There’s this thing about being happily married and that is,
there ain’t a thing as such. You’re either happy or you’re married...
And the
Dark Lord of Thrillers, David Fincher establishes exactly this notion in his
latest directorial, though in a much more disconcerting, dreadful and pragmatic
way. Gone Girl is nothing close to being a run-of-the-mill thriller where your
only obligation attached with the film is to stick with it till the end, find
out ‘who dunnit’ and be happy with whatever sense of closure you got. Gone
Girl, a cinematic adaptation of American writer Gillian Flynn’s novel of
the same name, takes you on a ride through the insides of a ruthless, dark and
demented world of humanity where you question not only your existence but also
you’re surroundings which is not much different than that portrayed in the
film.
Do not shrink back from going further into the review cause
there ain’t any massive spoilers that is gonna ruin your enthusiasm for this
movie. And like all of my reviews, I am not commenting on the story. The
premise of Gone Girl is one which is not alien to that of Fincher’s earlier
ventures. Be it Fight Club, Zodiac, Se7en and now Gone Girl- he always make
sure to adjust the audience’s psyche with a dark, claustrophobic setting where
societal degradation and obscurity of human minds is undeniably apparent. While
most of the contemporary thrillers establish the inception of evil only after
the manifestation of it or rather after a “crime” is committed, Gone Girl
pursues a “road less taken” and conveys the underlying message that “evil” was
there all the way through, with and within people whom you will usually pass
off as “innocent”. A seemingly happy couple might be the most distressed one, a
seemingly “okay” relationship must be going through its worst phase and the
most regular and harmless looking person was letting all hell break loose.
The film begins with Nick (played by Ben Affleck)
discovering that his wife Amy (played by Rosamund Pike) has GONE missing on the
very day of their fifth marriage anniversary (why is tragedy so pathetically
ironic all the friggin time!). No wait.. Specifically, that is not how it
begins. The film begins with Nick asking some primal questions of marriages in
a narration that is going to leave you goosebumped by the time it ends. Then
Fincher applies his signature non-linear narrative style to transport our minds
back and forth through the 149 minutes of adrenaline ride of flashbacks and “a
day gone”and what unfolds in that time leaves us speechless and incredibly
mystified.
As the girl is gone, the husband’s life is anything but
normal. And as the pursuit for his missing wife begins, there also begins a new
form of mourning- i.e- media sensationalism. The film provides an extremely
commendable dark mockery of the current functioning of the media magnets who
doesn’t take much longer before transforming anything or anyone into a
sensation. Still Gone Girl is not a film about the perils of media publicity,
or the overwhelming woes of a man whose wife went missing but it’s rather a
retrospective of how people can give way to their inner demons and fall prey to
their own Hamartia, a tragic flaw that does not even differentiate between genders.
The film unfolds not as grippingly as other David Fincher
thrillers usually do, but its steadiness is only to prepare you for a head-turning
mid-climax which does not lose its brilliance because it is predictable but
rather contains it because it is unpredictably executed. And throughout its
entire run time, the film gets darker, deeper and long-winded -hardly giving
you a space to breathe. The cinematography is topnotch and especially the
juxtaposition of scenes with rapidly changing camera angles intensifies the
feel.
What Gone Girl lacks in the suspense front, is made up by
convincingly stunning performances by the lead and the supporting cast alike.
Affleck does a decent job in portraying the oblivious, troubled husband but it
is Rosamund Pike who is truly the “Amazing Amy” of this film. (You’ll get the reference
when you see the film). She is bold and spontaneous in essaying the razor-sharp
wit and impious charm of her character. Amy forces you to admire her guts even
when you should be feeling nothing but revulsion for her. She is the Gone Girl
who actually saves the film.
From a realistic and rudimentary handling of the true
societal horrors, falling economy, diminishing fidelity and increasing
differences of marriages- Gone Girl shows it all and not necessarily in ways
that are pleasant to the eye. That every human is flawed is not lost on any of
us, but when flaws give way to ambition that in turn leads to inescapable
darkness- that is when things get messed up beyond repair and that is where
Gone Girl leads you. It makes you confront the fact that even the mighty can
fall, even the best of the smiles can hide daggers beneath and that nothing
ever truly is incorruptible.
The Film did not utterly blow my mind or greatly
disheartened me, but it just loses its grasp on the story flow at times and
that it is the only eyesore to an otherwise perfect production. Too many censored
scenes also spoil the broth to an extent. The director has given us more
impressive take on the narrative and dialogues in his earlier films and me as a
devout David Flincher fan couldn’t help but compare. However barring that, Gone
Girl is a classy, fulfilling meal that does more than justice to the palate.
To conclude, the best part of this classic adaptation of a
page-turner is that it makes you fall for its tag line “You don't know what
you've got 'til it's... (gone)”, but it
actually goes steps ahead to establish this unpleasant, unorthodox truth that
sometimes when something is gone, is it really worth bringing back??
Just go and watch if you haven’t already. I am vouching for
this film!
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