Todd Haynes often presents us with characters going through, if not facing, extraordinary circumstances.
Most of them take charge of their lives and the decisions they make, and in
Secrets of a Scandal
(
May December
)
Julianne Moore
and Natalie Portman take charge of theirs.
Todd Haynes (
Far from Heaven
,
Carol
) is like Pedro Almodóvar, a director who very well breaks down the female characters that he himself creates, even though
the script, an Oscar candidate
, is not his.
If sexual relations are also the breeding ground in which the protagonists immerse themselves and sometimes come out without being burned or injured, Gracie (Julianne Moore) ended up in prison a quarter of a century ago, when she was 36 years old and was discovered having relations with a minor under 13 years of age.
Married and with children, she had another “behind bars,” as we read on the covers of the yellow magazines.
Gracie worked at a pet shop in Savannah, Georgia, and Joe, from a Korean family, was her assistant.
Portman, Moore and the scene from the Todd Haynes film that reminds us of Ingmar Bergman.
Photos Diamond Films
Time has passed, but things in town are still difficult for Gracie.
And for Joe, because the relationship continued, they have had more children and now Joe is the age Gracie was when she began the romantic relationship.
But the film does not begin with these two characters, but with butterflies that we will see that are born from cocoons.
That transform.
Perhaps Todd Haynes has never been so metaphorical in his accomplishments.
Julianne Moore and Charles Melton, in the present tense.
She had sex with him when the boy was 13 years old and she was 36.
Julianne Moore welcomes Natalie Portman
The couple welcomes Elizabeth Berry (
Natalie Portman
), the actress who is going to play Gracie in a film about what happened between 1992 and 1994. Famous for a television series, Elizabeth is going to do research on her character in a way direct.
She will talk to Gracie - who hopes to be treated “better” and with other nuances -, with Joe about her and with her ex-husband.
She wants to understand the motivations of her character, and she will find herself in a mess that she herself may not be able to get out of.
"It's the complexity, the moral gray areas that are most interesting," says Elizabeth in an open chat with high school students... which includes one of Gracie and Joe's daughters.
The film is also about appearances, love and the ways it adapts over the years, and not just because of the age difference when they started the relationship.
Gracie and Joe pretend or pretend to insist that they are still in love, but in the intimacy of bed things don't seem that way, and Joe exchanges text messages with another person at any moment, which speaks of a disinterest between them.
It is Julianne Moore's fourth performance in a film by director Todd Haynes.
New collaboration between the director and Julianne Moore, after
Safe
,
Far from Heaven
and
Wonderstruck
, although her role is important, Moore has left the threads of who leads the story to Portman, who is simply fantastic creating this appealing actress. to what she feels was necessary to help her construct her role.
Charles Melton (from the series
Riverdale
) has the most difficult character in this relationship triangle and he has not had the best angle.
Moore has left the threads of who leads the story to Portman.
May December
, which is an expression in English and refers to a relationship with a large age difference, is an independent production, shot in a tight 23 days.
And the scene that everyone talks about is the one in the mirror.
Portman and Moore are in front of each other, Gracie is putting on makeup, and ends up putting makeup on Elizabeth, and from looking at the audience, and through the mirror game, they begin to see themselves reflected in each other's eyes.
With or without nods to Ingmar Bergman, the moment is one of the best in the film.
“Secrets of a scandal”
Very good
Dramatic comedy.
United States, 2023.
Original title
:
“May December”.
118', SAM 13 R.
From:
Todd Haynes.
With:
Julianne Moore, Natalie Portman, Charles Melton.
Gabriel Chung.
Theaters:
Hoyts Abasto and Unicenter, Cinépolis Recoleta and Pilar, Showcase Belgrano and Norcenter.