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'A Star Is Born' and then there were two

Romance, interlocked: A Star Is Born centers its story on the blooming romance between Ally (Lady Gaga) and Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper)A Star Is Born expertly maneuvers between the couple and the individuals

Stanley Widianto (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Sat, October 20, 2018

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'A Star Is Born' and then there were two

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omance, interlocked: A Star Is Born centers its story on the blooming romance between Ally (Lady Gaga) and Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper)

A Star Is Born expertly maneuvers between the couple and the individuals.

Lady Gaga once wore a meat dress to an awards show. But the same woman, born Stefani Joanne Germanotta, has carefully shed her larger-than-life personality in favor of a new mask: authenticity.

For the press cycle leading up to the release of her most recent album, Joanne, her scaling back was apparent, obvious. She revealed her illness and wore boots.

It is perhaps capped by her turn in the movie A Star Is Born, finely directed by actor Bradley Cooper.

A Star Is Born triumphs because of her. As the timid singer-songwriter Ally, who later blossoms into a pop star, the removal of her mask does not feel contrived.

She acts out her emotions the way the script (written by Cooper, Eric Roth and Will Fetters) demands her. She burrows deep into Ally’s interiority so eloquently. She externalizes her love for her father, Lorenzo (Andrew Dice Clay), in exciting scenes of an Italian household.

But it’s not just her — the story, the fourth film of the same story from 1937, 1954 and 1976, also helps. A Star Is Born is about the alcoholic rock singer Jackson Maine (played by Cooper, with a deep Southern drawl) who spots Ally at a drag club where she sings “La Vie en rose”.

Then their creative sync-up sprouts with their romance — he invites her to sing at his concert, she discovers herself. In so doing, however, she is both blunt and romantic — she will never take a seat in Jackson Maine’s bandwagon.

Ally and Maine’s romance transforms one of A Star Is Born’s most excellent qualities. And that quality is intimacy. Seldom does a scene that only has Ally and Maine in it utilize the long shot. The camera is always trained on both of them.

Intimacy: A Star Is Born triumphs for its intimacy and Bradley Cooper's adroit directing
Intimacy: A Star Is Born triumphs for its intimacy and Bradley Cooper's adroit directing

It also helps that Cooper and Gaga’s acting is impressive. You can detect the destruction of the former, and the self-discovery of the latter, just by looking at the actors’ faces. A Star Is Born slowly but surely draws out their relationship, even when their surroundings — high-octane music, adoring fans — are louder.

But A Star Is Born is also largely a story about self-destruction. Maine’s tinnitus and alcoholism barely threaten his relationship with Ally save for a few moments (in one scene, he calls her ‘ugly’); it mostly derails himself.

Ally has her own problems, too: Her manager, Rez (Rafi Gavron), demands she lose a part of herself if she’s really serious about her pursuit for stardom.

The music performances, too, don’t rely on schmaltz to make themselves known. It’s tender, exciting and at times operatic. Cooper is a fine rocker, but Lady Gaga’s clarion voice stops the movie theater every time she opens her mouth.

The songs “Shallow” and the finale “I’ll Never Love Again” will be etched in my memory from now on. The soundtrack, written by a host of songwriters and Gaga or Cooper themselves, stands tall with the movie.

But by centering the story on Ally and Maine’s relationship, A Star Is Born gets to tap into a complicated romance. From both the dialog and overall impression of the movie, this complication isn’t all that obvious. It makes the movie all the more heart-wrenching.

There’s a scene where Maine reveals how he’s come to adopt his voice. Upon hearing the reason, his brother, Bobby (Sam Elliott), drives away with tears in his eyes. The silence is enriching.

And then there were two. The story A Star Is Born is a careful examination of a relationship strengthened and weakened by one person’s rise, and the other’s fall. The new version of it is a reminder of its enduring place in American cinema of any time, of any era.

The right kind of musical: The excellent music of A Star Is Born was filmed live.
The right kind of musical: The excellent music of A Star Is Born was filmed live.

— Photos by Warner Bros. Pictures

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A Star Is Born

(Warner Bros. Pictures; 135 minutes)
Director: Bradley Cooper
Cast: Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper, Andrew Dice Clay

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