Afterglow Review
by "Ted Prigge" (chandlerb AT geocities DOT com)March 1st, 1998
AFTERGLOW (1997)
A Film Review by Ted Prigge
Copyright 1998 Ted Prigge
Writer/Director: Alan Rudolph
Starring: Julie Christie, Nick Nolte, Lara Flynn Boyle, Jonny Lee Miller, Jay Underwood, Domini Blythe, Yves Corbeil, Alan Fawcett
Watching "Afterglow" is like watching a soap opera, only with depth and some real emotional stimulation. The entire time, you know what's going to happen to these characters, but you can never tell what you're going to feel like when it's about to hit you. And when it does, you're not even sure what to feel like afterwards.
The structure of "Afterglow" is something like a Robert Altman film (he's the producer of this, by chance), following a group of characters around as they run into eachother by chance, then examining them as a group or groups, and as individuals. We first meet Jeffrey Bryon (Jonny Lee Miller), a high-level business man living in Montreal, but has lost all passion for his life, most notably in his job and his marriage to his wife, Marianne (Lara Flynn Boyle), a lonely but occasionally ecstatic woman who yearns for a baby, but will find not such help with it from Jeffrey.
We also meet another couple: Lucky and Phyllis Mann (Nick Nolte and Julie Christie, respectively), a much older couple, probably old enough to be Jeffrey and Marianne's parents. Lucky runs a fix-it man business, and also is a bit of a Cassanova on the side, sleeping with several of his female customers merely because he enjoys pleasing them and also helping his wounded libido, since Phyllis refuses to sleep with him. Meanwhile, Phyllis lies around all day watching her old movies, and thinking about life and death, as one of her fellow actors has recently died.
Wouldn't you know it: Lucky gets a call from Marianne to help build a nursery for her yet un-conceived baby, and the two hit it off. Lucky not only helps her do this, but also gives some emotional support for her, and eventually begins sleeping with her. As their relationship becomes more and more serious, Phyllis discovers them, and while spying on them at a bar, she runs into Jeffrey, who's spying on Marianne. The more they talk, the more they become interested in eachother, and without even knowing who the other is, they begin a relationship that is in direct opposition of Lucky and Marianne.
This film has been getting some reception most notably because of the performance by Julie Christie, who is a lot like her character. Christie was a big star in the 60s and 70s, appearing in such cinema classics as "Darling," "Doctor Zhivago," and "Shampoo," but then disappearing from cinema and the public's eye for a long time, claiming to be happy in her loneliness. Of course, last year she played Queen Gertrude in Branagh's "Hamlet," and has now found her career to be blooming once more. In fact, Christie received a very well-deserved Oscar nomination for the role in question.
What she brings to the screen is a persona that is sad and mysterious, which is what she does best anyway. Phyllis is portrayed as a woman who keeps most of her emotions bottled up behind a false facade, and who talks with a distanced and somewhat pretentious overtone. When she finally does break down at the end, it's almost as powerful as Ian Holm's breakdown in "The Sweet Hereafter" (another great performance). But in the meantime, watching Christie navigate through her role is a pleasure that brings a smile to anyone's face, and seeing her once again marvel an audience is pretty astounding.
But she's not the chief reason to see this, as the media has been claiming. "Afterglow" is a film which is very multi-textured: it's a black comedy, a drama, a character study, an exercise in how to be Altman-esque, and a beautifully cynical film dealing with couples who aren't right for one another. The title of the film is cynically ironic, as it is the focus of the film that the afterglow of these two marriages is anything but sweet. The two couples in this film are hanging on by a thread that should be cut, but unfortuantely they're trying to help themselves through relationships instead of working at it like they should be doing. Sure, it may seem like a soap opera, but it sure has some intelligent depth.
The film can also be looked at as a tale of a couple being told by examining two paralell couples at different stages (this isn't a totally thought-out theory, so just follow me on this one). The Jeffrey/Marianne couple may in fact be the younger version of the Lucky/Phyllis couple, as we know very little about their younger life. And instances happen that directly parallel that of the other couple, and the ending of the Jeffrey/Marianne couple seems like it may be headed for the ending of the Lucky/Phyllis couple. "Afterglow" unfolds in a way that the details of the film are given to you as the film goes on, so we can piece the film together afterwards.
Julie Christie may be the stand-out performance for an Oscar Nomination (or an Oscar), but she's not the only one who gives a great performance. The four leads all give phenomenol performances. Nick Nolte, who does big budget films to finance his more subtlely budgeted films (like this), presents a man who is not really a sex machine, but a man who is up for trying to please everyone as well as himself. He's not an asswhole; he's a very lovable man, and Nolte's performance is more human than anything else. Lara Flynn Boyle gives us a performance which is full of energy, even while her character is also suffering some truly deep emotional pain. And Jonny Lee Miller (Sick Boy from "Trainspotting") not only deftly controls a Canadian accent (I loved his "aboot"), but presents a man who seems like an asswhole on the surface, but is really incredibly disenchanted with his life. Watching him fawn over Julie Christie is another great thing about this movie.
A side not to anyone who grew up in the 80s: look for 80s semi-semi-icon Jay Underwood in a supporting role. Remember him from the kinda classics "The Boy Who Could Fly" and the Disney movies of "Not Quite Human?" God, it's a weird feeling to see him in a movie again, eh?
The ending of "Afterglow" (or the afterglow of "Afterglow") is just like the rest of the film: slightly confusing as to how the audience should feel about it. We know we should feel happy or sad for each of the couples, but instead we're searching for feelings. One of the most remarkable and pleasing things about this film is seeing Julie Christie once again wow us with an amazing performance. My god, it's been awhile since we've felt that way, hasn't it?
MY RATING (out of 4): ***1/2
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