Director: Antonio Campos Starring: Rebecca Hall, Michael C. Hall Studio: Borderline Films Genre(s): Drama Rated: R (For a scene of disturbing violence and for language including some sexual references) |
Journalism has become a cesspool of fear initiating, gross
out, non-important nonsense. I would
like to pretend that this is a new thing, but the reality is that the wheels
started turning in a dangerous and (some would say) irreversible direction in
the early 70’s. TV was getting
edgier. Violence was becoming a product
people started to crave more than food.
Local news networks started to realize that if they focused on the
violence and uncertainty in the world, they would have viewers glued to their
network, feeding their fears while giving advertisers a reason to encourage
this type of programing. Christine
Chubbuck (Rebecca Hall) was a reporter who saw the danger the news industry was
heading. Her foresight of the business -
as well as her empathy for the news to be a force for good - led her to do
something drastic on the air.
That thing (which I won’t spoil for any readers who don’t
know the history behind her story) was shocking, saddening, and, yet, it was
strangely poetic. She gave the network
exactly what they wanted as well as proved how fleeting their concept of “news”
really was. In “Christine” we follow her
as she is simply a reporter. She isn’t
glamorous or edgy. She does stories
about ripe strawberries. She lives with
her mother. She wants to do so much good
for the world that she even interrupts a couple having dinner and gives them
her card. Her reason: because the two
are obviously in love and she wants to do a story on them. It is so sweet to think that at one point
this was type of reporting that was actually done. It’s a shame her boss doesn’t agree with her. He has staff meetings on a near daily basis,
and almost everything he has to say involve the ratings and getting juicy
stories.
For him, violence is in, and if it bleeds, it leads. She understands that by going down this path
the news will degenerate to the point of doing more harm than good, but she
isn’t the one in power, and she is finding her morals to be increasingly
unpopular by the day. She lives with her
mother who smokes weed and has sex with men who aren’t her father. Christine pines for her co-worker George
(Michael C. Hall), the lead anchor who does appear to have at least a fleeting
interest in her. Christine is socially
awkward though. There are references
that at times she “gets dark” and “moody,” and already flags are going
off. For all her good intentions, it is
clear the woman was depressed. The
sadness in the film comes from Rebecca Hall’s intimate performance, as we watch
a woman struggling to keep her sanity in check in a world that appears to
constantly be drowning her out.
The world has come to understand depression a lot more since
Christine was alive, but it should be noted it still has a way to go. As we watch the movie we see the signs. We know something is going to snap. If you don’t know the real story the events will
certainly shock you. I knew about the
events so I knew what was coming, but I was impressed with how director Antonio
Campos handled what was going to be a pivotal moment; a scene that could make
or break the movie. What he does was
brilliant. Stunning, really, when I stop
and really think about it. Like the
event itself, the scene plays out so quickly it takes everyone a moment or two
to even realize what happened. The scene
ends up being brief, unsettling, and ultimately leaves you with a feeling of
pointlessness. That may sound like a
non-recommendation, but in the case of “Christine” it is perfectly fitting.
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CONSUMER ADVICE |
Parents, there is a lot of language, violence, sexuality/nudity, and there is that whole murder and affair thing going on. Recommended for ages 18 and up..
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