Last night, the Paris Theatre screened the extended cut of Kenneth Lonergan’s masterpiece, “Margaret” — one of the great cinematic feats of the 2010s.
Afterwards, there was a Q&A with Lonergan, J. Smith-Cameron and Anna Paquin. In the audience was Kieran Culkin. I’m very jealous about the folks who got to see Lonergan’s film on the big screen. If you haven’t seen “Margaret,” I highly recommend you get on it.
The Q&A ended with Lonergan confirming that he is “working on” his fourth film. He didn’t share any other details, but it’s great to know that something cinematic might be next for this celebrated playwright.
“Margaret” can best be described as Lonergan’s “cinematic spiritual,” and it cannot be more relevant today. It’s about disillusionment. Feeling disenfranchised. He painstakingly worked on this film for years. “Margaret” was initially supposed to be released in 2005, but was delayed until 2011.
It took many years for Lonergan to complete his magnum opus in the editing room. There were multiple delays, including lawsuits between the filmmaker and Fox Searchlights. Eventually, the studio ended up releasing a truncated 150-minute version of the film, six years after production wrapped, in 2011.
A year later, Lonergan, with the help of Martin Scorsese, would complete his own three-hour extended cut of the film which incorporated extra footage and a revised score. The result was nothing short of astonishing. “Margaret” is certainly one of the best movies of the 21st century because it expresses the disillusionment of a post 9/11 America, all seen through the eyes of Lisa, a 17-year-old high-schooler who witnesses a tragic bus accident.
The aftermath of Lisa’s traumatizing day leads to one darkly weird encounter after another or, as Ann Hornaday called it, a “circuitous journey down the myriad rabbit holes that comprise modern-day Manhattan.”