Benjamin Review
- beyondblockbusters
- Mar 25, 2019
- 2 min read
Benjamin is a semi-autobiographical film written and directed by Simon Amstell (Carnage) and features Colin Morgan as the titular Benjamin.
He is an actor, director and writer who is close to finishing a film, No Self, seven years after his only other one, but is struggling to come to terms with releasing it to the public. He tells his publicist Billie (Jessica Raine) that “ideally, I’d have just made that film and died” so people wouldn’t get the chance to hate him.
Billie then takes him to a young, hip place which is where he finds Noah, played by Phenix Brossard, and begins to fall in love with him.
Categorising Benjamin is difficult: it’s very funny, but the jokes are often at the expense of its lead’s personal issues; I wanted him to be happy, but the authenticity of the romance always had an undercurrent of doubt.
We meet an ex-boyfriend of his, played by Nathan Stewart-Jarrett who carries his cameo with an air of composure while remaining cutting with his breezy delivery, who berates Ben’s relationship with Noah due to the lead taking the “easy” and “safe” option, and not having any pride in himself.
I never really bought that there was a mutual connection between the pair and felt that Noah wasn’t a strong enough character in his own right, just a depiction of Benjamin realising that living for himself and putting up a barrier between himself and emotion isn’t a viable way to live your life.
Benjamin is a character who lets people walk over him, such as his producer and his publicist, and tries to maintain a façade of nothing hurting him in order to try and convince himself. He personifies what Amstell is trying to say: creatives are subjected to so much scrutiny that becoming devoid of emotion may be the only way to survive.
Colin Morgan’s terrifically awkward depiction of the main character is conveyed through his way of speaking and also his shoulders. With the former, his words and sentences all just run into each other and flow without any filter, trying to plug the gaps of silence which clearly discomfort him.
The first time we see Morgan on screen is when he is playing Benjamin playing a character in his own film and so much of that character is portrayed in Morgan’s uptight shoulders. We then see the “real” Benjamin moments after whose shoulders are much lower and indicate his apathy towards life.
Benjamin will likely be enjoyed by all audiences due to the humorous script and endearing lead who the film gives its undivided attention to, but there is more than enough despondency beneath the surface to appease those who will go into it looking for a bit more.
Please also visit my latest podcast which gives a brief summary of the career of Benjamin's director Simon Amstell:
Comentários