Film Review: Indignation

Despite attracting venerable talent like Ben Kingsley, Anthony Hopkins and Al Pacino, adaptations of novelist Philip Roth’s work rarely make for great cinema. His books, centred on how we struggle with our own ideologies and emotions, are rarely plot-focused. Though filled with insight about isolation and artifice, this kind of subtle drama is difficult to convey on film.

But Roth’s interest in repressed emotion is perfectly captured in screenwriter James Schamus’ directorial debut. Based on Roth’s 2008 novel, which was inspired by his college years, Indignation is set in 1951. It’s a time of social paranoia and Puritanism, as Americans experience the emotional fall-out of World War II, as well as McCarthyism, anti-semitism and segregation. Conformism affects all interactions, which are polite, stilted and tinged with suspicion.

It’s not an atmosphere that welcomes self-discovery, but that’s what strong-willed Jewish student Marcus (Logan Lerman) is seeking. Intellectually arrogant and sexually innocent, Marcus dislikes the college atmosphere. He does, however, find himself intrigued by Olivia (Sarah Gadon), a cool but fragile young woman struggling with the era’s sexism – which Marcus often perpetuates.

Schamus’ script is precise and demanding, as the characters refrain from expressing themselves openly. Even outspoken Marcus speaks in a clipped manner, his arguments intellectually infallible but emotionally dense. A showdown between the headstrong teenager and his Dean (Tracy Letts) demonstrates the generation gap at play. Marcus, arguing against enforced chapel attendance and fraternity engagement, is volcanic with righteous indignation. Meanwhile, his Dean nods patronisingly, wilfully oblivious to the pain felt by the younger generation, and the social change they will soon unleash.

Indignation is exquisitely crafted and beautifully acted.

Directed by James Schamus.
Starring Logan Lerman, Sarah Gadon, Tracy Letts, Ben Rosenfield, Linda Emond, Danny Burstein. 110 mins
In cinemas November 18