MARGARET

US, 2011, 150 minutes, Colour.
Anna Paquin, J. Smith-Cameron?, Mark Ruffalo, Jeannie Berlin, Jean Reno, Allison Janney, Matt Damon, Matthew Broderick, Keiran Culkin, Olivia Thirlby, Michael Ealy.
Directed by Kenneth Lonergan.

If Matt Damon and Matthew Broderick look younger than you would have expected as you watch Margaret, the reason is that Margaret was filmed in 2005 but not released until 2011, caught in problems of studio disapproval and re-editing, finally with the help of Martin Scorsese, to a running time of 150 minutes.

Anna Paquin is the central character, Lisa Cohen. So, who is Margaret? Late in the film, English teacher, Matthew Broderick, reads the poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins, To Margaret Grieving. For much of this film, Lisa is grieving, not just about herself, though she has her moments of self-pity, but about the death of a woman killed in a bus accident and questioning her own behaviour in contributing to the accident as well as to what she says to the police during the investigation.

Anna Paquin is convincing as an assertive and opinionated teenager (sometimes bigoted) whose father has left and lives in California (and really doesn’t want her to come to live with him). She lives with her actress mother (J. Cameron-Smith?, who in real life is the wife of writer-director, Kenneth Lonergan, in a persuasive performance) in New York. She has friends but can be acerbic. She is permissive, sexually speaking, even casual. She is seductive towards a teacher played by Matt Damon.

But, it is the aftermath of the accident where the drama intensifies. It involves meetings with the bus driver, Mark Ruffalo, negotiations for insurance claims with greedy relatives of the dead woman, and discussions with a lawyer about how to deal with criminal charges.

While the film is long – seems a bit long for its subject and characters – it is well written and acted, providing insights into contemporary American life as well as raising issues for reflection.

1. The work of Kenneth Lonergan, screenplays, direction, theatre? The dispute about this film? Made in 2005? Re-edited? 2011 release?

2. The use of New York City, homes, school, the streets, theatre? The police precincts? Legal offices? The musical score? (New York after 9/11, the feel of 2005, memories?)

3. The title, the reference to Gerard Manley Hopkins, to Margaret grieving? The references to King Lear?

4. The final product? The history of production? The effect? Critical reception?

5. The portrait of Lisa, her age, her relationship with her mother, living at home, love and clash, her father in Los Angeles, the phone calls? His listening, advice – but ultimately not wanting her? Her attitudes? Derived from where? Her behaviour in class, with the teachers, stances, flirtation? The debates, her friends, the arguments, racism, Islam, Afghanistan? The range of teachers? The range of her friends, communicating with them? Her relationship with Mr Aaron? The English teacher and the poetry? Her hopes, ambitions? Her sexual identity – and the communication with Paul and his casual approach to sexuality?

6. Mr Aaron, teacher, as a person, his sympathy for Lisa, the notes on her work, Listening to her, her visits to him? Her flirting in class? Seductive, her seducing him, appropriate or not? The issue of abortion?

7. The English teacher, sympathy, interests, the poetry, meeting her in the park, not able to help her?

8. The bus, flirting with the driver, his looking at her, going through the red light, the accident, his reaction, her reaction? Her looking at the dead woman, cradling her? People helping, the woman’s death? The effect on her, the driver?

9. Going to the police, her answers, lying, her reasons, sympathy for the driver?

10. The driver himself, Lisa’s visit to him, the family? Audience sympathy or not? His family and the future? His stances? His record, being rehired?

11. Lisa and her mother, her mother as an actress, busy, rehearsals, self-esteem? The plays? Going to the theatre? Meeting with Ramon, his character, his attention to her, going out? The discussions? Personal issues and the mother unable to cope – or not? Ramon as a strong character, possibilities for the future?

12. The woman who died, her cousin, Abigail and her husband? The phone calls, their coming to New York? Abigail as a person, suspicious? Her husband? The case? The interest in the money, the greed, the meetings?

13. Emily, lawyer, as a character, with Lisa, preparing the case against the driver? The difficulties of the case because of the contradictions and Lisa’s lies? The negative result? Dealing with the bus company, the settlement?

14. Lisa, her reaction to the driver being rehired? To Abigail and the greed?

15. Contacting her father in Los Angeles, the phone calls, wanting to live with him – and his not wanting her to come?

16. Ramon, with Joan, his heart attack?

17. Lisa, going to see Mr Aaron, the seduction, explaining the abortion? His character, responsibilities?

18. The visit to the opera, Lisa and her wilfulness, finally going with her mother, being moved by the music, the reconciliation in the theatre?

19. The range of moral issues, family, relationships, sexuality, education, prejudices? The issue of the death of the woman, and the responsibility – the driver’s? Lisa’s?