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This was not my first time to see Manchester by the Sea. I skimmed the 1-star reviews before writing mine. The whole movie I was glued to the screen thinking, well, that it had a lot of swearing (the "F" word), but how well Casey Affleck played his role as a very despondent man who had essentially lost everything that was every really important to him. Save but one, his nephew, Patrick, whom he loved but couldn't bring himself to assume custody after his brother's untimely death.
The movie was dark yet had an ethereal component to it with the background vocal accompaniment, a capella. Like the waves of the water, and life, the voices came and left you as if the tide was ushering in Death out from the sea.
So much weight on his very soul. So much guilt. So much pent-up, painful suffering that, as much as he might have tried to block it out, he couldn't. And he also couldn't release it. So well played. What happens to your heart and mind - the changes when you lose. so. much. And you know it was your fault, even if you didn't mean to do it. I cannot imagine the heavy emptiness he carried every single day of his life. When you don't know what to say, and you can't find the words to explain how you don't know what you're feeling... you simply fill the space with head-banging profanity, over and over again. It's the closest thing you can grasp - to express the pain you cannot reach.
Life-condemning guilt. No price paid, and yet... the ultimate price. The lives you created, the life you had made for yourself or which you had stumbled into, now completely broken. Tragedy upon tragedy. Exponential suffering, eternal shame.
Most poignant scenes (semi-spoilers): when Patrick had gone down for a midnight snack, and all the frozen chicken fell on the floor. Lee losing his focus out the window into the past, then putting his hand through it. His precious daughters waking him near the end asking, "Daddy, do you smell something burning?" Angels watching in the night. Rani asking Lee out for lunch; suffering extended. Patrick's email from his mother's fiance'. So well-written. Incredibly well-played.
I can understand the 1-star ratings for the almost endless cursing. I can understand the dismal feeling many felt. But how is anyone expecting these individuals to go on as if nothing happened? To sweep the multiple tragedies, mind-stricken trauma under any rug - there would be none thick enough to hide the dirt. How can anyone expect someone to live as if they are whole when the very fibers of their Being have been emotionally shredded by a cross-cut saw?
Casey Affleck played this role marvelously, fully-embodied as the man of the hour. Michelle Williams as well - as all of her movies, she steps into the role and becomes that Being, in this case, Randi. A mother "without" until she finds new meaning - or tries. Nothing can change the facts as hard as you might try. That's life. And death.
This is a not an easy movie to watch, and yet it had me fully focused, taking in every breath, following every step, only slightly jumping when Lee put his hand through the window. I was even expecting it.
If you have recently suffered such a tragedy as this, I would issue extreme consideration before viewing it. It might not be the time for you to witness such tragedies so fresh. If you are stuck in your grief, this might pull it out of you, or express it for you, especially if it's deeper. The theme? Dark. The acting? Superb. The language? Heavily jaded, but pointed in pursuit of playing out what should be expected if anything at all.
You'll want your Puffs box for this one. And knowing that Michelle could pull from real life experiences, her depth of emotion, that one is for the books. I felt honored to witness this extended family's multiple tragedies. How they ever pulled out alive at all, that in my very humble opinion, felt nothing short of a miracle. May anyone who has suffered similar tragedies be forever comforted and blessed with dreams of your loved ones waking you in your sleep.
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Reviews with images
A moving case study in grief/depression
One of 2016's acting powerhouses has arrived on Blu-ray one week before the Academy Awards, where it has been nominated for six awards including Best Picture. Manchester By The Sea is the story about Lee (Casey Affleck) trying to put his life back together after tragedy strikes his family. Recently divorced from his wife (Michelle Williams), Lee must also deal with his brother's death and subsequent custody arrangements for his angsty nephew (Lucas Hedges). The story is told mostly through abrupt, fragmented flashbacks that unravel to explain Lee's morose state of mind. I consider the film a spiritual successor to another Academy favorite, Ordinary People (1980), both in terms of tone and treatment of subject matter. The film deals mainly with different facets of grief, all embodied in the wonderful performances by Affleck, Hedges, and Williams.The Blu-ray itself services the film nicely. The picture quality does justice to the film's chilly, winter settings and dark, dingy interiors. Outdoor scenery gets the greatest benefit from sharpness and detail, such as long shots on the Chandler family boat. The sound is DTS-HD 5.1, and although mainly a front-loaded, dialogue-based film, there are some moments of subtle surround use in scenes with environmental sound. The scenes making use of Baroque-era music get the most mileage out of the rear channels. Overall quality is clear. No other language options are available, other than English. Subtitles include English SDH and Spanish.Extras include a commentary track by writer/director Kenneth Lonergan (oddly titled "A Conversation with..." instead), three deleted scenes that aren't very remarkable, and a fluffy making-of featurette called "Emotional Lives." Most interesting about the last extra is how painfully obvious it is that the interviews were conducted at different times, due to the constantly-changing length of Casey Affleck's hair and beard, presumably for his next film role. Rounding out the extras are a standard-definition DVD copy that duplicates all the extra content, and an Ultraviolet digital copy.Although the extras department could have been a little more substantial, this is a fine film, and one of 2016's best, in my opinion. I wouldn't be surprised if Criterion picked it up for a special edition, sometime in the near future.
Top reviews from other countries
Cliente de Amazon
Fantástica edición importada
Reviewed in Mexico on July 15, 2017
Cliente de Amazon
Reviewed in Mexico on July 15, 2017
Contenido: El producto viene con su slipcover, incluye dos discos: un bluray y un dvd, además de una copia digital solo utilizable en USA. Caja clásica de bluray, diseño muy bonito.
Película: Un drama bastante crudo, digno de todos los premios con actuaciones magníficas. Joya de guión.
Los invito a hacer sus reseñas así para poder facilitar a otros compradores las características de los productos.
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Francisco Javier Carrascoso Lï¿
Gran película de actores
Reviewed in Spain on June 19, 2017