Thursday, March 13, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

Film: Morvern Callar is weird but well done

By Bob Grimm

An uncommon reaction to a spouse's suicide works as the starting point for one zonked-out trip in Morvern Callar, one of the weirder films to come along in some time. Starring Samantha Morton, and directed by Lynne Ramsay (Ratcatcher), this is a movie that defies classification.

It's also beautifully made, wonderfully acted and wholly original. Morton plays Morvern, who discovers her lover dead from suicide in their ratty apartment, bathed in the blinking lights of their puny Christmas tree. He has left a suicide note on the computer instructing her to use the money in the bank account for his funeral, and to please submit his novel manuscript to the publishers he's listed.

Morvern takes her time, his rotting corpse stinking up the place as she decides what action to take. In the end, she makes some unconventional decisions, and her boyfriend doesn't get the standard-issue funeral.

A liberating trek to Spain, in the company of best friend Lanna (a luminous Kathleen McDermott), leads to much drug taking and the eventual requisite running with the bulls. The use of drugs in the film leads to some interesting POV work, Ramsay creating a trippy state for the alternately grieving and oddly relaxed Morvern to occupy. Part of the movie's fun is trying to figure what's going through Morvern's head. Is she grieving or celebrating her freedom? Is she a victim of circumstance or some sort of ghoulish profiteer?

Morton's performance is extraordinary. She somehow manages to convey a state of shock, and complete control of her senses at the same time. She's shown some chops in films such as Woody Allen's Sweet and Lowdown and Jesus' Son, but this is the film that marks her arrival as a great actress. It is also the film that will leave quite a few viewers scratching their heads.w w w w q