Much Ado About Nothing: Exploring Meaning In Malcolm And Marie, Journey To Italy And The Hours

My most recent Fi’s Favourites post got me thinking a lot about dialogue; when to use it, when not to use it and how realistic it needs to be. This weekend I finally got around to watching Netflix’s much-anticipated drama, Sam Levinson’s Malcolm and Marie. Some of you may know him from the hit TV show Euphoria. Levinson used the same actress from Euphoria - Zendaya -, who stars alongside John David Washington. I'm quite a fan of Washington and there was a lot of hype online about these two actors working together.

After watching this film, depicting a couple in turmoil fighting and talking their issues out, I immediately thought of two films that did it better. Rossellini’s Journey to Italy does a better job of examining the foibles of relationships. At the same time, Daldry’s The Hours has more effective dialogue in just one scene than Malcolm and Marie has in its entirety. Malcolm and Marie has only cemented my belief in the importance of good, real dialogue.

Malcolm and Marie is one hour and forty-six minutes of talking. Now, I think it is fairly clear from many of my posts that I have no issue with that in itself, but I believe that there has to be a point to all of this talking. I also have no issue with character-driven films, but they must be compelling to make us want to watch. Malcolm and Marie seems to be lacking on both of these fronts, though.

Rossellini’s Journey to Italy is humorous as it focuses on all the shortcomings of relationships. It highlights the odd things that we all do, like waiting up at night for a partner to come home, only to pretend that we’ve been asleep the whole time as soon as we hear the door open. However, Journey to Italy is equally about what is not being said. That is the point. It is clear that this is a marriage on its last legs and it is clear that a difficult and serious conversation needs to take place, but instead of facing the difficulties, the couple choose the easy option and sweep it under the rug.

If Malcolm and Marie had the same intention, I think it would make more sense. While I am not entirely sure what its intention is, I don’t think it is the same as Journey to Italy. Although their endings are similar, Malcolm and Marie doesn’t have the same kind of humour or reality as Rossellini’s classic. Malcolm and Marie is, after all, full of dialogue from start to finish. It must be trying to tell us something. They want us to listen to what they are saying, not what they choose to keep silent.

I have often spoken about how important I believe it is for films to make us feel something. If this made me feel anything at all (which would be a push), it was contempt for both the film and two of the most unlikeable characters I have ever come across. I think if characters are going to be unlikeable, they at least have to be funny. I listened to all of this film and still have no idea what it was trying to tell me nor, most importantly, what it was trying to make me feel. Most of the conversations feel utterly pointless, which, in a way, is fine as most arguments stem from something seemingly insignificant and snowball into the real issue. Still, their snowball doesn’t go anywhere, doesn’t lead the viewer anywhere and doesn’t change our perspective or how we feel.

Relationships are not monologues. There is back and forth, and interruptions; it would be nice if everyone waited their turn, but, generally, that isn’t how it works, so this alone is unrealistic. Funnily enough, the best speeches in this film come from the character of Malcolm during his rants about the film industry. His belief that the film industry has become entirely too political is one I completely agree with (and intend to write about). His character is also aggravated by the industry's concerns with ‘woke-ness’. Still, ironically, the film itself has hints of ‘woke-ness’ to it, particularly in relation to its female character. Despite the characters having ranted on about the over-politicisation of cinema and how sometimes films don’t need to be about anything, films can still make us feel something. This film, however, made me feel nothing.

Malcolm and Marie feels like it completely lacks any reality. The conversations don’t feel organic. It feels overacted. The characters don’t feel real; probably because they are not funny or likeable. They are needy, narcissistic and selfish. While Journey to Italy is about pointlessness and even hopelessness, Malcolm and Marie is pointless.

Six minutes and forty-eight seconds of The Hours says so much more and has so much more reality than all one hundred and six minutes of Malcolm and Marie. During the film's most emotionally intense scene between Leonard and Virginia, there is so much reality. It makes us feel something, but is also equally about what is not said.

It is the film's second most important emotional climax. There is shouting. There are moments of calm. It's a discussion, not a monologue. There are silly interruptions from other people walking around with Leonard and Virginia looking over their shoulders, trying not to cause too much of a scene. The scenes are full of compelling, emotional reality and real dialogue. This is what a couple in crisis looks like. This is what a couple that has cared for each other looks like. After the hard discussion has been had and a decision reached, Leonard realises the gravity of what’s just happened. He hangs his head as the emotional weight bears down on him. He sobs before returning to his wife and the practicalities of living as they note it's time to go home and eat some dinner.

Malcolm and Marie is an odd film, to say the least. For a film that had so much hype before its release, I saw little discussion of it after its release. As I have said, I have no idea what this film wanted me to feel or what it was trying to say. For a film that spoke so much about the importance of cinema and how sometimes film is just meant to make us feel something, it didn’t make me feel anything. Halfway through this film, I instantly thought of films with wonderful dialogue and the meaningful gaps between the dialogue. I think this film shows that what’s not said is often more important than what is said.