directed by Melanie Laurent
This 2018 neo-noir movie was the English language directorial debut of Melanie Laurent. You may remember her from her role in Inglorious Basterds as Shoshanna, the Jewish cinema owner, who is seeking revenge on the Nazis for murdering her family.
Apparently Laurent is something of a Renaissance woman, being a director, actress and singer among other things. Anyhow you may think after reading this post that you know what Galveston is all about.
It's definitely a story you've seen before. A bad man is forced through circumstances to defend a broken angel of a woman from even worse people. In so doing he may rediscover his own humanity, find redemption and perhaps even find some love.
And as in many films of this type a road trip is included. You've likely seen or read that story a thousand times before. I know I have.
Galveston follows that basic outline. The best way I can describe this film visually is that it hearkens back to some late sixties early seventies films. Things are literally very dark on screen at times, reflecting some of the characters and the decisions that they make.
This is not Hollywood action film. No one gets shot in the shoulder and declares in a deadpan manner "It went straight through. I'll be fine." When people get hurt, physically or more often emotionally, they stay hurt for a while. Laurent takes her time establishing characters reactions and feelings. There's a fair amount of silence throughout the film as we watch people react to each other, wordlessly express feelings, or just survive ordeals.
This film was an emotional gut-punch because it defied typical Hollywood conventions even as it made the viewer think that they would be upheld. This is based on a novel of the same name by Nick Pizzolatto (creator of True Detective), who also wrote the screenplay under a pseudonym. I think I would like to read that book now.