mes Schamus actually works as an indie producer and screenwriter and is above all known for his collaboration with Ang Lee (THE ICE STORM, HIDDEN TIGER, CROUCHING DRAGON). While working on the screenplay adaptation of the Philip Roth novel INDIGNATION, Schamus decided to direct for the first time. His old-fashioned but focused social drama works because of the great dialogue and clear narrative structure which gives the strong ensemble a chance to shine. The 20 minute battle of wits between 19 year old law student Marcus (Logan Lerman) and the religious dean Dean Caudwell (Tracy Letts) becomes an intense key scene that exposes the prudery and double standards of a small town like Winesburg in the early 1950s. “I like your sentence structure, your intention” the dean commends his student – and references the sophisticated dialogue and nuanced acting at the same time.
While the Korean War is happening far away, which Marcus is kept away from because of his scholarship, the highly gifted student dates open hearted Olivia (Sarah Gadon) which isn’t something his Jewish parents are happy about. The rebellion against bourgeois conformism embodied by Caudwell is done in a tentative manner but the social constraints prove to be stronger. Marcus is a boy of his time and is unable to completely let go of narrow-minded conventions. The pill that Schamus lets the audience swallow at the end of the film is appropriately bitter. Unstable Olivia’s punishment is especially insidious; her infuriating fortune reverberates in the prim, flowery wallpaper.

Christian Horn

Translation: Elinor Lewy