Olsen sister impresses in first full-length feature

By Emily Nichol     11/1/11 7:00pm

The landscape is barren with a few stacks of hay, and somehow it looks very, very cold. Something about the farm looks uninviting, dangerous even; it feels uncomfortable and makes your skin crawl, even though nothing out of the ordinary is happening. This is the unnerving setting for the commune that title character Martha joins in Martha Marcy May Marlene, a new film that pushes the boundaries of independent-film tropes.

Martha (newcomer Elizabeth Olsen), a member of a commune in rural upstate New York, calls her estranged sister, Lucy (Sarah Paulson, The Spirit) and Lucy's new husband, Ted (Hugh Dancy, Our Idiot Brother) to come pick her up. Martha awkwardly assimilates into her yuppie, Manhattan-based family's fancy Connecticut lake house, clashing with her sister and acting weirdly (she even tries to crawl into bed with her sister and brother-in-law while they are having sex). Martha becomes increasingly paranoid as flashbacks of her life on the commune torment her more and more frequently.

These flashbacks are easily the most beautiful moments of the film: bizarre, disorienting underwater shots of nude figures, hazy landscapes, rows of beds with women in puritanical nightgowns, lit by an otherworldly light. Overall, the cinematography is simply stunning. Close-up shots of body parts, whether Olsen's, Paulson's or other cult members', increase the feeling of fragmented isolation that Martha feels in her new environment. Besides an arm, a leg or a belly button, the rest of the shot becomes unfocused, artistically mimicking Martha's own inner angst.

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Olsen does a wonderful job in her first film since her famous twin sisters' How the West Was Fun. She carries the title role (and her three personalities) with the grace of a seasoned actress. On a phone interview, Olsen said she was inspired by powerful, honest actresses like Kate Winslet. This style of acting is clear in Olsen's subtlety; the actress looks and sounds like a normal, almost familiar person, devoid of flashy Hollywood sexiness. She relies on the clarity of her movements and expressions, the trait of a serious dramatic actress. Perhaps the most chilling aspect of the movie is how easy it is to relate to, and believe, Martha in her erratic, sometimes unbelievable decision-making.

Also remarkable was John Hawkes (Winter's Bone), who plays Patrick, the cult's coercive ringmaster. Hawkes somehow balances his character between utter repulsiveness and sheer mysteriousness; it's (almost) easy to see how Martha and the rest of the cult become captivated by him. Somehow, he avoids being presumptuous while maintaining his godlike persona, bestowing new names to his converts (Martha becomes Marcy May) in a cute, flirty manner. Creepiness abounds, Hawkes' demeanor becomes progressively edgy until the film reveals what kinds of dangerous, subversive tasks he gives his followers.

Writer and director Sean Durkin (Mary Last Seen) brilliantly tells Martha's story, illustrating her breakdown with clever cuts from the present to her life on the commune. Specific moments — a jump into the lake, a look into a glass, a glance at the telephone — jar perfectly matched scenes in Martha's recent past. Linking her history with her current life pulls the viewer into her head, situating the viewer in her constant state of paranoia.

The narrative's spliced structure echoes Martha's own internal fragmentation, a result of her semi-brainwashed state. Durkin seamlessly blends reality with Martha's psychological recovery, constantly keeping the viewer wary of her sanity. Back in a contemporary world, Martha is completely inept and is constantly being reminded of simpler (and perhaps more attractive) times with the cult. He only uses music in one scene, adding an unexpected layer of anxiety to the film.

Combining artistic, beautiful shots with a woman's psychological breakdown, Martha Marcy May Marlene is an innovative offering from a promising young director. Rife with new but nevertheless sparkling talent, this incredibly-sculpted drama will surely give you chills that last long after you leave the theater. Despite Olsen's familial links to fame and fortune, she deftly executes her part, earning the buzz she has generated with this film.

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