Indignation - Film Review

Indignation - Film Review

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Posted 2016-08-13 by Desiree Walshfollow

Thu 18 Aug 2016

Indignation by definition is anger or annoyance provoked by what is perceived to be unfair or unjust but most of us would not have to look that up, most of us would have felt it. Indignation is brought to the scene by James Schamus who both wrote the screenplay and directed the film. Based on the best-selling book by Philip Roth, this is his ninth out of ten novel/short story/artworks that has been adapted to film; the next being released later this year. Roth is also one of the most acclaimed US Writers of our generation. Like many of his works, the themes of this story covers the subject areas of religion, sex and the socio/political. As well, much of Roth's fiction revolves around semi-autobiographical themes and therefore, he share more than a few things in common with the main character and the film's narrator Marcus Messner (Logan Lerman) for Roth grew up in Newark, New Jersey, share Jewish heritage, both later becoming atheist. So, you get the feeling Roth's sentiments and indignations are very much expressed through his own written characters.



Marcus as Schamus/Roth's is the perfect protagonist because he has plenty of righteous indignation. He is a gifted, logical driven, analytical young man who is confused by anything that does not fall into his straight-line thinking – all he wants to do is study hard, become a great lawyer and largely be left alone.

Indignation is set in 1951, the second year of the Korean War and Marcus wins a scholarship from his Temple which he chooses to use to attend college in WASP America. This rebellious decision is Marcus's response to his father (Danny Burstein) who is fuelled by the corrosive effect of the military conflict aboard and relentlessly projects onto his fears onto Marcus. His father fears his son will perish away from his home "where the tiniest misstep can have tragic consequences". His father's overwhelming preoccupation with Marcus welfare moves from obsessive to almost pathological. Marcus is really the model son and student; he has no interest in fraternities, extended socialising, drinking, dancing nor dating.

And all those things remain equal until he is distracted by the sight of Olivia's (Sarah Gadon), his beautiful classmate's swaying but seated leg. Marcus has no choice but to ask Olivia out to better time manage his growing obsession. Olivia Hutton is sexually confident and when she becomes enthusiastically giving on their first date, Marcus becomes quite undone. His overthinking of what was done by Olivia leads him into confusion one minute, self-righteousness the next. Followed by more confusion, judgment, avoidance, before the inevitable remorse. But even then Marcus engages in even more protracted thinking as to how he will action and make resipiscence. By about this time in the movie, it's becoming apparent that Marcus is more motivated by his own indignation (what he perceives to be unjust) - than his thinking/behaviour motivated by what is right and just.



Indignation today has become a socio/political public relations art form - used to either motivate support or deflect unwanted attention. It's the form of public debate you have when you do not want to have a public debate; one side use indignation to motivate support, the other uses dignation to deflect attention, yet neither party listens to either persepctive. This art of indignation banter is best illustrated in the film when Dean Hawes Caudwell (Tracy Letts) offers Marcus the benefit of his Christian pastoral talks which really seem to be more missioned towards finding wrong doing. Marcus inturn ceases the opportunity to question the College's compulsory Christian Chapel attendance requirement saying it offended his atheism which Marcus states is his rightful preference "not to practice one religion over another". But neither really listen to each other. Marcus cites fellow logician and Noble Peace winner Bertrand Russell's famous manuscript "Why I am not a Christian" to try and support his position but to no avail, as the Dean was too busy deflecting.



Indignation is a beautiful, telling story. Tragic yet humorous, loving yet harsh, ironic yet predictable - where the sum of everyone's fears becomes the ends. The end of the film goes back to the beginning - the dying Marcus Messner retrospectively narrates his own story. Very clever.

#film_reviews
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#august
!date 18/08/2016 -- 18/08/2016
%wnperth
171024 - 2023-06-15 08:06:10

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