By Emilio Frenk
Director: Antonio Campos
Cast: Rebecca Hall, Michael C. Hall, Tracy Letts, Maria Dizzia, J. Smith-Cameron and Timothy Simons.
Rating: Excellent.
Director Antonio Campos, brings his thrid feature film with “Christine” and is one of the biggest surprises of this year.
Based on real life events and set up during the 1970’s, “Christine” tells the story of TV Reporter Christine Chubbuck (Rebecca Hall) a single, depressed and anti social woman from Sarasota, Florida who´s death would be one of the most seen events in television history and eventually changed how the television is seen today.
Antonio Campos directed a smart movie that really tells us the last days of Christine Chubbuck. The direction he gave to the cast was sharp and precise and this movie despite of the theme was enjoyable and at the same time was really intense.
So far this is Rebecca Hall’s most demanding role of her career and I was delighted on seeing this fantastic performance which could land a possible Academy Award Nomintion for Hall and a most deserved one.
The screenplay written by Craig Shilowich narrates every single detail of “Christine Chubbuck” in a very smart way and it doesn’t make it boring and as a matter of fact you want to know more about her character.
Personally I was not familiar with the life of Christine Chubbuck until I saw the movie and I was really impressed with the life of this woman. In the other hand we saw a hard working woman and the other a depressed woman who carried a big chip on her shoulder that would eventually lead to her death.
Ever since she gained fame with Woody Allen’s “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”, Rebecca Hall has become a very fine actress and every single performance I’ve seen of her she gets better and better.
This is a true and believable performance at all levels. Director Antonio Campos knew how get the best out of the cast and specially Hall.
The cinematography and editing of the film were other elements that I loved of it and it was done with so much precision and I saw a lot of influene of Sidney Lumet’s “Network” in this movie due that most of the film takes place in a newsroom.
There were elements in terms of screenplay that could have been better but still it the writing was outstanding. Craig Shilowich’s debut with “Christine” started on the right track and hopefully we can see from him more in the future.
“Christine” is one of the year’s best films and I give it a huge recommendation and you are going to be blown away with Rebecca Hall’s performance which so far is the best of her career.