It’s best to know before watching Annette that it was not originally intended to be a film. Rather, it was conceived to be performed as a live musical production. With an original story and music written by art pop band Sparks, Annette defies some conventions, and sticks to others.
How Sparks Wrote Annette.
Ron and Russell Mael have made brilliantly catchy music over the entirety of their very long career. However, it’s not been without also defiantly distancing themselves from commercial compromise. This has been to the point that true mainstream success has eluded them. In fact, Edgar Wright made the rock doc The Sparks Brothers earlier this year as an ode to their unsung greatness.
Always interested in charting new waters rather than playing into expectations explains why Annette came into existence as a musical at all (initially, Russell would play the lead role and Ron the supporting male role). That is, until the duo met director Leos Carax when he used one of their songs for his film Holy Motors. And what happened next is–eight years later–Carax would take their story and bring it to the big screen.
So… what’s Annette about?
With all of this in mind, it should be no surprise to find that Annette is exactly what you would expect a rock opera from Sparks to feel like. It’s a wonderfully strange and self-aware circus that’s as infectiously catchy as it is bizarrely confounding. But for as much fun as it is, its pop music makeup is also the thing that makes it unable to be profound or deep in any real way. But I’d recommend managing those expectations and going into this film headstrong anyways. It’s still one of the most mind-blowing films of the year.
Beyond its memorably wacky songs and story, the unquestionable stand-out in the film is Adam Driver. As tormented comedian Henry McHenry, Driver makes the character his own. Wild slapstick comedic scenes range to the more nuanced and commanding ones. Marion Cotillard and Simon Helberg also star in the film. Cotillard matches Driver’s commitment and star power as the opera singer Ann. But one of the faults of the film is that it underwrites the rest of the characters in the service of Driver. And yet, its perhaps because he was attached to the film since Leos Carax saw him in Girls eight years ago.
A satiric, confounding experience.
And then of course, we need to mention the nature of baby Annette herself. Her hilariously marionette-like characterization as an actual wooden puppet is the film’s silliest and un-serious depiction. This further pokes fun at the charade of the whole thing. And yet, there’s still a soft and gentle beauty in Annette’s presence. This counters Henry’s forgone depravity, but fails to reach a real emotional impact.
There are themes of art and love and life and death interwoven throughout Annette but you’ll have a much more enjoyable time if, instead of looking for an experience that will leave you emotionally floored, you give yourself over to a strange world that is sure to leave you in awe, for better or worse.
