Review of The Place Beyond the Pines (2013) by Private U — 31 Mar 2016

When this film ended, I walked out of the theatre speechless. From a technical standpoint, I knew the film was well crafted and could point out some small flaws, but from an emotional and artistic standpoint... it took me a while. I was lying in my bed all night, unable to sleep, haunted by the beauty of this film.

The callbacks in the film down to the Dehaan's character learning about his father while eating ice cream at the same place which he did with his father as a baby, to the picture taken at the same place being given to him, the mirroring shots of the kid on the bike and the father on his (both on the road to the pines and their respective robberies), Gosling's character forgetting his glasses for the son to find them in the future, the child becoming a wreck like his father, once he found out about the truth (which Gosling made Mendes keep silent about to avoid Dehaan's character going loose), the way the son's nose is bleeding due to AJ mirroring Luke's blood on his face due to Avery. Avery's money toss is comparison to Luke's and the shift in roles of their children vs the previous generation.

On my second viewing, I noticed something else; Luke gave the son three things at the ice cream shop, and they became important again later. First he gives him ice cream, which he is eating again as a teenager when he learns the truth about his family (intimacy), then he puts his sunglasses on his face, which he collects as a teenager while learning about how his father was a robber and ends up robbing a pharmacy himself (crime), and finally Luke puts his son on his motorcycle, which he buys for himself once he is ready to start his own life (identity).

The characters are all VERY well fleshed out and beautifully acted.

It was also shot beautifully (God, I love film) and considering they cut down their budget on lighting to get more shooting days because Cianfrance wanted more days to work with the actors, the film was actually incredibly lit.

The music was beautiful, as was the sound design (especially that sound of the gun in Robin's mouth). A couple shots were a little out of focus, but it's to be expected with film - harder to get playback + optimal exposure, and the film was already running on a small budget - reshooting takes with film is very difficult with no money.

Also how all four of the main characters' first appearances were done by a tracking shot from behind (Luke, Avery, AJ and Jason).

The pacing in the film was masterfully edited - kudos to the editor.

All around a fantastic film.