The Whale
Venice Film Festival #15 - PalaBiennale
On the whole I don’t find play to film adaptations particularly interesting, often they lack the cinematic qualities that makes cinema such a thrilling art form. Yet, this is Daren Aronofsky, so it’s no surprise that he somehow manages to make one of the greatest stage to screen translations ever. Often when a film is confined to one location it can become stagnant, the film is at odds with the setting as it lacks the ability to keep the film fresh for its runtime. To my surprise this is never the case in The Whale, there’s a delicacy and flow to the camera that allows a two hour runtime to never feel dry despite it only taking place in one location.
Like other Aronofsky masterpieces, The Whale facilitates a standout lead performance in Brendan Fraser. Not enough can be said about how insanely talented Fraser is in this role. What he brings to this character is a rawness that feels so real it’s hard not to be emotional. He’s so magnetic to watch that you become transfixed as the film peels back the layers that make the character who he is. An unabashedly positive person pushing through the storm of his daily tasks as a result of his obesity. An unflinching love for those he has wronged in his life despite this not being reciprocated is heartbreaking to watch, it’s in this contrast that Aronofsky finds your heart strings and begins to pull. This is portrait of a complicated character, or rather a real person, and what Brendan is able to do unearth who the character is and why he’s in the situation he is, is nothing short of incredible, it’s a career defining performance for him.
Alongside him there’s an incredible supporting cast. Sadie Sink, playing his estranged daughter, is simply perfect, this will be the thing that catapulted her career more than Stranger Things. She plays a character so filled with hatred and teen angst that manages to never come off as hyperbolic and feels based in realism. The effervescent dynamic that is created in scenes between her and Fraser is lightning in a bottle. The way that they’re able to bounce off each other and fully give each other the space to express themselves is simply beautiful. Hong Chau and Ty Simpkins also deliver emotionally powerful performances that equally have their moments that shine in the film.
The genius of Aronofsky is how he’s able to paint a picture of different people and their perspectives but never casting judgement on them. Each other then has made mistakes, each of them has their own motivations for the emotions that drive them but the film takes care in how it expresses these emotions manifesting themselves. Often the emotions that enter Fraser’s house are ones of rage, deceit and hurt but the endless optimism that pours out of Fraser as he attempts to do one good thing in his life contrasted with these hateful emotions will endure tears.
As Fraser begins to unpack the emotions he’s bottled up, the film postulates the intersection between religion and love, and the place these take in the life of someone isolated from everyone else. He has a troubled relationship with both and how that’s got him to the place he is really is heartbreaking to learn. Aronofsky has done it again, something tonally different from his other films, but just as poignant. It also fades to white, and Aronofsky films that fade to white always are masterpieces