Blue Ruin (2013)

Slow and coldly-calculating in its presentation of the narrative, Blue Ruin unfolds around its lead character, who, like the film itself, is dead set on reaching a conclusion.

Jeremy Saulnier’s sophmore effort as a director is as beautiful and haunting as it is methodical in its story telling. Featuring a stand-out performance by Macon Blair, Blue Ruin is perhaps the most realistic revenge movie ever made. Macon stars as the painfully inept Dwight, whose childhood has tragically been ripped away by the brutal murder of his family. Driven into solitary destitute, Dwight’s life is once again shaken when he learns the man responsible for his parents’ deaths is being released from prison. Singularly focused on bringing his parents murder to justice, Dwight sets out to exact his revenge. Dwight is not ex-military, an amnesiac spy, nor does he possess a vary particular set of skills; he is a boy whose life was ruined the moment his parents were taken.

Acting as the film’s cinematographer, Saulnier casts his film in the same desperation felt by Dwight. Using a neutral color palate, and shying away from any flashy camera tricks, Saulnier is able to give his film a beautifully sullen mood. Depicting the almost unbelievable anonymity of Dwight as he moves around various environments, Saulnier gives his film an almost apocalyptic feel. Rust, decay, overgrown vegetation – Saulnier invites a sense of immense isolation from the civilized world. As Dwight sets about on his bleak errand, Saulnier is able to adeptly convey his solitary nature and apprehension of the task at hand.

Saulnier’s incredible cinematography is equally matched by the fresh take on the classical revenge trope. Unlike the vast majority of thriller/action films that have a skilled assassin at the helm, Saulnier is able to depict a character who is perfectly average. Saulnier reclaims the concept of revenge, and places it squarely on the shoulders of an “everyman.” Simply a man who was driven into self-inflicted poverty by the unfairness of life, Dwight serves as a perfect vehicle to increase the film’s tension. Completely unable to handle a firearm, and far too little to put up a fight, Dwight relies heavily on luck and his slight cognitive advantage over his antagonists in order to survive. Likely more maladroit than members of the audience, Dwight is frustrating and painful to watch. Simply knowing what he must accomplish adds an inordinate amount of tension to the story, while also stirring the audience to root for the hopeless Dwight.

Macon Blair is simply stunning as the quietly contemplative Dwight. Undergoing a transformation (figuratively and literally) throughout the film’s running time, Macon brings a kind humanity to Dwight. Deviating from the wrath inhabited, hate-mongering mainstays of the genre, Macon brings a heart-breaking childlike sweetness to Dwight. Through intensely powerful glances, and his nervous disposition, Blair depicts Dwight as a child trying to reclaim some semblance of peace in his life. In one particularly harrowing scene, Dwight encounters his parents’ murderer in the bathroom. Upon hearing the killers voice, he is consumed by despair; bringing a whole range of suppressed emotions to his grief-stricken face. Blair takes a character that could easily be forgotten due to ineptitude, but is able to pressure the audience to care and become involved in the story.

A film that was quietly awarded the FIPRESCI Prize (Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique) at Cannes in 2013, and was even more-quietly released a year later, Blue Ruin will hopefully find its audience via VOD. Harrowing and unique, Blue Ruin is a heart-wrenching tale of revenge whose attention to visual detail and character study exceed every expectation.