Young Adam screening report

Young Adam is a 2003 film by David McKenzie, based on the novel by Alexander Trocchi. Its runtime is 98 minutes and the main characters are played by Ewan McGregor, Tilda Swinton, Emily Mortimer and Peter Mullan. The film’s beautiful score was composed by David Byrne. Young Adam is a drama or a modern noir. It’s not a typical melodrama or character study as there aren’t really good or bad people in the film and the characters’ actions are never proved to be right or wrong.

The film is in narrative style and it is well-constructed,  but the storytelling is not always coherent; there are throwbacks from Joe’s past without warning, so the meaning of events and the connections are not always clear. Young Adam plays after the Second World War in Scotland. Most of the scenes are take place on the river Clyde and other waterways around Glasgow during the fuel rationing. MacKenzie draws a picturesque, nostalgic picture of the landscape and shows us that the dusty, foggy atmosphere of the riverside has a visual beauty too.

The film’s protagonist is Joe, a barger, who works with Les, and they live in a barge with Les’ family; his wife, Ella and their child. Les and Joe find a half-naked woman body in the river. They call the police, who start to investigate the case. Joe starts a relationship with Les’ wife and other married or widowed women. We can see in his flashbacks that he actually knows the dead woman, who was his ex-girlfriend, Cathie and later on, we find out what happened to her. Joe fears of being charged with murder by the authorities so he doesn’t tell the police what happened to Cathie and lets them another man. His only regret during the film is that an innocent man is going to die because of him. Joe is the only person in the film, who has real story and deep characteristics. 

Young Adam basically is a character study of Joe as he tries to overcome his grief with sexual encounters. There are several sex scenes and on-screen nudity in Young Adam. These scenes are imaginative, but mostly look joyless; there is a lack of emotions and passion. In the United States some parts of the film were censored, because of the pornography they contained. The director said, that “[i]n Young Adam (2003), sexuality is not really romantic - it comes from an inner place or a need that has to be fulfilled. It's not motivated by romance or the traditional things.”

The performances were expected high, as most of the actors are famous and acclaimed. Maybe Tilda Swinton has the best performance. Her role could be seen as quite daring and against the considered norm. Peter Mullan hadn’t got a big role with a multiply character, but he did a great job playing the cuckolded husband, Les. Ewan McGregor played several types of characters of different genres over the years and he is perfect for Joe’s role. He is just enough of a quiet contemplative edge and we could relate with his character and the questions of the characters’ social outsider status.