Vox Lux,

Brady Corbet, NEON, 2018

**SPOILER WARNING**

Actor-turned-director Brady Corbet (

The Childhood of a Leader

2015) did not hesitate to use scale in the glamorous odyssey he orchestrated last year. Shooting on 65mm film, Corbet sublimely translated the magnitude of trauma, stardom, and family in way best fit for arenas. When scale comes up in film, the names that most often come to mind are Cameron and Nolan. While both directors have defined cinematic scale over the past decades – with their successful and not so successfull blockbusters – Corbet does not fall short in terms of masterful execution.

Vox Lux

is a flashy visual concert with a pace that mimics a pop sensation’s set list.  The film has three acts:

Prelude 1999

,

Act I: Genesis 2000-2001

, and

Regenesis 2017

. Each act covers a brief but eventful time period within the protagonist’s miraculously unfortunate life.

The film introduces its world in an unsuspecting, perhaps irrelevant manner. The first few scenes have no true connection to Celeste (Natalie Portman); however, they do serve part of an excellent exposition. The following set of scenes introduces Celeste as an average schoolgirl, sitting through the dreadful roll call and then BANG! The unknown character in the very first

shots

of the film now turns out to be a classmate of Celeste turned school shooter. BANG! Bald headed and rocking some blacked out contact lenses, he draws first blood by eliminating the teacher and then proceeds to open fire on the class – despite Celeste’s attempt to diffuse the situation. Celeste is gravely injured but manages to pull through with the support of her parents and most importantly, her sister Elanor (Stacy Martin). Unable to use her voice, Elanor compensates Celeste’s creative urges by teaching her to play piano. They manage to compose a song,

Wrapped Up

, which is a somber melody about the post-traumatic recovery of the school shooting. Celeste’s performs this moving song at the memorial held for the deceased students, which launches her career as an artist.

During the second act, we get to experience the metamorphosis of Celeste. She goes from D grade child pop star – something along the lines of

Selena Gomez and the Scene

or

Hannah Montana

– to full blown prodigal Madonna; this transition is marked by the shooting her music video for

Hologram (Smoke and Mirrors)

.

it’s 2017 and Celeste is a world caliber pop star on the level of Lady Gaga and Britney Spears. This act opens with another shooting, but this time it’s done by a group of terrorists sporting her bedazzled masks – used in the music video for

Hologram

that resemble the ones Kanye used during Yeezus. It couldn’t have worked out better for Celeste though; she’s on the eve of her 6

th

world tour and the catastrophe could serve as a clout booster. It’s in this final act that we get to see the wear and tear of pop stardom. Celeste has a distant relationship with her teenage daughter Albertine (Raffey Cassidy), an abusive relationship with her sister Elanor, and an uncomfortable – at least in my opinion – relationship with her manager (Jude Law). Corbet illustrates the Celeste’s difficult life by throwing in some arguments here and there, a lot of crying, and one or two mental breakdowns. To sum it all up, Celeste remains severely traumatized by the school shooting and has to endure the pain of covering up a nasty neck scar. She may have ascended into stardom as a result of the shooting but she did not escape an inevitable descent into madness. The film concludes with Celeste regaining her star persona – temporarily – and putting on a show that in my opinion was overhyped. When she reaches the height of the show – you know that part of the concert where the artist plays their biggest hit – the camera cuts to a shot Albertine and Elanor bouncing to the beat of

EKG

. You can interpret their faint grins as a positive sign, illustrating an improved sense of satisfaction with their relationships with Celeste, however, are things really better? Or are their grins a temporary product of the spectacle?

The introductory shower of bullets might have been enough to hook anyone, however, for it me it was the sound editing that did the job. The bullets weren’t water drops; they were thunderous bolts that resonated well within the theater. When I said Corbet implemented scale, I didn’t mean to imply he was limited to visual aspects. He went all out with the sound. Don’t be confused though, I’m not saying it was a simple turn of the knob that did the trick. It was the strategic arrangement sound and silence; low dialogue and unsuspecting chaos.

Corbet also pulls a unique stunt that I had never experienced in a film. One would expect that the climactic performance by Celeste have the highest quality of sound, true Dolby 7.1 or whatever. That’s not really how it goes down though in

Vox Lux

. If I had to describe the quality of the sound in those final scenes, it would be obviously loud but not entirely clear. There’s some grain and echo in the sound that enhances that sensation of being in a concert arena. Anyone who has been to a large concert knows that the sound isn’t always crisp and clear. ON TOP OF THAT, Corbet adds an additional layer of camera grain that projects the show as if you were watching it on those huge LED screens venues resort to. There’s something about the intention to achieve verisimilitude that truly makes the experience unique and worthwhile. Corbet elegantly turns certain scenes in this film into

footage

which to me is that cherry on top; he didn’t need to go there but he did and it made a difference.

Before I conclude, let me just express that I am so satisfied by the fact that that such a talented artist like Sia was tasked with writing the songs for this film. Like I told my skeptical peers, there are secrets hidden within the lyrics. Sia wrote the songs as if she was Celeste and as a result they are just dripping in crisis. For instance,

EKG

has the following verses:

Drop to the bed, I thought I was dead, no

I was barely alive.

Stuck in my head, I had nothing left, no

You brought me to life.

Celeste is performing songs that are full of references to her traumatic experience. Albeit it was an awful experience, Celeste turns the memories into profit and fame. It’s not something you catch right away, because the catchy beats mask them so well, but when you do become aware the whole situation turns grim.

Vox Lux paints a perfect portrait of the

fame monster

Lady Gaga once dedicated an album too. I was expecting Black Swan gone pop from this project but ended up with a transcendent musical with the catchiest songs. I kid you not, I can listen to

EKG

,

Hologram

, and

Private Girl

on repeat for hours. This film wrapped me up in tragic glam from head to toe. There wasn’t a moment I wasn’t invested into this pop stars miserable yet lavish life.

Vox Lux

by Brady Corbet will be available on Blu-Ray, DVD, and streaming platforms March 5

th

.