A Most Violent Year

New York CIty, 1981, is a blasted moral hellscape against which a very primal struggle for survival unfolds in a very tense thirty days, all for the right to supply homes with heating oil.J. C. Chandor's "A Most Violent Year" is a powerfully told story, a thrilling surprise, and both Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain do remarkable work as a couple trying to close a deal that will turn their heating oil company into a much larger overall business, the deal they've been working their whole lives to prepare. This one particular month starts with them confident, convinced they're going to take things to the next level, and it unfolds with them increasingly unsure that they're going to pull it off. It is a movie about an entire city conspiring to test a marriage, and the way this one particular couple fights their way through.This is a great screenplay first and foremost. I think it's impeccably paced, and the way the pieces drop into place, it's never too clever or too much about the plotting, but instead about watching how characters make choices. From the very first moment, Abel Morales ((Isaac) is being tested. And Anna Morales (Chastain) is right there by his side. Bit by bit, this film perfectly tests and twists and turns and tumbles them.There's a district attorney named Lawrence (David Oyelowo) who is preparing a major case against the Morales family and their business. Anna assure Abel that there's nothing to find, that they're as clean as anyone in the industry can be. He's the one making gut check choices over the course of the film, and it's always him coming back to her, and her talking to him at the end of the day.There's plenty to report, too. There's all of their dealings with their lawyer Andrew Walsh (Albert Brooks). There's a driver who gets attacked and pulled out of his truck, his jaw broken. Julien (Elyes Gabel) wants to be like Abel. He looks at him as an example, as proof that you can make it happen if you work for it. Even after he's attacked, he wants to believe in the example.When you think about fascinating industries to delve into on film, heating oil supply really doesn't sound like something I'd put on the top of a list. I'd be wrong, though, because Chandor's script paints this amazing, detailed portrait of the world that Abel is trying to conquer. It's not the whole world. He's not crazy. But it's his corner of things, and he wants to be able to say he did it the right way. He wants to do it with his hands clean. It's how he defines himself, and how he picks his course of action.Alex Ebert's score is my favorite score so far, in November, and by a wide margin. It's a fantastic score, so expressive, so important to the way the film works. This is a major theatrical experience. From a perfect first shot to a perfect last shot, I think this is a carefully considered movie. Chandor's in full control over what he's doing at this point. He's been getting more aggressively stylized with each film. What he does here is not reality, and it's not meant to be. His filmmaking is very experience-oriented. We feel what Abel feels. We're with him for most of the movie. There are scenes where we follow someone else, and in each case, it's meant to put us in he shoes of these people. We're meant to feel just what it's like to try to navigate the enormous pressure they're all under, and there's a strong conversation to be had about how clean Abel's hands are at the end of the film.Bradford Young's photography is impressive, considered, emotional. I want to watch this again in a theater, just to feel that mix, to feel that same pulse that is running through it from the start to the conclusion. Ron Patane, who cut the film, tightens the screws in just the right way, bit by bit, and I'm impressed by not only where Chandor's story ends up, but how it feels when we get there. Sometimes you just feel a different degree of control in what's happening onscreen. Sometimes you can feel that there's something special happening with the cast or in some other deepartment or, in the best case scenarios, in all of the departments at once.I wasn't expecting whatever this film was. I am impressed by how adult it is, how confident it is, how sad it is, and yet how much it dares to say you can win after all, you can have it if you're willing to give yourself up completely. Watching how Abel salvages his deal, how he keeps his dream afloat, how he makes sure he can go home and tell Anna that everything's going to be okay… it's crazy. It's dark. It's really scary on some level, because the stakes seem to be so very high.The entire cast deserves credit, but Chastain and Isaac are amazing, so in tune, so able to read each other in a scene that there's something happening, something real, in every one of their private conversations. It's the reason I care about anything else. The mechanics of the business, the things that they do to keep it afloat, that's all only interesting because of how much it matters to these two people, and because they make it matter.I thought "Margin Call" was fine. I thought "All Is Lost" was fine. I have liked the work of J. C. Chandor before now, but I was hardly a raving advocate. I'm onboard the Chandor train this time, though. I think this is a pretty major piece of adult emotional entertainment, something special, and I hope we get a lot more like it from him.

Most of the complaints I've seen being leveled against this film from some of the recent reviews here say something about it being too slow, or boring, not enough action, etc. Objectively speaking, they might be partially right, but that doesn't make this film objectively bad. A MOST VIOLENT YEAR will probably not be to everyone's taste, particularly those who want something with higher stakes or a more high-octane feel to it, but for people who appreciate a moody, character-driven drama this should do just fine. The film is set in 1981 New York, apparently one of the most violent years on record. Oscar Isaac plays Abel Morales, the owner of a heating oil delivery company who quite ambitious but also cautious in the way he does business. His wife, Anna (Jessica Chastain), is a variation on the gangster's moll who lets her husband run things the way he wants to, but not without letting him hear her opinions. The two make quite a nice pairing and contrast with each other in very interesting ways, most importantly in how to best secure themselves against the rash of violence coming over their city. Thematically, the director J.C. Chandor is very interested in the morality of doing business and the fine line between "accepted practice" and gangsterism. It's also a story about an immigrant navigating his way among sharks as he attempts to build his version of the American dream. While this territory has been covered before, J.C. Chandor takes a step back and looks at it with a colder, more steely gaze. Everything from the shot choices to the hazy color correction suggests a calculation that is necessary in a murky, uncertain situation, and the tension that builds up in certain scenes, as well as over the course of the film, is palpable. And everything from the performances and overall put-togetherness of the film conveys the calculated intentions of the director, much like Abel is in his business dealings. Ultimately, given the slow and cerebral nature of the film, this is something easier to admire than actively enjoy. Still, it was a very interesting character study that was able to maintain an excellent level of tension throughout its 2-hour running time.

bel film, grandi attori. Video e audio okkey

home use

Mit dem Thriller "A most violent Year" hat Regisseur J. C. Chandor (Der große Crash, All is lost) seine bisher beste Arbeit vorgelegt. Tatsächlich beschreibt der Filmemacher, wie der Titel bereits besagt, eine extrem gewalttätige Phase - die findet im New York des Jahres 1981 statt und bringt den ehrgeizigen und aufstrebenden Unternehmen Abel Morales (Oscar Isaac) in eine immer auswegslosere Situation.Der Einwanderer hat es mit seinem Heizölhandel weit gebracht und er will unbedingt expandieren. Mit seiner Frau Anna (Jessica Chastain) und den beiden Kindern hat er erst vor kurzem ein luxuriöses neues Haus bezogen. Mit den Mendelssohns (Jerry Adler/Quinn Meyers) hat er gerade einen folgenschweren und risikoreichen Vertrag geschlossen. Er hat den orthodoxen jüdischen Geschäftsmännern eine Anzahlung für deren Ölterminal am Fluß in bar erbracht, nun bleiben ihm 30 Tage um die restliche Summe von 1,5 Millionen Dollar an die Verkäufer zu zahlen. Die Bank hat den Deal zwar schon zugesichert, doch es tauchen unerwartet Probleme auf. Seit einiger Zeit überfallen Unbekannte seine Tankwagen und kapern sie. Die leeren Tanks werden alle später wieder aufgefunden, doch die Fahrer fürchten sich langsam. Auch Julian (Elyes Gabel) ist einer dieser Fahrer, die sich gerne zukünftig mit einer Knarre verteidigen würde. Doch Boss Abel lehnt ab. Er lehnt strikt alles ab, was ihm Ärger mit dem Gesetz einbringen könnte. Doch der steht auch noch bevor, als Staatsanwalt Lawrence (David Oyelowo) ihm mitteilt, dass in 16 Punkten gegen die Firma ermittelt werden soll. Abels Anwalt Andrew Walsh (Albert Brooks) ist genauso ratlos. Anna, zuständig für die Buchhaltung, macht sich daran die Akten der letzten Jahre auf Ungereimtheiten zu prüfen. Doch es kommt noch dicker: Ein Aussendienstmitarbeiter wird brutal zusammengeschlagen, ein Einbrecher versucht ins Haus zu steigen. Als Fahrer Julian wieder überfallen wird, hat der tatsächlich zur Verteidigung eine Waffe dabei. Es folgt eine üble Schießerei auf den Straßen. Die Bank sieht sich nun durch das miese Image von Abels Firma den Kredit zurückzuziehen. Abel versucht das Geld anderweitig zu beschaffen. Beim jüngeren Bruder (Pico Alexander) oder bei seinem Geschäftsfreund Peter (Alessandro Nivola). Allerdings drängt die Zeit, die Mendelssohns geben ihm einen letzten Aufschub von 3 Tagen das Geld zu besorgen....Die Metropole New York 1981 als Handlungsschauplatz ist sehr gut getroffen. Tolle Bilder, an manchen dieser gewalttätigen Tage schneit es auch noch und die Stadt sieht matschig und atmosphärisch super aus. Der Held ist eine Art Michael Corleone - aber mit umgekehrten Vorzeichen. Ganz und gar Machtmensch und aufstrebender Wirtschafts-Tycoon ist es Abel Morales aber sehr wichtig der Kriminalität völlig zu entsagen und alles auf legalem Weg zu erreichen. Er agiert konsequent, knallhart und ist audh äusserlich der vollendete Geschätsmann. Er wird bald in der Zwickmühle sitzen und der Film zeigt die Ambitionen dieses Machtmenschen und Kapitalisten, wie er im Höchtmaß um seinen weiteren Aufstieg kämpft. Er will mehr Geld und mehr Einfluß. Regisseur Chandor hat sowohl dass Szenario als auch die Figuren äusserst spannend gestaltet. Dabei macht Oscar Isaac, der mir schon in "Ex_Machina" extrem imponierte, wieder eine äusserst gute Figur.Als Zuschauer fühlt man sich gelegentlich an Brian de Palmas "Scarface" erinnert. Bemerkenswert auch die finale Szene. Ein Schuß fällt, sie schlägt auch ein Leck in ein Heizöl-Silo. Das Bild bleibt haften, ebenso das Schicksal des Menschen, der da auf dem Boden liegt. Wieder ist ein Mensch in New York gestorben, eines von ganz vielen Einzelschicksalen und eines der täglichen Opfer dieser Stadt, die Metropole pulsiert aber weiter.

Many reviews state that this film has little action. That is true. However, if you have ever run a business or experienced the situation of using your savings to move the business forward while at the same time dealing with endless bureaucratic leeches, then you will hold empathies with the film script.I found this film fascinating and felt the huge risk undertaken by the principal actor. There are some twists and turns which keep the attention focused.The film is slow paced but palpable for those who have lived dangerously in staking their life savings on trying to improve their lot.An excellent film that is commendable in refusing to bow down to needless violence and all the typical effects that films generally suffer from. The violence is in the prospects for those involved with the venture and the possibility of reinforcing the savings with monies borrowed from a loan shark.For me the subject of this film was living dangerously. I enjoyed the New York locations and the strong pace of the plot. The film was well directed and acted – a real treat of a movie for a change.

A decent movie, would definitely say its worth a watch.