A Most Violent Year (2014)
R
4.5 Stars out of 5
Writer/Director J.C. Chandor
Cinematography Bradford
Young
Music Alex
Ebert
Oscar Isaac Abel Morales
Jessica Chastain Anna
Morales
Albert Brooks Andrew
Walsh
Elyes Gabel Julian
David Oyelowo District
Atty. Lawrence
Since the 1970’s through the 90’s, movies like “The Godfather”,
“Scarface”, and “Goodfellas” (amongst others) have set the tone in American filmdom
for a kind of cinematic cult. Certainly it is genre, but the almost slavish
adherence to the cinematography used with respect to framing, lighting and
color plus the use of a central character as anti-hero, must make one wonder
whether there is a school of thought and technique that many directors feel must
not be violated. That just like the mafia life they depict in the movies,
Coppola, De Palma and Scorcese (and others) make their movies to a code as
strict as the code of omerta that guides the Mafia itself. In 2014, J.C.
Chandor took on this code with his movie, “A Most Violent Year”. He took it on,
adopted it, challenged it, and with a few minor missteps, improved on it.
Chandor has written and directed the story of Abel Morales
(Oscar Isaac), the owner of a heating oil distributor in 1980’s New York. He is
married to the daughter of the previous owner; an owner that practiced a much
harsher and more illegal brand of corporate vision. Abel had worked himself up from
driver and appears to be an immigrant. He hires others with a similar
background; one of whom is Julian (Elwes Gabel). We first meet Julian on one of
his runs to deliver heating oil to the company’s clients. On the way to make
his delivery, he is stopped on the expressway and assaulted, his truck
hijacked. We learn this has been going on for months and Abel’s business is
suffering. His wife Anna (Jessica Chastain) in a Lady Macbeth-like manner that
is true to her mafia father’s upbringing urges Abel to arm his drivers and to make
a vigorous (read violent) response to his enemies. Abel, however, true to his
nature and to the story’s premise, refuses to do so. He argues then and
throughout the movie, that responding with violence will worsen the situation,
not improve it.
When Abel seeks legal redress from the law, District Attorney Lawrence (David Oyelowo)
gives him a very frosty response. As Abel is soon to learn Lawrence is about to
bring 14 counts of price fixing, tax evasion and various misdemeanors against
Abel. Lawrence has been tasked to clean up the heating oil business and decided
to focus on Abel, at least in part because of the legacy left to him by his decidedly
not-by-the-book father-in-law. However, Abel remains polite, acknowledges the
hard work Lawrence must do and leaves. To be sure, Lawrence thinks that Abel is
being disingenuous and thinks Abel’s behavior is only an act. But this is in
fact the real Abel. He does everything according to the law and with deep and
true respect to everyone he meets; he may look like a gangster based on his
clothing but he has the heart of good man. Whether Abel is polite and
law-abiding or not, he is nevertheless ambitious and wants to grow his company.
He does this by outplaying his competition on their home turf, likely creating
the enemies he fears is hijacking his trucks. However to truly grow, he needs a
new facility for his operations. As such, with the assistance of his attorney Andrew
Walsh (Albert Brooks) he has entered into a 30 day escrow with a neighboring
company that wants to exit the business. They are a Hasidic family-owned company
with a heating oil tank farm that has many unused tanks and water access – two features
Abel desperately needs. The problems mount for Abel as he tries manfully to
meet the 30 day deadline on his escrow. If he fails to come up with the balance
for the purchase of the property, he loses his down payment and ultimately his
business. The attacks on Abel’s business by unknown parties continue, Julian makes
several fatal mistakes, and his enemies seem to have Abel in a corner from
which there is no escape.
The movie is filmed in browns, ochre, and with many of the
interior scenes, in deep shadows. Abel is always dressed impeccably and always
with a coat to match the cinematic color palettes used in the older mafia
movies. While these techniques alone might
well do justice in honoring the older films, there is a scene where Julian is
first attacked just past an expressway toll booth that seems to directly link
this movie to the “Godfather” and Sonny’s departing scene. However, unlike Sonny’s
exit, no one is shot. Later when Julian is attacked again, and despite having
armed himself, again no one is shot. Chandor has the characters in this movie
get so close to violence, but just not quite there. This appears at times to
almost be a tease to the audience: will Abel or Anna or Julian actually defend
themselves with a gun or not. It is an unusual kind of dramatic tension –
certainly not one normally practiced in the iconic mafia films of the late 20th
century.
Another notable technique Chandor uses in multiple scenes is
a very sedate pacing; often slowing the action down to a normal, non-cinematic
pace. People talk in reasonable dialogs, rarely is there a sense of menace in
their actions or voices. Even when Abel finally comes close to losing his
temper in a meeting with his business rivals, he barely does so, and none of
his rivals do much more than blandly stare back at him. No, the violence in
this film is not really in the central story being told, but rather in the
surrounding atmosphere. That atmosphere is highlighted by Greek Chorus-like
voice-over radio descriptions of unrelated violence in the city. In fact, the
title refers to the fact that 1981, the year the movie depicts, it was the most
violent year in New York’s history (sadly, since eclipsed). The ironic contrast
between the violence elsewhere in the city and the only near-violence
surrounding Abel, or the contrast between this movie and its cinematic antecedents
is striking.
Chandor has created a different kind of dramatic tension,
one that more closely mirrors normal everyday life: will Abel get the loan and
save his business or won’t he? There is also the artificial Hollywood tension:
will Abel finally lose his patience and use the pistol he took from his wife.
This is not to say that Chandor does not use some Hollywood tricks. Consider
the scene where a car driven by Abel is raced at high speed through a dark,
dust-choked tunnel. It is exciting and nerve-wracking as you wonder how it will
end. But in this movie, it is far more likely a metaphor for Abel’s groping
attempts to discover who his enemies are. It would be a major spoiler to reveal
them here; suffice to say, their identity remains true to this movie’s core
meaning: life is not a Hollywood movie. There are good people with some bad
tendencies; tendencies that are sometimes acted on directly, but more
typically, are simply allowed to happen with a wink and a nod. “A Most Violent
Year” does honor the earlier mafia movies, but it is more importantly homage to
normal life. A life filled with people who may well break the law, who
certainly display a very poor understanding of right and wrong, but quite frankly
simply don’t go around shooting people like Scarface with large caliber machine
guns in their own living room.
This movie is beautifully made, intelligently inspired, and
wonderfully acted. Indeed, the acting by Oscar Isaac continues to impress me
(see also the recent HBO mini-series, “Show Me a Hero” for a poignant
performance by Isaac that will leave you seriously moved). There are few points
that I found wanting: an underused Jessica Chastain and a completely
unbelievable exit scene by Julian. But otherwise, sit back and enjoy the life
like pacing, the Autumnal color palette, the breathtaking cityscapes, and
admire the real people that inhabit this movie, just as they inhabit the world
we live in.
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