I know I’ve mentioned it before but one of my favorite things about Alan Davis’ art is that you can tell that Nightcrawler is a gymnast by the way he stands
Went to watch Nightcrawler last night with low expectations. The poster made it look like a Drive clone (car, jacket), and the trailer made the film look cheap and low budget. Was absolutely blown away. It’s nothing like Drive (apart from car, jacket), and appearances of being low budget are because of its thematic focus and elegant restraint.
Some observations:
Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance as sociopath Lou Bloom is enthralling. He even looks it: gaunt, his eyes sunken, the dark circles under his eyes even darker, greasy, slicked back hair.
There is not one scene without Jake’s character in it. The film does not break away to show the lives of other characters. They’re always shown in context to Lou Bloom. This reinforces how other people’s lives don’t really matter to a sociopath. They’re just tools.
True to the title, most scenes were set in the evening. I could count the day scenes in one hand (four, I believe).
It’s been called a satire of the media, but I’d like to think it more an indictment of certain parts of Internet culture: the obsession to take photos/videos of everything to the point of devaluing the experience of the event itself, and corporate-influenced self-help jargon. The film exposes the sociopathic behaviour at the core of these trends by taking them to their extreme.
Appropriately compared to Taxi Driver. I imagine if De Niro’s character had access to the Internet he might end up obsessing and spouting about the same subjects.
The director spared us any kissing and sex scenes with this character. The thought of it is disgusting enough, thank you very much.
What’s some LA noir without a car chase?
But really, the events and set pieces of the film are mundane compared to recent Hollywood fare. The car chase is the film at its most bombastic. It’s a thrilling car chase, but the film is strongest during its quiet moments. It’s a testament to Jake’s performance that every conversation with Lou is full of dread and tension.
I know I’ve mentioned it before but one of my favorite things about Alan Davis’ art is that you can tell that Nightcrawler is a gymnast by the way he stands
