The Cathedral Review

Wanting to be Boyhood but lacking the costs involved with filming for so long, The Cathedral expects the view of an only child to count for anything. Perspectives filtered through not having to share a room or squabble with immediate family members of the same age every day. Ricky D’Ambrose moves beyond that though and into a spoiled game of favouritism through the lens of a Wes Anderson narration spot paired with the grim stills of extreme close-ups and death. In life comes death and in death comes an apparent need to figure life out, as The Cathedral does so often. Feeling much for the art-piece project this D’Ambrose piece clearly comes at the price of believing this is the quintessential representation, or an accurate representation, of life around the viewer. 

Minimalism taken in stride, The Cathedral may look natural and sleek but the narrative bubbling underneath is far from it. Egalitarian society dominates and it is not that it cannot be relevant or relatable, but D’Ambrose offers little in the way of commentary or function for it to be anywhere close. Instead, it takes on a strange and distant form, one that displays the stilted way of life for only children and the parents that felt a disconnect with their parents too. The Cathedral, in its disconnect, cannot move beyond the narration that explains away the still images that attempt to contemplate the lucky loans and places of unbeknownst privilege layered onto a generation that has little in considering the gambles of life. Using historic events as a backdrop for timelines more than anything, The Cathedral may take place in the real world but feels far from it. 

AIDs, George Bush, New York City, grim bombings and attacks on the World Trade Centre are shuffles of a tragic deck for The Cathedral. Whatever spritzes out is what D’Ambrose hopes to use as a guiding tool for his life at that time, with semi-autobiographical implementations of a bold statement of interest in the self and the expectation of a caring audience. With contemplation comes sincerity. At least, that is what D’Ambrose can hope for in his slowly paced, unmoving feature that hopes the inference of strife and problems are enough to mount a shift of discomfort as the odd part of a wildly growing family. Lingering on objects rather than experience showcase just how empty The Cathedral is, and whether that is the point or not, it is a cheap trick D’Ambrose falls for time and time again. A lack of creativity can be found in those duller moments, the frequent shifts and clips to take from Brian d’Arcy James’ performance. 

But D’Ambrose has found a genuine track to follow through. The Cathedral is meaningful in that deeply personal way, and despite the struggle at getting it across, there is undeniable heart in those colder moments. Fights and struggles make for drama but it all comes across as though D’Ambrose is dying for there to be meaning in every little flighty confrontation, all those arguments across the years and the debate that comes from events out of the control of a family unit. Fracturing comes with a modicum of respect for his own family and upbringing but a disregard for how best to implement it. Art gallery cinema for public works that demand beauty from the ordinary in place of experience through exploring it.