I've heard quite a bit about what a so-called "mess" Maggie Gyllenhaal's The Bride! is but that didn't pan out when I watched what was a brilliant fever dream reimagining that is both wildly bold and biting while also being tragically sensitive. Yeah The Bride! is a dark carnival ride but I was along for it entirely. The film is demanding you listen to it. It is about finding a voice and using it and I get that for many they won't want that voice heard. For many the won't want to hear it. I say scream it out Maggie.
The character of the Bride is one that has such a rich history in film and originally literature. From Shelley's original creation (in 1818 of all times) which is one of the most effective critiques of maleness created. She hints at the "monster" wanting a bride, a companion, yet her narrative denies him this while suggesting the idea of this potential female creation which may be even more threatening to the status quo than the first Frankenstein creation. Then this was brought to life in the queer camp masterpiece that is James Whale's Bride of Frankenstein film in 1935 which doesn't give her a voice but gives her the agency to reject what the men think is her purpose. I'd argue Kill Bill's Bride is a variation on the theme of a woman molded into what a man wants who again fights back against her designated role leaving devastation in her wake.
Gyllenhaal takes all of this and makes it explicit. Perhaps wearing it on her sleeve is a reason so many are having a hard time with this film. She starts with Shelley herself and her desire for a voice. Gyllenhaal's Shelley says things like "mother fucking" and laughs at us from beyond the grave. There is no apology here for stepping out of the lines our culture has set out. This is a story, and a story allows for a lot of leeway, and Gyllenhaal runs with that freedom. She mixes elements from Whale's film with Bonnie and Clyde, Busby Berkeley musicals, and pulp fiction crime novels to weave her tale of a woman pursuing her own destiny. It is often audacious and rarely subtle. But anything that is messy here is intentional and... well the point.
Order is often a male imposition while feminine power invites a visceral, organic griminess that challenges the neatness being imposed. Male desire is focused on hierarchy and black lines of right and wrong while there is more fluidity in femininity. Often is it "mess" which is used to shame women and keep them in line. From the word hysterical itself to the denigration of being "emotional" the openness of messiness is a threat to the stoic order. Gyllenhaal even hints at queerness in moments, another sort of messiness which opposes the "cleanliness" desired by the patriarchy. There are fluids here (literally), emotional outbursts, variability, all the things we are taught to see as unclean and... well, feminine. So much of the reaction to this film is proving the film's point.
Buckley is a revelation creating an original character. The Bride herself is so complex and volatile yet she creates such a rounded and full character that we can't help feeling for and perhaps even seeing ourselves reflected. She isn't alone as Bale and the rest of the cast are also strong, but she is the titular Bride and all rests on her. She triumphs, creating an iconic version of an icon that is surprising, vulnerable, and I believe will be enduring.
Is The Bride! a lot? Damn right it is. And I'm here for it. It is movies like this that wreck normal movies for me. I know they can't all function like this, especially since normie audiences won't be able to handle them, but when they do come along I am thankful. The best part was coming out of this knowing The Bride! doesn't need our approval.
The Bride!
Starring: Jessie Buckley, Christian Bale, Peter Sarsgaard, Annette Bening, Jake Gyllenhaal, Penélope Cruz, Julianne Hough, John Magaro, Matthew Maher, Zlatko Burić, Jeannie Berlin
Writer/Director: Maggie Gyllenhaal
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