Roughly two-thirds of the way into Young Adam we see the antihero, Joe, thrash, degrade and rape his girlfriend, Cathie, with revved up jazz playing in the background. Afterwards, he clearly regrets this sickening outburst: the most emotion his character has shown till that moment; most likely an outpouring of unconscious rage. Sadly, and consider for a moment the implications of this, it is the most engaging scene in the film. Like Carnal Knowledge’sJonathan Fuerst and Damage’s Stephen Fleming, Joe is driven to compulsive, joyless sex. He skulks about, scowling, dressed like a thief or scavenger, usually clad in varying degrees of black. Early in the film we see him smeared in it from head to toe.
The press kit describes Young Adam as a thriller, based, I suppose, on the discovery of a corpse at the outset of the film. It’s inevitable that publicists will find an angle to promote their product, but why settle for such a reductive gloss? It’s like calling To Kill a Mockingbird a “courtroom drama.” Young Adam is neither paced nor structured like a thriller. Dramatic tension does not emerge from the death in question, or its resolution. It is a nasty, chilly, solemn piece of work: intriguing but not compelling. Depraved but not provocative. Dense, but oddly unsatisfying.
Sony Classics Pictures protested the MPAA’s NC-17 rating of the film, when they should have been pouring the champagne. For good or ill (and despite evidence to the contrary) it still implies a wicked, dirty rush and will probably do more to reap audience turnout than word-of-mouth. The sex in Young Adam is dirty, and yes, wicked, but it’s also squalid and empty. The only danger I can detect to our nation’s youth is that it could quite possibly put them off sex forever. Slow, ruminant and often lit like Van Gogh’s The Potato Eaters, Young Adam holds our attention because the characters are murky, ambiguous, and obtuse.
Director David Mackenzie doles out information with extreme care, parsing out just enough to tantalize and keep us involved in Joe’s “journey.” Joe cohabitates with a couple (Ella and Les) who live and work on a barge, and has an affair with the wife. Before finding them he lives as a writer with his lover Cathie. The action jumps forward and backward in time, distinctions between past and present are blurred, gradually we are given clues to his enigmatic psyche. He saves a boy from drowning but not his lover. He watches as a black fly malingers at Ella’s breast, without shooing or killing it. At the supper table, a thin swath of milk drizzles slowly down his face.
Article comments
1 - A.L. Harper
I completely disagree with you. Young Adam is terrifying. I still have nightmares about Joe. A person so completely devoid of empathy, so absolute in his narcissism that he is unable to feel any emotion or connection with another person expect during the act of degrading sex. Yes the sex is nasty but only half of what was in the book.
I also think that film reflects how empty and aimless the lead character feels. I think empty is the wrong word for how the film leaves you feeling. Stark, defenceless or barren maybe better words for how I felt after watching the film.
You also failed to mention how visually stunning the film is. How good David MacKenzie is at defining Joe's solitude, his feelings of isolation, visually.
And I always believed that the title Young Adam was the unborn child so mercilessly forgotten by his father Joe. So compellingly innocent - when held up against such a vile heartless man - and yet now never to be. Joe lost what could have been his only redemption.
2 - Christopher Soden
I must admit that I probably don't talk enough about the positive aspects of a film if I have serious problems with it. In a way I was so profoundly disappointed because it always breaks my heart when a director is obviously striving for the highest quality in his work. I HATE the fact the films like PORKY'S and AMERICAN PIE go through the roof, while less cynical and exploitative directors are often neglected. I could tell David McKenzie was aiming high, and I have nothing but respect for that. I mentioned films like CARNAL KNOWLEDGE and DAMAGE because though they dealt with empty sexual imperative they upset me and unnerved me, among other things. I have an ongoing contention with imitative fallacy. I am not altogether sure that elicting a feeling of ennui, apathy, alienation is the best way of exploring or dealing with it. It is my opinion that all we critics can do is speak frankly and intelligently about whether or not a particular piece works for us. I had not read the book, which might have helped, and was not aware of the baby you mentioned. I wanted to appreciate YOUNG ADAM, I truly did. I'm not hung up on having a pleasurable experience. But for whatever reason it didn't work for me. When it was over I felt it had been interesting intellectually, but emotionally it was "less than zero." I remember the exhiliration I felt after seeing DAMAGE because I thought it was positively brilliant. I'm glad you had such a strong response to YOUNG ADAM.
3 - Christopher Soden
Addendum: This was probably obvious but let me make a correction: "In a way I was so profoundly disappointed because it always breaks my heart when a director is obviously striving for the highest quality in his work," ....and for some reason that particular piece doesn't succeed.
Again. I can only speak for myself.
4 - A.L. Harper
The book (as with any book to movie conversion) really did explain a little more, however the baby was the reason Joe let Cathie drown in the first place. I think that is an important point to have missed. That he is incapable even of connecting emotionally with his own progeny unborn or not. His desolation, his a morality, his narcissism is so complete that he can not even connect with his unborn child. The child of the only woman he has ever come close to loving to feeling anything about. He murders her with his callousness.
The desolate beauty of Scotland is just a plus really. And as it is Trocchi's home country it does add to the feeling of realism which is hard to escape from in this film.
I'm sorry you didn't like it but it has been interesting to see another point of view.
5 - Christopher Soden
"... however the baby was the reason Joe let Cathie drown in the first place. I think that is an important point to have missed."
Sighhhhhhhhhh.
I reviewed YOUNG ADAM a day or two before its release, so it's possible I knew about the pregnancy at the time I wrote the piece. Please. Don't drag this conversation down by suggesting I'm somehow inept because I don't agree with you. I try very hard to be fair to every film I critique. I'm glad you had a profound experience with the film.
6 - A.L. Harper
I'm sorry that you think that is what I was doing. I don't think you're inept at all. I think you're very good actually. I really enjoyed this review even if I didn't agree with you.
Besides it's only a film and not worth a personal attack.
7 - Christopher Soden
Dear A.L.,
I'm so sorry. I clearly misconstrued your intent and I apologise. Thank you for kindness and encouragement. I enjoyed hearing your insight and wisdom as well.
Cheers,
Christopher