WANDER DARKLY
US, 2020, 97 minutes, Colour.
Sienna Miller, Diego Luna, Beth Grant.
– Directed by Tara Miele.
Wander Darkly is a kind of moral and metaphysical journey for the central characters as Well Is for the audience.
The film as a star vehicle for Sienna Miller with Diego Luna in support. She portrays Adrienne, pregnant, giving birth, living with Matteo but not married, becoming irritated, seen going out on a social, unsatisfactory, fighting on the way home – in a car crash.
The film uses the device of a kind of ghostly presence of Adrienne after her death, moving from sequence to sequence, magical realism, interacting with Matteo, concerned for her child who is being looked after by her mother, Beth Grant.
The film moves around in time, flashbacks illuminating the past, the growing of the relationship, love, difficulties, Adrienne learning about herself and the relationship, Matteo trying his best to help Adrienne, and something of the rediscovery of their love.
There is some ambiguity at the end as to who has died and who is alive – a device used in a number of films like Archive, science-fiction film with Theo James.
- The title? Adrienne and Matteo during their lives? After the accident? Adrienne wandering, Matteo’s wandering?
- Themes of life and death, life after death, ghostly presence, purgatorial experiences?
- The American city, the home, the roads, hospitals, the beach and the sea? The musical score?
- The introduction to Adrienne and Matteo? Pregnancy, the birth of the child, the birth experience for each of them? The bond between mother and child? Their not being married? The commitment, the home, life at home, the outing, socialising, past partners? The argument in the car? The crash?
- The structure of the film, the introduction, the establishing of the characters, the buildup of tension, the car accident? The injuries? Hospital, the effect on Adrienne? On Matteo?
- Adrienne and her condition, ghostly, moving from sequence to sequence, the interactions with Matteo, the presence of her mother, her mother looking after the baby? Adrienne as dead and her comment on purgatory? The purgation effect on her?
- Matteo, alive, interactions with Adrienne, the discussions, expressions of love, rediscovery of love? The child? Adrienne’s mother and Matteo’s behaviour?
- The moving backward forward in time, memories of the past, the building up of the relationship, meeting, love, living together, the pregnancy? The difficulties? The repercussions of these rediscoveries? The changing attitude, Adrienne and her apprehension, Matteo and his reassurance? The sequences together?
- The final revelation, the question of who was dead, Matteo, general, Adrienne and the child?
- Some bewilderment for the audience, moral and metaphysical journey?
