Canadian director Jean-Marc Valle in 2017, collecting impressive casting from superstars, filmed Lian Moriarty’s novel about cute features in quiet attractive whirlpools. That is how the reviews of domestic film critics characterize the visionary’s new project “Big Little Lies”.
Author's statement
In the center of the story of the series is friendship and all its features of three beautiful women - first-graders' mothers who live in general an idle life in a shiny seaside town in southern California. With the participation of Shailene Woodley, Nicole Kidman, Laura Dern, Reese Witherspoon and other worthy performers, the visionary poses an exceptional drama about domestic violence (psychological and physical), with captivating ease. The intonation of the story prompts us to compare the series “Big Little Lies” (season 1) with “Desperate Housewives”, although, in essence, they are only common heroines of the housewife and their desperation. Much more offspring Valle is similar to “Lovers” and “Murder on the beach”, which can already be considered a great recommendation. The new HBO mini-series, behind its openly entertaining form, hides the deep meaning and frank authorial expression.
Expert Score
"Big Little Lies" - a series that received mostly positive reviews from film critics and won the interest of the audience, it is no coincidence that its IMDb rating is 7.8. The Rotten Tomatoes aggregator site has 65 cinema expert reviews that rated the project 7.5 out of 10. The site’s critical consensus positions the mini-series as an incredibly funny and exciting, confusing story with first-rate stars playing central characters. There are 42 positive reviews published on Metacritic, which raises the film's rating to 75 out of 100 points. Such high rates encourage viewers to watch the multi-part film “Big Little Lies”. The actors involved in the project are known and loved by the viewer, which favors their heating of curiosity.
Star constellation
The work of Jean-Marc Valle has a lot of advantages that allow, with a clear conscience, to recommend the film, at the moment consisting of seven episodes, for viewing. Firstly, “Big Little Lie” is a series whose cast contains a lot of the most popular performers and exemplary acting works. In the center of the story are three main characters, the attention of the audience by the creators is evenly distributed between the activist Madeline (R. Witherspoon), who is fighting for the rights of everyone and everyone, trying to pacify her teenage daughter and yearning for the ex-spouse when the current one exists (A. Scott). The second heroine is a successful lawyer in the past, Celeste (N. Kidman), who exchanged a successful career for the altar of the family and built a relationship on the verge of aggression and passion with her husband and businessman (A. Skarsgard). The third is the young hippie mother Jane (Sh. Woodley), who recently moved to the city and instantly fell under the oppression of the sacrificial mother (L. Dern). The children of the heroines study in the same class, so they often communicate with each other in the local cafeteria.
Detective intrigue
Secondly, reviews recommend the Big Big Lie tape because of the story invented by Lian Moriarty, which is very witty, playful, and at the same time touches on the problem of domestic violence. The project can be perceived as a detective with an extraordinary disposition, because in the pilot at the next charity reception at the school there is a murder, but the creators do not reveal to the watchers not only the identity of the killer, but even the victim. And in general, the topic of violence in our society is more than relevant and painful, therefore it is simply amazing how the director approaches its coverage with ease and subtle humor.
Great direction
All 7 episodes of the project were directed by J.-M. Valle, who has two Oscars for the biographical drama "Dallas Buyers Club" and the adventure drama "Wild." However, the mini-series "Big Little Lies" by movie-makers is compared more with his painting "Destruction." According to experts, in the new work, the visionary visually and narratively develops the techniques demonstrated in this film. Instead of the usual flashbacks, he actively uses brief assembly interruptions, talking about the past and present of his characters.
However, the main plot frame by and large can be described as a single flashback: the stories of the main characters were shown before the murder, they are diluted with fragments of a survey of eyewitnesses of the tragedy. At the same time, the director achieves extraordinary acting skills from the entire acting ensemble, including from his favorite actresses - Laura Dern and Reese Witherspoon. The undoubted advantages of the film “Big Little Lies” are the reviews of reviewers include the efforts of the screenwriter David E. Kelly, in collaboration with the author of a literary source, who recorded all 7 episodes of the project. This added points to the series in terms of stylistic unity.
Advantages of the picture multiply the location of the shooting, striking the dizzying beauty of steep cliffs, pristine sandy beaches, graceful viaducts and marvelous sunsets. The director now and then focuses on views of the ocean, building a metaphor that behind the idyll of prosperous towns, imposingly sprawling on the ocean, the most unsightly devils are hiding.