Mackie
Messer (2018): Written and directed by Joachim
Lang. Starring: Lars Eidinger, Tobias Moretti, Hannah Herzsprung, Robert
Stadloper, Joachim Krol, Claudia Michelsen, Britta Hammelstein. Running
Time: 135 Minutes. Based on the
opera of the same name by Bertolt Brecht.
Rating:
2.5/4
The
opening texts of Mackie Messer inform
us that what we are about to see is inspired by “a film never made.” What follows are essentially two separate
films mashed together in ways designed to make a joke of the very notion of a
fourth wall. The first deals with the
meteoric success of Brecht’s Threepenny Opera upon its release (which he
cheekily refers to as an attempt to match the “dumbing down” of the German
opera scene). Talk of a film adaptation starts
up right away, and Brecht and his co-artists soon sign a contract with a
production company. However, Brecht’s
vision and ideas for the movie grow wilder and wilder, until the company,
worried about its bottom line, tries to cut him out. He sues in retaliation, and both the long
legal process and the rising power of the Nazis eventually lead to his ideas
being shelved and him fleeing the country.
Thank God such studio-artist clashes NEVER happen these days.
Parallel
to the real-world drama, we see what was supposedly his vision for the film,
the story played out in broad strokes (I imagine there were far more details in
the opera left out for time’s sake). Brecht
takes both friends and foes alike into his vision (literally!) for the Threepenny
film, with Brecht appearing around the characters, on balconies, or in windows,
to describe what we are seeing to the skeptical paper-pushers he’s trying to
get on board. It is a fascinating way to
both allow Brecht himself to narrate the proceedings (most of his lines are
direct quotes from various writings of his) and to work as a way to actually
bring his vision as near as possible to what he had hoped the film could
be. And the film’s daring in refusing to
stick to any form of logic, in how it jumps in and out of time and space, using
all sorts of fun gimmicks to transition between the Opera and “real world,” is
a joy to behold.
For
all its flaws, then, this film is a notable and touching tribute to the power
of the individual artistic vision, and a sign that even when more “mainstream”
societal forces seem to have won the upper-hand, in the long view of things,
art has a way of continuing on and surviving past the pettiness of its
origins. I admit that I am not nearly as
well-read in Brecht’s works as I ought to be, so there may very well be an
additional value in watching the film for Brecht devotees who are much more
deeply versed in the history of this part of his life than I am.
But
there are, in the end, too many ways the film kneecaps itself needlessly for me
to call it a “great” film. Using direct
quotes from Brecht is fine, and Lars Eidinger does a fine job of conveying the
presence of someone twice as smart as everyone else in the room, but smartass
social critiques that sting wonderfully on paper rarely ever sound like
something you would hear in everyday conversation. And since such statements make up about 98.42%
of all of Brecht’s dialogue, the result is that Brecht comes across as less of
a character and more like Classic German Literature’s version of Deadpool, good
for one-line zingers and not much else.
There
are also undertones of, if not sexism, then at least assumed masculine
superiority in the interactions between Brecht and his fellow artists,
including three women who seem to orbit around him like moons. It is mentioned that he has kids from each of
them running around, but we barely see them.
They seem to provide for him and run his house while he writes with brow
furrowed, and while he appears to fully respect and treat them as artistic
equals, at the end of the day, it’s not them being photographed and quoted by
the papers. What this stems from I can’t
say. Perhaps it’s a case of the film
seeking historical accuracy in its gender relations. Maybe the screenplay was cut down and space
to develop the women was left hanging.
Maybe the director just never thought of it. But it was something I never could stop
noticing while I was watching, even though the film never does anything other
than entertain.
This
film will confuse many who do not already know the Threepenny opera or the
drama surrounding its origins, so there are likely a great many viewers who
will feel too left out in the cold to really like this film. While I certainly belong to the ranks of the
ignorant, though, I found it a fun, daring experience. I would rather see a dozen films with nerve
like this than a hundred from the standard studio fares of today.
-Noah Franc
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