Blue Heron

by Mike McGranaghan

At roughly the 45-minute mark, Blue Heron goes from being one of the year’s best films to one of the year’s most frustrating films. Writer/director Sophy Romvari takes a major storytelling risk with her semi-autobiographical tale. She deserves great credit for ambitiousness, even if the bold choice proves somewhat off-putting.

The story is told through the eyes of Sasha (Eylul Guven), a little girl who moves to Vancouver Island with her mom (Iringó Réti), dad (Ádám Tompa), and three brothers. Eldest sibling Jeremy (Edik Beddoes) clearly has mental and behavioral issues, as he’s prone to doing things like shoplifting and perilously walking around on the roof of the family home. The movie’s first half intentionally keeps things a bit vague about his condition, so that we understand only to the basic extent that Sasha does.

Early scenes in Blue Heron capture important family dynamics. Mom and Dad are perplexed over how to help Jeremy. Sasha struggles to form a connection with her brother. The younger siblings seem oblivious to Jeremy's troubles. These and other moments are captured with simple clarity, the camera unobtrusively observing what takes place. Naturalistic performances add significant power. You forget you're watching actors because their work is thoroughly authentic.

Then comes the risky move, which I don’t intend to reveal in full. At a critical moment, the story jumps forward twenty years, following the adult Sasha, now played by Amy Zimmer. She’s a documentary filmmaker, and indeed the picture begins to blend fiction and non-fiction - as well as past and present - in a manner that’s initially confusing. Once you figure out what Romvari is doing, the gutsiness is impressive. But it also causes Blue Heron to become more mannered and less intimate. I spent the entire back half thinking about the technique rather than the characters or their dilemma.

Doubtlessly, some viewers will buy into the conceit and, to be honest, I envy them. When a director refuses to play by normal conventions, it’s thrilling. In this case, though, the bold approach pulled me too far out of the film. I emotionally disconnected from a story that I had previously been emotionally invested in. The appealing realism of the first 45 minutes gives way to an overly artsy, borderline self-indulgent second half.

This leaves me on the fence regarding Blue Heron. There is much to admire here. Regardless, the entirety of the experience proved underwhelming.