Jeremy Saulnier’s brilliant ideas
What a brilliant film-writer!!!
The film “Green Room” is an evidence of Jeremy Saulnier as a very exciting young filmmaker. Those people who have seen Jeremy Saulnier’s previous movie “Blue Ruin” know just how talented a filmmaker he is. He has doubled down his mastery and upending of genre now with the “Green Room” film.
This is a ridiculously an entertaining thriller that doubles down on the blood and carnage yet never seems excessive. The film is close to an art house as this has a sort of an affair that can get. Jeremy Saulnier is going to be an independent film rock star if he keeps this up plain and simple. Green Room will be opening this weekend and is a slightly more commercial flick than Blue Ruin, but both movies are singular experiences from a director to be reckoned with.
The film is a thriller that mostly takes place within the confined space of a punk rock club or a band. It is a Band led by Pat and was played by Anton Yelchin and it is consisting of Sam who is played by Alia Shawkat and somewhat gets booked for a gig at a strange location after the previous one falls through. That doesn’t initially seem like a big deal but what was said to be a place that was sort of on the Neo-Nazi side turns out to be a hardcore skinhead event when they arrive.
They usually do their punk rock show and are all set to leave and then they will witness the aftermath of a murder. Confusion on all sides lead them in locking themselves in a green room with the body of one of the killers and a witness that ends up bringing out the owner of the club, who is also a big bad dude named Darcy Banker played by Patrick Stewart. It turns out that Darcy is involved in a drug ring as well so he will need all of these people dead before the cops come. There is more murder before the night gets out. Saulnier writes and directs a dark story to be sure and it is just a blast to watch unfold.
There were so many ways that this could have turned into a nasty business but Saulnier is too good of a writer and director for that to happen. Stewart gets to have a grand old time playing an intense villain to be sure. While Yelchin gets to finally be a hero of sorts, Saulnier’s work is what the purpose of the star is. The way he arranges the violence with the shot compositions and the musical cues are all tremendous.
The directing of Saulnieris still a bit more advanced than his writing but his script is still strong and the direction is as good as any that we have seen in 2016 so far. It is probably the Independent Spirit Awards or bust for Green Room awards wise. A campaign most likely will be built around Stewart in Best Supporting Actor and possibly Saulnier in Best Original Screenplay though in certain spots he could be pushed for Best Director.