I have always had this theory about movies: the less you know about them, the better — except for the occasional self-explanatory winner, such as “Kung Pow!: Enter the Fist.” Lions Gate Films put this theory into practice when they unveiled the film “Monster’s Ball” to the public last December. With no colorful trailers, advertisements or interviews, the producers had successfully kept this film their little secret. So, how do you sell a film without promoting it? Well, unlike our pop culture princesses who need large yellow snakes wrapped around their half-naked bodies or million-dollar Pepsi deals, Lions Gate Films’ utter confidence in its product was enough to land the film more than ten award nominations, including an Oscar nod for best actress and a gross of approximately $1.467 million as of Feb. 3.
The title “Monster’s Ball” alludes to the idea that the film is about goblins and one-eyed beasts in formal dress wear waltzing across a luxurious ballroom floor. With a year full of sorcerers and hobbits, the image of a monster’s prom is not so far-fetched. Despite Disney’s wholehearted attempts to bring friendly ogres to life, monsters remain a fabrication of the mind — unless you consider a no make-up-wearing, worn-out Halle Berry to fit the role.
The non-Revlon wearing Berry delivers an explosive performance as Leticia, the forlorn waitress and mother of an obese child named Tyrell (Coronji Calhoun). Hank, played by Billy Bob Thornton, is a casual racist guard at the local state prison in Leticia’s town. Their parallel worlds collide after a series of tragic events compels them to seek emotional solace in each other. What Leticia doesn’t know is that Hank is the guard who escorts her ex-husband Lawrence, played by Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, to the electric chair.
Director Marc Forster and cinematographer Roberto Schaefer team up for the second time since “Everything Put Together” (2000) to create a visually symbolic masterpiece full of magnified mirrors, innovative camera angles and other meticulously crafted scenes. Sporadic flashes of a birdcage during a steamy sex scene between Leticia and Hank suggests the couple’s liberation in a heated moment of electrifying emotional release. In another scene, after Hank washes his face in Leticia’s bathroom, he looks up in the mirror to find a portrait of her late husband, Lawrence, staring back at him and, as a result, pukes.
The screenwriting debut of Milo Addica and Will Rokkos presents us with an engaging and unpredictable plot that allows the audience to participate in piecing together the film’s dynamic storyline. The three generations of prison guards — Hank, his father (Peter Boyle), and his own son (Heath Ledger) — are trapped in their own personal prison, tortured by a legacy of hate and emptiness. Hank’s detached and resentful relationship with his father is echoed by his relationship with his son, with each father reminding his son that he is “weak like his mother.” This is only one of the elements of the complex plotline that leads to unraveling the message.
Not yet convinced of the film’s brilliance? Well, all you need to know is that Oscar-bound Halle Berry delivered a performance of a lifetime as the devastated Leticia. Now all Berry has to do is relax and enjoy a nice bowl of chocolate ice cream with a plastic spoon as she basks in the glory of her success. A
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