T.S. Eliot's famous Formalist essay "Tradition and the Individual Talent" attempted to discern how much the legacy of the past -- in his case, hundreds of years of English poetry -- weighed on a young artist trying to make his or her own way. Eliot, a young St. Louis native who had been transported to London to try to change modern poetry felt both that one must understand and even accept the history of one's art, but that also an artist is obliged to break away from that Tradition to establish something new.
None of this really pertains -- except in an obtuse way -- to Alice Troughton's sharp thriller concerning a "Great Man" writer, played very well by Richard E. Grant and a young, aspiring (Black) writer who desperately wants to be Great, but might be consigned to Teach, as those who "can't do" do.
In the opening scene (via the film's clever frame-tale) Daryl McCormack's Liam Summers is being feted on British TV for a Major New Work by a Major New Author. This scene brings to mind the brilliant and disturbing Tar, which has a similar frame tale and in some ways an equally bleak ending. When asked what inspired Summers to write his novel, he pauses, and most of the rest of the film attempts to answer that question.
The interior tale of The Lesson has Summers being hired to tutor The Author, J.M. Sinclair's moody Gen Y son, to help said Lad enter a prestigious English Undergrad program presumably at Oxford, or Cambridge. Sinclair's wife, played with cool French disinteredness by the great Julie Delpy, has hired Summers and may, or may not know that Summers is a Sinclair aficionado. Sycophant, perhaps, and also an aspiring writer himself.
Sinclair is Tradition, and Summers is the Individual Talent.
The action takes place at Sinclair's small but gorgeous country estate, and once Summers arrives and takes up residence, the film plays out like a tight, Harold Pinter-style family drama. Sinclair is a tyrant and egotist, of course, and wife Helene realized some time ago that he only wants her for her French street cred. Oh, and some night time nookie in the writing room. So, she the have an Arrangement as most power couples do.
But something is rotten in Somerset, so to speak. As Summers dines with Father, Helene and Moody Young Bertie it becomes clear that something more than just the classic Upper Middle Class disfunction is going on here. Stares, or Glares are exchanged like poison darts, while Father controls not just what they eat, but which Famous Russian Romantic Composer's music they are listening to. Through it all Summers tries to learn what is really going on, as he attempts to crack through Bertie's adolescent angst.
The Plot becomes more complicated as we learn that Sinclair is long overdue for his new Novel. Enquiring minds want to know what it is about, and when it will come out. Summers wants to know, too, and at one point about 2/3 of way through the film Sinclair invites him into his inner sanctum and shares that he has a draft of his new book. Summers is invited to read and comment on it, and, in turn, Summers asks Sinclair to read and comment on a draft of his first novel.
How this all plays out in the third reel, and what the deep dark secret is that is driving the overly vicious family dynamics you will have to find out for yourself. I don't put spoilers in my reviews and then say Spoiler Alert up front. OK, I did that with one review, but that is not typical.
Driving the claustrophobic action forward are fine performances all around, including deft work by Crispin Letts as Ellis, the don't ask don't tell Butler. Set design and Camerawork are top notch, and one note should be made of Isobel Waller-Bridge's excellent Score.
Great stuff.
No comments:
Post a Comment