Daniel Day-Lewis sears the screen in his first role in eight years in the transfixing cinematic poem, Anemone. Day-Lewis co-wrote the shattering, emotionally raw screenplay, with his son Ronan, who makes quite the impressive feature debut.
It’s become a bit of a cliche to call Day-Lewis senior the greatest actor of his generation. Like La Streep he has a way of slipping into the skin, bones and psyche of a character. Here he astonishes once again as Ray Stoker, a seriously damaged bloke, who has lived his life like a hermit for the last 20 years. Out of nowhere one day his brother, Jem (Sean Bean) shows up at his ramshackle cabin in the woods. Ray is initially less than welcoming—an understatement. There’s a lot of history there.
The entire first quarter of the film, set in Northern Ireland, is sparse on dialogue and heavy on atmosphere. But it’s slow-burn start builds in intensity as we more about the brothers and why Jem is raising Ray’s bruised-knuckled son, Brian (Samuel Bottomley), with Ray’s old girlfriend, Ness (Samantha Morton)—now married to Jem.
The intensity builds as more is revealed about Ray’s past until the character sucker punches us with his own recountings. Suffice to say, quite a number of uncomfortable truths surface.
DD-L dives so deep into Ray bitterness and anguish, it’s overwhelming. Yet as savagely angry as Ray is, he’s also pretty fucking funny. It’s a bold, ferocious performance. The thesp has two monologues that are delivered so brilliantly we aren’t even aware it’s one man speaking for so long. Instead, it’s as if we’re reliving the stories he’s telling along with him.
Bean’s Jem isn’t as verbose as Ray but his reactions are essential. Both actors have tremendous chemistry. And you never doubt the love that exists amidst all the messiness and resentments.
Morton, so good in She Said three years ago, plays a woman who has been beaten up by the past. Her Ness, despite all the pain she’s endured, has a remarkable ability to be empathetic.
Bottomley is exceptional as the troubled, volatile Brian. The young actor locates the character’s many complexities.
Ronan shows a keen ability to balance some of his characters grand gestures with more quiet and subtle movements and facial expressions. And his tech team is terrific from the mesmerizing camerawork by Ben Fordesman to the haunting score by Bobby Bobby Krlic.
Day-Lewis should easily be on his way to his seventh Oscar nomination—he’s won 3. Everyone involved should be in consideration (especially Morton). But the harsh nature of the film may turn some Academy members off. I hope that isn’t the case.
There’s a brutal beauty and sublime symmetry about this story of fathers and sons and the sins of the fathers. I knew what the last shot would be as the ending approached. At least, I hoped. Not because the film is in any way predictable, but because it felt so inevitable. Cathartic.
Interesting to note that Day-Lewis collaborated with filmmaker Jim Sheridan on three extraordinary films, My Left Foot (1989), In the Name of the Father (1993) and the highly underrated gem, The Boxer (1997)–the former winning the actor his first Oscar. Morton received her second Academy Award nomination for Sheridan’s In America (2002). Anemone feels like an homage to Sheridan’s great work.
A Focus Features release.
Anemone is part of the Spotlight series at the New York Film Festival.
For ticket or further information visit HERE.
