Classics: A Review of The Royal Tenenbaums By Lauren Ennis

The holidays are a time for food, fun, and the warm glow of family dysfunction. In keeping with the spirit of the season I’ll be turning this week’s spotlight on a film that features a clan who personify all that we love to hate and hate to admit that we love about family; The Royal Tenenbaums. Through its deft combination of sarcastic wit and heartfelt sentiment the film aptly portrays all the ways in which families can drive each other up the proverbial wall while capturing the love that continues to bring them to the holiday table. Eccentric, outrageous, and royally funny, The Royal Tenenbaums are one family who put the fun in family dysfunction.

I always wanted to be a Tenenbaum...

The story begins with an introduction to Royal (Gene Hackman) and Etheline (Angelica Houston) Tenenbaum and their precocious prodigy children Chas (Ben Stiller), Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow), and Ritchie (Luke Wilson). The family lead charmed lives as Chas becomes a business whiz, Ritchie sets off on the path to tennis stardom, and Margot becomes an award-winning playwright; all before reaching puberty. The children’s idyllic existence comes to a screeching halt, however, when their parents separate and Royal essentially disappears from their lives. Decades later, the siblings are caricatures of their former selves as Ritchie flounders in an existential crises, Chas becomes a neurotic overbearing parent, and Margot spends her days wallowing in the bathtub for hours to escape her loveless marriage. In the midst of this tumult recently evicted Royal returns to the family home claiming that he has six weeks left to live. Antics ensue as the family embarks upon a series of misadventures that ultimately teach them lessons in life, love, and what it means to be a Tenenbaum.

While family dysfunction has become common comedy fare in modern cinema, The Royal Tenenbaums sets itself apart through its original approach. The script touches upon a variety of sobering topics ranging from marital strife, to depression, to drug abuse and unfulfilled dreams, yet somehow manages to keep its tone deceptively light. Rather than focusing upon the trials that the characters are faced with, the film instead emphasizes the absurd yet relateable ways in which the characters cope with their struggles By including these real life topics without dwelling upon them, the script acknowledges the reality of life’s many difficulties and serves to remind viewers that they are not alone in facing these hardships.. The film also succeeds by maintaining a genuine emotional core even in the midst of its most outlandish hijinks.  Regardless of the many ways in which they annoy, alienate, and manipulate one another, the Tenenbaums continue to maintain an understanding of and allegiance to one another with the complexity of a real-life family. It is this sincerity that keeps the film grounded and helps viewers to invest in the characters, who despite their eccentricities are not so very different from us after all. As a result, the film relates a refreshing tale that is at once wildly unique and entirely universal.

The stuff of Kodak moments

The cast bring the wonderfully warped Tenenbaums to life through uniformly excellent performances. Ben Stiller is endlessly engaging in his frenetic turn as tightly-wound Chas. Luke Wilson makes for one of cinema’s most loveable losers as aimless yet admirable Ritchie. Gwyneth Paltrow is delightfully deadpan as the enigmatic Margot. Angelica Houston conveys warmth and wit in her performance as Etheline. Danny Glover’s turns in a nuanced performance as Etheline’s boyfriend/accountant Henry Sherman and makes his character an ideal foil to the eccentric Tenenbaums.   Owen Wilson is uproarious as the family’s tagalong neighbor turned affected bestselling author Eli Cash. Even in the midst of these masterful comic performances, Gene Hackman dominates the film as the gleefully amoral Royal.

Quirky, offbeat, and utterly original, are words that serve as apt descriptions for both The Royal Tenenbaums and its titular family. At once an uproarious portrait of familial chaos and a heartfelt tribute to the bonds which hold that chaos together, The Royal Tenenbaums is a family film befitting the modern family. Through its witty script expert performances the film brings the whimsical world of the Tenenbaums to life in all of its hilarity. For a hysterical start to your holiday season, pay a visit to The Royal Tenenbaums.

Classics: A Review of The Road to Calvary By Lauren Ennis

November 11, 2018 marks the 100^th anniversary of the World War I armistice. Over the course of four years millions of lives were lost, empires were toppled, and a generation was left to pick up the pieces of a shattered world. The 2017 miniseries The Road to Calvary expertly captures both the personal and political toll of World War I through its portrayal of the changing fortunes of two sisters during the last days of the Russian Empire and the rise of the Soviet Union. At once a moving tale of love, loss, family, and fate and an unflinching historical chronicle, The Road to Calvary is essential viewing as we mark the centennial of the end of World War I.

It's written by a Tolstoy...it's gotta be good

The story begins as idealistic Daria Bulavina (Anna Chipovskaya) arrives to study law in St. Petersburg. While in the city, Daria is reunited with her sophisticated older sister, Ekaterina (Yuliya Snigir), who exposes her to the city’s flourishing artistic and philosophical culture. As time wears on, however, Daria sees the rising unrest running rampant through both the halls of her university and the streets of St. Petersburg. When World War I breaks out the sisters begin down the divergent paths that will ultimately place them on opposite sides of the barricades during Russia’s ensuing revolution and civil war.

Adapted from Sisters, the first novel in Alexei Tolstoy’s The Road to Calvary trilogy, the miniseries grittily portrays the devastating impact of World War I and its aftermath. While World War I and the Russian Revolution have been portrayed numerous times on-screen, The Road to Calvary stands apart from its predecessors through its balance between the political and the personal. Through its depiction of the triumphs and tragedies experienced by the Bulavina sisters the series relates a compelling universal tale that will resonate even with viewers unfamiliar with its historical context. Even as it aptly portrays the sisters’ tumultuous lives, however, the series never loses sight of the historical events fueling its fictional plot. The series is particularly commendable for its refusal to sanitize or simplify history as it objectively depicts the events of its era, while humanizing all sides and glamorizing none. As a result, the series strikes the ideal balance between entertainment and education as it relates its epic tale of ordinary individuals caught in the sweep of extraordinary events.

The war to end all wars

The talented cast bring both Tolstoy’s characters and the world that they inhabited to vibrant life. The massive cast turns in uniformly superb performances as each actor portrays their role with nuance, depth, and raw emotion. Standout supporting performances include Sergey Koltakov as the sisters’ opportunistic father, and Alexey Kolgan as Ekaterina’s well-meaning but hapless first husband. Svetlana Khodchenkova portrays the downward spiral of Daria’s rival, Liza, with a ferocity and nuance that ensure she steals nearly every scene in which she appears. Andrey Merzilkin takes viewers on an equally fascinating journey in his turn as privileged aristocrat, turned wounded war veteran, turned ruthless criminal Arkady. Anton Shagin personifies the trauma of war as tortured poet Alexey Bessonov. Pavel Trubiner skillfully portrays the internal conflicts of Ekaterina’s second husband, Vadim, as he struggles to find his place in a country that has moved on without him. Leonid Bichevin is equally nuanced in his role as Daria’s husband, idealistic engineer turned world-weary Red Army captain Ivan. Even in the midst of these expert performances, however, the series belongs to Anna Chipovskaya and Yuliya Snigir as the Bulavina sisters. Snigir is captivating in her performance as Ekaterina as she gradually evolves from spoiled socialite to resilient survivor. Chipovskaya is a revelation in her portrayal of Daria’s coming of age as she grows from a naïve girl to an independent and determined woman.

Sisters before misters

War epic, family saga, and romance are just a few of the words that aptly describe The Road to Calvary. Through its intelligent script, excellent performances, and eye-catching scenery and costumes the series transports viewers to the distant worlds of both Czarist Russia and the early Soviet Union. Through its blunt portrayal of the impact of World War I, the Russian Revolution, and the Russian Civil War upon the lives of its characters, the series evokes the devastating ways in which these events impacted people on all sides from all walks of life. For apt insight into World War I and its aftermath and a fitting tribute to the ordinary people who endured these extraordinary events, hitch a ride on The Road to Calvary.