Take This Waltz

Over the last month or so, there was a lot of talk about Sarah Polley's latest movie Take This Waltz(2012) finally getting its theatrical release here. I find it strange that before getting into theaters, somehow it made onto 'On-Demand' television first, but whatever - it finally got there, after hearing about it for almost a year. I call myself Sarah Polley's Fan ever since I saw her first in Atom Egoyan's brilliant The Sweet Hereafter(1998) more than a year ago. This impending release also gave me that final push to check her first directorial effort Away From Her(2006) that I have been meaning to see as well and off course did nothing other than increase my admiration for her. So, I did go into this one with little bit of anticipation.

Take This Waltz is a story of Margot who is a wannabe writer and as we find out in very first scene, she hates connections of flights, she is afraid of being afraid, being stuck in an unknown place. She is married to Lou who is a cook. He is writing a cooking book and he tries the recipes he wants to include in the book on his family in their lunches together. When she meets Daniel on an airplane, there is an awkward but instant chemistry between them. When they both get down at airport and decide to share a taxi, they both find out that they are actually live right across the street from each other. Daniel is artist who paints but never shows his work to anybody and he pulls a rickshaw to pay his rent. Margot and Lou have a great family, very real and normal people except Lou's sister Geraldine who is a recovering alcoholic but she seems to be doing fine and is also very good friends with Margot. They seem to be happy together, at least on the outside but there is something missing between them, they seem to lack that spark in a relationship that usually keeps it going. Their interaction with each other is rather childish most of the times, either that or almost non-existent. I understand that after spending 5 years that Margot and Lou have spent together, almost every couple develops their own language that only they can understand. However, it is almost like they are being childish because that is only way they both can keep the conversation going. After spending 5 years together, after that so-called honeymoon period of their marriage behind them, they both seem to struggle with the idea of taking their relationship further from that point. In one scene in the movie when Margot and Lou go out for dinner on their anniversary, they seem to be at complete loss of even making a small-talk and when Margot tries it, Lou discards her completely.

With Daniel around, Margot starts to feel all those things that are basically missing in her marriage. Even Daniel seems to be into her, despite of knowing she is married. She tries to keep him away because she is in a happy relationship but never seems to get him out of her mind completely as she keeps returning to him. Margot is kind of person who is never exactly sure of herself and this fickle-mindedness perpetrates into everything. There seems to be something wrong with Margot as she is mostly not in the moment, especially in intimate moments with her husband. One minute she is afraid, next she is laughing and again in next minute she looks to be in despair and all this happens without any outside interference. As Luke Kirby's character puts it she seems restless in a permanent way. On one hand, she is uncomfortable getting out of her seemingly perfect marriage but on the other, she is waiting on her porch at 6AM just to see him leave. But with apparent staleness in her marriage, there is not much that can hold her back and it seems that their marriage is in real trouble now. But things happen in a way that you are not sure which one is cause and which is an effect and you don't really know if and who to blame. However, right here with not much working for Lou and Margot, Sarah Polley gives us a beautiful scene where Lou confesses that he was the one throwing cold water on her and not the faulty shower. If I had any real problem with the film, it was last 15 or so minutes were quite redundant. I agree that it brings it the whole circle proving main point of story - "New Becomes Old", but even then I believe it could have been, probably even more effectively without them.

Take This Waltz is one of those movies where I have seen the most divided opinion. In my opinion, it is basically because Margot, Lou or even Daniel are very normal characters and it is easily possible that anyone of us can find ourselves in Lou or Margot's position. And from there, the way you will react to this movie will probably come down to your own take of morality. I don't think it is a good idea to judge the characters this way but in this case I will give credit to Sarah Polley's writing and direction for making us do that. Actually, there are quite a few things that I will give Sarah Polley credit for. I loved the way this movie is shot in general, specifically I loved use of so many vibrant colors, use of Toronto and summer almost as characters in movie and also Margot and Daniel underwater. Also, scene immediately after that when she comes home and is sitting in kitchen and Lou is in the porch outside is shot really beautifully especially because the contrast in the background sound. In kitchen, there is soft, upbeat romantic song whereas sound of crickets on the outside and it keeps switching between the two. I am not really big on English music in general but somehow I noticed her choice of songs in this. I do not know any of those songs but they felt like perfect fit for that moment throughout the movie. Even though whole movie focuses on emotional journey of three leads, it didn't become overbearing or extremely slow in its pacing. Once it is established that Margot and Daniel are attracted to each other and the fact that she is married doesn't bother him much and despite being a little unhappy in her marriage, she doesn't want to cheat on her husband, it seemed to linger a bit. But, it does move forward albeit slowly with the introduction of Daniel and Lou to each other.

Second Lady that makes this movie work is Michelle Williams as our leading lady Margot. Her reaction when she finds out that Daniel lives right across her house and to their long term joke is pure gold. I know that almost everyone has said this already but it is really amazing the way Michelle Williams has become one of the best, if not THE best, actresses working today over last few years. With back to back Oscar nominations in last two years and bunch of other great roles, she seems to do nothing wrong. I pretty much hated Luke Kirby's character, incessantly lurking around her, proverbially trying to seduce her even though he knows she is married but that is completely my opinion and I won't take anything away from Luke Kirby for that. Seth Rogen was great in his role, more so because I never thought he had it in him. So, I am happy to be proven wrong. Sarah Silvermann is great as well. Take This Waltz is very frank, very different look at relationships. If nothing else, give it a try for two of the finest ladies in the industry, Sarah Polley and Michelle Williams.

Rating(out of 5):