A MASTER BUILDER (Demme, 2014)
Criterion Collection, Blu-ray, Release Date June 16, 2015
Review by Christopher S. Long
In an interview included on this
Criterion disc, Andre Gregory and Wallace Shawn describe Henrik
Ibsen's play “The Master Builder” as fundamentally mysterious.
Even developing their adaptation of the play (written by Shawn,
adapted for the stage by Gregory) over fifteen-plus years of
rehearsals they make no claim to have resolved its enigma; perhaps
their real accomplishment is to have preserved the tantalizing
mystery while updating the play for a different century and,
eventually, to the medium of film.
“A Master Builder” (2014) continues
the unofficial Gregory-Shawn film trilogy kicked off with the
legendary “My Dinner with Andre” (1981) and continued with the
much-loved “Vanya on 42nd Street” (1984). The lengthy
gaps are a testament to Gregory's unique and oft-discussed process,
the deliberate, gradual sculpting of performance over years of
periodic rehearsals with only the most minimal and gentle feedback
from a director celebrated by actors for his non-judgmental
mentoring. The younger members of the cast didn't join the troupe
until later in the process, a necessity considering some weren't yet
in kindergarten when rehearsals began.
The play was then staged exclusively
for tiny audiences of invited friends and family, an intimate process
from start to finish. Director Jonathan Demme attended one of the
final performances and was so spellbound that he was eager to sign on
for the film adaptation, accepting the daunting task of filling the
shoes of the great Louis Malle, who helmed the two previous
Gregory-Shawn joints.
In Shawn's re-working of Ibsen, Halvard
Solness (also played by Shawn) is a renowned architect fond of
erecting towering spires but now laid low by infirmity. Attended by a
group of wispy white-clad nurses, he entertains visitors from a
hospital bed situated in his living room, hooked up to monitors that
beep out the remaining seconds of his life. The insistently vocal
reminder of his mortality has made only a dent in an ego that towers
above any of his celebrated structures. Asked by an old friend
(Gregory) to perform a modest act of kindness and sacrifice to
benefit the friend's son (Jeff Biehl) who is also the Master
Builder's much-abused assistant, Solness rejects the request
indignantly; he has no intention to “step aside” to make way for
the younger generation. Let the young man fend for himself, he isn't
that talented anyway.
In due course, the film introduces the
other major players in what is left of Solness's life, including his
(justifiably) paranoid wife Aline (Julie Hagerty), his doting
assistant and possible lover Kaia (Emily Cass McDonald), and his
skeptical but devoted doctor (Larry Pine). Solness has extracted
everything he can from his ample support crew over many years (he
even believes he has a mystical power to make people follow his
unspoken desires) but it's still not enough to serve his needs.
Enter Hilde Wangel.
It's quite an entrance. Striding into
the house seemingly out of nowhere, the 22-year-old makes an
immediate impression decked out in her white short shorts.
Saucer-eyed, gulping down cubic acres of air and blowing it back out
through flared nostrils, Hilde is portrayed by Lisa Joyce as
constantly perched on the edge of hysteria, oscillating through a
series of cathartic releases that range from manic laughter to wide-eyed wonder to
even more manic laughter.
Hilde is the source of much of the
film's mystery. In Shawn's adaptation, she appears in the midst of
what is most likely Solness's deathbed delirium (the film's aspect
ratio expands from 1.78:1 to 2.35:1 wen Halvard suddenly hops up from
his bed and moves freely about the house), but she could just as
easily be an angel as a manifestation of the title character's
faltering psyche. And just as much avenging succubus as angel. Hilde
alternates from accusing Halvard of terrible crimes to turning all
her considerable hyperventilating energy to boosting his flagging
spirits. She both condemns and rehabilitates the man whom she refers
to solemnly as Master Builder, often in the same beat. To what
precise purpose, well, I guess that's a mystery.
Demme and cinematographer Declan Quinn
(who also photographed “Vanya”) shoot the film primarily in
hand-held close-ups with the occasional re-orienting zoom, resembling
the style popularized in “Homicide: Life on the Street.” It is
indisputably filmed theater that is tightly confined to Solness's
vast home (aside from a few tracking shots through town, pointed
straight up at the sky and the highest steeples in the area) but also
quite energetic, perhaps too jarringly so for the more static, talky
material.
The performances here are mostly quite
stage-intense though nobody else approaches Joyce's level of
sustained frenzy; tightly wound and unwound Julie Hagerty comes
closest. I admit to a general distaste for such a frenetic style
though I respect the effort required to sustain such ferocity. I must
confess I also don't quite get the point of the story. This imperious
wretch has drained the life from multiple generations of unfortunates
who have fallen under his possibly supernatural force of will and so
he is visited by a hot young woman who strokes both his hand and his
ego... and then what? If it's all just Solness's dying delusion, is
he confronting his many shortcomings or merely constructing Hilde as
a means of justifying and then avoiding them in his final moments?
If even experts like Gregory and Shawn
consider Ibsen's play to be inherently mysterious then perhaps it
should end with a question like most good art does. I am certainly
not troubled by not fully understanding the magnificent “Last Year
At Marienbad” even after a dozen viewings. If I'm left unsatisfied
by this story perhaps it's best that I simply admit I am not much of
a theater aficionado and certainly am not familiar with Ibsen's work.
If you're more of theater buff than I am, “A Master Builder” will
probably be right up your alley, and it is, after all, a
Gregory-Shawn production which makes it something special right from
the get go.
Video:
The film is presented in its original
aspect ratios of 1.78:1 and 2.35:1. The film was shot in 2K digital
and the smooth, grain-free look has been represented faithfully in
this high-def transfer. As you would expect, the image quality is
sharp and basically flawless.
Audio:
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround
track is crisp and distortion-free with a subtle sense of depth. The
quiet, unobtrusive musical track sounds good though it's so darn
quiet you might not realize you're actually hearing music at times.
Optional English SDH subtitles support the English audio.
Extras:
Criterion has included approximately
two hours of extras on this Blu-ray release.
“The Ibsen Project” (2015, 34 min.)
is a conversation conducted by critic David Edelstein with Gregory,
Shawn, and Demme. The first two do most of the talking with some
discussion of their collaborative methods; replicating their roles
from “My Dinner with Andre” Shawn is the more rational one while
Gregoy acknowledges, “I don't trust the mind” at least in regards
to developing a performance.
The disc also includes a combined
interview (2015, 33 min.) with actresses Lisa Joyca and Julie
Hagerty.
“Over Time” (2015, 53 min.) is a
lengthy interview with Shawn and Gregory conducted by author Fran
Lebowitz. They speak in great detail about their working relationship
and many other subjects.
The disc also includes a brief Trailer
for the film.
The slim fold-out insert booklet
features an essay by film critic Michael Sragow.
Final Thoughts:
Criterion has released “A Master
Builder” on Blu-ray and DVD as an individual title with Spine
Number 762. They have also upgraded their prior DVD release of “My
Dinner With Andre” with a new Blu-ray version. “Vanya” was
already released on Blu-ray in 2012. For die-hard fans who haven't
bought any of the titles yet, Criterion has also included all three
films in the new boxed set “Andre Gregory and Wallace Shawn: 3
Films” which is available in a 3-disc Blu-ray version and a 5-disc
DVD version.
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