Water For Elephants (2011)

A young student uses his veterinary abilities to gain a place in a travelling circus during the Great Depression.

Jacob Jankowski (Robert Pattinson) was a promising student at the prestigious American college Cornell studying to be a vet, until his parents were killed in a car crash, and left him homeless with no money. During a long walk to the city looking for work, Jacob jumps on a passing train, only to discover it is a travelling circus. A gruelling and harsh workplace, Jacob must provide a useful service in order to attain a job (a hotly desired item during this period), and so uses his abilities with animals to help the circus.

The circus’ star attraction is the dazzling Marlene (Reese Witherspoon), whom Jacob quickly develops a crush on. Unfortunately for Jacob, Marlene is the wife to the circus’ violently quirky master of ceremonies August (Christopher Waltz), whose fierce temper and desperate attempts to avoid bankruptcy make him a dangerous man.

As their show slumps from town to town looking for paying visitors, August realises he needs another big thing to attract audiences, and buys an elephant called Rosie. His wife Marlene will ride her in the show, and Jacob will train/aid her offstage, putting the two in close quarters.

Picturesque throughout, Water For Elephants manages to create a very contrasting picture of 1931 America. The vibrant lifestyle of these circus performers is represented in the colourful images of them enjoying life on the road, laughing together, and having raucous fun drinking whisky. But, the drudgery of the Depression era seeps in through the uncertainty on their faces during their performances, and their constant fear at how August will react next. It is a lovely film to watch for its authenticity and dark splendour.

Pattinson, eager to shed his Twilight-Saga stamp, plays quite a likeable and funny character: Jacob is endearing, smart, and passionate whilst enjoying some of the lighter side of depression life. Witherspoon elevates the film somewhat, adding a great deal of complexity and anguish to her troubled character. It must be said though, that the show was stolen by Waltz, whose portrayal of the evil, yet understandably angry, August, makes for a tense viewing.

An unusual tale of circus life in the thirties, it is a film to watch for the dramatic appeal, and visual authenticity.