In March of this year, a film directed by M. Knight Shyamalan entitled “Split” appeared on Russian screens, the main role in which was played by the notorious actor James McEvoy (X-Men, Atonement, Penelope, etc.). The film was expected and, like any expected movie, received many of the most diverse reviews from critics and viewers. About the film "Split" in more detail - further.
Summary
A young man named Kevin Wendell Cramb suffers from a disease called "multiple personality" - in his head there are 23 different people at once. True, no one knows about this except the therapist Kevin, who is trying to help him, but to no avail. Kevin carefully conceals his position, trying to lead a normal life. Stronger and more adequate personalities in his head control the weak, aggressive. However, at some point, everything changes when Kevin (or rather, his personality, which at that time occupies his consciousness) kidnaps three schoolgirls in a parking lot, locks them and holds them by force ...
Billy Milligan
Perhaps not everyone knows, but in 1955, William Stanley Milligan, better known as Billy Milligan, was born in America, in Miami Beach. This real person (he died in 2014) suffered from personality disorder, 24 people got along in his body right away - both positive and not so good. The doctors ’diagnosis -“ multiple personality "- served as an excuse for Milligan in court when he was accused of rape and robbery. He became the first person with such an illness to be justified, and the famous writer Daniel Keyes described him in great detail and vividly in his documentary novel “The Multiple Minds of Billy Milligan”.
They tried to film the work of Keyes repeatedly for almost twenty years. Before M. Knight Shyamalan launched his project, James Cameron, David Fincher, and Joel Schumacher tried to get to him from different angles . However, no one managed to make the film. Shyamalan somewhat altered the events, came up with his own plot (it’s understandable, it’s a feature film, not a biopic), however, reliance on Kiz’s novel and inspiration by Billy Milligan’s personality in “Split” is felt unconditionally.
History of creation
The fact that the American director of Indian origin M. Knight Shyamalan will make a film in the genre of "thriller and horror" in his own script, it became known back in late summer 2015. But not everyone knew that Shyamalan had approached this project for two years. In November, the filming really began. They went through hard: the director turned out to be very meticulous and constantly demanded to re-shoot the scenes until the final result satisfied him. Ultimately, in his own words, “Split” turned out to be the longest film of all that he shot, and the most difficult.
Initially, “Split” was supposed to be an absolutely gloomy film, completely devoid of humor, based only on the depths of human psychology and mystification. However, after thinking carefully, the director changed his opinion, due to which there are still comedic notes in the film.
Interesting Facts
- The picture is called "Split", although there is no such character in it. This, however, is not a name; Translated from English, “split” means “divided”.
- The main character bears the name Kramb - in English, the word “Kramb” means “crumbs”, “particles”, “scraps”, which, of course, indicates problems with the character's memory.
- The film has little in common with the real story of Billy Milligan, except, perhaps, for the disease itself and the fact that Billy, like the movie Kevin, also had 23 “ordinary” personalities and one more, the most important. In the film, this is the Beast, the fearful monster, a violent creature. The real Milligan had a twenty-fourth personality called Teacher, he united the rest, remembered all the actions of each and eventually helped Billy get better.
- Billy Milligan fell ill in childhood - he had a hard life with his stepfather, drinking and dissolving his arms, who had raped the boy since he was eight years old. This point was also played in the film, though slightly differently: Kevin suffered from violence from his mother, but the main of the girls, his victims, Casey, was subjected to violence from his uncle. Kevin and Casey are here as if opposed to each other: having experienced the same situation, they behave in completely different ways.
- Thinking through the script of the film, Shyamalan did not intend to make Kevin bald. However, he came to a similar decision after he met James McEvoy, who shaved for his role in the movie X-Men: Apocalypse.
- The director played in the film a tiny role as a security guard in the house of psychotherapist Kevin.
- Fees in the United States amounted to more than 138 million dollars, in Russia - ten million, and in the whole world - almost 280 million dollars.
- The famous director James Cameron for a long time plans to remove his own version of the story of Billy Milligan. Two years ago, Leonardo DiCaprio was approved for the main role in the project called "Crowded Room", but since then no news about the picture has appeared.
Cast
The main role in the film - Kevin Wendell Kramba and all his other personalities (however, only five or six of them are shown to the viewer) - played by the famous actor James McEvoy. A couple of him was a young actress Anya Taylor-Joy, she got the role of one of the abducted girls, Casey. In addition to them, Betty Buckley, Sebastian Arselus, Neil Huff, Rosemary Howard, Haley Lou Richardson, Jessica Sula and other stars appeared in the film. However, first of all, reviews of the movie “Split” unanimously note the chic work of the two main characters.
James McAvoy
Scotsman James McEvoy has been playing in films for twenty years, although he himself is not yet forty. The actor’s talent has been repeatedly noted by various nominations and prizes (“Best Young Actor”, “Best Actor”, “Best Actor in British Independent Cinema”, etc.). There are a lot of benevolent reviews for the movie “Split” on “Kinopoisk”, and in particular, about the game McEvoy. James agreed to star in “Split” right away, however, they didn’t immediately choose him for the role: initially the director saw in place McAvoy Joaquin Phoenix. Unfortunately or fortunately, that proposal was not accepted, thanks to which everyone could enjoy the phenomenal game of McEvoy. Not for nothing that the audience’s reviews of the movie “Split” talk about the “benefit” of this actor. However, James was not the first to play mentally ill people - such roles already existed in his career, but in this case, the first time had to be approached with such scrupulousness.
In reviews of the movie "Split" about James, mostly positive things are mentioned. People admire his play, say that it “hypnotizes”, that, besides him, there’s nothing to look at in the picture and no one else, they note the actor’s great work on the role and on himself, they are amazed at how he managed to transform into several completely different characters and accurately convey the state of mind and character of each. “This is beyond the bounds,” “he is brilliant,” “he falls in love with himself” - these are just a few of what viewers write on various sites (including “Imkhonet”) in reviews of the movie “Split”.
James McEvoy’s great talent and professionalism, among other things, is also evidenced by the fact that he broke his arm during the filming, however, not wanting to let the team down, managed to film another two days before finally going to the hospital. Many critics are of the same opinion that the most interesting thing in the film is to look at how McEvoy copes with his task. James himself later admitted that for him the most difficult was the need to transform into a woman and walk in heels. Director M. Knight Shyamalan, on the other hand, speaks of the actor as a person who can be multifaceted at the same time - both menacing, funny, and touching. It was this trait that helped McEvoy play so grandly in Split, and the director was allowed to speak out that he was terribly lucky with the lead actor.
However, you need to add a fly in the ointment: not all reviews of the film "Split" by critics and spectators are full of enthusiasm for the game McEvoy. Someone notes that the actor could not fully reveal in this movie, and also that there are other artists who can be represented instead of James (which means that the game did not work out too well for him). Perhaps the presence of both positive and negative reviews is good, which means that no one was indifferent. As they say, on taste, on color - felt-tip pens are different.
Anya Taylor-Joy
The actress who played one of the kidnapped girls, Casey, is Anya Taylor-Joy. She is an American and is just starting her career in cinema. She starred at first in the series, talked about her after the release of the film "The Witch" in 2015, and only then "Split" followed. An interesting fact is that, being, as a matter of fact, still unknown to anyone, Anya did not immediately agree to shoot in Split, although it would seem that a novice artist should grab hold of any proposal.
In reviews of the movie “Split”, viewers unanimously agree that the task of the girl was serious: to play in tandem with a famous, established artist so as not to yield too much to him. But opinions about whether Anya coped with this are different: someone believes that she had a stone face and even a "mediocre" game, someone - that she was able to show the disclosure of the personality of her character. However, both of them agree that against the background of the other two girls, the actress's game stands out for the better, perhaps because there is much more time devoted to her.
The director himself believes that, like with James McEvoy, he was lucky with Anya Taylor-Joy, and in the future he predicts her a career as a successful actress.
"Split": reviews of the film
Reviews about the “Split” critics are mostly positive. Good cinematography, a competent approach of the director and his "growth" in comparison with previous films, an excellent acting game are noted. But the audience is not so unanimous: they both praise the film and scold it.
Among the positive aspects of the picture are an interesting idea, frequent close-ups, psychological stress throughout the action, well-written mystery characters, a mystical atmosphere. Highlight as a plus and that thanks to the film there is a chance to understand people suffering from such a disease.
The minuses of the movie “Split”, according to reviews, include a small number of unexpected plot moves, a lack of demonstration of all the characters of the hero and a detailed disclosure of the nature of each of them, a mismatch between the outcomes and the promising beginning of the film. They say that the genre of “horrors” does not correspond to the content of the picture, and that Shyamalan is not too deeply involved in the topic of human mental disorders.
Be that as it may, there is no thing about which everyone would have a single point of view. There is always a blasphemy for all sorts of positive words, because how many people have so many opinions. In any case, the movie Split is worthy of being seen.