Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Forlorn

Author(s): D.W. Dillon
Location: NV


"Forlorn"

Directed by Mary Harron
Written by Steven Katz
Cinematography by W. Mott Hupfel III
Edited by Tricia Cooke
Music by John Cale
Produced by Richard D. Zanuck and Walter Parkes

Main Cast

Edward Norton as Henry Wilson
Gretchen Mol as Annabel Wilson
Beth Grant as Eliza Ludwig
John Malkovich as Officer Allen Ludwig

Tagline: "When hatred dies, love will grow"

Synopsis: Dearest Henry (Edward Norton) and dearest Annabel (Gretchen Mol). A pair of star-crossed lovers finding each other in a car crash. She lost her arm, but he gladly lent his shoulder to cry on. As soon as love turned to bliss, their love was a miss. Resentment began to ride high, for Henry was to blame for her disability, and for her pain. His love, a mere gesture in her unforgiving eyes. A war had erupted on the way to the rehabilitation center. They would meet in a wreck, and would depart in a wreck. This time, Henry could only offer a single tear amidst the millions of raindrops, as he pulled his wife from their overturned car, that soon set ablaze in the night.

Annabel Ludwig Wilson - Rest in Peace. News of Annabel's death and planned cremation infuriated the departed's mother, Eliza Ludwig. Eliza Ludwig (Beth Grant), a quite overbearing Christian soul was a constant thorn in the side of her daughter's marriage to the loathsome would-be writer of a husband, Henry. Her determined and irate visit to Henry's tomb of a home would be her last. Officer Allen Ludwig (John Malkovich), the father, would make numerous trips to Henry's home demanding information on the disappearance of his wife, suspecting foul play, Officer Ludwig’s visits would soon turn to violence . His drunken stupor on the five year anniversary of Annabel's death would see him veer off the path of the winding mountain road that was to lead him to his daughter's cemetery where Henry awaited.

Henry would not see Officer Ludwig again, but he would see his Annabel. Her ghost was a welcomed fright. Her haunting was his penance now. Henry had fallen back in love, and the anniversary of the car wreck would now bring them physically closer. Donned in her tattered white wedding gown, blue in the face, the beloved Annabel followed Henry's lead in a morbid dance of love. Her head resting upon his shoulder as he waltzed her around the room, with her cold dead eyes gazing upon the urn full of her mother's ashes. An urn that graced name, "Annabel Ludwig Wilson".

What the Press would say:

From the dark depths of love comes a story that pounds within our heart and at the same time makes the hairs on the back of our necks stand up. "Forlorn" tells the story of two lovers (Mol and Norton) who meet and fall in love in a car accident. With a relationship built on physical pain, they found it difficult to really love each other, ultimately succumbing to the resentment. This anger would drive them into another crash, this time together. Henry, played by Edward Norton offers up a very morose and disturbing performance as man that only truly falls in love with his wife after her death. He accepts every consequence but keeps his own agenda of loving his deceased wife. Director, Mary Harron (American Psycho, The Notorious Bettie Page) sets a dark mood with blue and red colors that scream sadness and madness. She is the driving force behind this Poe-esque masterpiece and guides Gretchen Mol to a female character that has not ever been seen in cinema. Gretchen Mol plays not one character but three; the bitter wife, the welcomed ghost, and in the last scene, a cold corpse that while dead, seems very much alive. A brilliant way to showcase the love Norton's character Henry has for his wife Annabel. The couple's arguments in the beginning while he helps her rehabilitate stand out as true drama that many only really see on a theater stage. Accompanied by supporting players such as the brilliant John Malkovich as the father of the deceased, out for constant revenge, letting his pain out on his son-in-law. Malkovich dives into the role of a hard-nosed retired cop turned lost and violent alcoholic father-in-law with brutality and vulnerability that plays off both our empathy as well as our sympathy. Beth Grant's as the impossible mother-in-law Eliza acts as the catalyst to Norton's Henry, driving him to the extreme. A well-crafted and disturbing dramatic look at love and love-loss that is clouded by revenge, animosity and sadness. Not since Alfred Hitchock's award-winning "Rebecca" have we seen a film with such depth in the kind of emotions were are scared to feel. Look for Mary Harron's "Forlorn" to break not only new ground, but your heart as well.

Best Picture
Best Director - Mary Harron
Best Actor - Edward Norton
Best Actress - Gretchen Mol
Best Supporting Actor - John Malkovich
Best Supporting Actress - Beth Grant
Best Original Screenplay - Steven Katz
Best Cinematography - W. Mott Hupfel III
Best Editing - Tricia Cooke
Best Sound - Benjamin Cheah
Best Sound Editing - Henry Embry
Best Score - John Cale

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