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nNightcrawler (2014)
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nDirector: Dan Gilroy
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nCast: Jake Gyllenhal, Rene Russo, Bill Paxton
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nNightcrawler came out of nowhere for me, I had no idea whonwas behind it, who made it, who wrote it, I didn’t even know it was innproduction. But then I saw a trailer and I was immediately hooked. The premisenalone got me; the idea of a guy who takes matters into his own hands and startsnfilming things that happen on the streets, capturing footage of moments on thenspot, seconds after they’d happened, or sometimes as they are happening, sometimesngetting there before the cops or the fire men themselves, it just seemed like a very originalnconcept to me. I mean, speaking about the media, we all know how news is manipulatednto shape the way the masses perceive things. I personally despise how the medianis always fear mongering. Example, I turned on the television the other day andnright there in words that caught practically half of the screen where the wordsn‘Fear’ and ‘Ebola’, with no other words on the screen. I was like wow, that’snwhat their selling now. That’s what they want people to fear now, but is thisnan actual epidemic? Or are they deviating the publics attention from thingsnthat really matter in the world? A few months down the line it’ll be some othernfear; the trick is to keep us in a state of panic without focusing on thingsnthat are truly important. So a film in which someone wants to capture the news himself seemed so interesting to me. Did Nightcrawlerndeliver the goods?
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nThe story focuses on Louis Bloom, a common thief withndelusions of grandeur. Louis is a smart guy, he educates himself by reading anlot, the problem is that he’s kind of nuts. Actually, the guy is full blownnnuts. He’s the kind of guy that a few minutes into the conversation, you realizenhe’s completely bonkers, but boy, what a character! So anyhow, when we firstnmeet him he’s stealing manholes and watches to sell them for scraps, until henstumbles upon this guy who films video footage so he can sell it to the localnnews channel. Suddenly, like an epiphany, Louis realizes that he can make morenmoney doing this as well. So he gets himself a camera and starts shootingnfootage of car accidents and fires, with the footage being as graphic asnpossible. Soon he starts making some money and growing. He starts to getnambitious, how far is he willing to go to make it the top?
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nOne thing I like about movies like this one is how they feelnlike a jolt of electricity because they speak the truth because they aim theirnguns at something that’s happening in society, something that’s real. The media is of course being controlled, so isnmusic and films, this is probably why most films are so watered down and silly,nthe Motion Picture Association of America holds a firm grip on the type ofnfilms that are being released in cinemas, same goes for the news we see in thennewspapers and on television. They focus only on certain things, on things theynwant us to think about. There’s this amazing scene in Nightcrawler in which thenproducer of the news show (played by Rene Russo) is feeding the news anchorsnthe words that they have to emphasize during their broadcast. The word fear andnpanic popped up more than once. The question that popped in my head was: justnhow much of what news anchors say are their own words? The answer is zero, theynread everything. Everything is filtered, chosen for them. But this is just onenof the themes the film addresses, we’re talking about a very layered film here.
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nA few movies came to mind while watching this one, but onenof the first ones to pop up was of course Taxi Driver (1976), because the mainncharacter is a loner roaming the streets at night, slowly going insane becausenof society and the way things are. But unlike Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver, Louis Bloom doesn’t try to change the world, instead, like a vampire, he wants to feed off of it. What kind of person is society breeding?nLouis Bloom is a good example, here’s a desperate character without a formalneducation, but willing to learn and do what he’s got to do to survive in thisncrazy world. He’s ambitious, but ambition and greed have corrupted his soul, sonhere we have a guy willing to do anything to make it to the top, even if whatnhe has to do is morally unacceptable. But then you get to thinking, arent these the kind of people that make it to the top anyways? Louis Bloom builds his ownnsmall enterprise, he becomes the boss of his own imaginary corporation, and hentreats his only employee the way most big corporations treat their employees,nlike shit; with little benefits or remuneration for their work, yet exploitingnthem as much as possible. So in a strange way, Louis becomes the mirror imagenof corporate America. You think Louis Bloom is wrong in the way he treatsnpeople? Then you think most big corporations are, because to me they are onenand the same in this movie.
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nHow awesome is Jake Gyllenhal in this movie? I’d say hisnperformance is Oscar worthy stuff, I hope he gets it. It’s one of those careerndefining pieces, where the actor will never be the same after it, so here’snhoping. It’s been interesting seeing Gyllenhal grow as an actor. I’ve beennfollowing his career since his early days, when he blew me away with DonnienDarko (2001). Gyllenhal, you’ve come a long way baby, many kudos to you fornthis performance, hopefully we’ll see you Oscar night. So anyhow, hisnperformance will blow you away, or send chills down your spine. You might evennfind yourself cheering him on at one point? At others you’ll totally despisenhim, at others you might pity him, he’s a very ambiguous character with manynsides to him. Certainly not someone we want to emulate, but at the same time,nyou have to admit his character does say certain truths about life and thenworld we live in; is Louis Bloom a mad prophet of our times? You be the judge.
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nThe way it was shot, and the way it looks, Nightcrawler hasnthis weird thing about it, it feels like a film from the 70’s. It’s also like anfilm from the 70’s because it reminded me of that time when movies weren’tnworried about being politically correct and were more concerned with sayingnsomething that matters, something relevant about society. The 70’s were a timenwhen movies still had an edge to them, and Nightcrawler has that edge. It speaksnof the desperate times we’re living in, where people are struggling to “makenit”, struggling to dig themselves out of the proverbial hole, doing anythingnnecessary to make ends meet. Sad part is that it’s the economy and the waynsociety is constructed that pushes people to live this way. I enjoyed thatnrawness about Nightcrawler; it feels real, genuine and alive. It reminded me anbit of Sydney Lumet’s Network (1976) because it has to do with the disseminationnof news to the masses and because it speaks the truth about the dog eat dognworld we’re living in. If we’re not careful, we’ll turn into Louise Bloom, andesperate individual, willing to step on anybody to make it to the top.
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nRating: 5 out of 5
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