THE FUTURE
US, 2011, 91 minutes, Colour
Hamish Linklater, Miranda July, David Warshofsky, Isabella Akers, Joe Putterlik.
Directed by Miranda July.
While artist Miranda July received quite some acclaim for her idiosyncratic first film, Me, You and Everyone We Know, some thought it a little fey. More so this one.
Hamish Linklatter and Miranda July are Jason and Sophie, a couple who have been together for four years. They are 35 – and wondering about the future. He works from home with calls for computer help. She is a dance teacher. They just carry on – until they decide on a project, to adopt an injured cat and help it recover. Actually, the cat has already entered the film with its own comments about its life, the dark, about Jason and Sophie. (Paw Paw is the cat’s name, and is scratchily voiced by Miranda July.)
Well, it doesn’t quite work out that way. The cat makes its own comments...
When they give up their jobs, Jason becomes environmentally concerned and sells trees. Sophie, unpredictable, takes up with the father of a young girl. What will happen? Perhaps the audience is not as concerned as all that to wonder for too long. The film then enters the realm of fantasy, Jason having the power to stop time, Sophie imagining (or really living her affair and leaving it), and Jason getting advice from the moon which, since it governs tides and seasons, ought to be able to deal with human fate! So, there we are, sometimes real, sometimes fey, sometimes twee.
1. The work of Miranda July, acting, directing, artist? Her appeal? (Or not?)
2. The California background, the lifestyle, the apartment, the streets, vet, the ordinary life? The school? The use of the songs, Rodgers and Hart’s Where or When?
3. The basic realism – moving into fantasy? Jason able to make time stand still, discussions with the moon? The cat, Paw Paw, talking, the effect?
4. The cat, its voice, perspective, in the dark, adoption, the tone and observations, appearance, the two paws, the injury? The treading over the messages? The contribution of the cat?
5. The cat’s introduction to Jason and Sophie, thirty-five years old, four years together, seeing them on the couch, their life together, on the computers, Jason and his advice, Sophie and her dance routines? Watching YouTube? Her work at the dance school, the children, hopping, under the material?
6. The two personalities, real but fey, with a touch of the twee? Their vocabulary and expressions? Love, concern for the future, discussions about what the future could be, imagining it? The combined project, adopting the injured cat? The days before they could collect the cat? Giving up their jobs? Jason buying the picture of the little girl? Possibilities?
7. Jason and his work for the environment, going back to the campaigner? Going door-to-door selling trees, his encounters, the refusals, his explanation finally to the man who did refuse? Sophie buying three trees, their being delivered?
8. Sophie and her phone call to Marshall, the encounter with him, his selling the drawing to Jason? Why the attraction, the phone calls, talking, the offer of the shout, her being delayed by Jason? The visit to the house, discussions about the poster, the sexual encounter, the affair, Gaby and her being sick, Sophie becoming part of the household, Gaby and her digging in the garden, being buried and staying out in the cold? Discussions with Marshall, sharing, the advancing cloth like a creature, her getting into it, Marshall’s reaction, her leaving?
9. Jason and his discussions with the old man, being sixty years with his wife, the limericks, his advice, the nature of beginnings, age, the effect on him?
10. Sophie’s return, Jason and his previous ability to make time stand still, holding his hands on Sophie’s head, the time passing, imagining the future, Sophie and the encounters with Marshall? Jason and his discussions with the moon, fate, the role of the moon?
11. The final realism, Jason not wanting Sophie to be there, Sophie going to bed? What actually would be the future for each of them?
