April Fools 2015: The Sporadic Chronicles of a Beginner Blogger

Erm. April Fools from James McAvoy?

It’s FINALLY Friday!!!! Anybody else feel like this week has been way, way too long? It is definitely time for a little weekend break. Fortunately, I have just the person to lead us into weekend: the ever-wonderful Miss Zoë of The Sporadic Chronicles of a Beginner Blogger decided to pop in today to share with us a little something for April Fools! Unfortunately, I can’t read it… 😦 Zoë has given me very strict instructions that if I haven’t seen this and want to, I am not to read below a certain point. So I’ve had to do my best to avert my eyes. But if you’ve seen Filth, be sure to read this and tell Zoë how brilliant her write-up is since I can’t!!! 😉

Filth (2013)

Cara hosting another blogathon of sorts? Naturally I was up for it. Plus with her specifications there was only one movie that I wanted to talk about, the one movie that had me slightly gobsmacked because I just didn’t see certain things coming (and I usually see them relatively early), and… and… you know what, that is what I am here to discuss. I am sure you all know that there will be spoilers, but I feel that I need to put the warning out of not reading further if you have not seen this and would like to still be surprised. Seriously, don’t read anymore because I am going to be talking about some important scenes in here. Alright, now that that is out of the way, I will talk about Filth, and how much I loved what happened with the whole thing. Filth is definitely the kind of movie that left people divided in a big way, and that is alright. Filth was genius in its crafting. I was certainly incredibly pro-Filth, it even made my Top Ten Movies of 2014 list, and there are plenty that do not like it, or find it mediocre. I, personally, am really thrilled that the movie got made and released, I saw that it was pretty touch and go for a while.

Filth follows Bruce Robertson’s descent into madness, it cannot be classified anything else. Truly. It starts off, he is normal though he is a reprehensible man. I mean like total dweeb material. Though he is not likeable, he is sharp as a tack and a master manipulator. As the movie progresses, you wonder about the bizarre relationship between him and his wife, Carole… they seem crazy. But as the movie continues and you get more caught up in Bruce’s insanity, Carole’s absence is cleverly laced throughout, so she is ever-present, but never the most important. You just realise she is an incredible driving force for Bruce to get his promotion to get laid (so you think). But think about it… is she crazy enough to keep their daughter away from him while he is gunning for a promotion to get laid? Does that even make sense?! You start to wonder what is going on, where his family really is. Then Bruce drops the gem “I think my family have left me. I don’t know how. I can’t remember why.” and you are like whaaaaaaaaat the hell is going on here?! Nobody seems to know that Bruce and Carole have split, and Bruce seems to be denying it every step of the way. However, that soon takes a backseat when the biggest reveal I have sat through in a really long time drops… Bruce is dressing up as Carole. No, she isn’t dead, but she has left him, and Bruce absolutely cannot come to terms with it, and because of that he has taken to dressing like her to “keep her close”. I mean you go from rooting for this guy, no matter the disgraceful tool  that he is, hoping he will get his promotion and go back to possibly being a normal dude, to pitying Bruce Robertson immensely. He really is a complex and layered character, and is one of the more thrilling ones I have seen in ages.

And then, as though you weren’t dealing with enough as is, the story continues and ends it in such a way that is refreshing yet quite unexpected. I know it was a downer for some, I know it left people at odds, but it was great. In fact, it was perfect. It was the best way to close the movie off. You truly don’t stop rooting for Bruce, especially not after the reveal, especially not after you see that he really is trying to right his wrongs, that he has realised that he lost the plot for a while. I mean, there is even a new love interest on the horizon, what with Mary and her son calling him, running into him, dropping by to thank him, the way that Bruce is so drawn to them, and how Mary seems drawn to him, even though she knows that he is damaged in ways she cannot completely comprehend. I mean that is all going pretty decently, all things considered. But no, Bruce cannot have his silver lining, and the way the movie ended? I reiterate, perfect. No punches were held back, everything wasn’t going to magically right itself, and James McAvoy really was just perfect, making you laugh, making you cringe, making you angry and making you sympathetic, every step of the way he made you feel exactly what you needed to. Right up by the end? Bruce’s character and the events leading up to these last few minutes all come together, and they are not lost and everything is suddenly sunny, which is what I really liked.