Norman
The film known in its fuller title as "Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer”.
As he gets older, Richard Gere is enhancing his reputation. In 2012 he made Arbitrage and gave a performance that found him at the top of his form and now hardly less tellingly he appears as Norman Oppenheim in this film written and directed by the Israeli filmmaker Joseph Cedar. These may not be films to set the box-office alight, but they confirm that Gere can command the screen in what can be thought of as character roles. That is especially true of Norman, which finds him embodying to perfection the New York loner who is the decidedly complex central figure here.
Like many a con man, Norman is always telling lies as he seeks to ingratiate himself with strangers to whom he makes approaches, but he is more a dreamer than a criminal. He offers to make introductions as though he is a person with important connections yet for all his endeavours and conniving he carries the mark of someone destined to fail in life. Even so, in the first of four Acts (the film is divided into four titled sections so described), Norman encounters a deputy minister from Israel (Lior Ashkenazi) and that leads to circumstances in which the politician feels that he has let him down. Consequently, in the Second Act set three years later, Norman’s prospects are suddenly transformed for this man, back once again in America, has become the Israeli Prime Minister and is ready to compensate by acknowledging Norman as a friend. Norman’s life now seems to be poised on a new level but, ironically, fate will lead to Norman being sacrificed yet finding in that situation a kind of redemption.
That
plot description may indicate the unusual nature of the story, but the
film is considerably more strange than one might suppose. This is
partly due to the oddity of its tone (the jaunty music score initially
promises a comedy but the film’s themes tend to be serious). Even more
it is down to the fact that in a dialogue-heavy piece Cedar seeks to
compensate for that aspect by introducing moments of extreme visual
stylisation. One scene has Norman as the one moving figure among others
who remain frozen within a shot and there are several examples of
images that blend two locations in one (a bizarre extension of the not
unfamiliar split screen). As we struggle to make sense of this,
political elements also play a part in adding to the film’s troubling
complexity (the movie shows alongside its ironic humour an awareness of
the ruthlessness that drives politicians and incorporates a plea for
compromise in a world of extremism). It’s all adventurous stuff, but
often bewildering and demanding in its variety. Watching it feels like
being on constantly shifting ground: what is sure-footed is the acting
- not just Gere but the distinguished supporting cast with Charlotte
Gainsbourg making a particularly memorable contribution.
Cast:
Richard Gere, Lior Ashkenazi, Hank Azaria, Steve Buscemi, Charlotte
Gainsbourg, Michael Sheen, Dan Stevens, Josh Charles, Caitlin
O'Connell, Harris Yulin, Jonathan Avigdori, Yehuda Almagor.
Dir Jospeh Cedar, Pro Miranda Bailey, Lawrence Inglee, David Mandil, Oren Moverman, Eyal Rimmon and Gideon Tadmor, Screenplay Jospeh Cedar, Ph Yaron Scharf, Pro Des Kalina Ivanov and Arad Sawat, Ed Brian A. Kates, Music Jun Miyake, Costumes Michelle Matland.
Tadmor/Cold Iron Pictures/The Rabinovich Foundation/The Jerusalem Film Fund/Keshet International-Sony Pictures.
118 mins. Israel/USA. 2016. Rel: 9 June 2017. Cert. 15.