Adrift - HOM and Rob Culpepper

A conversation with HashingOutMovies and Rob Culpepper on Adrift (2009) featuring Vincent Cassel, Laura Nieva, and Camilla Belle.

HOM: This movie received a decent amount of negative reviews. I really liked it. It didn't change my life, but I'll probably always enjoy a movie that is shot on Brazilian beaches, stars Vincent Cassel, and has Brazilian girls. Did you recommend it to me because you knew that I liked these things or for some other reason? Why did you recommend it?

RC: I know you like Cassel, and I think he's great in it. I really loved (and believed) his relationship to his kids. Very hands on, very loving, very engaged. There are very few films that capture that family dynamic in such a beautiful, authentic way. I really bought it. I also think the way it was filmed was beautiful. Maybe that's easy in a Brazilian beach town, but visually it was really pretty. Mostly, though, I know you like Cassel and I thought he played his part well.

Also, the only reviews I read are ones on HashingOutMoviesDotBlogspotDotCom.

HOM: I mentioned that this has some bad reviews out there. I think most of these reviews missed a basic motive of the movie. Many of the reviews talk about disjointed story telling, kind of as if the viewer is not really permitted to make sense of the story. I think this movie was told from the perspective of Cassel's daughter. I assumed that she was, in fact, the writer and director of this movie. I imagined her telling me the story of how she remembers her family fracturing and how she was feeling during it all. How did you think about the story?

RC: I actually liked the way it was shot. I hadn't thought about her as the teller, but now that I think about it, it really is about her perspective and her learning about the world of adults. If it's disjointed I think that illustrates the dichotomy between Filipa's reality and the world's reality. I was pretty sheltered and came to these things gradually, but I think you get the sense of violence that happens when a child becomes an adult in a time period as short as a summer. Violence might be too strong a word, but it's definitely in the right direction of what I want to say.

HOM: One of my favorite scenes was when Filipa, the daughter, was on a date with Artur (the random dude picked to satisfy her sexual cravings), and they are just chillin on a rock and talking and then without cue, they decide to make out. I liked that scene, among other 'sex' scenes because I found them to be realistic. And by realistic, I don't mean the movie depicted exactly how sexual encounters happen in the 'real' world - I think porn takes care of this. I think they are realistic in the sense that they mirror how we, ourselves, remember sexual experiences. Sex in this movie was more about the emotions and feelings of sex and how intense they really are. Do you think this movie made any statement about sex? I wonder how two dudes that went to a Southern Baptist college would interpret a Brazilian movie about sexual promiscuity and discovery?

RC: I also loved that scene on the rock. I was watching Artur being nervous and squirming as he tried to make small talk and I totally identified with that feeling of being 16 and kissing a girl for the first time. I like how innocent and unpracticed it was. I understood that they were just kids. And that to me was one side of sexuality in the film. The foil to that is the sexuality of Mathias and Clarice, who are anything but innocent and unpracticed. The movie seems to cover the whole spectrum of sexuality in that way, and it shows how a simple, fundamental human desire becomes debased--and ultimately destructive of the very things it's supposed to provide. The movie did reinforce the stereotype of holding men to a different sexual standard than women, which I disliked, but that could also be because Mathias wants to keep the family together and Clarice does not. Or maybe that's a Latin or South American thing, a sort of machismo. Regardless, I think that's a legitimate social criticism of the film.

The real strength of this movie in discussing sexuality was that it maintained a universality by not showing sexual activity. I think sensuality (the idea) is always more powerful than sexuality (the act) because sex is so final. I'm glad the director, Heitor Dhalia, didn't just turn this movie into a skin flick.

HOM: I think Vincent Cassel is up there in my top echelon of actors (Leo, Hanks, Rourke). First, did you know that he spoke fluent Portuguese? Second, do you think he is as awesome as I do? Third, would this movie be any good at all without him?

RC: Cassel is a bad ass, no doubt. Had no idea he spoke Portuguese but that upped him even more in my mind. I agree that he's top tier and the fact that he was in this film is the main reason I recommended it. I think he makes the movie. It's hard to see anybody else trying to hold the family together, so no. I don't think the film would be good without him.

HOM: I felt like the sun played a big role in this movie. The lighting in a beach house is normally associated with 'good' and happiness and carefree-ness. There were a lot of dark things going on under a bright sun. Maybe talk about the lighting and cinematography of this movie.

RC: I keep saying how much I like the way it was shot, and really what I mean is the cinematography. They're in paradise, but all is not well. I like the way you put it, a lot of dark things going on under a bright sun. I like that a lot of "bad" things happened in the daylight. I mean, the film is largely about the process of those things coming into the open so I think the film visually conveys that. A mistress (the gorgeous Camilla Belle--how can we not mention her?) is visited during the day, and also at night. The filmmakers took advantage of the great location too. It's a really colorful film, and that's due in large part to shooting in the full sun. That might be part of being Brazilian too. There are some moody parts too, like anytime Filipa ventures into her father's office. But even those were colorful. To me it was the color that stood out more than just the direct sunlight.

HOM: I have been thinking a lot recently about where movies go once we view them. I have a few staples that I will watch a couple times-a-year for the rest of my life (Chariots of Fire, Home Alone, Lawrence of Arabia, Wayne's World, Caddyshack, There Will Be Blood). This move, for me, is not a lasting movie. What do you think about this?

RC: I've never thought about this before. I think this movie informed me about the world at large, whereas a movie I will return to, like Munich, informed me about the world at large and myself.

Maybe the reason it doesn't seem to have that staying power is that it only works a little bit against our expectations. There are a few scenes that build tension with Filipa in the office. But that foreboding doesn't last. And while I think the ending is satisfying, I don't think it is remarkable in any way. It may not even be completely believable. Compare that with Y Tu Mama Tambien, which covers much of the same ground of sexuality and growing up (though more overtly and graphically). In YTMT, the ending is shocking. It's not a total surprise--it confirms our suspicions. But two aspects of the ending caused me to re-evaluate the whole movie. And I think the message of YTMT is relevant to anyone who is not yet dead. Whereas Adrift is more localized to adolescence. And while it's beautiful and touching and sad (and Cassel is great), it feels like a place I've passed in life. It doesn't have as much to teach me that I don't already know. Perhaps what I'll take away is the way Cassel was with his kids. That, and the scene on the rocks.

I'm with you. It didn't change my life but I liked it enough to recommend it.

HOM: Why don't we have a top 100 from you yet?

RC: I'm afraid I would just list the first 100 I can think of. Maybe I'll try for a top 10 list, or maybe 25.