Z for Zachariah (2015)
Content by Tony Macklin. Originally published on September 14, 2015 @ tonymacklin.net.
Z for Zachariah is post-apocalyptic claptrap.
A promising concept is trampled by filmmakers, trying vainly to be inventive. They take a successful novel, published posthumously in 1974, written by Robert C. O'Brien and give it their own precious spin.
The film Z for Zachariah is the story of a young woman Ann Burden (Margot Robbie), who thinks she may be the last survivor of nuclear devastation. She lives in an unidentified locale in a rural house with no electricity.
Ann comes upon another survivor John Loomis (Chiwetel Ejiofor), when he is bathing in a polluted body of water. He suffers severe radiation sickness, and Ann slowly nurses him back to health. Is he Zachariah - the last man?
Ann and John develop a symbiotic relationship (unlike the one in the book). She is the daughter of a pastor, and he is an engineer with hopes of creating a wheel to produce electricity.
To their compatible twosome comes a young stranger Caleb (Chris Pine), which creates tension and uncertainty.
The plot becomes awkwardly triangulated.
I doubt that the late author O'Brien would appreciate what they've done to his story. In their version they add a main character to change a duo into a trio. They change the race of John Loomis, so they need a young Caucasian to romance the heroine. Hence, Caleb pops into the picture. It's an addition that totally changes the story.
They sanitize the character John. They change Ann from being a teenager into a woman (Australian actress Margot Robbie is 25). And the book's emphasis on Ann's "journey" is lost. The dog Faro (played by Frosty) disappears, but not with the dire circumstances in the book. Frosty probably just wanted out.
Director Craig Zobel showed in Compliance (2012) that he likes to manipulate. He's not much on credibility. In Z for Zachariah, he goes full-bore.
The screenplay by Nissar Modi is haphazard. His dialogue is pedestrian and his symbolism is obvious. He dumbs it all down, e.g., dropping an allusion to Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice. His apogee of literature is A is for Adam.
The director doesn't help the screenwriter. When John says to Caleb, "I gotta tell you, she's a special girl." There's nothing in the film to support it. Ann says, "Dear Lord, please save this man... I will serve you." "Ok," answers the Lord, "leave this film."
But the worst offender of all may be composer Heather McIntosh. The music hijacks the film. It abuses it - it won't shut up. It's more prevalent than radiation.
McIntosh turns Z for Zachariah into a Hallmark Musical Greeting Card, but unlike the card, her music never ceases.
It's pretty obvious McIntosh has been influenced by Ennio Morricone. But Ennio's music elevates; Heather's smothers. Relating Ann to organ music does not make it organic.
McIntosh manipulates sound. She plays cello, bass, organ, and electronics. She is supported by other instrumentalists on strings, horns, harps, and so on.
In a country store, John says to Ann, "I found out Annie loves M&Ms....Annie doesn't like cherry soda." But the "orchestra" does. It swills it.
In one interview, McIntosh said, "Though it is chamber work, we wanted the sound to be full and orchestral." Maybe it's chamber pot music.
The actors remain actors, not believable people. There's little chemistry, and as much sexual tension as an M&Ms commercial.
In the movie Ann remains a vapid character, and Margot Robbie portrays her vapidly.
Chiwetel Ejiofor, as John, plays 12 years a cipher.
Chris Pine has taken a thankless side-trip from the Enterprise.
Perhaps different actors would have helped. A better composer would have. And a director more committed to credibility and not so zonked out by her music would have.
But zonked out he was.
