Another movie review

Morvern Callar

Now, I'll admit that I'd never heard of this film before I read a glowing review of it, a few weeks ago, on the Onion AVClub site. They made it sound so cool that I immediately went out and rented it. My video store has everything, I must say. And I was excited to see it, because the AVClub has never steered me wrong.
I guess there's a first time for everything, though.
So here's the tale of Morvern Callar if you haven't heard it before. Morvern is a young girl in... Glasgow, I think? She works in a grocery store. She's going out with a writer, whom her friends refer to as "Dostoevsky". In the opening shot of the film, boyfriend is dead, his wrists slit, his body in a pool of blood mid-way between the kitchen and the living room. Morvern finds him, and spends the rest of the movie trying to deal with his death in a variety of ways: drugs, music, escape, staring off into space, painting her nails, shopping, and most of all NOT TELLING ANYONE HE'S DEAD. And when she finally does tell someone, they're too absorbed in their own life to hear what she's saying.
The film is built around lush, moody landscapes, and a lot of scenes are anchored by sweeping shots designed to elicit emotion. Which is a good thing, because the characters don't exude enough emotion to anchor a film. Maybe this was on purpose... see, I'm writing this "review" to figure out what I actually think of the film. My initial reaction was to hate it, and my second reaction is to love it because if I don't, then I "don't get it." And that's unforgivable.
So. Where was I. The film is anchored by sweeping panoramics, slow dolly shots, and many (many) montages of Morvern (alone or with a friend) walking, staring off into space, sticking head out of car window, observing the world without actually seeing it. One has to assume these are on purpose, because there are so many of them. So then one has to determine their purpose. This is where I have trouble.
Okay, I'll admit, the movie is beautiful in its own special way. There's definitely never been a movie like it before. But I can't say I enjoyed it, or that I ever want to see it again, and this is why. I didn't understand Morvern's motivations. She's the anchor (and title) of the film, and is on-screen the entire time. But I didn't like her. No... not that I didn't like her, I didn't understand why she acted the way she did. Maybe what bothered me the most was knowing that Morvern Callar was a book before it was a movie, and one (who hasn't read the book) can only imagine that there's more detail and explanation on the page than there was on the screen. Maybe the book goes inside the title character's head, records her thoughts, and explains why she decides not to tell anyone about her boyfriend's suicide? If I'd known that one thing, that one tiny little thing, I could have loved this movie.
Instead, the best I can do is say I loved "parts" of it. I loved the scenes where Morvern is wearing her walkman, listening to the special mix tape her boyfriend made before his suicide, and imagining the emotions I would go through in that same situation. But... she shows no emotion. Instead she stares dreamily off into space through songs by musicians from Aphex Twin to The Mommas and the Poppas. She wears her walkman in a nightclub and wanders through the crowds. She wears her walkman in the grocery store and everything seems to move in slow motion. She... well. That's it, really. I used to wish I could live a life in montage. But after seeing this movie, seeing someone else's life in montage, the wish is gone. Thanks.
My biggest complaint about this movie is that I couldn't get LOST in it, and what I wanted, more than anything, was to lose myself. But there were so many loose ends, so many unanswered questions, that my brain just wouldn't shut up and let me enjoy the ride. For one, it's never explained why the boyfriend kills himself. Two, it's never explained why Morvern doesn't tell people he's dead. Three, where are these people's families? Do they not check up on their kids from time to time? Four, have you ever heard of an unknown first-time author getting a 6-figure advance? Five, where is Morvern getting all the drugs that she's obviously taking? Six, even if she doesn't tell anyone, does nobody realize he's dead? Doesn't he have any friends of his own? Seven, and most important: does she actually read the book her boyfriend wrote?
All in all, hmmmm.... well, I'd recommend this movie if you're not in the mood for logic. It IS beautiful and interesting. But only, and I repeat ONLY, watch this movie if you're melancholy, or high, or otherwise able to dismiss logic. If you're not in the right state of mind, this film will just drive you crazy.