Miral (Julian Schnabel, 2011)

[lacritfan]

Well this sounds interesting.

[jbeall]

I get exceptionally angry when critics of Israel's state policies are accused of anti-semitism. Noooo, criticism of Israel is not the same thing as anti-semitism. So before the thread split (or this getting moved to the politics thread), let me say that I'm looking forward to this film. But I suspect that we'll have to defend it from those who condemn it sight-unseen. Maybe Schnabel should have titled it The Second Coming of the Last Temptation?

[ianungstad]

There's another scandal surrounding the movie. Harvey "scissors" Weinstein cut out a child abuse subplot to have the film bumped down from an R to a PG-13. Maybe Julian's cut will make it to the dvd/blu.

[domino harvey]

There's a Blu out on Italy and Germany, and a SD Fox release in the UK

[jbeall]

A.O. Scott's review tempers my expectations quite a bit.

But to say that Mr. Schnabel’s film is innocuous is not to say that it’s any good. Like so many other well-intentioned movies about politically contentious issues, it is hobbled by its own sincerity and undone by a confused aesthetic agenda. A grand, complex human drama is reduced to platitudes and pretty pictures, as some fine actors become ciphers of suffering and resilience in a strained and superficial pageant.

[James Mills]

I really liked the trailer, I'm going to try to catch this within the next few weeks. I really like Schnabel and Pinto so (for once) I'm not gonna read any reviews that will dissuade me from seeing it and making my own judgments.

[jbeall]

Oh, I intend to see it, too. I like Schnabel (loved Diving Bell...). One bad review from a critic I like is just that; it's not going to dissuade me from seeing it if/when it plays in Nashville. Moreover, I want to support a film that Mr. Scott intimates has been unfairly pilloried as anti-semitic. I just hope it's better than his review indicates!

[Jeff]

I'll probably see it, as I like Schnabel's previous features too. Scott is certainly not the only naysayer though. It was savaged by critics on the festival circuit last year as clumsy, silly, and trite. I'm actually kind of surprised it ended up getting a theatrical release. It may be a contractual requirement.

It currently holds at 21% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes with 38 reviews in. The L.A. Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, Variety, The AP, The A.V. Club, NPR, Movieline, Slant, and the creepy guy from Skuhn's avatar all kind of hate it, and the complaints seem to be about the writing and direction, not the politics.

[Brian C]

Yeah, but if you don't like a film's politics, it's easy to pretend like you're up in arms about writing and direction. Or even more to the point, if you don't like a film's politics, it's easy to convince yourself that the writing and direction are subpar.

Let's look at that WSJ review for a thinly veiled example:

It takes a certain amount of chutzpah to tackle the history of Israel from a Palestinian perspective, and then deliver something as disjointed and dramatically inert as this intergenerational agitprop tirade. It's not as if the subject hasn't been covered. Yes, there is considerable suffering and injustice portrayed by Mr. Schnabel, who has made admirable movies ("Before Night Falls," "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"). But his style doesn't fit the material of this film; he tells us too much and not enough. Ultimately, the sense that one gets, wading through the self-righteous mush of "Miral," is of a movie that doesn't deign to explain, or convince, or convert, because anyone who doesn't already share its point of view is unworthy of the effort. Even those predisposed to the Palestinian cause will be pushed away, an ungenerous spirit being contagious.

[Alan Smithee]

I have little pro-israel bias and I would like for this to be really good. I love schnabels first two films but I am believing the general consensus. He's a sort of flashy visual filmmaker(obviously coming from being a flashy painter) and that has always worked because his first three films were biographies of artists. This is a heavy subject and it sounds like people are having more of a problem with it's style and approach than with the subject. I'll watch it soon but I have to say the musical choices mentioned do sound a little discordant with the story.

[Anhedionisiac]

I thought I'd chip in my with my two cents.
Having seen the film and read the widely available script (and from what I've read of Rula Jebreal, interviews and the like), I find very little, if anything at all, to be up in arms about, politics-wise.
If anything, it's harmlessly naive. However, I do have to concur with the majority in that it's very much a hokey story in execution, which is where it's naiveté truly stands out.
Brian C says that "if you don't like a film's politics, it's easy to convince yourself that the writing and direction are subpar." Which I actually agree with, up to a point.
It's not that I disagree with the film's politics, it's that I disagree with its outright refusal to engage with politics on any intellectual level, instead opting for a cheap baby boomer sentimental world-view that takes the script and Rula Jebreal's testimony at face value, glorifying it by tugging at the heartstrings whenever possible. The fact that Rula and Schnabel are a real-life couple that began with the making of Miral adds to the suspicion of it being a courtship-infatuated love letter of sorts. Cheap shot, fair enough.

In all honesty, I find Schnabel's style rather too precious, even obvious, for my taste. His cloying pursuit of beauty lends itself to a perfume commercial's aesthetics, simplifying everything to the point of banality. He needs strong, complicated characters in his films to counterbalance his natural inclinations. He was fortunate enough to deal with people like Basquiat, Reinaldo Arenas, even Jean-Dominique Bauby, all complex personalities. With Miral, for the first time in his filmography, he lacks such a privilege. And I believe that is what has laid him bare for everyone to criticize.
Therefore, using Brian C's words: If I dislike the film's politics, or lack of them, I suspect it has a lot to do with the fact that I dislike the writing and direction themselves.

[James Mills]

I'll probably see it, as I like Schnabel's previous features too. Scott is certainly not the only naysayer though. It was savaged by critics on the festival circuit last year as clumsy, silly, and trite. I'm actually kind of surprised it ended up getting a theatrical release. It may be a contractual requirement.

It currently holds at 21% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes with 38 reviews in. The L.A. Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, Variety, The AP, The A.V. Club, NPR, Movieline, Slant, and the creepy guy from Skuhn's avatar all kind of hate it, and the complaints seem to be about the writing and direction, not the politics.

Ugh, see, this is what I didn't want to know. Add in Anhedionistic's review and I think I just might have to pass for now, even if there's nothing else in the theaters I'm excited about right now.

[repeat]

Might as well post this here as Schnabel doesn't seem to have his own thread...

Coming up, apparently from the Swedish distributor Scanbox (it sounds a bit crazy, but I can't find any information on this anywhere for any other part of the world):



Julian Schnabel - Collector's Box Set 5DVD
Limited edition of 2500. Release date August 31 2013 (TBC)
Includes DVD's (why not Blu-rays?!) of Basquiat, Before Night Falls, Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Berlin and Miral plus an "80-page hardcover book with text and pictures by Julian Schnabel and friends, a hardcover book with the dvd’s and a bookstand for the entire box".

For 200 euros, I'd expect to get at least a personal signature from l'artiste - then again, the ridiculous price probably guarantees that a bunch of these will find their way into the sales bins eventually.