‘Malcolm & Marie’ is a movie that surely would never have existed if two things hadn’t happened before. The first was that the path of Zendaya and Sam Levinson cross paths in ‘Euphoria’, HBO’s acclaimed teen drama for which she was rewarded with an Emmy for her work on said series. The second was much less positive, since the coronavirus pandemic caused a paralysis of the audiovisual sector, which led both to think of a project that they could carry out in those circumstances.
After weighing various ideas, they finally opted for the one that ended up shaping ‘Malcolm & Marie’, an original film by Netflix ahead of Valentine’s Day. In it we witness a couple’s discussion provoked by her because he forgot to thank her in the speech he gave during the presentation of her film. However, the film goes much further than that, being a proposal that oscillates between the fascinating, the visceral and the narcissistic, a roller coaster of emotions that if he manages to catch you, he won’t let you go until the final credits appear.
Cinema and not theater in disguise
At first glance, it might seem that ‘Malcolm & Marie’ would fit more like a play, since we only see two characters in a very specific location. I approached this film with that preconceived idea, but it is fair to admit the ingenuity with which Levinson poses the staging so that that feeling never takes over the show by giving it a purely cinematic finish despite the obvious limitations it is forced to face. There will be those who may see it as something unnecessary, but in the end it is what really justifies this being a movie.
That dynamism that Levinson achieves remains constant throughout the footage, even despite often stopping in long shots to highlight the emotion with which Zendaya and John David Washington pronounce their dialogues, although sometimes it would almost be more appropriate to speak of monologues, because throughout ‘Malcolm & Marie’ we find a couple who should be celebrating a great moment in their lives but who, when it comes to the truth, do not stop confront different latent problems in their situation.
For this reason, the film begins with a more realistic approach, correctly establishing the relationship between the two based on everyday situations with which the viewer can feel identified, but then it becomes something else. A cross between the abstract and the intense that allows Levinson to express different visions of his life -it would not be strange if the fact of using the Los Angeles Times to throw darts at the world of film criticism is a bit of revenge for a review published years ago in said about ‘Wild Nation’, her previous feature film – and probably also from Zendaya herself.
Visceral
There the spectator’s reaction can be of all kinds, from indignation to indifference to being irremediably attracted by that kind of dialectical combat that is established between the two protagonists. What I do have clear is that realism is present in any case at a conceptual level, since Levinson more interested in big general ideas and the way of addressing them through the dialogues that Malcolm and Marie deliver, but also the way of doing it by Zendaya and Washington.
At this point, it must be taken into account that the style with which the actors approach their characters is quite different, with her always trying to maintain a peculiar serenity that little by little we will discover that it is still a facade with which to try to keep it down. control all his inner demons, while he is more thrown out, reaching the histrionic in some moments. It is almost as if Washington adopted forms more typical of comedy and she of drama, but without ever exceeding the invisible line that would make it impossible to believe what is happening. It is always measured, even when it seems that she could go out of her way, be it for the work of the actors or for the constant dynamic changes between the two that Levinson establishes.
In their own way they complement each other perfectly, the same thing happening with their characters, but those differences also cause significant friction, and that is where the film was born. And it is that there is always a but to put to what has happened just before, not so much so that the characters recover a certain situation of power with respect to the other, but also, as to let off steam. Both are guilty and innocent at the same time, but the viewer’s position towards what happens becomes more and more complicated.
That as long as one has agreed to enter the game, because otherwise I suspect that one can end up desperate, because it is very easy to see it as a narcissistic film and a Levinson tantrum. Whoever wants to stay in it, whether or not the true intention of the film, is fully entitled, but he manages to cajole me with his dialogues and the great work of Washington and Zendaya, in addition to the undeniable chemistry they sharethey do the rest.
In short
One of the things that I appreciate the most about ‘Malcolm & Marie’ is that it has no problem knowing a movie that is going to divide the public. It is true that it also gives the feeling of feeling more important than it really is, but once it sets the rules of the game, He knows how to use the ingredients he handles very well and make the most of the talent of his two protagonists.