Bye 2 hours...nice knowing ya ppphhhffrrrrttt
Everything is terrible, the best is over and there is no use trying anymore. It sure feels that way sometimes, doesn't it? And I don't just mean your dumb, personal problems, we are talking about the death of Mother Earth and the doom and gloom on the horizon. That is what First Reformed is dealing with as we check in with Ethan Hawke as Reverend Toller a man that has been quietly struggling with his faith, illness and personal life. This is all amplified when he tries to counsel an expecting couple, the father is an environmental activist that adds an extra layer of despair and anxiety to Toller's plate. This movie is artsy as fuck, you can tell because it was released in 4:3 rather than the standard wide screen format because Paul Schraeder does whatever he wants as he should. I've been in the mood for films like this and it delivers, Ethan Hawke really kills it and for such a pessimistic movie I read the ending as rather hopeful.
Overall a good movie, with an intense, restrained performance from Hawke. Schraders best film in a while, though its marred by one of those copout endings with no real conclusion. Before then, however, this tale of faith, hypocrisy, doubt and anguish is worth watching, despite the unusual plot twists taking place near the end.
I'm not exactly sure what just happened there, would love to hear an explaination from Paul Schrader and those who understood it.
New England. A church. A changing environment. First Reformed can equally be read as a film set in 17th Century Puritan New England or a film set in our modern world. Regardless, it's puritanical in voice. We're constantly left asking the questions of the Puritans--are we really saved(?), can we be forgiven(?) and what is our role in the community(?). Pat answers won't due for Schrader and they probably won't due for you either after watching this film.
"Will God forgive us?"
A very interesting film. It's slow and raises a lot of questions. The third act had me on the edge of my seat and left me wanting more. I went in hearing it had some Taxi Driver vibes and I can say that they do feel similar. It makes sense since the director, Paul Schrader, wrote Taxi Driver. Ethan Hawke was amazing. A very subtle performance but one of the best of the year so far. Amanda Seyfried was great too and even Cedric the Entertainer gave a fantastic performance in a serious role.
Do not be deceived, this is an art film. Don't expect a clear cut plot with any attempt at a reasoned outcome. Paul Schafer is re-imaging two films (DIARY OF A COUNTRY PRIEST and WINTER LIGHT*) and when asked to comment on the possible explainations of his ending "during an appearance on the A24 podcast, Schrader admitted to Sofia Coppola that he isn’t sure, either — but he has some ideas"^. RANT - I'm getting very tired of pretentious art film - END RANT. I could have forgiven a heavy-handed political agenda film or a choreographed decent into insanity but this film was a waste of time . It was all promise and no payoff. I give this film a 4 (fail) out of 10. [Surreal Drama]
Footnotes:
* https://www.vulture.com/2018/06/lets-talk-about-the-ending-of-first-reformed.html
^ https://www.indiewire.com/2018/05/first-reformed-ending-explained-paul-schrader-1201970200/
"There goes my head"
whoa....
It's strange, two years ago Paul Schrader made the most convoluted movie of his career with 'Dog Eat Dog', then make something so masterful like this. Anywhere...
'First Reformed' is easily one of my favorite movies of 2018. Absolutely captivating from start till finish. A strong character study on faith and pain. An Excellent performances from Ethan Hawke, who's facial expressions and his tried voice says so much about the character. You're just waiting for his frustration to explode. Also, Amanda Seyfried, Cedric the Entertainer, and Philip Ettinger were all superb.
My only issues with the film is it's main message about the environment, which got a little heavy handed after awhile, to the point where you're just thinking "OK, I get it". I mean, when you get a scene involving stock footage of nature and power stations while Hawke and Seyfried are on top with each other. But that's really it for complaints. Enough of that, back to the positives.
The writing is fantastic, of course not surprising coming from Paul Schrader. The cinematography is stunning. You get a lot of wide shots, close ups, and plenty of emptiness and space around our priest. There's literally a shot in this movie that's taken straight from 'Taxi Driver'.
Disclaimer: You are not prepared for the ending. Trust me.
Overall rating: My hands shake as I write this.
The cinematography felt so uninspired and boring. Nearly every shot in the first third were perfectly static cameras, placed orthogonally lined up on a single object (door frame, bush, pulpit) or a strong vertical smack dab in the middle of the frame. And the characters simply milled about within the static frame, as if they were not as important as the bush front and center.
I specifically remember the first camera pan in the movie; When Toller arrives at Mary's house the second time and the camera is centered on a bush in the hard. Toller's car arrives and Mary helps him out of it out of frame, so that they could walk back into frame and the camera trollies with them to the drive way.
Maybe this style goes with the storytelling of the film, which is deliberately subtle as others have pointed out. Though it is clear and pointed when it comes to its central theme of environmentalism and commercialization, the supporting details are deliciously understated. Like Toller selling souvenir hats as a supposably active house of worship, all the while our first scene inside the Abundant Life megachurch is a shot of their five thousand seat concert hall with multiple microphones, amplifies, and other expensive sound equipment visible behind the state.
Toller's character arc is biggest reason the film didn't land for me. I often have trouble relating to tests of faith, and this film is no exception. I couldn't quite tell if the film was trying to point to an inherent inconsistency with believe, or venerate the virtues of the faithful. Toller's rebuttal to Michael that life is about holding two contradictory truths in your mind simultaneously seems to point to the former. However, in the same monologue Toller asserts that we all want rational answers to troubles, but there is no rational escape from despair; only faith can keep us from the darkness.
That was a waste of time.
Brilliantly made
Most reviews I've seen of First Reformed have praised it as Paul Schrader's best work since either Taxi Driver (1976) or Raging Bull (1980). And whilst I think that's an oversimplification, unjustly ignoring such strong screenplays as The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) and Bringing Out the Dead (1999), and very unjustly ignoring such superb directorial work as Affliction (1997) and Auto Focus (2002), there can be little doubt that First Reformed is easily his best film of the last fifteen years or so. Which wouldn't be hard when you consider films like The Canyons (2013), Dying of the Light (2014), and Dog Eat Dog (2016).
For my complete review, please visit: https://boxd.it/ujhjn
Truly a dark drama that leaves so much unanswered while asking so many questions. I feel the majority of people that end up watching this movie will be hard pressed to enjoy the ending, something so ambiguous in a movie that seems to have such a straightforward message. The lingering sense of dread and almost euphoric ending left me a little taken aback, and I can't say I enjoyed the resolution we got, but I feel that it's the best ending that can fit this sort of media without delving directly into the doomer outlook and becoming straight up torture porn. I enjoyed the brewing, bubbling character study of everyone here, and I think every performance was very, very good. Understated but purposeful, the ending when read metaphorically says everything that needs to be said without showing it in voyeuristic glee. By showing Ernst getting his romantic, happy ending; it's only safe to assume that this is the fleeting moment of his brain filling in the gaps and offering him one final fantasy before succumbing to death following his act. The only question is, which act did he commit? Did he back down from his environmentalist martyrdom and just drink the drain fluid, or did he follow through with the jacket and finally deliver the message that's been in the making, Mary be damned? Really a great movie with some great camera work and stylistic choices that you don't find in most films. While I'll now spend about a day pawing over Reddit posts and forum entries to get the full enjoyment from this one, I think it's at least worth one viewing for anyone who's interested in A24's output and generally depressing media as a whole. It really does have a lot to say for anyone willing to sit down and listen.
Thou shalt not steal the Sopranos ending.
Story: 6...not very tight or compelling
Script: 8...journal entries especially good
Performances: 8
Misc.: 7
Influence: 5...about as influential as the progressive church gets these days
Overall: 7
I found all of it a jewel, the script, the direction, the superb performance of Ethan Hawke (and the other actors), the photography, the firm and fair rhythm, the sobriety, EVERYTHING.
The choice of the 4:3 format has been a success. It was like seeing caged lives. The missing sides have been an important part of the movie.
My score 6/10.
Ethan Hawke and Amanda Seyfried star in the dark character drama First Reformed. When a minister is asked to help a depressed environmental activist who ends up committing suicide, he takes up the environmentalist’s cause and becomes radicalized. Hawke gives a really good performance and does an excellent job at showing the spiritual struggle that the character goes through. Also, director Paul Schrader does an impressive job at creating an intense and atmospheric tone. However, the film becomes a little propaganda-ish and takes a pretty hard turn toward extremism without much explanation as to why the minister suddenly takes up this cause to the exclusion of all others or how he’s able to reconcile his violent intentions with his faith. Yet while it has its issues, First Reformed is an incredibly provocative and challenging film.
"There goes my head"
whoa....
It's strange, two years ago Paul Schrader made the most convoluted movie of his career with 'Dog Eat Dog', then make something so masterful like this. Anywhere...
'First Reformed' is easily one of my favorite movies of 2018. Absolutely captivating from start till finish. A strong character study on faith and pain. An Excellent performances from Ethan Hawke, who's facial expressions and his tried voice says so much about the character. You're just waiting for his frustration to explode. Also, Amanda Seyfried, Cedric the Entertainer, and Philip Ettinger were all superb.
My only issues with the film is it's main message about the environment, which got a little heavy handed after awhile, to the point where you're just thinking "OK, I get it". I mean, when you get a scene involving stock footage of nature and power stations while Hawke and Seyfried are on top with each other. But that's really it for complaints. Enough of that, back to the positives.
The writing is fantastic, of course not surprising coming from Paul Schrader. The cinematography is stunning. You get a lot of wide shots, close ups, and plenty of emptiness and space around our priest. There's literally a shot in this movie that's taken straight from 'Taxi Driver'.
Disclaimer: You are not prepared for the ending. Trust me.
Overall rating: My hands shake as I write this.
Couldn’t finish it. Just so boring. RT gives it a ridiculously high rating. Don’t believe it.
While the ending left me a bit baffled by how far the character was going to push himself in his own rising convictions, the path towards it is one of pure character developing joy.
Ethan Hawke bites himself deep into this role, letting the Reverend take over. His performance is superlative subtlety as he fights against the convictions he has built up for himself over the years. Current events that he has no control over but has to tackle as his duty as pastor catapult him into a mindset he is not ready to dive into yet. His silent struggle is real, a part he does not easily show towards any kind of public. That forlorn nature of the character is actually what pulls you through the movie, the narrow frame helping to make him feel even more locked up. Not only by his function, but by his hard mindset.
A bit of the genius of Taxi Driver trickles through the dialogue in here, I have to commend Paul Schrader for giving us yet another movie that folds a difficult setting and current problems into a sandwich of genius that I enjoyed thoroughly.
I could have done with maybe 20 minutes less of footage and an ending that was a bit differently scripted, but that is personal taste and for that, there is no remedy.
Ethan Hawke characterizes a disturbing reverend transformed into an activist against global warming but, in reality, in search of redemption and love.
El final no es lo que me esperaba, pero sin duda es una historia a la cual deberíamos ponerle atención por su enseñanza.
Jeebuz Christmas what a flik. Ethan Hawke is fantastic sauce as a preacher caught between his faith and his corporate polluting Church. Brings up good points about corporate polluters being big funders of Churches in the US and should get an Oscar or Academy nomination which it wont because those same corporate polluters would rather you not see this.
Very interesting film, definitely a slow burn. Movie drags a lot of the time with certain scenes feeling like they been going on forever and this makes you either intriged wondering where this movie is going or careless. I was very intriged and curious of where this movie was going and it eventually it went somewhere but not in a hurry this movie takes it's time and dosen't apologize for making you wait. When it gets to where it's going it didn't really go to the point where it was worth the slow burn but it was definitely a new kind of movie not the most rewatchable I would think and the ending was very disappointing in my eyes but I didn't dislike it just wanted more, and Ethan Hawke is amazing in this.
A tragic and beautifully written exploration of spirituality, morality, faith, and the loss of these amidst despair, tragedy, and doubt. A mourning for a world gone mad. Beautiful cinematography and outstanding performances all around.
well to be honest i wasn't ready for a heavy film, what a way to deliver such message!
P.s. was the ending supposed to feel like an alternative shot?
Where to start......we'll go with the acting...it's great. Really great. Perhaps Ethan Hawke's finest performance since one of the before/after movies. But apart from that - there's not alot that drew me in. There are some really tense moments, and some interesting scenes. But it just ebbs and flows. In and out. Tempting the viewer into thinking it's going to stray into great film territory but never quite managing it. It also looks a bit drab, and while I'm guessing it is supposed to, I didn't really feel it warranted it. If the Director wanted the film to look so rigid in colour palette terms then he should have just gone for black and white. In the end the movie is a bit of a mess. I'm really not sure what to make of the very end scene, and one element in particular. All I could think of in the last 20 minutes was the phrase "missed opportunity".
I loved the film up until...
Shout by FranBlockedParent2019-02-17T19:31:13Z
This was.... interesting. It's one of those films that tries to do too much and ends up falling short. It was a bit all over the place for me in terms of not only style, but also storyline and characters. There are some really incredible dialogues, and the connection between the catholic religion and environmental activism was something that I had never thought about before and yet makes so much sense, so that was definitely my favourite part about this film: it touches a subject and a discussion through an original perspective, even if at times it felt a bit propagandistic. The ending sure was something.. not particularly one I liked, though.
8/10