Mozart and The Whale --- Josh Hartnett and Radha Mitchell as a couple with autism
Written: Apr 19 '06
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Product Rating:
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Pros: great story, very informational and interesting, superb writing and acting, beautiful setting
Cons: none
The Bottom Line: This is an excellent film about the troubles that two adults with autism have when trying to start up a personal relationship. Beautifully shot, and very well written.
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| three_ster's Full Review: Mozart and The Whale |
Mozart and The Whale is the type of movie where an intense subject is broached, and the audience gets to experience a different kind of relationship movie. Centrally, the two main characters suffer from Asperger's syndrome, which is a form of Autism that differs from some better-known variations. With Asperger's, intelligence generally remains constant (or inflated), but there exists extreme deficiencies in social and communication skills. It is evident from the start of the film that the characters have a tough time "fitting in", and it becomes quite apparent that they are on their own for the most part. This was a different approach to the subject of autism than I have been privy to, and I was actually very impressed with how the actors carried out their specific parts. Some of the characters had different levels of functionality, and it helped to convey the message that this affliction affects many people in different ways. I think that not only can this be the type of film to shed further light on the subject of autism, but also it stands out as a great project that doesn't rely on providing its audience with a glamorous outlook of what its characters have to go through on a daily basis.
Josh Hartnett (Pearl Harbor, Sin City) is one of the leads as Donald Morton, who loves to work with numbers, and finds it a great way to calm himself when he is suffering from anxiety. That anxiety comes frequently for him, because while he is basically a math savant, he never knows what to say when it comes to public interaction. He will struggle to find the right words during a conversation, and often finds himself silent or loud as a result. Hartnett would not have been a choice I could have predicted to do great in this role, but I was thoroughly impressed with how well Hartnett puts himself into the part of Donald. Radha Mitchell (better known as the girl from Pitch Black, and mother to Dakota Fanning in Man On Fire) is Isabelle Sorenson who begins a relationship with Donald. Both meet at a group that he hosts, which brings autistic adults into a setting that allows them to interact. It helps to bring them out of their shells, gives them people with which they can share their lives with, and in a way helps them to see that there are other people who have it just as rough as they do. Donald professes to having started to group so that he wouldn't have to be lonely, but he ends up creating something helpful to almost 15 people.
With the film set up to be about the relationship of two 20-somethings, you could fall under the quick assumption that the story would fall into a methodical trek through the romantic comedy genre. But while there is some comedy thrown into the mix, this is anything but your normal romantic film. At the center of the story are two characters with troubled pasts, who are now surviving on their own in a large city. They find in each other a commonality, but they are still two completely different people, venturing into the type of relationship that neither has experienced before. As a result of their inability to express themselves as they would want to, they at times find it difficult to share either how they feel, or what they want the other person to know about them. Both Hartnett and Mitchell are exemplary in depicting their characters, and the story doesn't throw any flashy sequences or special effects into it to mess up the subtleties of the writing. I think in that regard the story really succeeds in conveying how difficult their relationship is, and just how hard they each have to work at something to make it succeed.
Ronald Bass, who also wrote the screenplays for Rain Main and What Dreams May Come, really did a great job of creating this story. Using reality as the backdrop for many of the subplots, the audience isn't always given what it wants, but in the end you come to realize that the world isn't easy for everyone. The movie was beautifully shot as well, taking place entirely in Spokane, Washington, and showing off every highlight that the city has to offer. It was a wonderful setting for a film like this, and instead of relying on expensive sets, everything is shot on location. This provides an even greater sense of reality for the story, and since I know most of the areas where it was filmed, it brought an even greater impact to the story for me. The movie was filmed back in 2004, and finally made its debut in theaters in April of 2006, I think mainly because of the subject matter. Held back because it might not have garnered the wide audience that the producers originally hoped for, I think this movie is one that really needs to be seen by anyone interested in the topic. It can serve not only as a teaching lesson for this particular affliction, but the film is a really interesting one that comes off in a very intriguing way. Mozart and The Whale is definitely a film that surpassed any expectations I had for it, and is one that I highly recommend because of how it wasn't afraid to tackle difficult subject material.
Recommended:
Yes
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