Vox lux10/4/2023 ![]() School shootings have loomed large in America’s collective imagination for the last 20 years, and it’s likely no coincidence that this film’s massacre takes place in the same year as Columbine. “Vox Lux” is a powerful, haunting film in part because Portman is a powerful, haunting presence - you can’t turn away from her, even if you occasionally want to. It’s a horrific sequence, coming out of nowhere and filmed in such a way that puts you closer to the violence than you’d ever want to be this is Celeste’s life, and for the next two hours it’s also ours. ![]() The film begins in 1999, at which time a 13-year-old Celeste is in music class when a classmate opens fire in her classroom, killing several and leaving her with a spinal injury that will cause her pain for the rest of her days. To call “Vox Lux” a pop-star drama would falsely suggest that it in any way resembles “A Star Is Born” or is at all interested with the music industry, especially when you learn, in its opening minutes, what compels our heroine to start singing in the first place. Read More: ‘At Eternity’s Gate’ Review: Willem Dafoe Is an Inspired Van Gogh in Julian Schnabel’s Impressionistic Masterwork - Venice ‘Only Murders’ Premiere Showcases Best Use of Meryl Streep in Years This young woman was born for great things, which, it turns out, may only be tangentially related to music. Her name is no coincidence: As explained by the narrator (whose identity remains best left unspoiled), Celeste comes from the Latin word for “heavenly” and, in her case, signifies that her fate may have been written in the stars. Natalie Portman stars as the mononymous Celeste, a pop star whose musical stylings were composed by Sia, with a supporting cast led by Jude Law and Stacy Martin. The reason why: He chose to step behind the camera rather than in front of it, making one of the most impressive debut features in recent memory with 2015’s “The Childhood of a Leader.” Corbet won two prizes at Venice for his haunting look at a future totalitarian’s early years, and returns to the Lido in highly ambitious form with “ Vox Lux.” The actor seemed to be in every arthouse favorite of 2014, with supporting roles in everything from “Clouds of Sils Maria” and “Eden” to “Force Majeure” and “While We’re Young,” but he hasn’t so much as made a cameo in the four years since. Featuring original songs by Sia, an original score by Scott Walker, and a transcendent performance by Natalie Portman, personifying and pummeling the zeitgeist, Vox Lux is an origin story about the forces that shape us, as individuals, nations, and gods.There was a time when you could barely see a movie without catching a glimpse of Brady Corbet. ![]() In Brady Corbet's second feature, following his 2015 breakout debut The Childhood of a Leader - winner of the Best Director and Best Debut Film prizes at the Venice Film Festival - Celeste becomes a symbol of the cult of celebrity and the media machine in all its guts, grit and glory. Touring in support of her sixth album, a compendium of sci-fi anthems entitled Vox Lux, the indomitable, foul-mouthed pop savior must overcome her personal and familial struggles to navigate motherhood, madness and monolithic fame in the Age of Terror. ![]() By 2017, adult Celeste (Natalie Portman) is mounting a comeback after a scandalous incident that derailed her career. Celeste's meteoric rise to fame and concurrent loss of innocence dovetails with a shattering terrorist attack on the nation, elevating the young powerhouse to a new kind of celebrity: American icon, secular deity, global superstar. After singing at a memorial service, Celeste transforms into a burgeoning pop star with the help of her songwriter sister (Stacy Martin) and a talent manager (Jude Law). In 1999, teenage Celeste (Raffey Cassidy) survives a violent tragedy. The film spans 18 years and traces important cultural moments through her eyes, starting in 1999 and concluding in 2017. Vox Lux follows the rise of Celeste from the ashes of a major national tragedy to pop super stardom.
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