The Current
War has spent so much time wandering in the cinematic wilderness that I
really wanted to like it more than I did. Unfortunately the story of the film’s
time in movie purdah may be the most interesting thing about it.
The film was screened at the Toronto Film Festival
two years ago and was all set for release in October 2017. However as a Harvey
Weinstein production it got caught up in his legal troubles and the demise of
his company. In the end all trace of Weinstein has been removed from the credits,
the film has been sold to new distributors and goes on release in the UK this
month and the United States in October – just two years late.
In a perfect world The Current War would be the little movie that could; triumphing
over adversity and sweeping all before it at the Oscars. Sadly this is an
imperfect world and its chances are slim.
Like most films showcased at Toronto this was
originally seen as an Academy Awards contender. It ticks a lot of Oscar bait
boxes; serious subject, period drama, big cast in mutton chop whiskers, lavish
production values, and educational too. In the end though this is a pretty
workmanlike affair which fundamentally lacks drama and tries to cover too much
ground.
Set in the latter part of the 19th
century it’s the story of the battle between two men, Thomas Edison (Benedict
Cumberbatch) and Joseph Westinghouse (Michael Shannon), to bring electricity to
America. It should be about the dawn of the modern age, instead it is an argument
about the merits of Edison’s Direct Current system versus the Alternative
Current system proposed by Westinghouse. Nikola Tesla, played by Nicholas
Hoult, also pops up but gets fairly short shrift.
One big flaw is that we are given no one to root
for; Westinghouse was marginally the more decent of the two but it’s a close
run thing. There is no real insight into these historical ciphers. The film
becomes a debate about respective philosophies and since we are never told the
fundamental difference between the two systems – there’s some flimsy guff about
hosepipes – we can’t really form an opinion. It’s an argument that unfolds in
front of us but in which, apart from those who are electricians or
physicists, we have no agency.
Director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon compensates for the basic
lack of drama with a very fussy aesthetic. There are so many overhead ‘God
shots’ that there should be a warning for vertigo sufferers. The camera
operator also appears to be on a bungee cable as shots disappear out of the top
of the frame or pan dizzyingly left or right. This endless movement took me
right out of the picture. There is a difference between creating rhythm and
letting the story settle.
Benedict Cumberbatch and Michael Shannon anchor
the film with solid, if unspectacular performances. One advantage of the delay
is that Tom Holland is now a star but he’s not given a lot to do until it’s too
late and Spider-Man fans will be disappointed. Overall the effect is very
stagey – this is playwright turned screenwriter Michael Mitnick’s first
screenplay – and no amount of dizzy camera tricks can change that.
Given the story this film should have been better
than it is but the reality is we don’t know whose story it is or why we should
care. There are so many heavy-handed allusions to the development of moving
pictures that the overall message seems to be that we wouldn’t be watching
anything at all if it wasn’t for his contribution.
Overall The
Current War is a low wattage affair in which sparks resolutely refuse to
fly.
No comments:
Post a Comment