6 ENTERTAINMENT
Thursday, February 5, 2009
THE FUN
DAILY XPRESS
TOM JONES, MAKING AN APPEARANCE ON POLISH TV WITH A HEAD OF GREY HAIR.
“It’s the music that keeps me alive.”
CINEMA
A JARRING CHARACTER Michael Shannon provides some of the most electrifying moments in ‘Revolutionary Road’ By Susan King LOS ANGELES TIMES
M
ichael Shannon is a big, imposing guy who’s played a lot of intense, imposing characters in such films as “Bug”, and “Shotgun Stories”. In “Revolutionary Road”, Sam Mendes’ film about 1950s angst, Shannon cranks up the intensity to almost uncomfortable levels. The film reunites “Titanic” stars Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio as April and FrankWheeler, a married suburban couple who seek to break free of their staid existence. As John Givings, a brilliant mathematician who’s suffered a mental breakdown, Shannon has two pivotal scenes with the couple, scenes in which his brutal honesty cuts to the very core of their disintegrating relationship, and his powerful acting has earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
I never knew the 1950s were so traumatic until I saw “Revolutionary Road”.
It was an era of containment, it seems to me. People were trying to keep it all together and keep it inside.
XTRA
LOS ANGELES TIMES
D R A M AT I C D R E A M S >> “Revolutionary Road” opens in cinemas today. >> The Academy Awards will be shown live from Los Angeles on TrueVisions Series from 8.30am on February 23.
Does Richard Yates give John Givings a back-story in the novel on which the film is based?
Not really. He talks about John having a breakdown and coming home, and how his mother tried to take care of him. Basically, he wanted to kill her and blamed her for all of his problems. There are some clues, I think, in just kind of a superficial way. He is an only child and I assume he wasn’t very popular in
Michael Shannon co-stars in “Revolutionary Road” as John Givings, a brilliant mathematician who’s suffered a mental breakdown. school or very athletic. John really serves as a bookend to April and Frank’s story.
He really is important to the story. It's a hard movie to describe to people when they ask you what it's about. But if you boil it down to its essence, it's about Frank and April trying to decide whether to stay on and suffer silently or try to liberate themselves and escape to a better life? The first time we see John they are celebrating their decision and kind of revelling in this newfound sense of freedom. John is there to kind of celebrate and validate their decision. Then John comes back, and this freedom has crumbled, and he’s there to castigate and punish them for their loss of faith. I think that’s the really beautiful thing about the character.