ELEGY (USA, 2007)
Wednesday, 4th November 2009

Elegy is a film dealing with subject-matter that more often than not goes awry when treated in the cinema but which is here handled with remarkable success. It is helped, of course, by the fact that the film contains four perfect performances, all of which deserved to win awards for the actors concerned. Nevertheless the crux of the matter lies in the avoidance of the sexual divide that usually prevents a film of this kind from finding the right approach. What we have here is a story in which the central character is an aging man, a college professor, who is obsessed by young women. If men treat this subject matter, there is a tendency to whitewash and to excuse by ignoring the exploitative side of such behaviour and the potential pain of those who succumb to the man’s blandishments. In addition to that, it’s often the case that a film-maker who chooses such material is acting out some fantasy of his own and, in consequence, shows us a young woman falling for a much older man whose looks and character lack any authentic appeal that would make this likely. If, on the other hand, a woman were to write and direct such a film the result might well be more authentic but it would not occasion great surprise if the portrayal were to lack something in subtlety and understanding. What makes Elegy exceptional, quite apart from the brilliance of its actors, is the fact that it gets the balance exactly right. I am inclined to put this down to the writers (Nicholas Meyer who wrote the screenplay and Philip Roth who wrote the novel on which it is based) being men while the director, Isabel Coixet who hails from Spain, brings a woman’s perspective to bear.

The film introduces us to the central character, Professor David Kepesh, when he is appearing on television as a guest in a programme commenting on the 1960s, the decade when the Puritanism which had until then so influenced America had lost out to a hedonistic approach to life. David Kepesh (Ben Kingsley) is a man who had endorsed that change of attitude and who had shown his distaste for marriage by walking out on his wife and his son. The latter (Peter Sarsgaard) has grown up to become a doctor, but all these years later he has never forgiven his father for his behaviour as is, perhaps, understandable . As we come to learn more about David Kepesh, we realise that he is a man with a strong sex drive who is unwilling to take on the responsibilities that go with commitment, but for a man in such a situation he has been lucky. Not only has he been able to establish a long-standing relationship with a career woman, Carolyn (Patricia Clarkson), who shares his wish for such an arrangement with no strings attached, but his post puts him in touch with younger women.

The often witty narration in this film comes from David Kepesh himself, this being a factor that may have grown out of the fact that the original novel was apparently written in the form of a monologue. It is from this source that we hear how David avoids any entanglement with his pupils while they are studying but is ready to indulge in periodic affairs with those who have caught his eye once they have graduated. When the story begins, he has his sights on one such girl, a student from Cuba, the beautiful Consuela (Penélope Cruz). Although these two are very much the main figures here, other elements emerge which, as the piece progresses, provide other points of reference, variants rather than parallels. First, there’s David’s best friend, the distinguished poet George O’Hearn (Dennis Hopper) who, despite being married to Amy (Deborah Harry), is a notorious philanderer. Where David finds himself becoming emotionally involved with Consuela, George takes a more brutal view, advocating affairs of a kind in which the man is careful to keep the upper hand. The second comparison we are offered concerns David’s son. Although Kenny Kepesh has always been so critical of his father, the fact that he has unexpectedly fallen for a married woman despite himself being a husband with a wife and family that he cares for has opened his eyes to the complexities of the emotions. This causes him to come to his father for advice.

Elegy has intelligent, literate dialogue that is all too rare in films today, and the cast is exceptional. Sir Ben Kingsley is one of the few film actors who, as he gets older, has widened his range and taken on the challenge of very different roles. Consequently, the actor acclaimed for his performance as Gandhi has staggered us by the power he brought to the foul-mouthed criminal he played in Sexy Beast and now in Elegy offers a portrayal as striking as these other two. As David Kepesh he is able to suggest the spark and magnetism that would enable him to attract a young woman who regards his knowledge and experience as qualities that make boy-friends of her own age appear superficial. Kingsley seems to play this role from the inside, and it was the best performance by an actor to emerge in 2008. What he is able to achieve is to show David Kepesh as a victim of his own desires, desires that in his relationship with Consuela drive him to jealousy and to a lack of trust that compel him to act in ways that can only be disastrous. Just as in the marvellous Spanish film Take my Eyes shown by us in 2006 the dominating, abusive husband was a monster whom we came to see as a victim of his own demons, so too David Kepesh is someone portrayed with such depth that it adds to our understanding of such a man.

Elegy is undoubtedly Kinsgley’s film but, as already mentioned, there are three other outstanding performances. Dennis Hopper is on his best form as the unfaithful poet, Patricia Clarkson is pitch perfect as David’s older mistress and, in his own quiet way, Peter Sarsgaard makes much more of the role of Kenny Kepesh than you might expect. Not to mention Penélope Cruz here may seem a shade ungallant since, even if she is strictly a bit too old for the role of Consuela, she looks stunning and acts the part very well indeed. It’s just that the other players are, to my mind, even more exceptional.

Elegy is unquestionably an under-rated film (for connoisseurs of great acting it is unmissable) and from what I have written here you may think that I regard it as a masterpiece. Not so. Although I hope that many will disagree with me, I do believe that it suffers from the unusual fault of finding a perfect conclusion and then continuing the narrative for another quarter of an hour or so when the later scenes are unnecessary. But, even if you should come to share this opinion, I hope you will agree that this compelling piece of story-telling deserved to be seen in Eastbourne and, despite the great cast, our screening of it will be the first Eastbourne presentation. Flawed or not, the quality of the writing and the truly superlative acting makes it a film that should not be missed.
Programme Note by Mansel Stimpson.