Customer Reviews

Young Adam [VHS]

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

First I want to say up front:
A lot of people are complaining about this being an edited, R-rated version instead of the original NC-17. But honestly I think these people are overreacting - as far as I know the only difference between this and the NC-17 version is a slightly extended sex scene that is INCLUDED AS A DELETED SCENE on the DVD. The exclusion of the scene doesn't hurt the story, and it's still there for you to see. If you're thinking of not getting the DVD simply because of this cut scene, I encourage you to reconsider.

As to what I think of the movie - my main reason for watching this movie in the first place is because I am a fan of Ewan McGregor's. And I'm not sure how I really feel about it overall. I do know that I think the sex scenes get repetitive - it almost seems they do so many of them because they want to prove to themselves or somebody else how daring they can be. And I also think the score is hit-and-miss - it is very lovely in some places but somewhat tiring at times. And, while I respect and usually appreciate movies that are subtle and not heavy-handed, I sometimes think this movie is a little too subtle for it's own good. It's point is not immediately apparent, though I'm sure some people like that about it.
On the good side, as everyone says, all of the performances are excellent. Despite the negative points of the movie, I find it a very compelling watch just for this reason. Ewan McGregor, Tilda Swinton, Peter Mullan, Emily Mortimer, and even some of the smaller parts: they're all riveting, and, for me, easily make this movie worth watching.

What a travesty to offer this film with an R rating rather than the NC-17(totally outrageous) theatrical version. I ordered this film, not paying attention to the rating, but when I realized what Sony had done I immediately cancelled my purchase. When and if the original film is released I will purchase it.

In order to please the Blockbusters and Wal-Marts of the nation, Sony has decided (in their infinite wisdom) to only release an EDITED version of this film on home video. I really thought that we were past this type of censorship, but apparently not.

The film, which was released in theaters NC-17, is now trimmed by about three minutes and re-rated R. This is a shame because I personally felt that the NC-17 was unjustified. I have seen far more graphic footage in films that got away with an R.

If you want to support censorship of a genuine piece of art, go ahead and buy this dvd. Otherwise, invest in a region-free player and import the uncut version from the UK. Being region-free is the only way to be!

Ewan McGregor long ago proved he is an actor who often exceeds the screen material and leading ladies with whom he has been coupled. In Young Adam, the maturity of the actor matches the material, while an excellent supporting cast excels to create a solid film that could have been stunning in black and white format. The aimless and amoral character of Joe (McGregor) reflect in a subdued performance by McGregor that proves again he is one of the best of the younger British actors to come to the attention of film goers in the 90s. However, Young Adam is the kind of story most audiences won't warm to in its presentation of bleak 50s blue collar life that is unglamorous and dull. It is an existence that was neither fashionable nor trendy.

Joe's daily routine lacks stimulation, so he finds it in a diversion with Ella (Tilda Swinton), the wife of his employer. Swinton is cast in the unglamorous role of a middle aged woman with "thick ankles" and it is a meaty role (sorry for the pun) which many Hollywood actresses yearn to play but haven't the chops. For Joe and Ella, their sexual trysts are far from an erotic session in the sheets. They are stolen moments, sweaty, and hurried. Joe's former girlfriend, whose corpse he hauls from the river at the film's opening, is a plain working class girl. In a fit of creative frustration, Joe douses her with custard and condiments for a moment of angry sex. Their romantic reunion months later is no more than a quickie with deadly results.

Young Adam translates the short novel by Alexander Trocchi with a disenchanted eye to the era. It is a grimy film, quiet, and filled with the boredom of Glasgow coal barges, and of men and women whose lives turned to routine lacks color. In Young Adam, the characters meander into each other with a disinterested lust. One senses the aimlessness of Joe is the creation of his disinterest not only in others, but of life and what little it offers.

Whatever notoriety was made by the press about McGregor's full-frontal nudity, it is no more than another quick flash already seen in earlier films like the Pillow Book and Velvet Goldmine. But, in context with the story, nudity, both male and female, is simply matter of fact -- no seduction or salacious fleshy views. McGregor's body lacks eroticism and underscores his character's amoral nature. Tilda Swinton is a tired woman with an impotent husband and hard life. Swinton's own stunning beauty and catlike face are hardened by the role, and she is outstanding as Ella. Emily Morton, Joe's old girlfriend, is too thin to be believable as a 50s woman, the era of curvaceous figures and chubby thighs; while her small role is also underwhelming. Peter Mullen gives another workmanlike performance as a cuckold spouse, the betrayal by his friend and wife an insult to his waning masculinity. The screenplay itself underwhelms but performances of McGregor and Swinton are worth viewing. Young Adam is a mature story with little nostalgia and romance, but good performances from the talented cast, it is worth viewing and deserves a place in film libraries.

Ewan McGregor stars as "Joe Taylor"in "Young Adam," about a young Scottish drifter with literary pretensions working a coal barge that travels Glasgow to Edinburgh. The movie opens on his finding, and fishing out, the semi-nude corpse of a pretty girl from the black and frightening Clyde River (at the bottom of which we see the typewriter he dumped a while before). Taylor claims to know nothing about this corpse, but by the time the movie, directed by David Mackenzie, and its numerous flashbacks are done, we'll know that he actually knew her quite well: in fact, she was pregnant by him.

You wouldn't expect life on a coal barge to be clean, nor is it, and the makeup artists have done quite a job with the ordinarily handsome McEwan. He's pasty, as befits a resident Scot, drinking and smoking heavily, eating that unhealthy Scots diet, never seeing the sun. And there's ground-in coal dust on his face and in his clothes. The striking Tilda Swinton costars as Ella Gault, married to Les: they operate the barge together though we later discover she owns it. Poor Tilda, dead pale, hair lank and filthy, limited, dirty wardrobe: monosyllabic dialogue: in a career of choosing unexpected parts, this might be the least glamorous role she's ever played. In fact, I guess you'd have to describe this movie as fitting right into the recent Scottish school of tartan noir: tougher, blacker and bloodier than usual, although, praises be, occasionally lightened by that dark Scottish humor.

Anyway, for a married father,and a major male movie star, McGregor is also known for his daring choice of parts, indie and mainstream. He's played gay, and gay love scenes, and doesn't shrink from full frontal nudity. We've got some of that in "Young Adam,"as well, in the frequent, rather graphic sex scenes. His character Joe Taylor seems to fancy every woman he sees, and they all seem to fancy him right back. Mc Gregor is Scots, born in Crieff, educated at Kirkcaddy College, first came to notice in Danny Boyle's 1994 black comedy "Shallow Grave," and to stardom in Boyle's even blacker 1996 comedy "Trainspotting." Mc Gregor has starred in "Guys and Dolls" on the London stage, made "Moulin Rouge" and "Down With Love" in Hollywood, and "Little Voice" in England.

Swinton, best known for "The White Witch" in "The Chronicles of Narnia,"singes the screen with McGregor in their sex scenes, and for a woman with hardly any dialogue, she manages to express quite a lot. She was born in London of an Australian mother and a Scottish father, who was a Major General in the Scots Guard. It's said that the Swintons are the oldest family in Scotland and England: the male line has proven descent back to Saxon times. She currently lives in Nairn, Scotland.

The movie doesn't ever get off its Glasgow to Edinburgh axis, and not a whole lot happens. To be sure, Taylor gets quite a bit of female attention, and proves to be not a particularly likeable man. Ella demonstrates that she knows her way around a boat. There are some fairly taut courtroom scenes. But if you're a movie-movie person, the mise en scene is great, and the acting is at the highest level.

The movie is amazing. The one star is because this is the R-rated version! Don't get it! The NC-17 version released in theaters is much rawer.

John

What an emotionless portrayal of an emotionless man. Ewan yet again proves that he is a force in both the Hollywood community and in the independent forum. Not only for having the bravery to go against American cliché and fight to keep his full frontal nudity in the film, but also for having the gumption to take this role. To me there's nothing "young" about this character, he was a mature man that desperately needed to find himself and clear his conscience. This movie should of been called "Lost Adam" or Guilty conscience Adam." The cover of this DVD doesn't serve him any justice.

Joe is not your normal 'hero' or character. In fact, I would go as far as to say he represents some of us. He is, sadly, our 'hero'. Joe (and Ewan portrays this perfectly) is constantly looking for happiness and acceptance, but somehow cannot find it due to the sexual urges that he has. It is interesting to see him want to have emotion, but yet have no issues with sleeping with another man's wife. This is a story of maturity for Joe, but sadly we do not ever see it. When I was watching this film I was continually thinking of the film Alfie (not the new release, but the older) in which a man embarks on several relationships and ultimately ends up with nothing. That is very similar to the story that we have here, only Young Adam is much grittier and darker ... and, well, more explicit.

The plot, what little of it there is, unfolds through character and behavior, with a minimum of dialog. There is much complete silence in this film. There is a quiet suspense, never quite gratified, which begins with the very first frame, a corpse, gently floating, photographed darkly, from below, so dark there is no face. A deceased, faceless female human being. Joe's is the first face we see. That first glimpse of his eyes, told me that nothing would be what it seemed in this film. Joe sees something we do not see. So begins the mystery.

Nothing is jarring, nothing is false. Life is simply never quite what we think it is. Make no mistake. There is a real mystery here to be revealed. Not a contrived, plot dependent series of revelations. It is the unpeeling of the layers of a human being. I haven't told you much about the plot. That is deliberate. The plot works. It reveals the character. The progression of events is true, often surprising, but never false, never contrived.

If you love great acting, by all involved, and appreciate the crafts and arts of film construction, I recommend "Young Adam".

I have literally looked everywhere to find the ORIGINAL uncut cinematic version of Trocchi's masterpiece, but apparently it is not fit for American eyes-- To all those at Amazon; let me know when the original British version is deemed "acceptable" enough to sell amidst all of the violent, meaningless drivel we are currently bombarded with. I will be more than eager to order THAT version... How demeaning...

Young Adam is based on the novel by Alexander Trocchi, and stars Ewan McGregor and Tilda Swinton. Ewan plays a young man who has gone from university and a life of privilige to being a worker on a river barge that delivers coal. He works for a married couple who along with their son make up the crew. At the start they find the body of a girl in the river.

Ewan's character has a past with the corpse, and through flashbacks scattered throughout the film we see what has happened to make him what he is now - a lothario and someone who seems to be numb. I thought from descriptions that the movie might be a sexually charged mystery, but it plays more like a mournful descent into loneliness.

Much has been made of the NC-17 rating. Honestly Ewan has shown more of himself in VELVET GOLDMINE and THE PILLOW BOOK. He has a few scenes with Tilda Swinton that are sort of graphic, and the flashbacks are pretty out there ... but both Ewan and Tilda look like barge workers, and the sex is mechanical for the most part. So don't expect something sexy as in BASIC INSTINCT or 9 1/2 WEEKS! There are definitely R-rated movies out there that show much more, and do it much less subtly. Some of the scenes are even fully clothed in YOUNG ADAM! I think the main problem with kids would be them sitting through two hours of a movie that does not rely on dialogue very heavily. Entire scenes are done with looks.

Much has been made about Ewan's character being a sociopath. Surely he is unlikeable, and seems to not do right things ... but it feels more like inertia and grief than a real desire to do harm to others. He even saves a life at one point! Hardly the work of someone basically bad.

A good movie if you are feeling introspective and want well photographed art film with good acting. But surely not action packed or even sexually charged as the rating or other reviews may lead you to believe. This is a quiet film of desperation.

Listen to the previous reviewers, at first when this title was available for pre-order, I was beside myself with excitment and immediately placed my order without batting an eyelid. However, upon closer inspection, it's rated R! Not the uncut NC-17 version. I cancelled my order immediately!

Save your money here and head on down to Amazon UK to get the original uncut edition, even though it's more expensive. Around 14 pounds.