Rachel Getting Married

UPDATE 1/9/09: Click here to read my DVD review of Rachel Getting Married (as published in FILMINK)

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Families: you can't choose 'em and you can't shoot 'em.

This adage is put to the test in Jonathan Demme's Rachel Getting Married. Anne Hathaway's much lauded performance succeeds in getting you to want to wring her neck. The princess has traded in her diary for drugs, and it ain't pretty.

The film's title ironically sets the scene for a storyline that should be about the bride, but is really all about her narcissistic and very troubled sister, Kym. The fact that Rachel is getting married creates a Copernican revolution within a family so unconsciously revolving around Kym, and this provides more than enough friction to bring old wounds to the surface. Indeed the dynamics of a family orbiting around the relapses and rehabilitation of an addict are intimately and courageously portrayed in both the writing and performances.

Hathaway's performance in particular derives much of its power from the fact that she is so unlikable. In many scenes it feels like she's physically wrenching the spotlight away from her sister, and her willful impropriety is less than endearing. The strength of the film comes with Demme's willingness to give Kym enough rope to hang herself...time and time again.

Demme also allows the long suffering Rachel time to be heard. Rosemarie DeWitt's compassionate performance provides a wonderful counterpoint to Hathaway, as the film explores that unique relationship between sisters. Indeed most of the films striking scenes are the showdowns between Rachel and Kym, which really resonated with the friend accompanying me in the cinema. As the youngest of three with two older brothers, I don't really understand sisterly rivalry, but my friend seemed to think the film's portrayal was pretty spot on.

Mum and Dad get to weigh in as well, with the film appearing to invert the usual divorce scenario: the girls seem to have grown up in the family home with Dad, and Mum is very self-consciously absent. Amongst all the tears and tantrums, a lot still goes unsaid, and it is a tribute to Bill Irwin and particularly Debra Winger's subtle performances that the family tragedy becomes more than a plot device.

The cinematography is also worth a mention. The coverage of all the angst is mostly carefully unobtrusive, with a good pinch of handheld shakiness to get in the thick of things. Unfortunately I felt that some of the camera moves were quite self-conscious: a tracking shot down a hallway early in the film, and another bizarrely timed pan during the wedding ceremony are two examples that come to mind. I'm all for cinéma vérité, but I guess you just need to know when to reign it in.

That said, I totally dug the reflexivity of having the band's music from within the film contribute to most of the soundtrack. It could have come across as unnecessarily forced, but instead seemed like a natural part of the film, particularly in the very last shot.

Rachel Getting Married is by no means a carefree trip to the cinema, indeed it is more akin to being hauled over hot coals. However, from the epic battle between love and pain comes an ultimately rewarding experience.

Now doesn't that just sound like the definition of family?

I found this publicity still very intriguing - Image

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And if you can tell me why Rachel and Sidney (who is Jamaican, living in Hawaii) decided on a Hindi wedding, you'll be putting this weirdly obsessive girl out of (a bit of) her misery!