10. Savage Grace (dir. Tom Kalin, 2008)
Well finish on a sombre note.
Savage Grace is based on the true story of Barbara Daly Baekeland, whose extended family made billions from inventing the first plastic, Bakelite. The film follows Barbara (Julianne Moore) and her troubled life with her husband Brooks (Stephen Dillane), which eventually results in her having an incestuous relationship with her gay son (Eddie Redmayne), who in turn ends up stabbing her to death with a kitchen knife.
The Baekeland murder rocked America in 1972, and the film is an unusually but effectively clinical look at a true crime story. Tom Kalins previous directorial effort was
Swoon, an equally difficult film about the infamous Leopold and Loeb case of the 1920s, with both works having a glacial, detached feeling which eventually works in its favour. Its a brilliant depiction of the insanity that can result from a world with infinite wealth and no boundaries or responsibilities. The scene in the airport features Julianne More at her heart-breaking best, making us genuinely feel sorry for someone with such monstrous qualities.
Rotten Tomatoes review - The Movie Hour podcast: #23
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