Review of A Star Is Born (2018) by Anderson G — 12 Oct 2018

"A star is born," perhaps the great Oscar-facing film of this year, a film that talks about the quest for the essence and truth of things, with fantastic scenes and a style of filming itself, the first feature directed by Bladley Cooper is a welcome surprise.

First of all, speaking in terms of script, the film does not reinvent the wheel at all, it's even a remake of a remake of a remake, even though it's a cliché, the movie has many subtleties, our protagonist is ---- SPOILER --- a man desperate to seek truth in things, especially in life and in art.

We are placed in the vision of Jack, a famous singer and consecrated who begins to lose the inspiration due to the art being in a moment pop, where everything is made to be presented to the public, thus losing its essence, thus our protagonist finds Ally, in a corner drag bar, while taking his whiskey Jack topa with the purest essence of music and falls in love first with the music and then, for the singer, when he realizes that it is also pure in its essence, the novel happens and with the Ally begins to succumb to pop, begins to lose its essence, leading Jack to despair, who tries to resume, tries, tries, until in the end, the same realizes that his own essence is no longer accepted and commits suicide.

This search gives essence can be seen as an attempt to seek the roots of art, a criticism of the world today that picks up a singer, places dancers, changes his look, paints his hair and gives it a name, thus stifling his talent and natural essence , because as it is exposed in the own film, it is not enough to have only the talent, it is necessary to have something to say.

Curiously, the film serves with a critic even Lady Gaga, who is a talented actress but who succumbed to the pop world thus killing its pure essence. ------ SPOILER END ----. Speaking of acting, Lady Caga and Cooper are well in the film, both doing their best performance - Although Lady Caga does not have a career as extensive as an actress - But even so, it is not quite an absolute perfection, but are great performances, especially in the sings, which is sure to give Oscar a nod to the two, deservedly, an indication that Sam Elliot, Jack's brother, will also win, all his appearances are accurate, visceral and sweeping, the actor plays little of the drama, but when it appears, completely steals the scene.

Copper adopts a style of filming that almost mixes Lars Von Trier and Yorgos Lanthimos, it gives a lot of freedom to the improvisation of the actors - This even makes a parallel with the meaning of the film, which is the quest for the naturalness of art - this freedom is very good in some scenes, but it generates a problem, in some scenes some actors do not have the proper reaction to their screen mate's improvisation, that leaves the scene strange, but Cooper redeems himself by using closed angles and perfect hand cameras in many scenes, especially in musicals, the director stops using sequences in scenes that call for this technique, but ends up using the sequential plan in other simpler scenes, Cooper rules the first act of the film because it is extremely shortened, which causes a lack of introduction to the universe of the two protagonists.

In addition, technically, another highlight of the film is the editing and mixing of sound, are high, accurate, high quality, if you see in a quality cinema will realize that all singing and solos of guitars, does not even bump for a second , which consequently makes me speak of the soundtrack, which is original and is perfect, beautiful, natural, it truly reflects the purity and essence of the long and for sure will be the great favorite category of the best original song of the oscar.

Finally, Cooper's first film is not perfect, but it's a punch, he's strong, precise, with a powerful, dramatic, romantic, funny message, a film that stands out in everything and deserves to be seen and reviewed.