Genius -- Film Review

Genius

Directed by Michael Grandage

This is a very touching portrayal of the relationship between writer Thomas Wolfe and Max Perkins, his editor at Charles Schribner's.  It captures a lot of the ambivalence and contention in the relationship.  The relationship between an editor and a writer is always going to carry some uneasiness, but in the case of Wolfe and Perkins there was a psychological complementarity that ratcheted up the intensity to a considerable degree.  Wolfe, who was something of a lost soul, sought a father in Perkins, and Perkins, who had four daughters but no son, found a longed for ersatz son in Wolfe.  The problem was that Wolfe was probably a borderline personality who was careening out of control.  His writing was the mainstay of his psychological and emotional stability.  Indeed it might have been all that was holding him together.  Wolfe wrote copiously, obsessively, to the point where it is fair to say he was a workaholic on the one hand, and an alcoholic on the other.  These twin obsessions destroyed his relationship with Aline Bernstein, who seemed to have considerable psychological vulnerability herself.  Perkins struggled to get a grip on Wolfe, both on a personal level and in terms of structuring and condensing his voluminous writing down to something that could be published and sold to the public.  Perkins shaping of Wolfe's final published volumes is controversial among critics and scholars, and Wolfe had some regrets about it as well within his own lifetime.  It is thought to be a major reason why he left Perkins after the publication of Of Time and the River in 1935 and went to Harper and Brothers. 

However, an editor is an important element in the creative process.  And while it is true that an editor does put his stamp on a work to the extent that the finished product that is presented to the public may be far afield of the author's original vision for the work, it is not necessarily a bad thing.  George Martin created the Beatles and many other great rock and roll hits.  Sam Phillips was responsible for bringing many of the early rock and rollers of the 1950s to the public, like Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, and many others.  The lack of an editor is often a serious drawback for an author as in the case of Richard Wagner, who, having no check on his natural grandiosity, created these monstrosities that tend to be overbearing and oppressive to sit through.  Perkins undoubtedly sculpted and shaped the writing of Thomas Wolfe, but it is not necessarily negative, and the works might not have had the public appeal that they did without his hand in them. 

The film is a sympathetic portrayal of all parties and strives to present a balanced outlook on the rather seething ferment between all of these people.  I would surmise that the film leans a little toward the benign and soft pedals a lot of the harshness and roughness that undoubtedly characterized these relationships.  One does not get a good feel for the inner pain and emptiness that was driving Tom Wolfe to write like a maniac from morning till night for years on end, and the same for Aline Bernstein, who was on the verge of murder-suicide.  They are seen in some of their bad moments, but one does not get a sense that this is a pervasive condition of their existence.  It is also a little hard to get a sense of time and chronology in this film.  The film spans from about 1929 until after Wolfe's untimely death in 1938, but Perkin's kids don't seem to get any older. 

The film is extremely well made and well put together.  The entire cast is to be given high praise.  The characters are created very movingly and convincingly with special recognition for Jude Law as Thomas Wolfe, Colin Firth as Max Perkins, and Nicole Kidman as Aline Bernstein.  The cinematography and the recreations of 1930s New York are excellent.  F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway make appearances.  The whole film works superbly well.  This is a really good one.  Go see it.