Review of First Reformed (2018) by Bertaut1 — 02 Aug 2018

Brilliantly shot, excellently written.

Most reviews I've seen of First Reformed have praised it as Paul Schrader's best work since either Taxi Driver or Raging Bull. And whilst I think that's an oversimplification, unjustly ignoring such strong screenplays as The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) and Bringing out the Dead (1999), and such superb directorial work as Affliction (1997) and Auto Focus (2002), there can be little doubt that First Reformed is easily his best film of the last fifteen years or so.

The film tells a simple story - Reverend Ernst Toller (Ethan Hawke) is the parish priest of a small congregation in Snowbridge. A former military chaplain, Toller is struggling with the death of his son, who he encouraged to enlist, and who was killed several months into his first tour in Iraq. As a result, Toller's marriage fell apart, with his wife blaming him for Joseph's death. As the film begins, Toller's spiritual crisis is already well under way. He's drinking too much, doesn't show much interest in his official duties, and has taken to recording his thoughts in a journal which he plans to keep for one year, and then destroy. After Sunday mass, Toller is approached by Mary (Amanda Seyfried), one of his parishioners, who is worried about her husband, Michael (Philip Ettinger). A radical environmentalist who has just been released from prison in Canada, Michael has developed extreme nihilistic views, and wants Mary to abort their unborn child because he doesn't think anyone has the right to bring a child into a dying world. Although initially reluctant to get involved, Mary is able to persuade Toller to counsel Michael, bringing his own spiritual dilemma to the fore.

The most striking thing to me about First Reformed is that it is brilliantly shot in Academy ratio (1.37:1), and as a result, everything is boxed in, suggesting little room for movement, with very little empty space in the frame. Coupled with this, Schrader is remarkably consistent in composing perfectly symmetrical shots (the opening scene is a good example). Together, the small frame and the symmetrical compositions give one the impression of looking at a confessional, with the priest on one side and the confessor on the other. As Toller's journal entries occur throughout the film in the form of voiceover, this aesthetic replication of a confessional is enhanced even further. Schrader allows the content to brilliantly dictate the form, with the two becoming so intertwined as to be virtually indistinguishable from one another.

Of course, Schrader is as cine-literate as they come, and doesn't make films in isolation. The film in his oeuvre of which I was most reminded was, strangely enough, Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist (2005), which is not especially good, but which does share many of the same narrative beats and thematic concerns - a lost priest whose experiences of the darker side of humanity has led to him questioning his faith; a crisis of conscience; a righteous cause to which he totally gives himself over; an indifferent God watching everything unfold; an unimaginable sacrifice; hope offered in the form of an innocent.

However, this is not to say First Reformed is perfect. There are parts where it is extraordinarily clunky. For example, there's a wake where a group of environmentalists start singing an awful cappella version of Neil Young's activist song, "Who's Gonna Stand up?", or the scene where Mary and Toller take (figurative) flight through the power of holding hands (in a scene that reminded me of The Big Lebowski far more than I would imagine was intended. Additionally, the environmentalist side of the story never really coalesced into anything inherently coherent. Rather than the film presenting it as the backdrop against which Toller's crisis takes place, Schrader seems to be trying to genuinely shoehorn in a call-to-action. Which is fairly out of place. And, to be honest, the photograph of the emaciated polar bear is far more disturbing and resonant than any of the facts and figures the film occasionally tosses out.

But these are minor faults, and all things considered, this is a high-quality film. Will it be in contention come awards season? Possibly. Schrader has always had a fraught relationship with the Academy (hard to believe he's never even been nominated for an Oscar), but this is the kind of serious subject matter that voters usually lap up. I certainly wouldn't be surprised to see Hawke get some acting nods, possibly Seyfried too. Irrespective of that, this is a strong film made by a skilled artist about a subject matter for which he clearly feels deeply.