Tone Block?

A friend of mine is going to see the RTE Orchestra play along with the 90's smash hit movie Independence Day next month. I've watched this orchestra do the same for Return of the King (more on ROTK later) and they are amazing. So I thought about going to the ID4 gig myself... for about 3 seconds. See, I watched the movie pretty recently in preparation for a viewing of the sequel. As I watched I was solidly entertained opening 20 minutes or so. But as the movie went on something just wasn't sitting right with me. I couldn't place it. Then suddenly it hit me, or rather Will Smith hits an alien in the face and quips "Now that's what I call a Close Encounter" before lighting up a cigar.

After half of the world has been blown to smithereens and countless lives have been lost, jokes and a general "yee haw" attitude permeates the movie. The (appalling) sequel doesn't deviate from this either. "They like to get the landmarks" says Jeff Goldblum in the face of horrific destruction. It's a strange reaction at best.

Compare that to Spielberg's take on War of the Worlds, a very similar movie to ID4. A bridge explodes and a terrified Dakota Fanning screams "Is it the terrorists?" as Tom Cruise floors it in the vehicle looking terrified. Later Dakota sees something no kid should see. No "snappy" dialogue here. Take a look:

Tone. It's a thing and it seems to be getting lost among spectacle. That's not to say War of the Worlds doesn't have its fair share of special fx. It really does, many of them are incredible but how the actors react is hugely important. If Tom Cruise had said "I'm just eager to whoop ET's ass" in this movie it would have been completely wrong. When Will Smith says it in Independence Day it's met with a chorus of laughter from his air force buddies. It leaves me more than a bit confused. But there are other examples of this.

                                             Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Before I get into this, I want to state for the record that I adore this movie and this is a quibble, not a deal breaker for me. For the most part, the people in this movie react as you'd expect to the horrific destruction thrown at them from the Mordor hordes. But two of our heroes, Legolas and Gimli, decide to make a game out of all the killing. This started in the previous instalment at the battle of Helm's Deep and is equally distracting in that one. But in ROTK the Pelennor Fields are literally red with blood. King Theodyn led the Rohirrim charge "FOR DEATH". And boy is there death on these fields. But here comes Elfy and Dwarfy for some fun and frolics. It's distracting! Check it out:

                                                                     Titanic

Perhaps the most tonally jarring movie ever made, Titanic does such an incredible job of showing you the devastating events of that fateful night that pitting that against the backdrop of a love story really shouldn't work and, for me at least, it doesn't. Don't get me wrong, Titanic is a movie I can watch and enjoy on a technical level and I get sucked into much of what happens but the dollops of romance just don't feel appropriate. It's difficult to hold onto a love story with the sounds of 1500 people dying nearby.

The things that happen on the ship in the days before the sinking are on some level, fun. But when you know what's coming it just feels a little bit off. The movie wants you to care for these two characters so much that you're devastated when one of them eventually dies. When Jack and Rose kiss at the front of the Titanic the scene ends with a stark reminder of what awaits them and it's truly chilling. Take a look:



By the time Leo succumbs to the cold of the Atlantic, we've witnessed so much death that I was all out of sadness for these two. I mean, yeah I felt bad for them but hearing the constant screams of terrified and dying people loomed large and was far more impactful than the death of Jack Dawson.

There's a line delivered by the late, great Bill Paxton near the end of the movie, "Three years I've thought of nothing except Titanic, but I never got it, I never let it in." One could argue that despite James Cameron's obsession with the ill fated ocean liner, perhaps he doesn't quite get it either...

                                                                    Man of Steel
One of the many criticisms thrown at MOS is the wanton destruction and general disregard for life in the movie. As it happens, this was a huge plot point for the sequel but at the time nobody had any idea that this was the way things were going to go, I'm not even convinced the film makers knew... But as a guy who enjoys these movies I still have an issue with the moment when Lois and Superman first kiss. It happens toward the end of the movie and, well, just watch:

So again we have countless dead among the ruins of Metropolis and this is the moment when they decide to kiss. The dialogue after doesn't help either. It really shouldn't have been in there at all but with all the dazzling spectacle going on, perhaps they felt a "human" moment was needed. This was not the way to go.

There are movies that set out to make you laugh and feel uncomfortable at the same time. Some of these movies are terrific. Get Out is rife with it, Creep is another and The Gift rounds out a solid trilogy of "don't wanna see but can't look away" movies. Here's a very simple but very effective scene from Creep:

  

That's a superb example of how a movie can make us laugh, feel uncomfortable and be a little scared all at once but crucially, there's no ill conceived comedy or inappropriate reaction to genuinely disturbing happenings.

Get Out makes you question whether or not you are racist and has more dark humour (no pun intended) than I could actually take. A brave stance for sure and I'm glad the movie is reviewing well and has been accepted by a large audience. The Gift is a little more conventional but will definitely stay with you.

So there's my little rant for the day. Feel free to share your tonally awkward movies or let me know if you agree or disagree.

Cheers,

G.