Gloria Bell * * * * 1/2
Again with the remake of a film that doesn't need a remake. This one is particularly odd in that the original is only six years old and it's by the same director working from the same script - a script which he wrote. The actors and locations are different and this time it's in English with a different title - Gloria Bell rather than simply Gloria, - but otherwise it's a duplication of the original.
I don't know, something must have been bugging Sebastian Lelio about his first effort. Anyway by remaking it he has come up with a film which is receiving similar accolades, so he can reassure himself that he was right all along. Or maybe he always knew he was right but was peed off that hardly anyone saw his first effort and probably won't; but now that he has redone it with Julianne Moore in the lead and all spoken in English it will be getting the audience it deserves.
Gloria Bell is a good film with some fine acting and an interesting story-line featuring a woman who is a bit of an outsider. (Lelio also gave us Disobedience and A Fantastic Woman.)
Gloria is a woman in her late fifties, early sixties. She is divorced. She lives in Los Angeles doing a pretty regular office job in insurance. Some nights she goes to a retro dance club where they play seventies and eighties disco music (including Gloria - of course!)
One night she meets Arnold (John Turturro). They hit it off well, they go back to her apartment and make love. She'd have been happy with a one night stand, but they enjoy each others company and pretty soon they're seeing each other regularly and getting serious.
Something is always going on with Arnold though. His daughters just won't leave him alone. It's a constant barrage of phone calls and text messages. "How old are they?" Gloria asks with concern. "Late twenties" he tells her. She also learns they do nothing and have no direction in life. And the phone calls, demanding assistance on every minor issue go on and on, no matter where Arnold and Gloria are or what they're doing.
Gloria introduces Arnold to her family. Her children are in their mid-twenties and very independent. In fact Gloria's complaint is that she doesn't see enough of her children. They hardly ever call her. Her daughter has met Mr.Right and want's to settle down with him. Her son has got problems, but he competently looks after himself and his infant child. She even has a warm relationship with her ex-husband, a situation that Arnold isn't happy with. He meekly slips away from the dinner and Gloria refuses to see him again.
But for months she receives a bombardment of texts and phone calls from him, begging for another chance. Finally Gloria relents and this time the situation is the same?.... different? I'm not saying, that would be spoiling things.
Sebastian Lelio has a way of directing that could make boiling an egg look intriguing. Whereas some directors would cut scenes out that don't directly move the story along, Lelio seems to put them in, giving us a greater understanding of the characters and their situation, from a woman Gloria works with who is being bullied, to a crazy guy who shouts at himself in the apartment above her, to Arnold's personal achievements coupled with his insecurity, to her ex-husband's outburst at the dinner table, to a dancing skeleton. Gloria is full of fascinating scenes and insights into characters. And what a pleasure to see older people in the lead, not as background characters to the glamorous young. Ironically they express needs no different from young people. For they are the same human needs and mistakes people make through life.
Necessary or not, Gloria Bell is a good remake of a good film and it's well worth viewing again - or for the first time.
I don't know, something must have been bugging Sebastian Lelio about his first effort. Anyway by remaking it he has come up with a film which is receiving similar accolades, so he can reassure himself that he was right all along. Or maybe he always knew he was right but was peed off that hardly anyone saw his first effort and probably won't; but now that he has redone it with Julianne Moore in the lead and all spoken in English it will be getting the audience it deserves.
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| Gloria, I think they got your number! |
Gloria is a woman in her late fifties, early sixties. She is divorced. She lives in Los Angeles doing a pretty regular office job in insurance. Some nights she goes to a retro dance club where they play seventies and eighties disco music (including Gloria - of course!)
One night she meets Arnold (John Turturro). They hit it off well, they go back to her apartment and make love. She'd have been happy with a one night stand, but they enjoy each others company and pretty soon they're seeing each other regularly and getting serious.
Something is always going on with Arnold though. His daughters just won't leave him alone. It's a constant barrage of phone calls and text messages. "How old are they?" Gloria asks with concern. "Late twenties" he tells her. She also learns they do nothing and have no direction in life. And the phone calls, demanding assistance on every minor issue go on and on, no matter where Arnold and Gloria are or what they're doing.
Gloria introduces Arnold to her family. Her children are in their mid-twenties and very independent. In fact Gloria's complaint is that she doesn't see enough of her children. They hardly ever call her. Her daughter has met Mr.Right and want's to settle down with him. Her son has got problems, but he competently looks after himself and his infant child. She even has a warm relationship with her ex-husband, a situation that Arnold isn't happy with. He meekly slips away from the dinner and Gloria refuses to see him again.
But for months she receives a bombardment of texts and phone calls from him, begging for another chance. Finally Gloria relents and this time the situation is the same?.... different? I'm not saying, that would be spoiling things.
Sebastian Lelio has a way of directing that could make boiling an egg look intriguing. Whereas some directors would cut scenes out that don't directly move the story along, Lelio seems to put them in, giving us a greater understanding of the characters and their situation, from a woman Gloria works with who is being bullied, to a crazy guy who shouts at himself in the apartment above her, to Arnold's personal achievements coupled with his insecurity, to her ex-husband's outburst at the dinner table, to a dancing skeleton. Gloria is full of fascinating scenes and insights into characters. And what a pleasure to see older people in the lead, not as background characters to the glamorous young. Ironically they express needs no different from young people. For they are the same human needs and mistakes people make through life.
Necessary or not, Gloria Bell is a good remake of a good film and it's well worth viewing again - or for the first time.
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