Young Adam (DVD)

...her icy-cold flapper in “Bright Young things”, which was out at the cinema at the same time as “Young Adam”. I’ve enjoyed many of her movies in the past, especially her performance in “Lovely and Amazing”. She’s one of those actors who seems to completely submerge into the part she’s playing – rather than me thinking of her as Emily Mortimer, I think of her as her character - always a good thing, in acting terms.

Joes lives with Ella ...
...Peter Mullen (seen recently in “The Magdalene Sisters”), and much of the story is about their relationships with one another, living and working on the barge. Things are always from Joe’s viewpoint: it’s all about his sexual escapades, the scrapes he gets into, and in some cases out of, his ambitions…

The soundtrack is from David Byrne (is he still best known for being in Talking Heads or for his recent things like “Lazy”?). It’s ... more

“Young Adam” is based on a ‘beat generation’ novel by Alexander Trocchi, written in the 1950’s. If that means you’d be expecting a Kerouac-style American road movie of self discovery – well, no, that’s not what you’ll get.

“Young Adam” is set in Glasgow in the 1950s. It’s a bleak kind of world. The central character, Joe, reckons to be a bit of a writer, but is working as a bargeman. It has more in common with Orwell or Lawrence than Kerouc, to be honest – but the story does nevertheless have an element of a voyage of some kind, and that selfish awareness of post-War youth – able to work for themselves, make their own decisions, and be beholden to no-one.

Ewan McGregor plays Joe.
I learned recently that McGregor is the nephew of Denis Lawson, an actor we really don’t see often enough nowadays. His role in “Local Hero” (1983) has always been one of my favourites.
Ewan McGregor, on the other hand, we see plenty of in movies. He never seems to be short of work, and justly so, in my opinion. I liked him a lot in Trainspotting and in “Moulin Rouge”. I was less impressed by his appearance in “Down with love”, in fact he was probably the worst thing about the movie.
I know you can’t always blame actors for how they appear in a finished movie, (the director has a big part to play, after all), but whatever the reason, he’s been in some great movies and some stinkers.
His performance in “Young Adam” probably comes somewhere between his best work and his worst work.

As I mentioned it’s an insular, self-absorbed kind of story, about Joe and Joe alone, so Ewan features in most of the scenes, and we get to see a lot of him. …. Erm, and I mean that in both senses. McGregor does take his kit off a lot in his movies (he claims he’s doing his bit for women’s rights, as they are always nude in movies, and he’s trying to even things up a bit). In fact, McGregor’s full frontal scenes in “Young Adam” were due to be cut for its release in the U.S., but they were kept due to his own insistence.
Joe seems to get sex wherever he can find it, so there are a few conquests along the way. There is quite a bit of sex on screen, but it is all a bit impersonal and unsexy, cold and unfeeling, ultimately. The characters are probably not really enjoying themselves that much, sex for them seems a hollow kind of gratification, and it shows.

Emily Mortimer plays Cathy Dimly, his former lover, and there are many flashback scenes, to show us some of Joe’s past.
The “Custard” scene is infamous by now, but if you haven’t heard about it, it’s a particularly messy food-based, sex scene. Actually it’s not just custard – there’s custard, tomato ketchup and possibly (well, very likely) other slimy fluids.
Here Mortimer plays a completely different character from her icy-cold flapper in “Bright Young things”, which was out at the cinema at the same time as “Young Adam”. I’ve enjoyed many of her movies in the past, especially her performance in “Lovely and Amazing”. She’s one of those actors who seems to completely submerge into the part she’s playing – rather than me thinking of her as Emily Mortimer, I think of her as her character - always a good thing, in acting terms.

Joes lives with Ella (Tilda Swinton) and her husband Les, who is played by Peter Mullen (seen recently in “The Magdalene Sisters”), and much of the story is about their relationships with one another, living and working on the barge. Things are always from Joe’s viewpoint: it’s all about his sexual escapades, the scrapes he gets into, and in some cases out of, his ambitions…

The soundtrack is from David Byrne (is he still best known for being in Talking Heads or for his recent things like “Lazy”?). It’s haunting and effective, strangely come to think of it, because there must have been a temptation to use some 50s music. Overall, though, I’d say this more modern soundtrack is better suited to this type of movie.

Director David Mackenzie has movies such as "The Last Great Wilderness" and "Marcie's Dowry" to his credit, no big blockbusters and not especially famous movies.

I’m still none the wiser why the movie got it’s title – could have some biblical significance but I didn’t really get it, I’m afraid.
“Young Adam” is an understated, dark tale, with an industrial, grimy, backdrop, and, to be honest, some grimy sex scenes, too. A serious well-acted drama, rather than a feel-good movie – but ultimately, one which didn’t seem to have a lot of point to it, in my opinion.

Cert 18

 

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