09.22.08
Trailers: ‘Revolutionary Road’ & ‘Ballast,’ Both Look To Be Must-Sees, For Different Reasons
I didn’t post the previous trailer because Mary Hart’s voiceover annoyed me. Nothing against the film, because lord knows how much I am looking forward to the Sam Mendes adaptation of Richard Yates’ gloriously sophisticated novel, starring Mendes’ wife Kate Winslet teaming up with her ‘Titanic’ co-star Leo DiCaprio, which is to be released stateside on the 26th of December. As if that wasn’t enough, Roger Deakin’s typically gorgeous cinematography and Nina Simone’s evocative “Wild is the Wind” are completely alluring. With the talent behind and in front of the camera Oscar tested, but mostly under awarded especially Winslet and Deakins, this picturesque tale of marital discourse and disillusionment and the doldrums thereof has Oscar potential to be sure. Whether or not it will take home the gold is anyone’s guess, am I’m thinking the film wont be as unsubtle as the trailer, with a little more bite than simply beauty. That’s what I’m hoping for. “How do you break free without breaking apart?” I haven’t the foggiest, but I’d like to find out.
“Ballast” is a critically acclaimed film that embodies everything the overused, often thoughtlessly so, term “independent cinema” stands for. Focusing on one man’s suicide and how it affects three characters in rural Mississippi in different ways, and essentially how it brings them together, the film is to be released independently by the filmmakers on the 1st of October at the Film Forum in New York. I missed it when it played at DIFF this year, but Craig Kennedy caught it at LAFF, saying, “Even more than the first film, Ballast rewards the patient with a simple human story of regular people trying to make their way in the world.” Check out the trailer below, and if it doesn’t knock you out with its simple poeticism, I’ll be damned.
Justin said,
September 22, 2008 at 8:49 am
Rev Road looks too Mendes-esque for me, and I don’t like him much.
Ballast, on the other hand, looks flat out amazing.
Salmaya said,
September 22, 2008 at 8:59 am
I think Rev Road looks uber-stylish, and the dramatics look scorching. I’m in for the Winslet-DiCaprio reunion, and hopefully the good film that comes with it.
Poor Ballast. You know, I haven’t seen it, but it’s a shame that it has been treated so badly. It deserves a real release, but ugh, most of the best films never get those. At least it is being seen in some capacity.
nina said,
September 22, 2008 at 9:02 am
i’m just praying to god Deakins wins this year. I NEED him to win.
Nick Plowman said,
September 22, 2008 at 9:07 am
A lot of people feel that way Just, I dig Mendes’ work though, so.
GoshWatcher said,
September 22, 2008 at 10:27 am
Ballast looks better than Revolutionary Road! Gasp. But it really does.
Kerry said,
September 22, 2008 at 12:16 pm
I read the book by Yates and it isn’t much to write home about. I mean, its solid, its dramatic, gorgeously structured and successfully paced. However, I think the film has the potential to be better than the book because when you bring all the images (the cinematography, the costumes, the locations) to life, as we can see in the trailer to some extent, a certain air of richness is instilled. I didn’t feel that in the book. Winslet and Leo have a strong chemistry that carried ‘Titanic’ even in its more dodgy moments. Mendes is great at directing marital disasters, so overall, I am excited to see if I am right, and if the film turns out to be better than the book.
Ballast is, and I mean this, easily one of the best ‘art’ films of the year. Its better than any film by the guys who did ‘Babel’ et al in bringing together the characters after that tragedy. It is an icy film, very cold and dark, but the actors and the filmmakers really bring out the beating heart contained within its poetic framework. I am so going to catch it again, at the Film Forum, you can be sure of that.
Rick Olson said,
September 22, 2008 at 6:32 pm
I am looking forward very much to both of these films, Nick …
Especially, perhaps, Ballast … I lived in Mississippi for 10 years, and now live in neighboring Alabama … I can’t wait, although paradoxically it may be on DVD if it ever gets there before I can see it.
Nick Plowman said,
September 22, 2008 at 9:14 pm
Me too buddy, me too *cries, just a little, and then it’s over*