Mark Duplass always plays the same character, and even though I don't know if that means he's just himself, or if he's meant to portray this kind of character over and over again, but all that matters is that in the end he is just really good at it. That is also the reason why I decided to go see YOUR SISTER'S SISTER. I remembered reading some disappointing review in L Magazine back in early Spring when I was still living in Brooklyn. But last Wednesday afternoon, after the gym, I was truly bored and decided to bike to the movie theater. I first purchased a ticket for TO ROME WITH LOVE, thinking, why not see a movie I had already seen, that way I could walk out and go home whenever I felt like it. Of course I would never walk out of a movie that I hadn't seen before (I didn't even do that watching '9 SONGS' in theaters), but I guess I do have commitment issues when it comes to seeing films. Destiny doesn't exist, so it must have been coincidence, that the screening of TO ROME WITH LOVE was delayed. I exchanged my ticket and sat down in hall 3 instead, where they were showing YOUR SISTER'S SISTER. I noticed the great amount of wine drinking wrinkled women around me, so I called my boyfriend in a haze, and because it takes only 2 minutes to bike from our house to the cinema, we ended up watching the movie together.
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Lynn Shelton has always been great at showing us authentic portrayals of relationships, mostly in a way where we feel the reality of the authenticity in a slightly painful way, because we recognize so much of our own wrongdoings, our own decision-making anxieties, our own insecurities and strengths.
Because she is an independent film maker, it surprised me when I saw her directing an episode of MAD MEN a while ago. Season 4, Episode 10, where Don Draper is getting paranoid after FBI G-men started digging into his past. I remember that episode being extremely haunting - Don throwing up in the bathroom after having a panic attack, Joan having an abortion, Lane breaking to his father that he is in love with a black woman - all these things were very touchy and yet authentic subject matters, which Lynn Shelton managed to show in the most sensitive and sympathetic manner.
She does that in her movies too. HUMPDAY was one of those examples. Two heterosexual long lost guy friends try to make a porn movie, masked as an artistic experiment, to find out if what they really want/have in life is truly IT for them. I was extremely overwhelmed, in a complete positive way, by the originality and kindness of the characters and story.
Now, YOUR SISTER'S SISTER is a bit of a different issue.
Mark Duplass plays Jack, a simple guy, probably in his early thirties, whose best friend Iris (Emily Blunt) suggests to him to take some time off from city life and retreat to her fathers cabin on some island in a forest, to think about his life and calm down a bit. When he arrives there he finds Hannah (Rosemarie DeWitt), Iris's half-sister, who had the same idea, to the lack of Iris's or Jack's knowledge. Quickly, though, Jack and Hannah get talking and have a bit too much tequila and end up sleeping together. The morning after, Iris appears for a surprise visit and things get really awkward quickly, since Hannah and Jack don't think it would be a good idea to tell Iris about their little one night stand. But of course the truth comes out, and Iris being in love with Jack doesn't really help the situation much...
Here we have Lynn Shelton experimenting with Hollywood cliches somewhat, but this is not hurting the story at all. A popular Emily Blunt and an improved cinematographic aesthetic are unusual for Shelton's work. No shaky hand-cameras here like in early mumblecore films, which always was the edgy gimmick, or rather, excuse, that made those films so extraordinarily authentic. But Shelton finds the perfect balance here between strong, convincing dialogue which never comes off as over-the-top or unreal, and, of course, beautiful cliche moments that don't seem to hurt the story. Calming shots of the log-cabin where most of the story takes place, and some of the forest and lake nearby, remind of how quaint and peaceful the setting is, in which the three characters live through so many emotions in such a short time. The dynamic between the actors is incredible. At no time whatsoever do we feel dislike for either of them, maybe because they remind us of ourselves, our desires and the mistakes we make to get what we want in life, the journeys we go on, the risks we take, just so we can get something good in the end - and there simply is nothing wrong with that, because it is of human character to always seek happiness.
It was surprising to see Emily Blunt being so amazingly genuine and palpable, beautiful as ever with no makeup at all. Her character Iris seems approachable. She is in love with her best friend and doesn't know if telling him would ruin things or improve her life. Her struggle is one known to probably a few of the movie goers, and I felt empathy towards her throughout. Rosemarie DeWitt's character Hannah had it a bit more difficult, since her struggle was a bit more advanced - a single lesbian woman who just got out of a 7-year relationship who wishes nothing more than to become a mother. Her desperation and sadness was natural nevertheless.
Jack, portrayed by Duplass, was the most alluring of them, though. When sent to the cabin by Iris, Jack was basically thrown into more trouble, more problems, got drunk and slept with Hannah, did something natural, made a mistake probably a bunch of people would do, simply because he is human. But when confronted with Hannah's and Iris's truths, overwhelmed by it all, he runs away and goes on a bike ride through the mountains, through the small towns along the way, trying to find out what the fuck he should do now. Having to decide what's the right thing is a hard decision to make as an adult, probably the hardest there is.Mark Duplass at crossroads is so very endearing, we just want the best for him, for him to get the girl and for him to be happy. He's not necessarily a hero, he's not an anti-hero either, he is just a person with many tragic flaws to count, just like you and me. But he makes it through, and that makes us happy, because it gives us hope to make it through ourselves.
We don't get that feeling from Hollywood movies. They give an idea of what could be, of who we would want to be if we had the chance, but we know that there is no such chance, not in our wildest dreams. What the mumblecore movement always has been about was to give us stories closer to home, closer to reality. They never were absurdly intense or shocking, like the Danish Dogme movies, which pledged their authenticity vowing to not add any artificial effects, lighting or editing to their movies, but always had rather intense and overly dramatic portrayals of deeply disturbed characters. Mumblecore filmmakers never obsessed over these kind of extreme measures. Their authenticity comes from the heart, and Lynn Shelton shows this so very well in YOUR SISTER'S SISTER.
