This Must Be the Place
Directed by Paolo Sorrentino
Written by Paolo Sorrentino and Umberto Contarello
Written by Paolo Sorrentino and Umberto Contarello
with Sean Penn, Frances McDormand, Eve Hewson
2011
“Funny, charming & stylish…unlike anything Penn’s done before.” He’s supposed to be difficult to deal with sometimes, but you wonder how Sean Penn pissed off the designers of this film’s poster for them to put such a double-edged quote along the top. Over the years he does seem to have generated quite a lot of bad feeling through his thudding political opinions and general self-importance, and I think that, creatively-edited comments aside, this role probably does represent a deliberate effort to create a less serious side to his public persona. As a retired rock star in late middle age, Penn gets to do the post-Ozzy doddery confusion, but with a dreaming world-weariness that presumably comes from being a 50-year-old Goth. He’s basically Robert Smith – although Penn’s face has a wrinkliness that the lipstick and eyeliner seem to age further, making him look like the frontman of an all-pensioner Cure tribute band. It’s a funny, creative performance nonetheless, and a reminder that for all his foibles, Sean Penn is still good at his day job.
The film is an adventure conducted at the speed of an ex-heavy drug user, so much so that when the vague threat of violence enters the story it doesn’t quite make sense: Cheyenne (Penn) is a retired rock star living in Dublin, who upon the death of his estranged father takes up his unfinished quest to hunt down an ex-Nazi camp guard now living discreetly somewhere in the United States. This element is perfunctorily dealt with, considering the film as a whole, as most of the running time is spent building the character of Cheyenne, his fears and regrets, mistakes and triumphs, and portraying a series of encounters, each of which bring out a new facet of his personality and history. The Talking Heads song that is the film’s namesake is a lurking presence throughout, topped with a cameo from David Byrne where he comes across as a sort of omniscient mad scientist of 80s alt-rock. The dialogue in each of these separate scenes is sweet and funny, but essentially the film is a hybrid of a mid-life crisis and a coming-of-age tale (arguably Cheyenne does both throughout the course of the picture), and occupies a weird middle ground in being at once predictable and a bit all over the place.
While it’s enjoyable, it doesn’t really hang together that well towards the end. The combined lack of direction and speed mean that some of the detail gets lost, as some ambiguous relationships aren’t explored enough for them to have any meaning, even though they feel significant when they are introduced. Maybe it’s because the Holocaust continues to have such an impact on the imagination, but the last part of the film made me feel a bit uncomfortable. The historical fact becomes rather absorbed into Cheyenne’s inner turmoil, turning into a slightly exploitative way of lending the tale a bit more intrigue. That said, director and co-writer Sorrentino shoots it with his swinging cameras slowed down to match the shambling pace of the star, and fulfils the road movie part of the film by at least making the journey fun.
Tom
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