Lost River (2014)

Few indie films of late have more effectively captured the inescapable, haunting truth of urban decay in a narrative capacity the way 'Lost River' does. We may hear about it in the news, or occasionally see glimpses of it via online write-ups but are we really getting the whole story? Still, Lost River's eerie tale of a young man and his mother's desperate attempt to hold onto their rapidly decaying home gets under your skin. It's not the kind of story everyone will enjoy, some frankly won't have the stomach for it. Despite it sporting a supremely well written and directed script by Ryan Gosling - with visuals and cinematography that are breathtaking, hypnotic and cryptically gorgeous. The fact that corporate greed is literally wiping out entire towns across the United States is a reality some are just not going to be interested in, but that might be this film's central conceit.

The American Dream is slowly but surely turning into a sad, and devolved nightmare - governed by 'dark subcultures' which seem to be gaining momentum while murder, mass genocide, chaos and destruction continue to reign supreme. This is what's at the twisted heart of 'Lost River.' It also beautifully pays homage to Argento, Bava, Lynch, Tarkovsky and more. Some might feel inclined to make accusations that name actors like Barbara Steele are grossly underused. That may or may not be true, but I'd wager those folks are missing the point. If you're looking for a supremely bizarre, heady, visually striking foray into what some folks will do to hold onto their own little status-quos then this film is not to be missed.

Fmovies: Ryan Gosling's first rodeo at the Writer/Director's chair was something. The dramatic mystery-fantasy ride that Gosling is taking us on is enchanting but also disturbing.

Lost River first looks like a documentary or an old film but it gets weird real fast. The documentary aspect of it comes from the debt crisis theme the movie has, people choking with debts leaving their homes, deserted neighborhoods and ghost towns but the film goes from a very grounded theme into a phantasmagorical world filled with disturbing dark metaphors with violent and/or dodgy characters.

The music is hypnotic and fits the surrealism atmosphere of the film but it gets annoying real fast. Although it mostly fits the movie, there's almost too much of it, the music is not really helping in the cinematic experience of Lost River.

No matter how you may feel about the movie you can't deny that it's beautifully acted. Ryan Gosling knows how to pick his cast but the one I was most surprised about, was Iain De Caestecker, whose presence and performance was electric. Iain is impressive, from the second he appears on screen everything you need to know about his character is there, you can read it on his face, his attitude and hear it in his voice. He held his own next to Hendricks and Ronan, as it turns out he is incredibly talented.

I know Lost River must be - is - a metaphor but god I need help to figure it out. I may not be doing enough drugs to understand that film or I haven't experience enough of life but it was difficult for me to decipher. A short version of the film would have been fine, great even, but a full feature film, wow that's something.

Lost River is an experience, like any ride in an amusement park it will leave its mark but it doesn't mean that you'll enjoy it. @wornoutspines

Watched the trailer and was mesmerized by some of the imagery that Ryan Gosling has managed to capture.

Then I watched the film itself.

It felt like i was watching the extended version of the trailer, small snippets of dialogue surrounded by vast dreamlike imagery but with no actual story to go with it.

This film isn't bad its just that it's not very good either. I felt like i was left wanting a little bit more, that it hadn't really fulfilled my appetite.

That said there is potential and because Gosling is just so damned cool I will be looking forward to the next step (Fan boy mode deactivated).

Lost River fmovies. Ryan Gosling wrote and directed a fine first film, a tale about ordinary people surrounded by myth and decay, in an almost abandoned town in Michigan. However, the movie was submitted to the wrong film festival: you know, Cannes means tough competition and the French can be haughty. With the tone of an apocalyptic fable, «Lost River» would have been more appreciated in specialized events, as the fantasy film festivals celebrated in Porto, Neuchâtel, Brussels, Sitges, Málaga, Amsterdam, Gérardmer, Puchon, Austin or Buenos Aires. «Lost River» strongly belongs in those festivals and it could have been awarded with several prizes: first work by a new director, for its cinematography, screenplay, or for a couple of good performances. Handled by Warner Brothers, the company did not know what to do with this beautiful motion picture, so it considered "selling the distribution rights to another company" and finally decided to limit its exposure to on- demand exhibitions. Or simply put: it just decided to kill it. «Lost River» belongs to a special lineage of American films that portrait people and places of the United States that are often ignored or mistreated in mainstream cinema by filmmakers without any compassion or understanding of their situation: see how Alan Parker portrayed poverty in Mississippi, with a "chic touch" in the deplorable «Angel Heart». I refer to a lineage as old as King Vidor's «Street Scene», to Robert Altman's «Thieves Like Us», David Lynch's «Blue Velvet», Michael Moore's «Roger & Me», and many other independent films that came to my mind, as Harmony Korine's «Gummo», Jeff Nichols' «Mud», Daniel Patrick Carbone's «Hide Your Smiling Faces» and Kat Candler's «Hellion». As an individual of these times, Gosling was audio-visually "trained" from watching television and films since childhood, so he wrote a fragmented script, but it does have a linear Aristotelian plot with well- defined three acts, precise plot points, a satisfying resolution and well-structured characters (some are fascinanting). In the story, a single mother (Christina Hendricks) tries to keep her childhood home and her little family together (she and her two sons) in the dying town of Lost River. To do so she accepts a job offer from a bank manager (Ben Mendelsohn) in a night club literally from hell, where the main attraction (Eva Mendes) dances to "Moliendo café" as sung by Lucho Gatica, to be suddenly beaten and killed by a hoodlum, and her blood spreaded on the audience, all as part of the show. In this way the mother enters a sordid and morbid sector of society (imagine that all clients are Dennis Hoppers from «Blue Velvet» times 50, plus the naked and masked bourgeoisie of «Eyes Wide Shut»). Simultaneously her adolescent son (Iain de Caestecker) tries to help her by extracting and selling pieces of copper found in derelict buildings, which are claimed by a psychopath (Matt Smith) who controls what is left of Lost River. As he runs from the guy, the boy incidentally discovers a submerged town in a lake. His girlfriend neighbor (Saoirse Ronan) tells him that her grandmother (Barbara Steele) --who decided to remain silent when her husband died-- has predicted that the day someone brings up to the surface a fragment of anything belonging to the lost town, Lost River will be freed from a curse. Although what is being told is very violent in spirit (and overtly so in a few scenes), Gosling moved his story with a smooth and gentle pace, unfolding

This is a real hidden gem and it's a crime it hasn't had better reviews. The overarching theme of poverty, being left behind and desperation was heart breaking, and I was rooting for all of the characters who, despite their best efforts, never seem to win. The cinematography was beautiful and Matt Smith made the right choice to not carry on with Dr who to go for roles like this. He and Ben Mandelson play insidious and ruthless bad guys with tremendous strength. The dancing scene was particularly chilling, my heart was in my mouth. Eva Mendes and christina Hendricks were stunning in this and the shame and loss Hendricks portrays was relatable as a mother who cannot support or provide for her children. Ronan played the love interest to de caestecker and she was understated and subtle, but still managed to exude power. This film portrayed the on going decay of middle america, and was powerful in its presentation. I hope the reviews haven't dissuaded ryan gosling from writing or directing because this was a very special film. I'd love to see more directing from him as I think he's an untapped talent in this regard.

Straight off the bat, I am somewhat surprised about the overwhelmingly bad ratings this film received, and no, I won't go down the route of claiming that people "don't understand art". The more I explore art house, the more I realise it is all about preference - not everyone likes reading into films too much, and a particular style may not be appealing to everyone. In 'Lost River', Gosling clearly combines different styles of directors he worked with recently - I definitely recognised influences from Derek Cianfrance and Nicolas Winding Refn in terms of character interaction, cinematography and of course the gorgeously atmospheric soundtrack. Apart from being a learning curve for Ryan Gosling, 'Lost River' is an impressive directorial debut in a lot of aspects.

One of the successful aspects is the overall plot surrounding these strangely intriguing characters, including a family with somewhat typical problems and a protagonist teenager son, along with a love interest played by Saoirse Ronan (who also played the cute Agatha in 'The Grand Budapest Hotel') as well as the haunting presence of a "bully" portrayed disturbingly well by Matt Smith. There's also a side plot involving the troubled mother struggling to maintain her house and family through a dodgy job and a delusional boss. To put it straight, there is a lot happening in this film, yet, it doesn't feel at all overwhelming. It was obvious that Gosling went into this project with a lot of things he wanted to explore, however on the larger thematic scale it seems subtle, at times focusing on style over content with its beautifully composed shots accompanied by an enchanting score reminiscent of Winding Refn.

On the negative side of things, the character interaction feels slightly unrealistic at some points, and overall originality is barely visible. However, "originality" isn't entirely necessary to create an unsettling art house flick - Gosling succeeds in this and definitely deserves praise, especially being his writing and directorial debut. To conclude, 'Lost River' is a disturbingly enchanting addition to the expanding genre of art house - undeniably deserving its spot not only as an adapted experiment paying homage to great directors, but also as a successful collaboration of under-appreciated talents.