“My darlings, a revolution is coming!”
Everything about The Bride! may seem like a movie that just shouldn’t exist in today’s filmmaking landscape. It’s a sophomore effort from a director who has never helmed a project of this scope and magnitude. Its $80 million dollar price tag may feel like an insanely generous figure for a title that is derived from a classic property, yet it somehow manages to feel more or less original. Even more unbelievable is that writer/director Maggie Gyllenhaal was able to make her film, so uncompromisingly bold in its vision and execution, for the big screen. The thought of this beautiful, sumptuous film being relegated to people’s living rooms would be a real crime. If the fears from recent developments within the film industry are to be believed (and I suspect they are), The Bride! could be one of the final times we get the kind of cinematic experience that’s both visually arresting and thematically dynamic. If it is, it’s the perfect note with which to say goodbye to a very specific way of absorbing movies.
In The Bride!, a 1930’s Chicago gangster’s moll named Ida (Jessie Buckley) is brought back from the dead by Doctor Euphronious (Annette Bening) as a companion for Frankenstein’s monster (Christian Bale). Together, the two set off on a cross-country spree of crime and romance, sparking a social movement along the way and catching the attention of Myrna Malloy (Penelope Cruz), a detective hot on their tail.
Right away the first movie that will come to people’s minds when watching The Bride! is Bonnie and Clyde. The similarities are obvious; two misfits drawn to each other embark on a crime-filled adventure where they gain notoriety in the process. As the former film’s star, Faye Dunaway, once commented, the reason the iconic film worked was because it had romance, violence, and heart. The Bride! has this too, especially in its main couple, who could rightly be described as nitro and glycerin, both properly explosive when together. In watching them explore and cling to each other as the world declares them monsters is incredibly romantic. When one of them is attacked, the other’s wrath is unleashed. This leads to subsequent moments of great tenderness that’s seen and felt in the way each one makes a safe space for the other. Murderous, destructive aspects aside, it’s the kind of romance everyone who is wanting love wishes they could have; one where the other person sees the monster within them and still finds themselves bewitched. All of this plays out with a punk-influenced motif (wonderfully juxtaposed against the well-recreated 30s backdrop) as its characters find themselves starting a revolution simply by being in love.
As much of a love story as The Bride! is, the film is also one of the rare modern horror offerings with a feminist take that sits firmly planted at the forefront. Gyllenhaal accomplishes this with two standout supporting female characters. Doctor Euphronious is seen as a revered scientist who is responsible for the union between the couple, while Myrna, automatically dismissed as a secretary, is actually the most cunning of all her fellow detectives, and the only one who can get a handle on where these two will go next. Both are questioned in relation to their professions by men who can’t believe that women could hold the positions these two do. Their inclusion in this film is fantastic. But the feminism of Gyllenhaal’s tale ventures beyond these two examples to spotlight violence against women. From The Bride’s initial murder to the repeated attempts to assault her, the director doesn’t shy away from the real horrors facing women then and now. It’s an ugly side to humanity that Gyllenhaal so strikingly recreates that remains destined to rub many the wrong way. But it is the truth, and there’s nothing but deep admiration in the director’s willingness to expose it for all that it truly is.
It’s unreal the places that Gyllenhaal asks Buckley to go to with this role, and even more unreal to see the actress go there and even further. There’s such a dazzling, intoxicating fury to Buckley’s performance that there’s no way the rest of the film would work without her. On the surface, it feels as if the actress is permanently at 100 (or not too far below it), but this is such intricately measured work from Buckley, who takes her Bride on a true journey filled with a curiosity and ferocity that makes this performance a treasure to behold. It’s a performance that also feeds wonderfully off of Bale’s Frank. The actor succeeds in conveying his character’s loneliness and subsequent fascination with The Bride. For an actor known to be such a commanding powerhouse, the level of generosity the Oscar winner shows towards his costar is simply beautiful.
The rest of The Bride!’s cast may not be anywhere in the realm of what the two leads are tasked with doing, but they do get to have some fun and poignant moments of their own in that world. Bening is a blast as the driven mad scientist, while Cruz is compelling as the outsider detective, determined and unwavering. Peter Sarsgaard as Jake Wiles (Myrna’s mentor/partner) may be the least interesting character of the ensemble, but the actor still manages some solid moments of his own. Finally, a surprising turn from Jake Gyllenhaal sees him stretch as Ronnie Reed, Frank’s matinee idol, a song-and-dance actor a la Fred Astaire.
Gyllenhaal makes a few puzzling choices here and there, specifically with the framing device of Mary Shelley (also played by Buckley), who pops up occasionally in The Bride’s head to continue the story as she temporarily possesses her. Because of Gyllenhaal’s unique and specific take, however, even these choices feel interesting. One choice I hope gets as much credit as it deserves is the director’s intention of having the film be a tribute to classic cinema. There’s a real love of the movies at work here, especially in the mesmerizing score, cinematography, gorgeous production design, make-up, costumes, and especially in the surprising dance sequence. This extends to the two characters’ frequent escape to movie houses, which is the only place the couple probably feels safe. In actuality, The Bride and Frank are themselves in their own movie, living out their lives in the kind of big-screen world they’re drawn to, and experiencing a love story that’s truly one for the ages.
