Lost River

It's not often that I am truly perplexed by a film's critical reception. The critical blasting this has gotten truly... perplexes me. I get it, it's not for everyone, but neither is The Tree of Life, or Under The Skin, or even Drive, or countless of other films that managed to get embraced well- enough by many critics, if not most. Sure, the screenplay here needed some work. Sure, it doesn't really seem tightly-woven and it doesn't have any real forward action that seems to be driving the plot. But so what? As a mood piece, this makes the perfect midnight movie. It's visually outstanding, able to capture certain colors and images that I haven't even seen Gosling's good friend Nicolas Winding Refn capture. And yes, this film seems to be heavily influenced by him. I hated Only God Forgives because I found it boring, nonsensical, and totally pretentious, with not an ounce of honest artistry. I found Bronson to be sort of entertaining, but also full of itself. I did like Drive though.

Gosling really shows a certain directorial skill here, even if it's really borrowing from Refn's same style. And unlike Refn's last film, despite how "airy" the screenplay is, the film manages to capture a true emotional core. I actually cared about the three lead characters and felt like I was on this ride with them. The film's deeply ambitious, but it also doesn't feel ponderous or pretentious. I felt like it truly touched on something special that, despite how flawed it is, really made it work. It's somewhat messy, somewhat clumsy, yet I thought it was able to rise above that and work as an actual film, and not just great individual scenes without anything holding them together. Hendricks, De Caestecker, and Ronan are really strong as well and all three manage to hit the perfect pitch for the type of film Gosling wanted to make.

So, what can I say? It's going to be really tough seeing the film get as much hate throughout the year, but I hope it's able to get at least a few more fans and I hope Gosling isn't discouraged from making another film because if he was able to touch the notes that he did here despite all of the flaws, he could very well make a masterpiece soon enough. I can't wait to rewatch this.

Ryan Gosling wrote and directed a fine first film, a tale about ordinary people surrounded by myth and decay, in an almost abandoned town in Michigan. However, the movie was submitted to the wrong film festival: you know, Cannes means tough competition and the French can be haughty. With the tone of an apocalyptic fable, «Lost River» would have been more appreciated in specialized events, as the fantasy film festivals celebrated in Porto, Neuchâtel, Brussels, Málaga, Roma, Amsterdam, Gérardmer, Puchon, Austin or Buenos Aires. «Lost River» strongly belongs in those festivals and it could have been awarded with several prizes: first work by a new director, for its cinematography, screenplay, or for a couple of good performances. Handled by Warner Brothers, the company did not know what to do with this motion picture, so it considered "selling the distribution rights to another company" and finally decided to limit its exposure to on- demand exhibitions. Or simply put: it just decided to kill it.

«Lost River» belongs to a special lineage of American films that portrait people and places of the United States that are often ignored or mistreated in mainstream cinema by filmmakers without any compassion or understanding of their situation: see how Alan Parker portrayed poverty in Mississippi, with a "chic touch" in the deplorable «Angel Heart». I refer to a lineage as old as King Vidor's «Street Scene», to Robert Altman's «Thieves Like Us», David Lynch's «Blue Velvet», Michael Moore's «Roger & Me», and many other independent films that came to my mind, as Harmony Korine's «Gummo», Jeff Nichols' «Mud», Daniel Patrick Carbone's «Hide Your Smiling Faces» and Kat Candler's «Hellion».

As an individual of these times, Gosling was audio-visually formed from watching television and films since childhood, so he wrote a fragmented script, but it does have a linear Aristotelian plot with well-defined three acts, precise plot points, a satisfying resolution and well-structured (and a few fascinating) characters. In the story a single mother (Christina Hendricks) tries to save her childhood home and keep her little family united (she and her two sons) in the dying town of Lost River. To do so she takes a job offer from a bank manager (Ben Mendelsohn) in a night club from hell, where the main attraction (Eva Mendes) dances to "Moliendo café" as sung by Lucho Gatica, to be suddenly beaten and killed by a hoodlum and spread her blood on the audience (all as part of the show). In this way the mother enters a sordid and morbid sector of society (imagine that all clients are Dennis Hoppers from «Blue Velvet» times 50, plus the naked and masked bourgeoisie of «Eyes Wide Shut»).

Simultaneously her adolescent son (Iain de Caestecker) tries to help her by extracting and selling pieces of copper found in derelict buildings, which are claimed by a psychopath (Matt Smith) who controls what is left of the town. As he runs from the guy, the boy incidentally discovers a submerged town in a lake, and his girlfriend neighbor (Saoirse Ronan) tells him that her grandmother (Barbara Steele) --who decided to remain silent when her husband died-- predicted that the day someone brings a fragment of the lost town to the surface, Lost River will be freed from a curse.

Although what is being told is very violent in spirit (and overtly so in some scenes), Gosling moved his story with a smooth and gentle pace, unfolding the tale in a calm manner, rarely unaltered, which brings me to my only objection, a factor that did alter this tone of serenity: the music score by Johnny Jewel. Not because it is bad music, but for being unnecessary in most of the cases. This is not only a problem in Gosling's film, but in almost all movies, especially in American productions. Filmmakers seem to mistrust the power of the images they create and allow composers, editors and sound crew to overemphasize what is obvious. Besides Jewel's cues are too short and have a spasmodic effect: they accentuate a phrase, an expression, an action, and then fade until the next reaction. But fortunately the film transcends this limitation.

As you watch «Lost River», it is true that you may remember one or two works from Lynch or Nicolas Winding Refn, but I do not see the point of making a fuss about this, when all filmmakers, from Woody Allen to Brian De Palma, show their influences and no one complains. They are even exalted because of copying Ingmar Bergman or Alfred Hitchcock. This said, as a whole «Lost River» is a satisfying motion picture, with good performances by all: even in a silento role Barbara Steele is remarkable. Forget what some say about «Lost River» and watch it. You will like it.

Ryan Gosling's first rodeo at the Writer/Director's chair was something. The dramatic mystery-fantasy ride that Gosling is taking us on is enchanting but also disturbing.

Lost River first looks like a documentary or an old film but it gets weird real fast. The documentary aspect of it comes from the debt crisis theme the movie has, people choking with debts leaving their homes, deserted neighborhoods and ghost towns but the film goes from a very grounded theme into a phantasmagorical world filled with disturbing dark metaphors with violent and/or dodgy characters.

The music is hypnotic and fits the surrealism atmosphere of the film but it gets annoying real fast. Although it mostly fits the movie, there's almost too much of it, the music is not really helping in the cinematic experience of Lost River.

No matter how you may feel about the movie you can't deny that it's beautifully acted. Ryan Gosling knows how to pick his cast but the one I was most surprised about, was Iain De Caestecker, whose presence and performance was electric. Iain is impressive, from the second he appears on screen everything you need to know about his character is there, you can read it on his face, his attitude and hear it in his voice. He held his own next to Hendricks and Ronan, as it turns out he is incredibly talented.

I know Lost River must be - is - a metaphor but god I need help to figure it out. I may not be doing enough drugs to understand that film or I haven't experience enough of life but it was difficult for me to decipher. A short version of the film would have been fine, great even, but a full feature film, wow that's something.

Lost River is an experience, like any ride in an amusement park it will leave its mark but it doesn't mean that you'll enjoy it. @wornoutspines

Few indie films of late have more effectively captured the inescapable, haunting truth of urban decay in a narrative capacity the way 'Lost River' does. We may hear about it in the news, or occasionally see glimpses of it via online write-ups but are we really getting the whole story? Still, Lost River's eerie tale of a young man and his mother's desperate attempt to hold onto their rapidly decaying home gets under your skin. It's not the kind of story everyone will enjoy, some frankly won't have the stomach for it. Despite it sporting a supremely well written and directed script by Ryan Gosling - with visuals and cinematography that are breathtaking, hypnotic and cryptically gorgeous. The fact that corporate greed is literally wiping out entire towns across the United States is a reality some are just not going to be interested in, but that might be this film's central conceit.

The American Dream is slowly but surely turning into a sad, and devolved nightmare - governed by 'dark subcultures' which seem to be gaining momentum while murder, mass genocide, chaos and destruction continue to reign supreme. This is what's at the twisted heart of 'Lost River.' It also beautifully pays homage to Argento, Bava, Lynch, Tarkovsky and more. Some might feel inclined to make accusations that name actors like Barbara Steele are grossly underused. That may or may not be true, but I'd wager those folks are missing the point. If you're looking for a supremely bizarre, heady, visually striking foray into what some folks will do to hold onto their own little status-quos then this film is not to be missed.

Beware, this movie is quite dark and disturbing. It has a certain Terry Gilliam feel about it, although it goes deeper and touches the dark bottom of your soul. It is beautifully shot, has a constant subtle tension and very good music. Although the story is rather predictable it reminded me of the greatest epic tales of mankind.

Very rich and creative debut. Good actors and superb camera work, settings and effects.

The movie feels like a true nightmare sometimes, don't be fooled, though - it is not a classical horror movie or thriller. It is more like a dark dream put onto celluloid. You see lots of blood and some violence, still it will not work for typical fans of guts and gore movies.

Real cinema.