*Originally written October 24th, 2017*
"Reality"
I keep saying 2017 might be the strongest year of cinema I've ever lived in. I was born in 1996, so make of that what you will. Films like this are what make me love film. This is pure cinema. The Florida Project is something so special that has come out of nowhere for me. I got to see it at Odeon's monthly or so "Unseen" even where they give you a preview of a film coming out without telling you what it is. I had no clue about this film. I'd heard some festival buzz and that Willem Dafoe was in it, but that's it. I haven't even seen the director's previous film 'Tangerine', but I need to now.
I was floored by this. A dark, sweet and sad film about a group of different people living in a motel on the outskirts of Disneyland Florida. It's like a peek into what they don't want you see around a place that is meant to be magical and child friendly. It all feels so real. Nothing about this felt Hollywood or fake. This could have been a documentary for all I know if it weren't for Willem Dafoe and another actor I recognised (I'm talking about Caleb Jones and his vitamin C deficiency).
Not that Willem Dafoe wasn't fantastic in this, but he is outshined by non-actors, which is a compliment. Every performance is insanely good. Even the goods, who feel like real kids. Not the usual Richard Curtis bullshit where kids talk like adults and understand things they wouldn't in real life. They're incoherent, confused and easily pleased, but know when something is wrong, making for some of the most heartbreaking moments I've seen in cinema this year.
For a first time actress, Bria Vinaite was a goddamn revelation as Halley, the mother of Moonee (Brooklynn Prince), a woman who goes to desperate attempts to provide for her daughter and keep her living in the motel for the Summer. It's a performance of incredible complexion for a first time actress, there is so much depth to her character and performance, I couldn't believe this is the first time she's been on a screen. I can't wait to see her career progression after this.
In many ways this reminded me last years American Honey (Which is also excellent and worth checking out). This is a film I imagine mainstream audiences shrugging off as "Boring" or "Nothing happens", which is fair enough. There's not so much plot, it's more about just watching these people live, living and breathing their world and watching their struggles. Which for me, was so compelling and beautiful.
Speaking of beautiful, this is a gorgeous film. I cannot express how much I loved the colour scheme of the faux brightly coloured motel as the backdrop to so much poverty and desperation. Alexis Zabe did an incredible job with the cinematography, there were so many beautiful images that it was impossible to take in on a first watch. That firework scene? I need more of that in my life.
The only big question mark I had about The Florida Project was the ending. Which is up to interpretation for sure, but sadly I was with a jerk-off audience that laughed out loud and verbally shouted "Was that it" when it ended. For me, the ending was beautiful, a piece of a escapism fantasy that could have only been in the mind of a child who was facing the hardest moment of her life. I'd say the change of cinematic technique was a bit jarring and off, but on reflection, the way the scene was presented, so different from the rest of the film, it had to be fantasy. Everything leading up to it though was some of the most brutal and hard hitting things I've seen.
I loved The Florida Project. It's not a film that will show wide, but if you can seek it out and you're open to indie and art-house films, then this will be an endlessly rewarding experience that's equal parts sweet and endearing as it was heartbreaking. Pure cinema. Give me more Sean Baker.
10/10 Dans
The Florida Project opens November 10th in UK cinemas
Watch the trailer below:
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