THEn wave this evening at 9.20pm on Rai 3, The master gardener is the penultimate film by American director Paul Schraderpresented at the Venice Film Festival in 2022 on the occasion of its delivery to Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. With Joel Edgerton and Sigourney Weaveris a story of guilt and redemption: protagonist, a former white supremacist who falls in love with a young African-American girl.
The master gardenerthe plot of the film on Rai 3 and RaiPlay
Narvel Roth (Joel Edgerton) is a meticulous horticulturist who maintains the gardens and grounds of the magnificent and historic Gracewood Gardens estate in Louisiana. In addition to taking care of the property’s exterior, He also tries to always accommodate the needs of his employer, Mrs. Norma Haverhill (Sigourney Weaver)a rich and attractive widow who, every now and then, asks him sexual performance which he supports.
One day, Norma asks him to take on her rebellious African-American niece Maya (Quintessa Swindell) as a new apprentice. The young woman, orphaned and ended up in a bad drug ring, disrupts Narvel’s quiet and gentle existence, bringing to light dark secrets from a past that seemed buried forever. In fact, Narvel is a repentant neo-Nazi who lives under witness protection for denouncing his old gang of white extremists.
A feeling arises between him and Maya and they decide to run away together from Gracewood Gardens. But when Maya’s drug dealer vandalizes the estate in search of the girl, the two are forced to return. And, in Narvel’s case, to deal with the past.
Sigourney Weaver and Joel Edgerton in a scene from “The Master Gardener”. (Vision Distribution)
The master gardenerthe review
Third chapter of an ideal trilogy on guilt and redemption – the precedents are FirstReformed And The card collector -, Also The master gardener focuses on the existential travail of a lonely man wounded by life. It is the narrative line explored by the director Paul Schrader starting from the mid-70s, when he wrote, together with his friend Martin Scorsese, the screenplay of the cult Taxi Driver.
The American director gives here a new declination to the themes that are closest to his heart: guilt, atonement and redemption. The protagonist Marvel Roth is not much different from Travis Bickle of the already mentioned Taxi Driver but Schrader adds fuel to the fire. Also proposing on a reflection on contemporary American society, in particular the (largely) racist one of the Southern United States.
As always geometric and rigorous in its stagingSchrader once again confirms that he owns a unique styleeven in the choice of its protagonists. Joel Edgerton is perfect, with his granite face, to embody the torments of a marked man from guilt.
The cast also features a very good Sigourney Weaver
Sigourney Weaver is also extraordinary in the role of the nagging and despotic rich woman: a more complex role than it might seem. He is a character who seems to have stepped out of the pages of a 1950s play Tennessee Williams.
Versatile actress, capable of move easily from science fiction (Avatars) to romantic comedies (A career woman), Sigourney Weaver has spanned many decades of American cinemagiving us iconic characters. One above all that of the alien hunter Ellen Ripley in the saga Alien.
Born in New York in 1959, the actress has chosen in recent years with courage films outside the logic of the Hollywood market. Just think of his role in the 2020 independent film A year with Salinger where she plays Margaret, literary agent of the legendary JD Salingeror his hilarious appearance in the French TV series Call my agent!.
In his cinematic future there are sequels to the saga Avatars – 3 are planned, the first coming out at the end of 2025 – but it doesn’t end there. They will go out two other important titles who see her among the protagonists: the action Mysteries from the depths alongside Anya Taylor-Joy and The Mandalorian & Grogua sequel film to the series The Mandalorian with Jeremy Allen White and Pedro Pascal again as the mythical bounty hunter Din Djarin.
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