, but it feels like the director wanted to show off some camera tricks and dreamy sequences to counter all that he shoots that feels blunt and down-to-earth. Additionally, some judicious editing would’ve been wise too as the film stretches to past the two-hour mark with very little actual plotting to justify such length.
Still, when the big revelations come about why Ray removed himself from society, it gives the veteran actor a chance to break out of the stoicism of his proud Irish bloke and his monologue is heartbreaking. Ultimately, ANEMONE showcases how even the most pigheaded and proud of men can come out of their self-imposed prison with the right amount of familial love. It’s a tough and mean movie, but beneath all the off-putting machismo and pride of its onscreen men is a loving, beating heart after all.
