The creative industry is big and versatile. Every component that is a part of this industry is drastically different from one another. However, there are instances where people migrate between them, further exploring their creative abilities with a completely different set of skills. This is the case of the famous fashion designerTom Ford, who in the past years has become a film director.
Tom Ford is known for his luxury fashion brand, which has been in the industry for almost two decades. Nevertheless, the designer wasn’t happy with only creating beautiful clothes that would often be used in the film industry: he wanted to direct, which he did in the excellent, visually stunningA Single Man. He proved to be a great director and writer with a very specific vision, especially in his 2016 thrillerNocturnal Animals.
Nocturnal Animalstells the story of a writer who sends his ex-wife the first book he wrote, named after his nickname for her,Nocturnal Animal. The movie then tells the story of the ex-wife’s current situation as well as parts of her past, including why her former marriage didn’t work. The movie also follows the story of the book, which is a thriller about a man who has his family taken away from him. Reality and fiction have more things in common than the protagonist may have thought at first.
Here is why the movie is worth watching, as well as how Ford used everything he knew about filmmaking to create such a powerful story.
A Haunting Story
Nocturnal Animalsis a movie about love, loss, different types of grief, and the price of revenge. There is no need to add how heavy this movie gets at times, creating really uncomfortable situations for the characters and the audience. Nevertheless, the brilliance that is seen in the film has a lot to do with how it decides to tell this heartbreaking story, even if that means violence and intensity.
Related:A Single Man & Nocturnal Animals: How Tom Ford Went from Designer to Director
The story is about Susan (a great Amy Adams), an artist that is unhappy with all aspects of her life, who receives a book from her ex-husband (a truly haunted Jake Gyllenhaal). When the character starts to read the story, the audience gets transported inside the book and is able to follow both stories right until the credits roll. The thriller shows a family that is traveling by car during the night. During the trip, they encounter some very violent people and end up being separated from one another — the mother and daughter go with the men and the father is left behind.
The physical violence shown in the story inside the book is a counterpoint to the internal violence that exists for Susan to live her life so unhappily. It also shines a light on the unhappiness she had caused in other people’s life, especially her ex-husband, in the past. The way the stories blend into one another, going as far as hinting at a few details from the protagonist’s past before it’s confirmed, is fascinating to see. It is nota feel-good movie, and there are very different villains in this story within a story, which makes the audience wonder if they ever were the villain in someone else’s story.
Nocturnal Animals Has an Outstanding Cast
There are some very heavy hitters in the cast of the movie. The casting of these actors was extremely well done as they have a deep chemistry that is noticeable within mere seconds of their appearance onscreen. This is especially true with Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal, who initially start out as a young couple trying to beat all odds. Their relationship evolves into a marriage in crisis and the moment they fall apart after Adams' character makes a drastic decision about their future alone.
Then there is the set of actors who play the characters inside the book.Michael Shannon playsa broken-down sheriff that wants to do the right thing in a difficult and cruel world. Isla Fisher and Ellie Bamber play the family of the fictional protagonist, also played by Gyllenhaal. Both actresses express their despair to such a degree that there is no way for the viewer to watch them being kidnapped and not hold their breath. But the actor that really knocks it out of the park and who won a Golden Globe for his performance in the movie is Aaron Taylor-Johnson. His depiction of a horrible man makes the viewer nauseated at times, much to the actor’s credit.;
Tom Ford as the Director
There is no denying that Tom Ford has mastered how to convey a feeling based on aesthetics, including color, texture, etc. It was really interesting to see the fashion designer, who had already directedA Single Manand worked as a costume designer in others, such as007: Quantum of Solace, have a different creative outlet to express a narrative. There is a lot of symbolism in the way he uses colors, especially red – as it is a color that remembers violence as well as passion.
Ford goes beyond the colors he uses: the positions in which the bodies are found, the empty and luxurious dark house Susan lives in, and every small detail tells a bit more about the story, helping connect both worlds in distinct yet subtle ways. The opening scene shows Susan’s artistic exposition, where dance, bodies, color, and the soundtrack all help set the tone of this story in a very unusual way, before immediately transporting the audience to a black-and-white world of the protagonist: where you miss the color and the joy just seen. It is clear that the person in charge had a very specific vision they wanted to do, and Ford was extremely successful in doing it. This story is told in such a way that the amount of creative delicacy involved is worth watching.
Nocturnal Animalsis one of those movies that stay with you after it ends. There is a deep cruelty in it that marks its viewers, and at the same time, is a story about the consequences of love. It is one of the best recent thrillers made and should receive more praise than it has in the last couple of years since it was released.
