KODACHROME
US, 2017, 105 minutes, Colour.
Ed Harris, Jason Sudeikis, Elizabeth Olsen, Bruce Greenwood, Wendy Crewson, Denis Haysbert, Gethin Anthony.
Directed by Mark Raso.
There are many good reasons for seeing Kodachrome.
“Regrets, I’ve had a few…�, Frank Sinatra singing My Way. The central characters in this film have more than a few regrets and one of them has been causing regrets to the others by his selfish doing it his way.
For audiences who have admired Ed Harris over many decades, fine performances, this is a must. It is certainly one of his best performances. He plays Ben Ryder, crack photographer, now old and not long to live because of terminal cancer. In his photography, he used Kodachrome and finds that Parsons, Kansas, is the last centre to develop slides from Kodachrome and he wants to make a kind of pilgrimage there, taking some rolls from the past that he never developed. The question is, how is he to get to Kansas, by car, plane being out of the question.
But, first, we are introduced to his middle-aged son, an executive with a small recording company, caught up in the hullabaloo of concerts and records, not having been successful over several years and about to be fired – one last chance to sign on a leading group. He is Ben Ryder’s son, Matt. His played by Jason Sudeikis, very well known for a lot of comedy films, but this role offers a reassurance that he can tackle dramatic roles quite persuasively.
He gets a visit, unwelcome, from a young woman, Zoe – played by Elizabeth Olsen, quite a forceful dynamic presence on screen. She is Ben’s nurse and urges Matt to drive his father to Kansas, not a likely proposition because Matt resents his father’s ignoring of him in the past, his infidelities to his mother, and has not spoken to him for 10 years. We know that he eventually will drive his father but we are presented with a range of motivations for his doing so, including his father’s assistant enabling him to stop on the way to interview the prospective group that he would like to sign.
The characters are particularly well drawn, Ed Harris is the embodiment of the narcissistic and neglectful father. For most of the film he seems to show no redeeming features but, towards the end, there is a frank conversation with his son and quite a moving scene where he meets veteran photographers at Parsons and they acclaim him, Matt looking on with some satisfaction.
There is a lot of incidental action along the way, showing some relenting on Matt’s part, Zoe and her putting up with a great deal from Ben, then Ben advising his son on how to deal with the group but, in another striking sequence, Matt uses his father’s advice to get the group but they then mock Ben’s incontinence in a stupid adolescent way and Ben defends his father.
This is one of the most persuasive father-son dramas, not an easy getting to know each other, especially after a significant visit to Ben’s brother, Dean and his wife (good cameos from Bruce Greenwood and Wendy Crewson), Matt grateful to Dean for being more of a father to him than his own father.
While there is a lot of bitterness, this is certainly a powerful film about regrets and, it will not be a surprise to find out what is on those previously undeveloped slides. In some ways, the ending is clear, but communicated to the audience with a blend of emotion and objectivity.
1. The title? Photography? Film? The past and style? Before digital? Process and development?
2. Photography and its role, capturing the instant, capturing the present, it being part of the past, preserving the past?
3. A road film, New York City, concerts, offices, apartments, the countryside, Chicago, the concert and the interviews, the suburban homes, hospital, the city of Parsons, the company and photographic development? The musical score, the range of songs, suggestions of the past, the present?
4. The focus on Matt, his age, separation from his father for 10 years, his work with the concerts and the artists, their attitude towards him, interviews? The office, his boss, the long employment, about to be fired? His secretary and her new loyalties? Opportunities? His relationship with his father, 10 years, remembering the past, thinking his father never saw him, the betrayal of his mother, his dependence on Dean and Sarah? The past, music, playing the drums? The performers and the criticism of him? His relationships, his ex-wife? His career?
5. Zoe, her visit, the challenge to Matt, nursing Ben, the effect of her visit, Matt and his hostility towards his father, going to see his father, his father playing the drums?
6. Zoe and her work, observations, her own life and her betrayal of her husband?
7. Ben, his age, dying, his needs, the desire to get the rolls of photos developed, the expedition, the difficulties and health? Clashes with his son? Dependence on Zoe? His friendship with Larry, Larry and his organising matters for Ben? The decision to drive?
8. The journey, talking in the car, the emotional clashes? The visit to Dean and his wife? Dean as a father figure for Matt? Staying the night, Matt and his drinking, on the floor in Zoe’s room, Ben and his insinuations, his crass observations, his meanness in telling Sarah’s story, Dean’s reaction?
9. Chicago, getting the passes for the concert, their presence, the talk afterwards, Ben giving advice to Matt about how to clinch the deal? Ben and the interview with the singers, their talents, his persuasiveness, using his father’s argument? The group and their laughing at Ben and his incontinence? Matt anger and breaking with them?
10. Ben, moodiness, firing Zoe, her exasperation, leaving, his shock?
11. His collapse, in the hospital, the treatment, danger of death, the doctors and nurses, Matt enabling him to leave, driving to Parsons?
12. Parsons, the town, the goal of the journey, the manager and his welcome, the assistant and her saying the dye was used up? The owner and his doing the development himself? Bringing the rolls of films and the slides to Matt?
13. The range of photographers, welcoming Ben, celebrating his career? The effect on Ben?
14. His collapse, death? The effect on Matt, Larry coming, the arrangements for the funeral?
15. The owner bringing the rolls of film, Matt watching them, the scenes of himself as a child, his mother, his father? His father having mentioned that this was the happiest time of his life? The request, to curate the exhibition of photos? Trying to contact Zoe, her arrival?
16. Father-son relationships, tensions, love?
