Daniel Day-Lewis is one of the most celebrated actors who ever lived. So it’s ironic that he keeps crying “wolf.” Sure, we can believe that he’s an 18th century action hero. We can believe that he’s a snooty dressmaker. We can even believe that he’s Abraham freakin’ Lincoln. But after all these years, after all these false alarms, we can no longer believe that Daniel Day-Lewis will ever retire. It’s the only performance he’s ever given that didn’t ring true.
It’s been eight years since Daniel Day-Lewis claimed, for the umpteenth time, he was taking his talent and going home. But now he’s back for more in “Anemone,” a film he co-wrote with his own son, Ronan Day-Lewis. The younger Day-Lewis also directed the film, so it’s tempting to read this as a generational supra-narrative. Especially since “Anemone” is about trying to drag a reclusive man back into the world he rejected, and for his son’s benefit no less. If these parallels between real life and the movie aren’t intentional, then what can we say, except the human subconscious strikes again.
“Anemone” stars Sean Bean as Jem Stoker, who leaves his home, his beleaguered wife, and his troubled teenage son to venture into the woods of Ireland. He’s tracking down his brother, Ray, who abandoned his family after a terrible tragedy. Maybe Ray is a murderer. Maybe he’s just a bad dad. “Anemone” doesn’t tip its hand too early, leaving Jem and Ray alone in an arboreal negative space for days, barely speaking except to avoid speaking, and occasionally getting drunk and letting all their baggage spill out.
Jem, we soon learn, has been raising Ray’s son Brian (Samuel Bottomley), who is in serious trouble. Jem married Ray’s old flame, Nessa (Samantha Morton), but Ray’s legacy is suffocating Brian, and Jem believes only Ray can clear the air. But to do that he needs Ray to leave his self-imposed exile, and that’s not something Ray can do.
Ronan Day-Lewis directs “Anemone” with a strange disinterest in narrative drive. It’s not that the film is mostly a two-hander in a cabin in the woods, giving the production an intimate, black box theater personality. It’s that he’s weirdly disinterested in watching these two characters talk, when that’s all the audience wants. We’ve got Daniel Day-Lewis back in theaters, acting opposite the excellent, often-underrated Sean Bean, in a familial drama about shame and regret, and yet these two men are laconic, and willing (if not eager) to belabor the point. Jem has an almost profound patience with Ray, since this whole weeklong sojourn down miserable memory lane could, if you think about it, have been 30 seconds long, if Ray wasn’t as stubborn as a mule.
When they do talk, Jem and Ray think back to their abusive father, their horrific experiences in the Catholic church and their harrowing memories of The Troubles. Ray has isolated himself because he cannot live in the present, and the past often comes to haunt him. Ronan Day-Lewis has a flare for moody hallucinations, which threaten to derail the film with their eerie suddenness, but it’s clear what we’re really seeing here. The uncontrollable urge to stay put, to live in the past, to avoid the present and deny the future. “Anemone” is a film about purgatory, maybe even literally. Ray is trapped between worlds and Jem has come to pull him out or, if need be, give him a heavy, bruising push. It’s not boring and slow. It’s mesmerizing and, fittingly for depressive episodes, it feels overwhelming and infinite.
I’m sure the distributor of “Anemone” would love to be able to declare “Daniel Day-Lewis is back, baby!” with fanfare and fireworks but this is a film about why he stays gone, and while he’ll probably leave us again. Living in the real world takes a lot out of Ray, and acting seems to take a lot out of this particular actor, so when we watch him give long, theatrical monologues about death and child abuse, it feels like we’re watching him torture himself. We’re all Jem, dragging a man out of limbo. Maybe we have good reasons but that doesn’t make it any easier for this poor, fascinating soul who keeps running through a ringer.
Then again, perhaps it’s impossible to understand the depths of “Anemone” without a comprehensive knowledge, or even firsthand experience with the Northern Ireland conflict. I am in no position to lecture, I admit it, but the humanity of “Anemone” is on full display in any context. Sean Bean and Samantha Morton have their own struggling souls, and their inexorable connection to a man who wants to sever all ties is a tragedy by any measure. It’s an impressive acting showcase for everyone involved, not just the actor whose appearance warrants headlines all by itself.
So Daniel Day-Lewis can cry “wolf” all he wants. We never believe him, except when he’s acting. And he’s acting his head off in “Anemone.” It may be odd and insular, but it’s very much intentional. Even the heavy-handedness feels genuine. He really is heavy. He’s our brother.
