SNAPSHOT
“In Labor Day, Kate Winslet delivers an award-worthy performance as a depressed single mother, who along with her young teenage son Henry (Gattlin Griffith) have their lives changed forever when they offer a wounded man a ride. The man (played by Josh Brolin) turns out to be an escaped convict, who takes the family hostage during Labor Day weekend. (source: slashfilm.com)
I am great fan of emotionally complex movies.
Alas, such creations seem to few and far between in modern Hollywood, littered as it is with re-boots, re-makes and sequels, most of which focus primarily on the special effects and gung-go action to the detriment of fully fleshed out characters and dramatic import.
Thankfully there are still a number of directors, particularly in the indie sphere, who are crafting movies that resonate with palpable emotional truth, films in which the full breadth of human existence in all its messy glory can be expressed.
Jason Reitman is one such director, whose latest work Labor Day, which premiered to rapt acclaim at this year’s Telluride Film Festival, turns the typical hostage drama on its head to powerful effect.
If the trailer, which is replete with beautifully filmed visuals and a achingly evocative song by Other Lives “Take Us Alive”, is any indication, and by all accounts it is, Labor Day is one of those rare films that doesn’t glibly address a situation with platitudes and superficial observations.
Rather it asks the hard questions, doesn’t dish out easy to swallow answers, and does it all in such a luminously beguiling manner that you can’t help but be mesmerised by it.
It is that rare beast, as beautifully shot as it is thoughtfully provocative, borne of a longstanding relationship between Reitman and his cinematographer Eric Steelberg, a defining relationship that has contributed greatly to the overall look and feel of the film as Reitman explains in a quote from slashfilm.com:
“By some great moment of kismet, I met my cinematographer Eric Steelberg when we were both fifteen. Old enough to want to make movies but young enough to be dropped off by our parents on our first set. We started together on little videos, then moved to shorts, commercials, and eventually feature films. I’ve watched him grow as an artist and a technician over the course of twenty years, but I’ve never been more proud to present a peek into our collaboration. In order to realize this movie, we had to recreate the era in which we first met. Enjoy a first look at our new film Labor Day.”
I can’t wait to see how the entire film plays out but I know one thing for sure – it’s going to good for my soul in more ways than one.
Labor Day opens in limited release in USA on 25 December 2013 with wider release following on 31 January 2014 and in Australia on 6 February 2014.
*Here’s the theatrical trailer followed by the exclusively online trailer …