Film

Film: Prodigal Sons (directed by Kimberly Reed)

~ Jonah Flicker ~ Leave a comment

I recently reviewed a new documentary about the search for identity called Prodigal Sons. Read about it here or below.

Filmmaker and DV Magazine editor Kimberly Reed’s new documentary, “Prodigal Sons,” is a haunting and powerful accounting of the search for personal and familial identity. For most, these things always have been a given. You are born, you grow up knowing who you are and where you came from, and your past makes some kind of sense, no matter how many curveballs life throws your way. For Reed, things have played out very differently.

“Prodigal Sons,” shot for the most part on handheld digital camera, is an intensely personal video diary spanning a little over a year of Reed’s life. She documents her return to her hometown of Helena, Montana for a high school reunion. But Reed is transgendered, and this is the first time that she will face many of her old friends as a woman instead of a man.

In addition, she is reuniting with her brother Marc, who suffered a severe head injury years ago that left him prone to intense and sometimes violent mood swings. When we first meet Marc at their mother’s house in Helena, it is obvious he is not quite right–his speech slow and his development stunted. Reed is unflinching in filming him, but she is never exploitive about it, often asking Marc if he minds the camera pointing at him. Underneath it all, a tension simmers ominously, erupting early on in the film into a staccato outburst of violence when Marc becomes suddenly frustrated and loses control. This is just the beginning, however, and events that happen later in the film lead to further flashes of emotional and physical ferocity, leaving the viewer emotionally shocked and breathless.

In addition to his injury, Marc, the eldest of the three children, is dealing with some other issues. He was adopted, and during the course of filming, he discovers, in a random twist, that his grandparents are Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth. Welles’ longtime partner, Oja Kodar, invites him to come to Croatia to meet her family. Reed comes along to document the trip, capturing moments both awkward and emotional as he struggles to find some common ground. This reunion is important to Marc, who is constantly frustrated by the effects of his injury and the irrational, simmering anger it causes. As tenuous as it may be, he finally feels like he has found an identity for himself. At the same time, he is unable to accept Reed’s new identity as a woman, one that she struggled with for years before making the decision to alter her sex.

And that is really the crux of this story. You can see it in Reed’s eyes as she attempts to explain her transformation to classmates who are tolerant but don’t quite understand. She is injured, emotionally and physically, every time Marc has an episode and brutalizes her with fists and words. And she is hurt every time Marc insists on reminding Reed and her family about her past as a man–a part of her past she feels she needs to completely put behind her in order to live her life.

“Prodigal Sons” is an intensely personal and harrowing documentary, one that will stick with the viewer long after the lights in the theater go up. Kimberly Reed has succeeded in telling a story that details the minutia of family interactions as well as universal life themes, allowing people from all walks of life to enter the intimate sphere she has bravely decided to make public.

Film Review: 44 Inch Chest (Malcolm Venville)

~ Jonah Flicker ~ Leave a comment

I reviewed the new film, 44 Inch Chest, for Weekinrewind.com, a film review and news site. Read it here or below. The movie, due out in LA on 1/15 and NY on 1/29, is the latest from the writers of Sexy Beast, and it’s really worth checking out.

“44 Inch Chest,” the new film from first-time director Malcolm Venville and the writers of “Sexy Beast,” is a gathering of foul-mouthed, cantankerous, crusty old British men. Cast members Ray Winstone, Ian McShane, John Hurt and Tom Wilkinson are venerable actors of English and American stage and film, and they sink their collective teeth into the film’s witty script with aplomb and vigor.

This is a British gangster film of sorts, although nothing really “gangster” ever goes down–and, thankfully, nothing even remotely as stylized in a Guy Ritchie manner occurs. The film opens with Colin Diamond (Winstone) lying in a destroyed room set to the mournful Nilsson cover ballad, “Without You.” We don’t know what’s happened–is he alive, is he dead, is he dead drunk? His eyes flutter, and from there his character takes something of a Tony Soprano turn.

Diamond is a tough guy, true, but his wife just left him, thus leaving him anxious, desperate and psychologically destroyed. One quick montage later, he and his mates, the gay Meredith (McShane), the doddering Peanut (Hurt), the dapper Mal (Stephen Dillane), and the sensible Archie (Wilkinson) meet up in a dilapidated house on the outskirts of London with Colin’s wife’s lover tied up in a cupboard.

“44 Inch Chest” plays out more as a stage play than it does a film, with much of the action taking place in one room, and each character delivering several pages of monologue at one time or another. But Venville doesn’t shy away from cinematic tricks, either–he uses flashbacks to piece together the sequence of events after Colin’s found out that he is a cuckold. There is great tension in the script and the threat of violence lingers in almost every scene, but it rarely plays out. Colin’s confrontation with his wife, the beautiful Liz (Joanne Whalley), is horrific as he details it to his pals, but Venville only shows the violence briefly, and he waits to do so.

The dialogue is sharp and precise, allowing each actor to flesh out his character over the course of the film’s 90-minute running time. There is a hilarious sequence in which Peanut uses the plot of the DeMille film “Samson and Delilah” to illustrate his take on women, and Venville incorporates actual footage of the film to showcase this. But mostly, it’s the interplay between these characters–moments of hostility, sensitivity and introspection peppered throughout –that does the trick.

Winstone’s Colin is an anti-hero, someone who has committed a horrible, misogynist act, but with whom you nevertheless can’t help but empathize. Ultimately, this is a story about his redemption, about how far he will let loose his id in order to exact revenge for a perceived injustice. When he finally faces the young waiter they have kidnapped, the question remains whether he will succumb to his fury or seize this moment and turn it into something cathartic.

For all its dialogue and relative lack of action, “44 Inch Chest” is lively and vibrant, no doubt due to the pitch-perfect performances of its principle cast. The film relies on substance over style and flash, but manages to impress all the same. Hopefully, this will serve as a guidebook to Ritchie and his legion of Tarantino wannabes.

Film: All Tomorrow’s Parties DVD

~ Jonah Flicker ~ 1 Comment

I reviewed this one a loooooong time ago, but the release date got pushed back, etc., etc…. Anyway, read my take on the All Tomorrow’s Parties DVD here or below. It’s a great concert film.

Music festivals can be a huge pain in the ass. The crowds, the heat, the expensive food and beverages, trying to get from one stage to another so as not to miss a band… sometimes, it’s just not worth it. However, if one is to believe the new DVD detailing the last several installations of All Tomorrow’s Parties, it’s the best fucking festival – nay, best live music experience – period – that has ever existed.

Though the film All Tomorrow’s Parties (Warp Films) was produced by the Warp X studio collective, director Jonathan Caouette (Tarnation) played a large role in its creation, helped along by “semi-found footage,” democratically shot by “All Tomorrow’s People.” The resulting picture is a whimsical, sentimental, magical look at the bands, fans, and landscapes that have made up ATP over the years. The setting is a David Lynchian seaside summer camp in England, a 1950s ideal taken over by a host of purveyors and disciples of indie rock. The film zeroes in on this notion, mixing archival footage with beautifully shot live scenes. There is really no narrative, but there is no need for one. Performances are loose and inspired: Battles, Les Savy Fav, Slint, Dirty Three, Grinderman, Lightning Bolt, and GZA are just a few of the acts that drift across the frame, offering fleeting moments of aural bombast.

It’s not all roses; David Cross is booed off stage, Sonic Youth teases with just a few seconds of music, and there is a jarring snippet of someone describing ATP as “Auschwitz with good music.” Flimsy Holocaust references aside, All Tomorrow’s Parties is a dream of a concert film.

Near the end, Grizzly Bear appears on a beach performing a seemingly impromptu acoustic performance, surrounded by a crowd of spent onlookers. It’s moments like these that encapsulate the ATP experience, or at least the one the filmmakers would have you take away. Best festival ever? Perhaps. Excellent concert film? No question.

Special Features: Full length performance cuts; commentary from ATP promoters Barry Hogan and Deborah Kee Higgins; 40 page full colour booklet, including 10 years of ATP artwork and programme introductions; key that can be used to unlock exclusive bonus content online, including Vincent Moon’s footage from ATP New York, interviews, more full length performances.