Location: Los Angeles, CA
"Gathering Blue"
Directed by: Guillermo del Toro
Written by: Guillermo del Toro
Produced by: Steven Spielberg, Guillermo del Toro, and Scott Rudin
Art Direction by: Tim Beach, and Eugenio Caballero
Cinematography by: Guillermo Navarro
Editing by: Christopher Tellefsen
Original Score by: Javier Navarrette
Makeup by: David MartĂ, and Montse RibĂ©
Dark Fantasy / Drama
Main Cast
Ivana Baquero as Kira
Cameron Bright as Matt
Clive Owen as Christopher
Ron Perlman as Guardian Jaminson
Selma Blair as Katrina
Adam Hicks as Thomas
Ryan Malgarini as Jo
Tagline: "They lived in chaos, they lived in violence, but they lived as a family"
Synopsis: Set in a society where people live in caves, and act primitive and animalistic, they must revert to aggressive behavior to survive from the vicious beast that live outside the village. However through all the aggression love is formed, and a sense of compassion towards others that creates a family sense around the village.
Children in the village are never taken seriously until they get to a certain age. However, Kira, Thomas, and Jo are three kids that are taken very serious for the future of the village, because each of them have a special ability. With Kira, who is a mute, thread and color take on a life of their own, creating wonderful and sometimes prophetic images. Thomas can do the same with wood carvings, and Jo with music. The leader of the village, Jaminson, sees much promise in the kids and puts them in rooms close to each other to preserve the historical records of the village's past. However the kids have different plans.
Kira's mother, Katrina, is very ill and Kira's loving father, Christopher, must go outside the village, to find help. After Katrina dies, Kira is curious of her father's whereabouts. Guardian Jaminson manipulatively tries to convince her that he was taken by beasts. Believing what he said, Kira and her friends decide to take a journey to find Kira's father. Matt, a mischievous and talkative boy, joins them on their journey.
As the kids continue their journey, leaving behind blue flower pedals to trace back their steps, encountering dangerous wilderness creatures, and hazardous obstacles, they come to a realization. Guardian Jaminson purposively made them all orphans to help control them. Outraged by this realization the kids vow never to return to the village. But as they get farther away from the village they also realize that the village was their home, and did have people that cared for them. They also realize that what Jaminson had done was only done to preserve their way of life.
But, regardless of what realization they come to they continue on, and eventually find a village that seems to be the perfect society. Will Kira's father be here? Could this new society really be the perfect society? Or is this just another big mistake?
What the Press would say:
Gathering Blue is the second installment in The Giver trilogy. Adapted from the book by Lois Lowry, this movie takes a very different approach. This film throws away The Giver's theme and replaces it with a new theme, one that isn't used often in Hollywood. We always get the "Big Brother" type movies with themes of perfect societies being bad, but this movie shows that what could seem as a bad society could end up being a perfect society.
The story follows Kira, a mute girl, who's father leaves the village to find more help for his dying wife. However, after days of his absence, Kira and her friends go on a journey to see what happened to her father. Ivana Baquero, who is known more for her Spanish speaking roles, gives a tremendous performance. It is extremely hard to play a character that must rely on facial expressions to portray emotions, however Ivana accomplishes this feat perfectly. She has complete control over the audience, and is able to make the audience feel all the emotions she goes through without saying a single word. However, the mischievous boy Chris, played by Cameron Bright, steals the show once they are on the journey. Cameron's character doesn't seem to ever shut up, as he goes on about his philosophies and theories about life on the journey. The dialogue is entertaining enough to make
audience hang on to every word that comes out of his mouth. Ron Perlman also gives a brilliant performance. His character seems villainous at times, but also a bit prophetic at other times, which is a bit different for the mainly action oriented star.
The first installment was directed by Steven Spielberg, who brought us a remarkable film. I originally felt bad for anyone having to feel in those shoes. But Guillermo del Toro doesn't do worse or better than Spielberg; He does his own film. The Giver had it's Spielberg feel, and this film has it's Del Toro feel. Del Toro is able to accomplish a realistic and fantasy feel to the movie as he did with Pan's Labyrinth . Pan's Labyrinth was dark,but this film is even darker, having some horror aspects at times. The fantasy creatures are straight from the mind of Del Toro and are just as amazing as they always are. Overall, Del Toro is able to create a world that is very new to modern filmmaking, and very different from The Giver. This is a welcome installment in this trilogy, and I'm anxious to see what the team decides to do for the final installment.
Best Picture
Best Director- Guillermo del Toro
Best Actress- Ivana Baquero
Best Supporting Actor- Ron Perlman
Best Supporting Actor- Cameron Bright
Best Adapted Screenplay- Guillermo del Toro
Best Editing
Best Cinematography
Best Art Direction
Best Makeup
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