Morvern Callar

Morvern Callar stars one of my current favorite actress, Samantha Morton. It's pretty good.

The pacing is very deliberate and unhurried, but not exactly slow. The director, Lynne Ramsay, takes her time but it is to show you exactly what she wants to show, revealing these incredible creations of images, sound, and music. Visually, it's like looking at art. And that is my one small criticism, sometimes it's so much art in terms of photography or painting and not enough art in terms of filmmaking/storytelling. But it's a small criticism.

Samantha Morton has a really beautiful expressive face and eyes. And she lends a soulfulness and profundity to her role and the movie. She's a little chubby so I half wondered what the movie would be like with a cute Japanese school girl (ala Harmful Insect or All About Lily Chou Chou). Maybe for Samantha's best friend, except that girl was pretty cute already. Still, whatever I like about Morvern Callar is due to Samantha's presence and performance. You can just sense she's going to do something that will amaze you.