Film: Half Nelson by Ryan Fleck
Rating: 8/10
Okay, okay, I take it back. Not the bit about Hollywood, but there are actually some good indie films coming out of America. (I knew that already; The Squid and the Whale being a not-too-out-of-date example) but its easy to forget. I often feel the sign of an intelligent director is a film that trusts its audience to follow subtle metaphors and to enjoy the film even if they don’t. This film bravely offers us a mini-course on dialectics (or the philosophy of change) tailored for 13-year old kids and loosely relevant to the stories of its three main characters. The ending is open enough that the viewer can conclude that these opposing forces had/had not any effect on changing each other.
Half Nelson is a gritty, uncompromising film, more reminiscent of British than American cinema, with its relatively unsentimental view of a working-class school and neighbourhood. Shot with a very shaky camera which was a bit too close-up in the small eight row cinema where I saw it, we were a bit sea-sick when the credits finally rolled. Nevertheless, it was worth the discomfort; this is an intelligent film about a teacher’s descent into drug addiction which concludes ambiguously in the real world where nothing gets resolved just because the 90 minutes are up.
Dan Dunne (Ryan Gosling) has already tried rehab before we meet him but he’s dropped out. He’s got a lot going for him; he’s personable, intellectual, employed, liked by his students and we never really learn what personal anguish is making him so self-destructive. He knows he’s descending into darkness but he doesn’t even fight it. In his coherent moments, he’s an idealistic teacher but not the cloying patronising kind we saw in, for instance, Dead Poet’s Society. Drey (Shareeka Epps) is a 13-year old student with her own issues: poverty, temptation, possibly a crush on her teacher; she’s street-wise, fights her own battles and makes her own decisions. The trio is completed by Frank (Anthony Mackie) in a great performance as a charismatic drug dealer who doesn’t need to play it tough to be wholly credible. The only false note in the screenplay is Dunne’s too perfect classroom composure.
This is a short out-take from ordinary lives; ‘nothing’ happens but heading home you know you’ve thought a bit more about the human condition and realise that there is nothing to be done to change it.
