As such, Webber’s latest venture feels like a fantasy-minded John Cassavetes in his use of his own family as cinematic conduits. The easygoing and authentic vibes are no doubt assisted by the real-life chemistry of Webber, wife Teresa Palmer and their son Bodhi Palmer, with conversations about the realities and acceptance of death no doubt providing them with a personal catharsis which resonates well beyond their creative endeavor together. A witch with powers over oogy critters in the ground or the grotesque but kindly Grumblers are delicious touches which aid Webber’s medieval garb, wandering a chilly countryside like some lost The Game of Thrones character.īeautifully lensed by Patrice Lucien Cochet (who has served as DP on Webber’s past four films), Webber serves as his own editor in this stylized take which volleys between the magic conjured by the eyes of Bodhi vs. The Place of No Words plays like the adult-minded version of Where the Wild Things Are (2009), littered with fantastical creatures reminiscent of Spike Jonze or even something from the land of Jim Henson.
#MARK WEBBER ACTOR INTERVIEW SERIES#
It’s clear, through a series of hushed conversations and visits to the hospital, dad is suffering from a chronic illness, and Bodhi’s magical interludes are his way of escaping to a playful, secure realm where conversations with dad metaphorically prepare him for his eventual absence. The man shirks away from this line of questioning, and the film switches to the sanitized, contemporary climes of Bodhi’s life with his father and mother (Theresa Palmer, Webber’s real-life wife). Harsh elements and fantastical creatures cross their path as the child asks his father searching, hypothetical questions, eventually coming to a scenario about his father dying. Singularly formatted, though inescapably familiar, the impending death of a father through the magical fantasy of his three-year-old son, Webber has concocted a visual feast tethered inextricably to an overshadowing inevitability.Ī father (Webber) and his son Bodhi (Bodhi Palmer, Webber’s own son, making his screen debut) are off on an epic journey across a treacherous, wintry terrain. Actor turned director Mark Webber manages his own idiosyncratic, often elegiac attempt at the latter with his fifth directorial effort The Place of No Words. The exploration of death and grief through the eyes of a child lends itself either to heavy handed schmaltz or metaphorical fantasy, wherein filmmakers attempt catharsis through the universality of melodrama or the journey of acceptance through heightened escapism.
Words of a Feather: Webber Finds Catharsis Through Fantasy in Mournful Drama
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