A film that defies easy definition is a film to cherish in these days of flaccid franchise.
A MONSTER CALLS sounds like a horror movie, but it’s not really.
With a pre-teen protagonists it could be pathetically pigeon-holed as a teen movie, but it is not in the prevailing pen of kiddie gross out pictures.
A MONSTER CALLS is a wholly original film that deals with the monsters that come a calling throughout our lives, the monster of bullying, the monster of illness, the monster of separation, the monster of dealing with the death of a loved one.
Here, a monster in the form of a gnarled yew tree, whose bark is just as bad as its bite, monsters young Conor into self realisation and facing up to hard truth. Conor lives with his terminally ill mother and escapes the harsh realities of life through drawing. It is as if these illustrations have conjured the monster to call. But the monster denies he is a figment of his imagination and remains, rather, as a conduit to the boy’s subconscious.
The Monster’s terrorism of the boy is constructive, not destructive, in this beautifully hewed movie about the hurt and pain of loss.
In one poignant scene, mother and son curl up together to watch the 1933 film King Kong. It is on film, not a video, projected from an old projector, a legacy from the mother’s father, providing a familial link as well as a film link. The classic movie provides a touchstone for both mother and son and the audience.
The “Monster” of A MONSTER CALLS, a walking talking terrific tree is a mixture of CGI and practical effects and the creature feels that much more powerful because of tangible physicality and adds warmth and soul to an intimidating creature. So it was that a practical version of the Monster was built.
As well as winks and nods to King Kong, THE MONSTER harks back to an English legend called The Green Man. He’s sort of the landscape personified, rising up to tell stories. He also represents that part of one’s personality which one hasn’t yet come to terms with.
A MONSTER CALLS is a triumph of imaginative film making, combining live action, CGI and animation. The beautiful title design that opens the picture is a gorgeous piece of art.
The film simply looks sensational thanks to a cabal of craftspeople including Eugenio Caballero who won an Academy Award as production designer on Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, cinematographer Oscar Faura, who shot The Orphanage and The Imitation Game, and costumer Steven Noble, all under the direction of J A Bayona.
Performances too are top notch, with Liam Neeson mellifluously menacing as The Monster, Sigourney Weaver as the elegant grandmother, Felicity Jones as the fragile and gravely ill mother, and Lewis MacDougal as the twelve year old Conor, stupendous as the beleaguered boy battered by harsh reality yet bolstered by the power of imagination.
