A Ghost Story

A Ghost Story

Starring Casey Affleck, Rooney Mara, Kesha, Will Oldham

Directed by David Lowery

The Story:
C (Casey Affleck) and his wife M (Rooney Mara) move into a nice one-floor house in Texas, and although they argue about living there or not, they maintain a good, healthy relationship.  When C dies suddenly, he returns as a ghost covered in a sheet.  He returns to his home where he sees M struggle with his death, and the aftermath of the decisions she makes.

The Synopsis:
David Lowery is a great independent director, directing "Ain't Them Bodies Saints" and "St. Nick" before going mainstream in Disney's "Pete's Dragon."  Using the funds he attained from "Pete's Dragon," he was able to bring his visionary work "A Ghost Story" to life, not only directing it, but writing it as well.  The outcome is a unique tale of love, loss, time, death, life, and everything else in between.  Essentially, it tells the story of what it means to be human, through the eyes of a ghost hiding behind a sheet.

The film is unique in that it portrays a ghost in the way children often think they are: hiding behind a sheet with just two holes for eyes.  Kids often wear that for Halloween, and here it's shown to portray the ghost in a way that's beyond a terrible CGI effect.  It's simplistic and strange, but adds to the motif of the movie.  Even though it's a simple trick, it's exceedingly difficult for Casey Affleck to work with, because he cannot talk or express his emotions through facial expressions, but rather we see his emotions through a simple head turn, shoulder shrug, or downward gaze.  It's odd, but I sensed a lot of emotion through those open eye-holes because of that, and added to the depth of the character.

There's not a whole lot of dialogue (in fact, the person with the most lines is a random character who is having a party, who discusses how flawed humanity is, their desire to create something that lasts, and having it all be for naught as the world will eventually end anyway.  The rest of the film is soulful music and C's ghost looking on as life continues without him.  There's long stretches of a camera focusing on one scene, with not a whole lot happening (such as C watching M devour an entire pie in real time), but it only adds to the depth of characterization. 

The film focuses on some of the most important aspects of humanity.  We feel the love C has for M when he returns as a ghost and painfully spends his time just watching M, knowing she doesn't see or hear him, and can't communicate with him.  We feel that loss in both C and M, having essentially lost their better halves, and there's an extremely poignant scene involving C's ghost and a ghost from next door (played by music sensation Kesha) that's absolutely heart-breaking.  We see time through C's eyes, which is much different than real life as years seem to pass in seconds, without any tricks of the camera (no fades, no dissolves, nothing that warns us that time has changed).  The concepts of death and life are not only discussed, but shown in near graphic detail (I could go into detail of what I saw, but that would give away major plot points). 

Casey Affleck recently earned an Oscar for his powerful performance in "Manchester By the Sea," where he played a man riddled with guilt and grief, and here we see him playing that same character again, but this time disguised by the sheet.  Yet even through this hindrance, we see him emote these feelings in a deeply profound way.  David Lowery doesn't just show us how the living struggle with the grief over loosing a loved one, but the grief that loved one experiences as well.  It's a hauntingly beautiful tale that's gut-wrenching and thought-provoking, with excellent camera work, musical score, and its ability to shoot without cutting scenes for minutes on end and still keep you riveted as to what's happening.  Plus it's filmed in the aspect ratio of 1.33:1, which gives it a small box-like frame unlike the traditional full ratio.  Lowery said he did that because "it's about someone basically trapped in a box for eternity, and I felt the claustrophobia of that situation could be amplified by the boxiness of the aspect ratio."  He definitely got his point across, because that's exactly how I felt - trapped like C was trapped in his afterlife of misery and loneliness. 

The Summary:Haunting in its nature, "A Ghost Story" tells a beautifully tragic love story and how death affects everyone - including the person who passed - and the grief that follows it.

The Score: A+