Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
Neil Burger rocks. His film rocks.
Even the nearly-retarded think so. Here’s the proof!
Hola all. Massawyrm here with a look at one hell of a cool indie coming your way called "Interview with the Assassin". Now working here at AICN definitely has it's perks, but as the indie indie columnist here I watch many more movies than I ever get to post about. For those unfamiliar with my column, indie film makers send me their films and when I've found a couple good ones, I tell the world about them. Quite often, however, indie filmmakers send their films straight to Harry in hopes that he'll get the time to watch them. But as many of you know, when he's not traveling the world or sorting through your e-mails and hitting up his spies for scoops, he's watching as many films as humanly possible. And it's not possible to watch them all. So occasionally he passes a box of goodies off to me.
Now most of the time this is some of the same films I get sent, or films that belong in that same stack. But occasionally, and only rarely, does something really special find it's way into the box, a silent thank you from the big guy to blow my mind at 2 A.M. when I'm sifting through stacks of indie goodness.
When I found "Interview with the Assassin" in my stacks the other night, my jaw dropped. "Fuck no." I thought. This had to be some other "Interview with the Assassin". No way did something this cool just magically fall into my lap. I've gotten some bad assed films before, don't get me wrong, but I always had warning. The filmmaker would call or write to let me know it was coming. Never did I find something I'd been dying to see just sitting there unannounced in my living room. Needless to say, I reattached my jaw and sat back to let the coolness overwhelm me. And I was not disappointed.
For those of you who have not seen the trailer, everything you need to know about the film is in it. Check it out RIGHT HERE!!
Well, that trailer is the first few moments of the film and it only gets cooler from there. It's of course told documentary style, straight from the camera much like the film Gang Tapes (but without the technical brilliance Gang tapes had to it's cinematography, but also probably without the budget Gang Tapes had as well), and chronicles one mans search for the truth within an old man's claims that he's responsible for killing Kennedy.
The first 20 minutes is some creepy exposition into the Man's claims, all of which is excellent. Raymond J. Barry, a veteran character actor whose appeared recently in such films as Training Day, The Deep End and Newport South, turns in an absolutely blistering performance as the jaded old man, Walter Ohlinger, who is positively convinced that he was the second gunman present at Kennedy's assassination. His work here is absolutely fantastic; one of the most convincing portrayals I've seen on the screen all year.
However, about 20 minutes into the film, there is a slight hiccup and you begin to wonder, once Walter's story has been told, what exactly is left to the film. And then the hiccup subsides and the paranoia begins. And it sets in that things are not entirely right with Walter. And the question remains, right on through to the last frame: "Did Walter Kill Kennedy?"
What I love most about this film is that in this Post-JFK, Post-X-files world of cinema, a film like this is able to exist, detailing paranoia on such a small scale rather than in large, diabolical chunks. The Cameraman certainly is no Fox Mulder and the world presented to us certainly isn't some cartoon fantasyland created by a conspiracy theorist bent on explaining his theory through the medium of film (again). No, this is a story told on a very small level, with someone who, if he's telling the truth, only knows a small amount of what went down and wants to use this cameraman to find out the rest of the story, to prove to the world, and himself, that he is who he says he is.
And then they begin to look over their shoulders. And they see things. Cars following them. Shadows moving on security cameras. And they begin to worry. And from that point on, the film simply never lets up.
This is a fantastic piece of gripping indie filmmaking that sticks with you long after the last reel has rolled and I highly recommend that any and all indie fans out there seek this out at your earliest opportunity. First timer Neil Burger has a real winner on his hands and I'm very much looking forward to whatever this writer/director comes up with next. This is definitely someone to keep your eye out for in the future.
Until next time friends, smoke 'em if ya got 'em. I know I will.
Hey! Wanna start a conspiracy to whack Harry and wear him like the Jabba The Hutt puppet so we can rule Hollywood with a ginger fist? Write me here!!
By the way, I want to apologize. That was rude and inconsiderate of me to call Massawyrm “nearly-retarded” at the start of this article.
I meant “desperately insane.”
Sorry for any confusion I may have caused.
"Moriarty" out.
