Words and Pictures

The latest film from Australian director Fred Schepisi, Words and Pictures follows English teacher Jack Marcus (Clive Owen) and Art teacher Dina Delsanto (Juliette Binoche), two opposites that argue over which is superior, words or pictures.

Dina is a new teacher at the school, whose bitter attitude clashes with the arrogant, egotistical Jack. They each suffer their own problems in life. Jack is an alcoholic that is on the brink of being fired and Dina has a disability that makes her incapable of painting the same masterpieces that she used to. Rallying the support of their students, the two create a battle of words vs pictures that is to culminate in a final showdown. 

The film has a few amusing moments, and the performances from both Owen and Binoche are really quite strong, but the characters themselves cause some issues for me which I think root back to an underdeveloped screenplay.

The issue with this film stems from the characters, specifically as they are presented in the first half. I understand the desire to portray a flawed character but we see nothing but their flaws in the first half. Jack is conveyed as just too much of an arrogant alcoholic and Dina as the angry artist troubled by her arthritis. We don't see the other elements that compose their psyches and hence they seem to lack depth. There is no chance for empathy from the audience as we just cannot help but dislike them. So when we start to see their other side, it's no longer believable and the rather touching new elements in the plot that build up a much stronger second-half, prove to be too little too late. The emotional power just cannot present itself honestly.

There's an underlying push towards the concept of the words and the pictures merging together but it's not subtle enough. The plot continuously attempts to inspire the viewer to explore the beauty of both words and pictures, which don't get me wrong, is a worthy cause, but the concept takes precedent over the development of Jack and Dina. It feels like it should be more of a character driven movie which utilises strong, multi-dimensional lead roles to weave it's intended message.

What we get is a film that attempts to be another Dead Poets Society (which it plays homage to with the Walt Whitman references), when it really should have found it's own voice through what is quite a strong premise that is delivered in a pretentious manner. This could have been so much more.