MARGARET: Underseen Kenneth Lonergan Masterpiece Deserves Attention

MARGARET is famous for enduring a troubled post-production and multiple lawsuits against its writer/director Kenneth Lonergan, who struggled to fulfill his contractual obligation and deliver a cut his employer was happy with. Without knowing the details, you can tell it was confined to the cutting room for years just by looking at it. The film has this wonderful dated and dusty quality as if it arrived by time capsule. This is almost literally true. In 2011, it was finally released. In 2012, it was finally available to New Zealand audiences via the World Cinema Showcase.

MARGARET is also one of the best films of last year. Set in post 9/11 New York, it's about high school girl Lisa Cohen (Anna Paquin), who inadvertently causes a fatal bus accident when she flirts with the bus driver. Consumed by guilt, Lisa pursues legal action and becomes emotionally abusive toward everyone around her. It's a stunning character study played superbly by Anna Paquin in the performance of her career. If MARGARET was given a proper release and the marketing push it deserves, it would've won every award or at least been nominated.

Without seeing the film a second time, I'm hesitant to call it a masterpiece, but tempted. The film is an uncompromising work of art made by people with profound insight of the human condition. I left it with deep respect (almost reverence) for everyone involved, for creating a film with enviable electricity and dimension. What the lead character is going through is unlike anything I have ever experienced, but I'm so grateful to the filmmakers for presenting this character to me so I may inch that much closer to understanding people and life and the mess we make of it all.