Venice 2022: Master Gardener
VENICE 2022Saying that Paul Schrader keeps making the same film over and over, a remake of Bresson’s Pickpocket with minor variations each time is an empty and obvious comment. More so than other filmmakers, Schrader has embraced his influences and cinematic obsessions, threading familiar ground in a way that feels earned. With his tortured, straight, white men at the center of most of his films, he is inserting himself, thus putting his body and soul through the wringer to atone for past sins.
His latest picture, Master Gardener, is a spiritual sequel to The Card Counter. Joel Edgerton plays Narvel Roth, a reformed white supremacist who tends to the garden of the wealthy Mrs. Haverhill (Sigourney Weaver). One day, she invites her grandniece Maya (Quintessa Swindell) to come work for her massive estate, and Narvel mentors her on gardening. Their nurturing friendship becomes a chance for Narvel to make up for the violent man that he used to be, though some of Maya’s acquaintances and own demons risk throwing him into a destructive spiral.
While eerily similar to the plot of The Card Counter, there is a strong feeling of finality and optimism in Master Gardener that is largely missing from most of his other works. It is as if Schrader is aware that he is reaching the end of his career, and there is no more place for hate in his heart. If Light Sleeper and First Reformed are about men falling deeper and deeper in a downward spiral, unsuccessfully saving those they love, Master Gardener sees redemption as achievable if the heart is in the right place. Love is like the beautiful garden of Mrs. Haverhill: there needs to be much care and attention put into it, and nothing comes randomly.
Still, despite being very much a Paul Schrader film, Master Gardener is a lesser work in his oeuvre. Joel Edgerton does an admirable job, but he does not have the same screen presence and charisma as Oscar Isaac or Willem Dafoe. The script goes more for drama than thrills, but when it tries to be exciting there is no real bite or sense of tension and danger. Similarly to that, the romantic angle, while incredibly sweet and tender, feels rushed and is likely to bother more sensitive viewers.
Master Gardener is Schrader’s Cry Macho. A movie very much in vain with the rest of the director’s body of work, only more restrained, quiet, idyllic, and just plain sweet in the end. It will not convert new people to the Church of Schrader, but his fans will get a kick out of revisiting past themes in a brighter light.