Undescribable Perfection

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

"Hollywood is like being nowhere and talking to nobody about nothing." - Antonioni Harmony Korine directs "Mister Lonely". The plot? A group of celebrity lookalikes assemble in an isolated mansion. Here they practise vaudeville routines, build a stage and hope to the heavens that visitors will come watch them perform. A second subplot observes as a convent of nuns - led by none other than Werner Herzog - perform humanitarian acts in a Third World country. Bizarrely, the nuns discover that they have the ability to fly in the air once they show utmost faith in God. Both subplots end with disappointment, the nuns and their plane crashing (with everyone on board killed) and the celebrity impersonators throwing a show which no-one attends (which leads to much feuding amongst the actors and even a suicide).Thoroughly aimed at the Facebook generation, "Mister Lonely's" first act centres on gangs of alienated celebrity impersonators who hunger for connection. Here every human being is an actor, insecure performers who "put themselves on display", "regulate and monitor their identities" and assume manufactured, "celebrity personalities" in an attempt to "feel special". But if late capitalism atomizes, displaces and isolates, it also offers new, hyper-mediated modes of human connection. And so Korine's celebrity impersonators become grotesque, freakish monsters, twisting their bodies and updating their profiles out of a need to be loved, wanted or even recognised.The narcissism of the impersonators is then mirrored to the altruism of the nuns. Where the actors think only of themselves, the nuns act selflessly to help others; they put their bodies and lives on the line, and seem to live a wholly sacrificial existence. But Korine also deftly shows how the reverse is also true. The actors may seem selfish, but in their own way are beautifully selfless, communal, exude their own spirituality and readily give of themselves for the betterment of others. Indeed, Korine spends much of the film drawing parallels between the actors' commune and religious covens. Likewise, the nuns may seem supremely generous, but behind their motivations lurk commensurate insecurities, delusions and what are really ego-maniacal beliefs.Korine then draws other complex parallels. Psychological damage explains both the nuns and the actors, but does not negate the social benefits of what they do. Likewise, while the actors pretend to be broadcasting a certain individualism (seemingly unique outfits etc) - as opposed to the communal anonymity of the nuns (standardized garbs etc) - they in reality have indistinct identities and must adopt second hand personas. Korine then equates the nuns' faith and the actors' hunger for fame, both groups trying to find personal exaltation, and a sense of well-being and security in something that is largely false and/or insecure. Strangely, Korine punishes both groups. Extreme individualism/egotism and extreme altruism/selflessness are seen to be dead ends.The film's duality itself mirrors contemporary political discourse. Capitalism is organised narcissism and tends to organise our lives around the narcissism of the powerful. Offered as "antidotes" to this are typically collectivised, altruistic social models. In "The Culture of Narcissism", Christopher Lasch himself notes that certain forms of narcissism are the result of a relentlessly consumerist society in which the "self" is repeatedly destroyed, purchased and projected. For Lasch, our modern era is one associated with pathological narcissism, perpetual adolescence, and a very weak sense of self which requires constant external validation.For Lasch, even "alternative lifestyles", an exodus to which began with the collapse of post-Sixties progressive movements, are tainted. With the victory of neoliberalism and the designed destruction of all alternative social and economic models, radicals found themselves gobbling up objects of mass consumption and consciousness (hypnotism, Tai Chi, health food etc) and then, with no future, retreating into a kind of extreme individualism. This glorification of the self then went hand in hand with its complete obliteration; we are celebrated as individuals precisely at the moment when we are most subsumed or integrated into the logic of capitalism. A veneer of cynicism is used to deny these truths, but such a stance merely makes us more susceptible to accepting subservience. Such a dissolution of illusions and myths, far from sharpening one's perception of reality, then reduces man's interest in the real world itself. Man thus retreats inwards, to a private, cloistered self. This new narcissism then becomes increasingly obsessed with self-improvement, medicalization, acquisition and the approval of peers and authorities. Deprived of real control and meaning, the subject retreats into grandiose fantasies, and hopes it might one day be confirmed, applauded or stumble upon its fifteen minutes of fame. Alongside such a Western narcissism is a new breed of Eastern narcissism; those obsessed with monastic purity, cultivating beautiful souls and remaining socially disconnected but spiritually clean. Both stances – the narcissism of the actors and the nuns – hinge on both a psychotic denial of reality and a betrayal of the social.Like the works of his hero, Werner Herzog, Korine's film ably mixes moments of horror, documentary realism and the absurd. Korine also captures a number of sublime passages, most of which involve nuns floating eerily through the air. Like most of Herzog's films - "Even Dwarfs Started Small" is its chief ancestor - "Mister Lonely" also hinges on outcasts and eccentrics. Korine presents these marginalised characters with a complex mixture of sympathy and revulsion. His follow-up film, "Spring Breakers", would adopt a more pessimistic tone, portraying America as a pornographic cesspit.8/10 – Worth two viewings.

Why would anyone make a film like this? Why would anybody invest in a film like this? Why would anybody in the film business work on a film like this? Why would any theatre show a film like this? Why would any TV channel program a film like this? Why would any critic bother to review a film like this? Why would anybody watch a film like this? Why would mental examinations not be made of the writers/producers/directors of a film like this? Sometimes there are movies that are so bad they're good. This is a movie that is so ghastly that it's horrible. IMDb really must institute a "0" or even a minus scale to embrace works of this appallingly pretentious awfulness.

MISTER LONELY is that sort of film that pleads to be loved. It has an original concept for a plot, it takes many visual and surreal chances, and it is populated with a lovable cast who seem to be having fun with the process. Harmony Korine both wrote (with Avi Korine) and directed this pastiche about people who, frustrated with reality, live their lives as impersonators of famous people. When it works it is delightful: when it gets bogged down with a self-conscious script it falls flat. 'Mister Lonely' (beautifully depicted in the opening sequences under the credits as a child who cannot be what he is told to be) is a young man who takes on the persona of Michael Jackson (Diego Luna), performing dance movements on the streets of Paris as a busker. He encounters a like person who lives impersonating Marilyn Monroe (Samantha Morton) and before long the two are off to a Highlands commune in Scotland, populated with full time impersonators such as a foul-mouthed Abraham Lincoln (Richard Strange), Charlie Chaplin (Denis Lavant), The Pope (James Fox), Father Umbrillo (Werner Herzog), Sammy Davis, Jr. (Jason Pennycooke), the current Queen Elizabeth (Anita Palenberg), Little Red Riding Hood (Rachel Korine), James Dean (Joseph Morgan), Madonna (Melita Morgan), and flying nuns among others. The story is less a plot than a celebration touched with a bit a angst of how the unnoticed people in the world find a source of belonging by embracing imagination. The film is choppy and loses some of its potential allure from the editing. The cinematography by Marcel Zyskind captures some truly beautiful moments and the musical score by Jason Spaceman with the Sun City Girls adds a lyrical air to this surreal romp. For lovers of Harmony Korine this movie will please. For viewers with limited attention spans (running time is 112 minutes) the film begs indulgence. Grady Harp

Harmony Korine. I'm not sure what he was trying to do with this film. If it was to turn my good day feeling into a night of disturbing memories than I guess he succeeded.I know that there were big questions raised in this movie like, who are we really, what are we here for, is there really a God. All great questions, But I really don't think that is funny when you have the questions along side such tragedy. I'm all for real life being portrayed but come on. It's never funny when a wife is being raped, someone killing themselves (and family and friends find the body) and people die for unexplained and unnecessary reasons.The only good thing about this movie was the location it was filmed. There is a lot of beautiful places.I'm not a film student or even know all that much on the subject I admit this, but I do know that when I leave the theater with a feeling of disgust, then it was not a film I would recommend to anyone.