Rachel Getting Married

Apparently Jonathan Demme is a director who can do anything. He made Stop Making Sense (1984), a legendary music film, while The Silence of the Lambs (1991) was one of the most tense serial-killer films ever, and with The Agronomist (2003) he made an outspoken political documentary. And now he presents a huis-clos family drama, and that’s great too.
The scenario was written by Jenny Lumet, daughter of Sidney. Father Lumet interested the versatile director, who in turn collected a large company of the best possible actors.
The film is not about Rachel (Rosemarie DeWitt). Rachel is the sister of Kym (Anne Hathaway) and Kym is the true centre of the film, and the acting achievement by Hathaway is also what gives the film its weight. For the wedding in the title, Kym is let out of a detox centre for a day. She’s obviously not healed and her rash and selfish behaviour soon drags her whole family down into hysterical unrest.
Rachel’s future husband is a black man. His whole family does their best in the spoiled and irritable white environment. The real tragedy is not formed by a junkie sister, but by what is hidden away under thin ice in the family. Much remains unsaid, yet still emerges indirectly.
The film is entirely in the hands of the actors. The camera follows subtly and subserviently and as such is stunning. A lesson in film acting. (GjZ)