Scarlett Johansson has starred in films directed by some of the most remarkable directors (including female directors) of our time, from Sofia Coppola and Christopher Nolan to Robert Redford and Woody Allen, in her more than twenty-year acting career. She studied them, secretly ‘took notes’, ‘stole’ their secrets, and now she has made her feature film directorial debut with ‘Eleanor the Great‘. The first thing to admire is that the actress-turned-director did not hesitate to tackle a difficult subject that promised to be controversial, and it was. The script for ‘Eleanor the Great‘, written by Tory Kamen, combines two difficult topics – the testimonies of Holocaust survivors and the struggle with grief. Scarlett Johansson was probably fascinated by the Jewish theme (the film would find its place in any Jewish film festival), and the way the script addresses the issues and questions it raises are not easy at all. Even if the success in confronting these topics is not total, I think the film manages to be interesting and sensible and to ignite discussions and reflection. It is a remarkable debut, even if we did not know who the director is.
There are small lies and there are big lies. There are bad lies and there are good lies. Those who have never lied of any kind may not read further. The rest of us know that from time to time we get away with a little lie, and that sometimes we have to lie in order not to upset or to help others. Eleanor, the heroine of the film, enjoys lying. Most of her lies are small and innocent. When her friend, Bessie, dies and she is left alone in the house they shared in Florida, Eleanor does not really know how to face the new situation. She returns to the Bronx, where she lived in her youth, falling on top of her daughter and grandson, each busy living their own lives and facing the specific problems of other ages. Looking for company at the Jewish Community Center, she stumbles upon a group of Holocaust survivors who share their traumatic experiences in order to confront old age, but especially to fight forgetting. Forgetting themselves and those around them. Invited to speak, Eleanor tells a story. What she shares is true, but is it her story? Is Eleanor lying, or is she recounting a true episode of history that needs to be told, but which does not belong to her? And why does she do it? When young student Nina, who had also gone through the trauma of the recent loss of her mother, joins the group, the two women, separated by decades in age, find understanding and support in each other. Nina, a journalism student following in the footsteps of her famous TV star father, spreads Eleanor’s stories. Things get complicated.
The film tackles several delicate themes. The most problematic is the one related to the veracity of the testimonies of Holocaust survivors, but it also captures complex aspects related to confronting old age, loneliness and the way each of us copes with the loss of a loved one, the persistence of memory and the role of journalists and media institutions in education. It does so with the tools of family drama and melodrama, tools that debutant director Scarlett Johansson seems to master with the self-aasurance of a professional with many films in her career. The choice of actors is also excellent. On this occasion, I got to watch two exceptional actresses: June Squibb, who plays Eleanor at the character’s age and admirably manages to make us understand the struggles and motivations of a person who makes mistakes and who is not always likeable, and British actress Erin Kellyman who fits perfectly into the role of Nina, the young aspiring journalist who is fascinated by the meeting with Eleanor and decides that the story of a Holocaust survivor deserves to be shared and known by as many people as possible. I liked less the fact that the script, after raising interesting and complex issues, moves towards a predictable resolution that tries to reconcile everyone. I was also bothered by the excessive musical background of tender piano accompaniment of dramatic confessions. This kind of soundtrack may work in documentary films, but for a fiction film with such ambitions (and successes) in addressing a difficult issue, I think a more appropriate music could have been chosen or composed. Despite these setbacks, ‘Eleanor the Great‘ is a film that deserves to be seen, and not only in the context of Jewish or Holocaust film festivals, and I will be looking for Scarlett Johansson from now on as a director and not just as an actress.