Christine
Directed by: Antonio Campos
Written by: Craig Shilowich
Starring: Rebecca Hall, Michael C. Hall, Tracy Letts, Maria Dizzia, J. Smith-Cameron, Tim Simons, Kim Shaw, John Cullum, Jayson Warner Smith
Biography/Drama - 115 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 19 Oct 2016
Written by: Craig Shilowich
Starring: Rebecca Hall, Michael C. Hall, Tracy Letts, Maria Dizzia, J. Smith-Cameron, Tim Simons, Kim Shaw, John Cullum, Jayson Warner Smith
Biography/Drama - 115 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 19 Oct 2016
I am too young to remember this, but apparently, broadcast news did not always subscribe to the dogma ‘If it bleeds, then it leads’. Sarasota field reporter Christine Chubbuck held a higher standard. It was her job to report on what people needed to learn, not what they wanted to hear. The transition to what she called “blood and guts reporting” branded her a relic stuck in the past. Promotions were out of reach, she could not understand her boss, and combined with what appears to be a dramatic dose of mental illness, Christine took drastic measures live on the air in 1974. Examining the woman behind the sensational headline, Christine shows us there was a complex, three-dimensional person with hopes and feelings. Not always compelling, Christine remains a thoughtful examination of a time and individual in turmoil.
As part of the Borderline Films trio, director Antonio Campos chose for his third feature film a story with a very strong female lead who is her own worst enemy. Producer and first time screenwriter Craig Shilowich made me consider after the film whether or not everything I just saw was reliable. Christine believes she is reporting hard-hitting news via her zoning law profiles and the local strawberry festival. She sees enemies coming at her from all sides including her malicious boss who wants to change news for the worse and scheming co-workers who want to not only shove her aside but maneuver themselves into promotions Christine is sure are rightfully hers.
As part of the Borderline Films trio, director Antonio Campos chose for his third feature film a story with a very strong female lead who is her own worst enemy. Producer and first time screenwriter Craig Shilowich made me consider after the film whether or not everything I just saw was reliable. Christine believes she is reporting hard-hitting news via her zoning law profiles and the local strawberry festival. She sees enemies coming at her from all sides including her malicious boss who wants to change news for the worse and scheming co-workers who want to not only shove her aside but maneuver themselves into promotions Christine is sure are rightfully hers.
However, these ideas are all from Christine’s subjective point of view. There are more than a few signs and innuendos to past ‘episodes’. If Christine was around today, I suspect a diagnosis of bi-polar disorder would be in her files somewhere. Deciding where the line is between ground truth and Christine’s truth is an exercise left to the individual viewer and for you to argue about with your friends later. Shilowich never shows his hand on what he’s up to. Furthermore, a Nixon/Watergate theme is habitually inserted in nearby TV sounds and radio plugs. The allusion to Nixon more than confirms the 1974 setting; it hints at something larger. Is it that the nation as a whole is just as troubled as Christine? Again, Shilowich keeps it all to himself.
One thing we do know for sure is that Rebecca Hall (The BFG) as Christine delivers a phenomenal performance. Hall plays Christine as earnest but catastrophically unsure about herself and her abilities on the job. Social situations end up awkward at best, just about all her conversations are forced and veer off into no man’s land, and it’s head scratching why Christine would choose such a public and open line of work as broadcast journalism. Watching Christine interact in workplace meetings or even struggle to talk to her mother is tense and makes you wince.
Given that there are natural shades of the film Network, especially in scenes at the TV station, Christine is not about the ups and downs of a female trying to navigate the waters of what was once a purely masculine domain. It’s singularly focused on one woman and whatever it is motivating and pursuing her inside her own head and how it shapes the immediate world around her. The station’s lead anchor is George Ryan (Michael C. Hall), the stereotypical alpha male who appears to cruise through his job without a care or second thought in the world. Christine, suffering from unrequited love right next to him, agonizes over every single detail. Did she lean forward too much in that interview? Does she nod too emphatically in sympathy with the subject? These are questions George would never consider to ask.
Concerning sympathy, Hall and Campos generate plenty for Christine. She tries. She buys a police scanner to listen for car crashes and shootings like an early Jake Gyllenhaal Nightcrawler. Yet, when she presents her footage of a house fire, she focuses on the man who fell asleep with a cigarette in his mouth rather than show the remains for the burned out home. Christine delivers human interest while the rest of the world wants gore. Christine is stunted, professionally and personally. On a date, she amazes the audience and her companion dressing up in a feminine style we did not know she was capable of. Failing to recover from the heightened expectations of that date, however, is the catalyst for her drastic decisions.
I did not know about Christine Chubbuck and her claim to fame when I watched the film so I will not share it here either; however, Campos did not make a film hovering around one single action. It’s the life and times of a woman and how a specific combination of internal and external factors drove her psyche to influence certain decisions. It’s ordinary. Campos could have opted for sensationalism and extravagance, but commendably, he fashions the event in Christine’s style. It’s unsuspecting to her co-workers and by the book, just like Christine. Prepare yourself for a character study, not a thriller, and not a shock and awe, ripped from the headlines potboiler, the kind of story Christine would despise. Rather, this is told through a Christine lens, as a human interest story.
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