Margaret (2011)

Margaret, delayed for years because of legal disputes over running times. A very ominous piece of information when going into a film. To begin with it says that this film is going to be long, it also indicates that there will be moments where the missing pieces actually tell you something, so to have them missing just confuses you (Like Gangs Of New York), and unfortunately it also indicates that the film will no longer be relevant, as the film is about post 9/11 America. Then I heard that the people who eventually ended up editing the final cut were Thelma Schoonmaker and Martin Scorsese, and my interest levels rise to a stage where I simply have to see this film.

Margaret begins with the young and slightly full of herself Lisa (Anna Paquin) who one day when out buying herself a cowboy hat sees a busdriver (Mark Ruffalo) wearing one, so she runs along side the bus indicating to him, distracting him. He goes straight through a red light and as a result runs over a woman (Allison Janney) who dies in Lisa's arms. When questioned by the police Lisa lies and says that the light was on green and that the bus driver was not in the wrong. What follows is a huge spike in guilt for Lisa, denial from the bus driver and the start of a court case to bring about justice.

The interesting thing is that this film can be read in numerous different ways. Throughout the film, whilst at school, Lisa partakes in lessons on citizenship where they discuss the terror bombings in New York, the Iraq War, and the Bush Administration. This leads to a strong correlation between the events Lisa is going through and the events America was going through. As such I personally like to believe that in the context of the story Lisa was representing America. She's a little bit obnoxious, clearly thinks she is better than everyone else, then after a tragic event she begins looking for someone to blame. It's the bus drivers fault for not stopping, then when she admits some culpability, and he still won't, she launches an attack on him, trying to get him fired from his job. I see a clear parallel with this and the Iraq war, the friends I went to see it with though had different theories. For this reason alone I'd say this film is worth watching.

There was other things going on too, her mother is in the theatre, and just starting to receive recognition for her work, so is very distracted, she has also found a new man in her life (Jean Reno) who seems nice, but he has his own issues too. Her school life is an odd mix too. Matt Damon plays her Maths teacher (imagine what happened to Good Will Hunting when he grew up) who she has a soft spot for, Matthew Broderick is the English teacher who is ridiculed by the kids for not being 'with it', and there's a story with her dad and step mum which is quite well played out too.

All these stories run parallel throughout the film and all tie together very well. At 2 1/2 hours the film is hardly short, but it never feels unduly long either. This could be because of the skilled editing of Schoonmaker and Scorsese, or perhaps the original premise was good enough. Thankfully it also never feels as though information is being held back from us. There is a chance that the missing footage could have made a better film, as the film is certainly flawed, but what we have works well. The film does fall down by being out of date. It's not as though you watch it now and it has no relevance, it's just that you imagine had it been released around the start of the second Bush Administration as intended it would have packed a lot more punch, which is a shame. This is an interesting film. I'd like to see it again, talk about it with some different people and get some different perspectives on it; but it's flawed, you could argue it tries to do too much, and at times the politics of Lisa seem muddled (though if she is America this could be the confusion of the state post-trauma?). But overall I enjoyed it and feel it's a shame it won't reach a wider audience.