Vox Lux often feels like a movie created just to confound and outrage. "This hits close to home, and I’m devastated for — as a father — the parents that are waking up to a nightmare this morning, and tomorrow, and for the rest of their lives. "It’s been a rough few days for everyone in the community, so thank you for being here, and I hope this evening provides some magic," she said. Another recent rise-to-stardom film, the Lady Gaga-starring A Star Is Born, was laced with an anti-pop slant (depending on how you read it). Yet she was robbed of the time and space to mourn, by a nation that swiftly seized her sorrow. In Vox Lux, Brady Corbet’s ponderous direction of Portman often renders her performance unintentionally comedic. At first she is portrayed as smart but green and excitable, someone whose empathy-driven ascent is polished by AutoTune and choreography. Vox Lux opens with a disturbing school shooting sequence in 1999. In return, Celeste is rewarded with fame. And the implication that the aforementioned Vox Lux scene depicts a generic school shooting is simply false. With Natalie Portman, Jude Law, Stacy Martin, Jennifer Ehle. | California Privacy Rights "Unfortunately, it’s every week, now in America, so it’s not hard to predict — it was topical while we were shooting," Portman told The Hollywood Reporter on the AFI Festival carpet Friday. Vox Lux sets up its main character as a beneficiary of tragedy, opening up a compellingly macabre narrative about how school shootings are becoming so commonplace that they can effectively serve as launchpads for stardom. The violence in the film — there’s very little onscreen violence, but it is disturbing, because the only way you can effectively portray that and to do it some justice is to make it quite brutal.". Beginning with a school shooting reminiscent of Columbine, referencing 9/11 and continuing the theme of violent tragedy throughout, the movie provides an interesting correlation between fame, tragedy, exploitation, and … Warning: Vox Lux contains scenes depicting a school shooting that could trigger some viewers. 2D. It’s so unnecessary.". Privacy Policy | In 1999, teenage Celeste survives a violent high-school shooting. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast. THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER is a registered trademark of The Hollywood Reporter, LLC. As Vox Lux progresses, Celeste’s rise and fall as a pop superstar becomes the focus, with Raffey Cassidy recycled in the second act, now playing an older Celeste’s (Natalie Portman) daughter. "I spent a lot of time in Thousand Oaks growing up," Corbet said. ... Vox Lux. “I don't want people to have to think too hard, I just want them to feel good,” she goes on to say, buying into the genre's supposed brainlessness. "Parkland happened while we were shooting, or right before, and so it felt topical when we were shooting, and it feels topical now, and I appreciated that Brady didn’t try and exploit any real-life situation. Celeste is a 13-year-old music prodigy who survives a horrific school shooting in Staten Island, N.Y., in 1999. "Our thoughts are with everyone in Thousand Oaks," he said. Movie Rating: 4. But that idea goes nowhere, as Vox Lux proceeds to play Celeste's experience in the music industry mostly straight. Her talent shines through during the memorial service when she sings a song that touches the hearts of the mourners. “Vox Lux” is a burly, overbearing piece of filmmaking, often horrifically funny and excitingly unencumbered by questions of good taste, writes critic Sean Burns. To revisit this article, visit My Profile, thenView saved stories. EMAIL ME. | Do Not Sell My Personal Information "That community has been through a lot in the last 48 hours. Vox Lux. "We’ve had almost as many mass shootings this year as there have been days in the year," Corbet told THR. As mythic narration from Willem Dafoe reveals, “Wrapped Up” goes on to be a hit—a mourning reclaimed by those who can't even begin to fathom what Celeste experienced. Inside Hollywood's Egyptian Theater, Corbet and Portman offered their support to survivors of both the Borderline shooting and the recent wildfires in Ventura County. Portman followed suit and expressed her gratitude for the full house during a dark period for California. After singing at a memorial service, she transforms into a famous pop star with the help of her songwriter sister and talent manager. So I was thinking about the nature of spectacle in both positive and very negative ways.". “It was not her grief, it was theirs,” the narrator announces. If you’re feeling vulnerable and you want to come and see this movie another time, don’t worry about it.". Despite a strange Staten Island accent, Portman excels at playing the volatile celebrity, the adult version of a too-young star who turns out sour and jaded after decades in the public eye. It also has many scenes with rapidly flashing lights that may trigger those with photosenstivey disorder. Directed by Brady Corbet. Directed by Brady Corbet. Christi Carras Vox Lux feels like one of those films, with it's various tropes that feels recycled as we are schooled about the inherent risks of fame and what it can do to those ill-prepared to deal with it. And the California valley community was on everyone's minds at the screening. She fields tough press questions about the attacks, gets real with her daughter (also played by Raffey Cassidy, aka young Celeste) while trying to sneak-order wine, and generally tries to keep cool while her team buzzes around her. In cinemas & On Demand Now Out now on DVD & Blu-ray. By Tyler Wilson in the November-December 2018 Issue. An unusual set of circumstances brings unexpected success to a pop star. Edit . The links between violence and pop music and between pop music and healing are similarly ambiguous. The first half of the movie follows young Celeste (Raffey Cassidy), who survives a horrific school shooting. Director Brady Corbet's music drama centers on an American pop star who survives a school shooting as a young girl. Sitemap | I tried to make the sequence in the film very economical. Natalie Portman as pop star Celeste in “Vox Lux.” Provided photo. | EU Privacy Preferences. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. A school-shooting survivor becomes a burned-out pop diva in a wobbly meditation on fame and notoriety Two faces of Celeste: Natalie Portman and Raffey Cassidy in Vox Lux… Terms of Use | Though the track was actually written by her sister Ellie (and Sia in real life), Celeste quickly becomes something of a post-tragedy poster child. All rights reserved. VOX LUX is much more than a rising to stardom story of a pop star. FACEBOOK When the film jumps to 2017, with Celeste played by Natalie Portman, there's an eerie corollary between her persona and the shooter. Its intimacy with violence may call to mind the works of Michael Haneke and Lars von Trier, two nihilistic European auteurs that the actor-turned-filmmaker behind Vox Lux, Brady Corbet, has been directed by in the past (see: 2007's Funny Games, 2011's Melancholia). Director Corbet overtly signals the viewer to think "Columbine." An unusual set of circumstances brings unexpected success to a pop star. ... Staten Island, is gravely wounded in a school shooting. "The 20th century and its relationship to violence was about [the] banality of evil, and in the 21st century it’s about the pageantry of evil and about the spectacle of evil. "The idea wasn’t so much about the link between mass shootings and pop music, because there is no link, but just the desire to be iconic," Corbet said. Ad Choices, Vox Lux Can’t Figure Out If It’s About a Tortured Pop Star or Mass Shootings. “Vox Lux,” the arresting new film from Brady Corbet that opened locally this weekend, follows a fictional teen pop star, Celeste, who grows up in very real times. Like some postulated, a related tragedy did occur at the Borderline Bar and Grill in the days leading up to the festival. All rights reserved. © 2021 The Hollywood Reporter, LLC. He had worn dark, shimmery eye makeup—now Celeste's trademark look. In Vox Lux, Brady Corbet is ambitious in a forthright way that is unmatched by any other American moviemaker. She is cruel to the sister who's the hidden talent behind her music, and her candidness is a PR disaster waiting to happen. After singing at a memorial service, Celeste transforms into a burgeoning pop star with the help of her songwriter sister (Stacy Martin) and a talent manager (). ", He added: "We shouldn’t be evasive about it. A shooting victim hurtles toward pop stardom and self-destruction, while hanging on … TWITTER In the lead-up to her big comeback concert, the entire production is nearly thwarted by news of an attack in Croatia. A daily roundup of the most important stories in music. A survivor from a high-school shooting wrestles to become a successful pop star, but the demons from that day remain. Corbet even granted audience members permission to leave before the screening began. She and her older sister (Stacy Martin) channel their trauma into song, both to console their deceased peers’ families and as a diversion from their own irremediable pain. Vox Lux has been described as a coming-of-age about a loss of innocence, but it is, first and foremost, about a loss of processing. If Vox Lux acknowledges pop's potential to heal and move the masses, it seems to prove the opposite for Celeste: She gained a certain kind of power, but eventually at the sacrifice of her own humanity. Vox Lux is a magnificently flawed film of abject fury and empathy. Vox Lux is a fictional tale of a young pop star’s meteoric rise into a successful recording and touring career. AdChoices She lives to share her story in a song called “Wrapped Up,” which she performs at a vigil for her unluckier classmates and teachers. Vox Lux Review: Shooting Stars. Vox Lux (2018) Parents Guide Add to guide . This time a group of extremists attack innocent people on a beach in Croatia wearing sequined masks made popular in one of Celeste’s music videos. In the buildup to the extended performance sequence that caps Vox Lux, Corbet tosses a number of provocative themes into the cyclone of his narrative: Aside from the school shooting, 9/11, radical Islamic terrorism, teen pregnancy, Christianity, alcoholism, drug abuse, and even the white supremacist origins of Swedish bubblegum pop all get their moment. This film opens up with a mass shooting at a school in Staten Island that sees one 13 year old girl, Celeste, shot in the neck by the perpetrator. In Vox Lux, there's also some initial embarrassment over pop music; young Celeste shows this while talking to a rock star she meets and later hooks up with. ... "Vox Lux" opens in theaters December 7. natalie portman jude law vox lux. Her talent shines through during the m… By 2017, adult Celeste is mounting a comeback after a … by But for Corbet, the recent uptick in deadly events justified the film's onscreen exploration of tragedy and trauma. What point is the film grappling to make about this kind of senseless bloodshed and the role of pop music in times of trauma? Reunited for Vox Lux, the two negotiated a 22-day schedule with the discipline implicit to shooting film. The film features the Oscar-winning actress as a pop star struggling with the trauma of surviving a school shooting. With Natalie Portman, Jude Law, Stacy Martin, Jennifer Ehle. Corbet, utterly assured, asked solely for the coverage that he envisaged in the edit, and Crowley, knowing Corbet’s taste and his approach to Vox Lux from their previous … This program can be viewed on a PC or TV only for 48 hours from time of rental. As Celeste morphs from a high-school shooting victim in 1999 to a paparazzi-hounded superstar and personal trainwreck in 2017, Vox Lux attempts to … There are exhilarating moments throughout the finale, in which Portman dresses like a shiny Oompa Loompa and performs Sia's synthy bangers. Vox Lux begins with a gruesome school shooting that is, in essence, then used for the clicks. Celeste is a 13-year-old music prodigy who survives a horrific school shooting in Staten Island, N.Y., in 1999. The second feature from writer-director Brady Corbet, VOX LUX is a stylish and absorbing modern portrait of a troubled pop star’s rise from the ashes of a major national tragedy to pop superstardom, featuring a remarkable performance from Oscar-winning actress Natalie Portman. Vox Lux would have been an entertaining film centered around child-star allegory alone, but the three acts of extreme violence that Corbet includes are jarring, out of place. Days before the film's screening at the American Film Institute Festival, 13 people died in a similar massacre at a bar in Thousand Oaks, California. The kicker: The terrorists wore glittering masks, originally made famous in a Celeste music video. The Characters opening story revolves around her surviving a school shooting which is very graphic. If at first her grief was appropriated for her art, this time her art has been appropriated to cause more grief. During a panel discussion after the screening, the two continued to discuss the film's salient theme of violence and its role in the movie musical's pop landscape. Pitchfork may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. Protagonist Celeste, portrayed in her adolescence by Raffey Cassidy, talks the shooter down but is still struck in the neck. While provocation done with a purpose can reveal big truths, I question whether Vox Lux pushes past the shock value. Vox Lux, starring Portman, Jude Law, and Raffey Cassidy, hits theaters Dec. 7. True to the film's themes, the songs are uplifting but don't reveal much about Celeste's inner life (“I'm a private girl in a public world”). 48 hours: Now Player & TV WATCH EXP: 86400. © 2021 Condé Nast. Vox Lux is a 2018 music drama film directed by Brady Corbet, with original music written by Sia.. Since Celeste comes across like a typical product of early fame, it never becomes clear exactly how she has been shaped by the strange tragedies of her life. In 1999, teenage Celeste (Raffey Cassidy) survives a brutal school shooting after being shot in the spine. Vox Lux often feels like a movie created just to confound and outrage. 11:47 AM PST 11/10/2018 It’s something that we should be dealing with head-on. It’s really just referencing the all-too-frequent occurrence of these kinds of shootings.". Celeste had been face to face with the shooter, and carries with her a bullet permanently lodged in her body. Many advised Corbet not to portray gun violence in Vox Lux on the assumption that no one would want to release it because of the risk of a real event that would drive people away from the cinema. "I think people are ready to think about this and talk about this more than ever — especially this year. Natalie Portman plays a post-tragedy poster child turned pop phenom in this needlessly provocative film. Vox Lux unfolds in three parts – a prologue (the high school shooting) in 1999, a first act, called “Genesis” (circa 2001, with Cassidy playing Celeste), and a second act, called “Regenesis” (2017 with Portman taking over the lead). Play. After its world premiere at the 75 th Venice International Film Festival, Vox Lux was quickly garnering attention, with many touting it as the dark twin of A Star is Born due to the two’s similar themes. Celeste is a 13-year-old music prodigy who survives a horrific school shooting in Staten Island, N.Y., in 1999. In its genuinely upsetting opening, a school shooting is portrayed not as a distant idea or a news headline, but in an up-close, visceral way that forces you to imagine yourself in such a situation. Around the time Natalie Portman filmed Vox Lux, reports surfaced of an active shooter at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Vox Lux, which stars Natalie Portman as pop star Celeste Montgomery, is already earning rave reviews and will be looking to make a big splash at the box office when it opens Dec. 7. Another shooting occurs. 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