Every once in a while, cruising through my recommendations on Netflix, I’ll come across a movie that I’ve never heard of before, and yet seems to be right up my alley. Maybe it never had a theatrical release, maybe it’s a foreign movie, or maybe it was just so poorly promoted that it managed to sneak under my radar. Most of the time I say to myself ‘Hey, that looks good. I should see that.’ And then I almost immediately forget about it. But in an effort to expand my movie horizons and expose myself to better movie, I’ve decided to make more of an effort to watch these movies that I might normally pass by. In addition, I get to write about them and maybe turn some other people on to them, so that’s a plus.
“Franklyn” (2008) is a British film by writer/director Gerald McMorrow, so maybe that’s why I hadn’t heard of it until now. Ryan Phillippe is John Preest, a vigilante in the futuristic, steampunk Meanwhile City. Preest is on a mission to assassinate The Individual, the leader of a religious cult that is responsible for the death of a little girl that he was hired to find. Meanwhile City is a place where religion, any religion, is mandatory, and atheists are outlaws. John Preest is the only atheist left. Along with this story, three other plots begin to unwind, taking place in modern day London. Emilia is a suicidal art student, at odds with her mother. Milo is a young man trying to find himself after being jilted by his fiancé shortly before their wedding. And Peter is a man looking for his missing, mentally ill son. It’s the way that these four stories slowly begin to intersect that makes this movie so interesting and unique.
The most intriguing aspect of this movie, and what attracted me to it in the first place, are the striking visuals and symbolism of Meanwhile City. Imagine, the religious architecture of a thousand faiths, all climbing into the sky, dominating a single city. The citizens fill the streets, looking for religious enlightenment from any source they can find it, trying to make their dismal lives make some kind of sense. The city’s authorities, The Ministry, patrol the streets, a cross between clergymen and a police force. This film certainly has something to say about faith and organized religion, but in the end it’s up to the viewer to take away their own message. Who’s right and who’s wrong, who’s crazy and who’s sane, what’s real and what isn’t. And that’s what I loved the most about the movie; it didn’t just tell me what happened, it made me think about what happened and made me interpret it on my own.
My Netflix Rating: Four out of Five Stars
“Franklyn” (2008) is a British film by writer/director Gerald McMorrow, so maybe that’s why I hadn’t heard of it until now. Ryan Phillippe is John Preest, a vigilante in the futuristic, steampunk Meanwhile City. Preest is on a mission to assassinate The Individual, the leader of a religious cult that is responsible for the death of a little girl that he was hired to find. Meanwhile City is a place where religion, any religion, is mandatory, and atheists are outlaws. John Preest is the only atheist left. Along with this story, three other plots begin to unwind, taking place in modern day London. Emilia is a suicidal art student, at odds with her mother. Milo is a young man trying to find himself after being jilted by his fiancé shortly before their wedding. And Peter is a man looking for his missing, mentally ill son. It’s the way that these four stories slowly begin to intersect that makes this movie so interesting and unique.
The most intriguing aspect of this movie, and what attracted me to it in the first place, are the striking visuals and symbolism of Meanwhile City. Imagine, the religious architecture of a thousand faiths, all climbing into the sky, dominating a single city. The citizens fill the streets, looking for religious enlightenment from any source they can find it, trying to make their dismal lives make some kind of sense. The city’s authorities, The Ministry, patrol the streets, a cross between clergymen and a police force. This film certainly has something to say about faith and organized religion, but in the end it’s up to the viewer to take away their own message. Who’s right and who’s wrong, who’s crazy and who’s sane, what’s real and what isn’t. And that’s what I loved the most about the movie; it didn’t just tell me what happened, it made me think about what happened and made me interpret it on my own.
My Netflix Rating: Four out of Five Stars
So who is Franklyn?
ReplyDeleteThe atheist is names Preest (Priest)?
The climax of the film takes place in an apartment building, the name on the buzzer is Franklyn, but none of the characters in the movie have that name. It's strange.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, the atheist's name is Preest. That's the kind of irony that you don't get from Alanis Morrisette songs.