Nightcrawler

Tonight I screened Nightcrawler, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Rene Russo.

Lou Bloom (Gyllenhaal) is an aspiring breaking-news photographer in Los Angeles who covets a relationship with Nina (Russo), a news director at a local station that's suffering in the ratings.

Though he has no formal training, Bloom is confident that he's a quick study, and begins to apprentice professionals already on the job—without their permission. He soon becomes good enough to get some clips on the air and hires a homeless assistant, Rick (Riz Ahmed), who is as desperate for employment as Bloom is for success.

The trouble is, Bloom doesn't seem to have a conscience when it comes to reporting. Ethics aren't what advances a photographer's career, so he focuses on the things that do: bloody crime scenes and accidents in suburbia. His methods cross the line of appropriate and his negotiating tactics, for more money and more recognition, are beyond reproach.

Scene after scene, Gylenhaal impresses us as the dangerous kind of narcissist that can't see beyond his own ego. His hollow smile coupled with his sharp, yet condescending lectures show a level of crazy that we haven't seen before in the actor. Perhaps what's so frightening is that he seems such a natural fit.

Russo matches his level of energy as the boss who will risk everything to keep her job, even if it means rewarding reprehensible behavior.

To add to the fun, the dialogue will make you angry at yourself for partially appreciating Bloom's wit, and oddly (sometimes) even rooting for him to get to the story first. After all, he's working hard for it.

Of course no matter of warped charisma or set of brass balls can excuse the evil that sneaks out when anyone puts humanity second to their own pursuits.

It's just a shame that our society is presently so twisted, none of this seems too far-fetched to be believable.

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Finding Vivian Maier

Tonight I saw the documentary Finding Vivian Maier.

Part hoarder, part loaner, part voyeur, part genius—Vivian Maier was comprised of many things. Like the photos that are now making her famous, there was a raw, yet mysterious, aspect to her persona, which she guarded her whole life like a national secret.

The film chronicles how a student hoping to find historical photos for an assignment purchased a storage locker full of negatives and stumbled on a treasure trove of never-before-seen brilliant images. All of the pictures were taken (and hidden) by Vivian, a nanny who bounced from family to family all of her adult life.

As the student dug deeper and deeper into her past, he discovered a tragic soul—described as everything from eccentric to angry. What was so remarkable about uncovering the photos was that none of the people who knew her realized that they existed. Sure, they saw her with her camera around her neck, and the children remember being photographed and filmed, but no one had any idea her catalog boasted thousands of museum-quality shots. Some which Vivian herself never had the privilege of viewing.

The film emphasizes Maier's "stern spinster" status, but she was so much more complex than that. As one of the former children she cared for points out in the film, Vivian probably suffered from mental illness, but that didn't dim her gift for creativity and her technique for capturing wonderful moments on film.

It's a wonderful way to spotlight the legacy of someone who didn't crave fame, but most certainly needed validation.

To view some of Maier's work, visit her official website.

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