EL SEGUNDO HERALD September 14, 2017 Page 7
Entertainment
Check It Out Film Review
Based on a True Story
By Delphine De Vigan
Reviewed by Roz Templin, Library
Assistant, El Segundo Public Library
Translated from the French by George Miller,
Based on a True Story stays with you long
after you read the final page. Award-winning
author Delphine De Vigan divulges intimate
information about herself, her family and the
impact her work has had on those around her
and those who have read her books.
There’s much of interest here. De Vigan
philosophizes on the point of literature: the
process, the resulting manuscript, how her editor
and publisher view the work and ultimately
how the reading public respond. She gives
the reader a brief background of her previous
books, mainly “the last one,” which could be
Nothing Holds Back the Night, a memoir about
her mother’s suicide and its effect on her family.
“Could be” since this entire story clinches
on the unreliable narrator phenomenon, which
Gillian Flynn exploited so well in Gone Girl.
This time, however, the author places herself,
her family, her friends and associates into the
tale. This book is promoted as a novel since
De Vigan believes that the “truth” is always
slanted in some way, filtered through memory
much like the lens of a camera. Reality is
viewed differently by its observers, especially
through the passing of time and its own filtering
system. Who can say what is really true?
In the story, Delphine is grappling with
the acclaim her previous book has received.
Much of her public have taken it to heart and
throng to the book signings and readings she
has done during the publisher’s tour. Some
family members were opposed to its personal
content, even to the extent of anonymously
sending hurtful and possibly threatening letters.
Delphine is exhausted in its wake and gradually
finds that she is unable to write a follow-up--an
extremely debilitating form of writer’s block.
That’s when she meets a fellow writer who
offers her friendship and understanding.
This person is identified only by the initial
“L.” Delphine is introduced to this beautiful
woman at a party and they find they have
much in common. Delphine describes this relationship
in hindsight and the reader responds
with feelings of foreboding as situations are
recounted. As “L” and Delphine bond together,
“L” purports that she wants to assist Delphine’s
return to writing. There are discussions
between them that include possible subject
matter, which sometimes leads to differences
of opinion between them. “L” always manages
to placate Delphine and assure her that she is
only concerned with the latter’s best interests.
She inserts herself into Delphine’s life to the
point where it seems she might be obsessed
(shades of the film Single White Female). It is
only after the fact that Delphine can see that
“L” was not all she presented at face value.
Though the suspense builds slowly, I found
myself turning the pages faster and faster the
further I read.
How often have you heard the expression,
“Fact is stranger than fiction?” The author toys
with this theme throughout and I was never
certain whether this tale was a memoir with
elements of fantasy or a new approach to a
novel. I still don’t know. No matter which way
you lean, it’s worth the ride.
Our library staff can assist you in locating
this and other new books, DVDs, CDs and
other items and services. We look forward to
seeing you soon! •
It Borrows from Nostalgia
to Induce Nightmares
By Ryan Rojas for www.cinemacy.com
In theaters now is the horror movie It,
adapted from the 1,138-page Stephen King
novel of the same name. The story of a
small town tormented by a demon in the
form of a killer clown has already broken
box office records, scaring up an estimated
$117.1 million. This has made It not only
the largest opening for a horror movie ever,
but the largest opening for any film debuting
in the month of September.
It opens on a foreboding rainy night, when
older brother Bill (Jaeden Lieberher) dispatches
out to young Georgie (Jackson Robert
Scott) via walkie-talkie as the two track a
sailing paper boat floating down their neighborhood’s
street gutter, which then falls down a
storm drain to a pair of unblinking eyes and
curious voice alluring Georgie inside. This
is the presence of the unsettling Pennywise
the clown (Bill Skarsgård), whose blood-red
lipstick runs up the corners of his mouth
and under his eyes. Pennywise befriends
Georgie--and then suddenly, the two disappear.
A year later, Bill is still preoccupied
with finding his younger brother whom he
can’t admit is gone for good. When Bill and
his friends realize that other kids in town also
went missing that year—and along with that,
other freaky occurrences--the group decides
to take matters into their own hands and hunt
down the clown.
If kids going missing due to otherworldly evil
brings to mind images of Netflix’s streaming
smash success, Stranger Things, you wouldn’t
be wrong. I’d bet more than a few Pennywise
pennies that this movie’s filmmakers (directed
by Andy Muschietti) didn’t exactly shy away
from tapping into the Emmy-nominated hit. To
say that It benefits from Stranger Things would
be more generous to say then that it flat-out
lifts the same pop-eighties look and feel of
the show (which itself took inspiration from
E.T. and The Goonies). This made me think
I was just resold a bloodier version of the
streaming series a few months before season
two came out.
For a movie about kids’ disappearances
and a killer clown, this freak-out horror flick
ultimately feels more like a kids’ movie
with good heapings of gore and kid-hurled
F-bombs than it does an actual adult scary
movie--which is an odd tone to achieve
given its R rating. There’s a certain level of
maturity missing here, but what would you
expect since the film’s point of view is from
protagonists on the cusp of puberty?
What’s ultimately lacking here is past the
eighties dress-up. There’s not a cohesive story
underneath that really makes sense, or worth
the audience caring why this evil even exists.
Maybe we’ll delve deeper in the next outing
(a sequel is already being developed)--but
while It may be lacking in depth, it is still
a scarily fun time at the movies.
It is rated R for violence/horror, bloody
images, and for language. 135 min. Now
playing in theaters everywhere. •
It, Courtesy of Warner Bros.
DISH DEALS!!
$49./99
mo.
for 24 months
ADD HIGH-SPEED INTERNET
$14./mo.
Switch to DISH and
Get a FREE Echo Dot
Control your TV hands-free with DISH Hopper + Amazon Alexa
“Alexa, go to HGTV.”
LIMITED TIME! Mention oer code FreeEchoDot
Requires internet-connected Hopper® or Wally® and Echo, Echo Dot or Amazon Tap device.
CALL TODAY - PROMO CODE: FreeEchoDot
1-855-900-9024
95
where available
190 Channels
Now only ...
Requires credit qualication and commitment
Roz Templin.
Based on a True Story by Delphine De Vigan.