Red Sparrow

Quick Impressions:

This movie should be called Hallways of Russia. In the first thirty minutes, Red Sparrow shows us so many pointed shots of characters moving through horizontal passageways that I started asking myself, “Is this symbolism? Are these passages and walkways and tunnels meant to suggest a maze, the intricate life of spies, rebirth through the birth canal, making a transition, the power of sexuality, the way our path is predetermined but our journey is volitional?” Or is Russia just a nation that’s exceptionally laden with corridors? Maybe Francis Lawrence (who also directed most of The Hunger Games movies) thinks hallways are cool? Maybe the source novel by Jason Matthews has a hallway in every other sentence?

Whatever the reason, this can’t be my imagination. The journeying through hallways does ease up slightly as the film progresses (though often we get seeming substitutions like trains, street cars, swim lanes, rectagonal swaths of flesh). But then, just when you start thinking, “Maybe it was just my imagination,” the film ends with a lingering shot of someone walking down a hallway.

So Red Sparrow probably demands a second viewing because I’ll confess, I don’t get what’s going on with the hallways. I checked to see if the production designer was M.C. Escher, but no such luck. I do have a few theories about what all these passageways might mean symbolically, but a detailed discussion of that here would spoil the movie.

At any rate, I’m so glad that Red Sparrow finally came out because I’m sick of the preview. I’m sure its theatrical trailer has played before every movie I’ve seen on the big screen for the past three months. And, honestly, what I saw in the preview made me more suspicious than excited. Yes, I do like Jennifer Lawrence (even when she’s doing a Russian accent), but she narrates so much of the plot in the preview. I felt like I’d seen the movie already before even buying a ticket.

To my pleasant surprise, though, Red Sparrow turned out to be pretty good (especially if you like hallways). The story was much more compelling than I expected, the performances were strong, and even after giving away so much in the trailer, it still managed to be consistently engaging, even surprising.

The Good:
Every time I saw the preview, I kept thinking, “Jennifer Lawrence as a Russian ballerina/spy? Really?”

Yes, really. I don’t know why I was so skeptical about this. Lawrence is actually perfect for the role. She brings all the tremendous intensity and dramatic eyeliner you would expect to the role of a Russian prima ballerina forced into a life of espionage.

Actually the movie works mainly because Lawrence’s performance is so strong. The story is also good, but I don’t think we would stay engaged enough to see it through if the protagonist didn’t captivate and hold us.

Lawrence must have been studying footage of all the diva Russian ballerinas, gymnasts, and figure skaters because she projects the perfect vibe of intensity, focus, and verve. Why I did not think she’d be good at this is a mystery since the most captivating Russian performers always seem to project a star quality (something that hovers between neurosis and fire), a quality that Lawrence doesn’t have to work to replicate because she already possesses it herself. I mean, yes, her Hollywood persona is a cool, funny, regular girl that people love to hang out with. But let’s be real. The reason everyone knows her as a cool, funny, regular girl is that everyone knows her. Because she is a huge movie star.  Maybe the biggest movie star in the world (despite her odd and almost rude dismissal of Joanna Lumley’s introduction at the BAFTAs).

I do think she must have studied Russian performers to prepare for the role. The person she really makes me think of is everybody’s favorite gymnast (or, anyway, my favorite gymnast) Aliya Mustafina, who has not only talent but a cult of personality surrounding her. If Lawrence is not thinking of Mustafina, then I guarantee you the person in charge of her make up is. The similarity in look is so striking that I noticed, and I’m not much of a visual thinker.

I find it easy to sympathize with Dominika Egorova (anybody should. Her circumstances are so pitiable).  I also find her behavior easy to believe. Her first big episode of violence strikes me as something that any ballerina would do if pushed. (Another good alternative name for the film would be Don’t Mess With a Ballerina.) I could have a mistaken impression of ballerinas, granted, but I doubt it.

Watching as the character is stripped down to her sexual functionality/usefulness and yet still manages to retain agency and control is extremely fascinating and satisfying. One thing I really like about this story, in fact, is the character’s refusal to let others break her or save her. Despite dramatic and horrible circumstances, she’s strangely self-reliant, self-possessed, and self-governing. She’s very smart. The lesson, I suppose, is that even when you can’t control your circumstances, you can control yourself.

I like the line (that I’ve heard in the trailer hundreds of times) saying that people are “a puzzle of need.”  Dominika is very good at reading people and turning their weaknesses to her advantage. Such a protagonist (one who works to save herself) is just much more interesting to watch than one who looks to others to save her (the less interesting choice that happens far more often in movies).

I have no idea if she’s doing her own dancing at the beginning. But one thing Lawrence definitely does in this movie is reveal her naked body without hesitation. It’s hard not to wonder if the character’s fearless (sometimes almost confrontational) nudity drew her to the project. If in your real life, potentially everyone in the world has seen you naked because your private photos have leaked online, then it must be very gratifying to play a scene where you’re boldly nude and demanding to be looked in the eye.

The rest of the cast is very good, too. The one that makes the biggest impression is Dominika’s uncle (played by Vladimir Putin) (just kidding, Matthias Schoenaerts who really does vaguely resemble Putin).  (I just noticed that his name is Vanya.  So he’s her Uncle Vanya?  I’m glad I didn’t notice that during the movie.  It would have distracted me.)  With looks like Putin and a name straight out of Chekhov, this guy is obviously extremely Russian.  He’s also extremely evil.  (I’m pretty sure if I were Russian, I would despise this film, by the way.)  For a spy movie, Red Sparrow is set up in an interesting way since Dominika’s greatest enemy is not the opposing agent but instead her ostensible (and, in some cases, actual) protector.  Schoenaerts is often the only one who seems to be emitting the same level of power and intensity as Lawrence.

Joel Edgerton is good, too, though he seems less like a CIA agent than an Eagle scout (but, then, what do I know about CIA agents?  Nothing, I swear!)  At least his accent never slips.  Edgerton can’t help how the character is written.

In small but critical roles, Ciarán Hinds, Jeremy Irons, Bill Camp, and Sakina Jaffrey (and her hotelier bit) shine, as does Charlotte Rampling (who also matches Lawrence’s intensity but lives in a place beyond the hallways where there is only snow). Joely Richardson plays Dominka’s mother, and for some reason, I did not realize it was her until I saw her name in the end credits. A particular standout among the supporting cast is Mary-Louise Parker.  She infuses the movie with a much needed unpredictable element.

Best Scene:

Speaking of Parker, her section of the film is the most exciting, suspenseful but fun to watch.  For one thing, the character is so different from all the others that it’s like a breath of fresh air.  This is probably because the character doesn’t realize what movie (already in progress) she has entered.  Everything happens fast, but nobody is raping or torturing anyone which is refreshing and unusual for Red Sparrow.

Best Scene Visually:

Will it be hallway number one or hallway number two?  I guess we all walk so many different paths in our lives that it’s good to see this represented visually.

I do like the scene on the way to the training center, that moment of stark, flat, whiteness.  It’s very effective because in a panic you think, Wait a minute!  What happened to all the hallways?  We’re beyond civilization!  There’s nowhere left to go!

Most of the movie is pretty interesting visually.  My two-year-old is currently obsessed with Team Umizoomi, so we often go on walks looking for shapes.  Maybe that’s why I noticed all the colorful shapes filling the backgrounds of scenes in Red Sparrow.  

Another thing I noticed is how often cinematographer Jo Willems (who also did most of The Hunger Games movies) invites us to gaze upon Jennifer Lawrence’s face, American flag style.  (Her face appears in the box-of-stars position in the far left of the rectangular movie screen, or occasionally flipped to the far right.)  I’ve never studied cinematography, so I don’t know the technical name for this shot, but Lawrence has the beauty, intensity, and eye-make up to make it work every time.

It seems like we see that moment in the snow near the bank millions of times during the film, which can’t be right.  So, obviously, that shot also makes a strong impression visually.

Best Action Sequence:

We know how Dominika is recruited as a sparrow from the (excessively talky) preview, but it’s still surprisingly thrilling to watch it all happen.  The quick fluidity of the act and the exit gives the audience a cinematic thrill that still works even if we’re expecting it.

The Negatives:
One of the weird things about this movie that you just have to look past is the use of Russian accents to signify the Russian language.  In other words, the characters speak English with a Russian accent, and the audience is supposed to understand that they are actually speaking Russian.  Unless they aren’t.  

As I watched, I kept remembering that Harrison Ford/Liam Neeson movie on the submarine, K-19: The Widowmaker. I remember it getting a lot of flack for having the stars speak in a Russian accent (instead of Russian with English subtitles or English with no accent) even though almost all of the characters were Russian.

We get some of that here. In the first part of the movie, Jennifer Lawrence’s character is surrounded by other Russians, yet they all use a Russian accent. I guess they have to because eventually they’ll end up interacting with the Americans.

But it’s still a little weird when Joel Edgerton (who is Australian in real life) starts having a conversation in Hungary in Russian with Jennifer Lawrence, and then she switches to English to compliment his Russian. I found myself wondering (just for a moment) if they were speaking English or if they were speaking Hungarian. It’s an odd moment.  Her accented English that is usually Russian now becomes accented English that really is English.  I suppose they have him say a sentence in actual Russian to signal to the audience that this shift will be occurring.  

But that’s just a limitation of this type of movie. It’s more convenient for the audience (and Jennifer Lawrence herself surely) not to have her speaking actual Russian.  But then all of these questions get elided out of existence.  I mean, when Russians and Americans speak together, which language are they speaking?  How well do they understand each other?  Who else would be able to understand them (immediately and with no mediation) if they are overheard?  Red Sparrow makes communication look so effortless, like they’re all living in a pre-Babel world.

This confusion of language leads to another, more serious problem I had with the film.  As I watched, I found it hard to believe that there would exist any safe spaces in which the characters weren’t being watched or in some way surveilled. I suppose that’s done deliberately to build suspense. But how did certain people ever have the confidence to talk to others honestly?

The thing I found off most off-putting about Red Sparrow, though, is its cringe-inducing violence. There’s an awful lot of torture in this movie.  In some situations, Dominika herself must commit grotesque, unconscionable acts of violence.  Far more often, she is the victim of the violence, which she has no choice but to endure.  Scenes like this are hard to watch, in principle especially.  Why must she mete out and endure torture just to live? And why must we see it done on screen? There’s a voyeuristic quality to the showcasing of the violence that I find disturbing on some level.  I mean, I watch and think, “Okay…ugh…this is awful, but now let’s get on with the story.”  

But movie audiences are a puzzle of need.  It’s hard to believe there won’t be some people who buy this movie just to watch Jennifer Lawrence get beaten to a bloody pulp (or maybe flay a man alive) over and over again.  I realize that a spy’s life is hardly glamorous and often does involve hideous violence.  But there’s something uncomfortable about watching a young woman being trained to become a sexualized weapon, then seeing her beaten and tortured.  I realize it serves the story.  And I realize that in a lot of movies (even Die Hard, to a degree, and certainly spy films) a male hero gets beaten and tortured only to survive and prove he’s mentally and physically tougher than his torturers.  But I think it’s extra disturbing here because it is Jennifer Lawrence.  I mean, the movie goes like this.  Here is a beautiful woman with an amazing skill.  Now let’s grotesquely injure her.  Now let’s force her to weaponize her sexuality.  Now let’s torture her.  And why?  Is it so she can learn to keep her wits about her, rise above adversity, and take control of her own life?  If so, I’m pretty sure people can learn that without being raped and tortured.

It’s tricky.  The movie and story do work, as is.  But it’s problematic material.  And, before I go, I’ll also mention that it seems bizarre to treat the Russians as such monsters while they American spies behave like noble paragons of virtue.  But like Dominika, I do love my country.

Overall:

Red Sparrow is entertaining and suspenseful, worth seeing for Lawrence’s commanding performance alone, though the story is decent, too.  If you’re a particular fan of Lawrence or spy films, then you’ll probably want to see this one.  It is pretty violent, though.  I’d think twice about going if you’re reluctant to watch torture (or if you’re phobic of hallways).  You can always close your eyes during the violent parts, but you’re never going to be able to avoid all the hallways.  They’re in practically every scene!