Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. Now, I haven't seen one of these films that Capone reviews below, so I'm just going to let our man from the Windy City take it away. There's something for everybody below, you can bet on that! Here's Capone!
Hey, Harry. Capone in Chicago here. I’m still attempting to plow through my lengthy interview with Vincent Gallo and should have something for you next week (hopefully) on that, but I did want to offer up my two cents on BROWN BUNNY separate from the interview, as well as a few other films that are making their way across the nation in smaller venues over the next few weeks.
BROWN BUNNY
I’m not one to talk about the circumstances of the screenings I attend, but this film might actually warrant such background. The critics screening of BROWN BUNNY was held late in the afternoon. All of the usual Chicago suspects were there, including Roger Ebert, who had gotten into a now-legendary war of the words with writer-director-star-editor-producer Vincent Gallo after seeing this screening at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival and declaring it the worst film ever to be screened at Cannes. Just to be clear, the cut of the film that Roger say a year-and-a-half ago was nearly 30 minutes longer at Cannes. Nevertheless, Ebert probably was not looking forward to sitting through it again at any length, but he did because after the screening, he was scheduled to interview Gallo for both print and television (which he did). Anyway, there was another screening of the film that evening for the public, which included a lively post-film Q&A with Gallo. I didn’t sit through the film again, but I did drop in on the crowded and entertaining Q&A, although I saved all of my questions for Gallo for our scheduled post-film interview, which was delayed slightly thanks to a overlong Los Angeles Times reported grilling Gallo about the racy L.A. billboard for BROWN BUNNY that some of you may have seen or read about. By the time I got in with Gallo, it was nearly about 10:30 p.m. That’s my preamble to an interview that you won’t be able to read until next week, but I wanted to dispense with it now because the interview is going to run long, but every word of it is entertaining, thought-provoking, and exceedingly interesting.
What about BROWN BUNNY the film? Well, you almost can’t separate Gallo the filmmaker from the identity of the movie. With very few people in the world actually having seen this film, there’s a great deal of talk about it, especially about the near-closing scene of Chloe Sevigny giving a very real blow job to Gallo. As much as Gallo would like you not to judge the film on that one sequence, you can never put it out of your head, and a kind of tension builds as the film progresses. Although there’s nothing else similar between the two films, sitting through BROWN BUNNY reminded me of sitting through IRREVERSIBLE. You know there’s this one shocking scene on the way, and you can’t help but tense up in anticipation, whether you’re looking forward to watching it or horrified at the idea of it. BROWN BUNNY has a history already, and it’s impossible to banish the anticipatory element from viewing it. For me, I liked that feeling, although the scene did not play out how I thought it would. The sex act is not loving, at least not from Gallo’s perspective. It’s aggressive, angry, hurtful, and by the end, hateful. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
BROWN BUNNY may be the last of a dying breed of American’s truly independent films. For those who decry that the death of indie film is upon us, I won’t argue, but I will put up BROWN BUNNY as an example of independent film’s last gasp. It’s not always pretty, it’s rough around he edges, it’s contemplative to the point of tedium at times, but BROWN BUNNY is a strikingly personal work and its powerful cumulative effect is impossible to deny. It’s a film that exists on almost pure emotion, mostly very painful emotion. There’s not much dialogue, there are long stretches of watching Gallo (as professional motorcycle racer Bud Clay) do nothing but drive his van for extended periods. He’s on a coast-to-coast journey to see an old girlfriend named Daisy (Sevigny) in Los Angeles, and while the film might qualify as a “road movie,” it’s not like any I’ve ever experienced. There are these perfect moments in the film when Bud stops, sometimes to gather information about Daisy’s whereabouts in an incredible sequence involving two wonderful elderly people who have to be non-actors, sometimes to simply be in the company of someone else. There are two strange and wonderful scenes that fall into this latter category. One involves Bud pulling into a rest stop and spotting Lilly (an older but still beautiful Cheryl Tiegs). I won’t give details about what passes between them, but it is undeniably sweet and moving. The other scene involves a young hooker in named Rose Vegas who Bud buys lunch. Their encounter is tougher to define and not nearly as compelling.
I appreciated the overall quiet that BROWN BUNNY afforded its audience. It’s a film that gives you time to meditate on both its content and its possible meanings (you could spend a while just trying to figure out exactly what the title of the film means; there are a couple options). Nearly all the major players are damaged creatures, many beyond repair. Bud’s problems seem to manifest themselves in his relations with women, as the encounter with Sevigny proves. The film’s biggest surprise comes just after the sexual encounter and adds an entirely new dimension to Bud’s state of mind that shows you just how deep his pain goes. Once you remember to breathe again and are able to evaluate THE BROWN BUNNY with a clear head, I believe you’ll see its real strengths and its power. It’s impossible not to have a reaction to this movie, positive or negative, but if you go in knowing that your patience may be tested, you’ll probably make it through finding the film quite good. It remains to be seen whether Gallo has signed his professional death certificate with this film (you’ll see in my interview that Gallo claims that no one wants to hire him in any capacity right now), but if he has, he’s gone out with a masterful death scene. And I’ll be the first to sing his praises. The film opens in Chicago at the Landmark Century Center Theatres (and many other cities) on September 3.
THE MANSON FAMILY
Scheduled to open this year’s Chicago Underground Film Festival (August 18 – August 24 at the Three Penny Theatre in Lincoln Park), THE MANSON FAMILY is the years-in-the-making feature film turning the spotlight on the “family” of deranged hippies led by Charles Manson in the late 1960s. Unlike the retellings of the Manson family story from the point of view of those pursuing and putting them on trial (as done in HELTER SKELTER), THE MANSON FAMILY attempts to see the story through the eyes of the Family members themselves. Writer-director Jim Van Bebber (DEADBEAT AT DAWN) has constructed a film that actually looks like it was shot in the era it’s examining, and cast a group of unknown actors as Family members who do a credibly job playing their characters as both rampaging hippies and older, wiser people looking back on that period in their lives with regret. The film may not sit well with some because of its apparent equal celebration of both the happy, naked, hyper-sexual, drug-fueled hippies and the murderous ones practically bathing in the blood of their victims by the time of the notorious murders of Sharon Tate and her friends in 1969.
Marcelo Games plays Charlie as something more than simply a raving lunatic. He’s convincing as a man who could influence and control people, especially women. And Van Bebber does a nice job conveying a sense not only of the extreme actions of the Family, but of the everyday life they led at the ranch where they lived. I particularly liked the performance by Marc Pitman as Tex, whose indoctrination into the Family is seen from beginning to end. His transformation is the well examined and probably the most tragic to witness.
THE MANSON FAMILY biggest flaw lies in its structure. The entire tale is framed by the tale of modern-day television journalist Jack Wilson (Carl Day), who is viewing archival and newly shot viewing footage of the Family members being interviewed in an effort to piece together the entire story of Charles Manson. There’s also a sub-sub-plot involving a group of goth kids preparing for some kind of clearly violent action, which isn’t revealed until the end of the film. They add nothing to the proceedings and distract from this otherwise solid work. THE MANSON FAMILY seamlessly mixes its documentary style with classic splatter-film tactics, and succeeds at putting the viewer in the minds of people literally driven insane by one man, who at times as imagined as both Jesus and Satan. I’m sure even Charlie himself wouldn’t mind that bit of embellishment. The film opens at the end of October.
FESTIVAL EXPRESS
There are moments in this film that almost made me cry in awe of the greatness on the screen. FESTIVAL EXPRESS is a remarkable document of a brief moment of musical greatness that very few people know about. In the summer of 1970, an ambitious concert promoter chartered a train to travel across Canada, stopping at a small number of major cities as part of what he envisioned as a moving festival. The train was filled with almost nothing but musicians, some extremely famous, others whose names are lost in history. Janis Joplin, The Grateful Dead, The Band, Buddy Guy, Delaney & Bonnie, The Flying Burrito Bros., and more packed this train and partied and jammed almost nonstop. And nearly every moment of this journey was filmed, but because the mood of the day caused audience members at the various stop on the tour to demand that these concerts be free, the promoters lost their shirt and any money aimed at finishing this film was lost. The raw footage literally sat in a vault at the Canadian Film Archive for years until some ambitious music lover, who’d heard rumors about this rolling Woodstock, put out the call for the footage and slowly, painstakingly pieced this wonderful movie together over nearly 10 years.
The film’s highlights include the most beautifully captured performance footage of Janis Joplin I’ve ever seen. Captured about two months before her death, her versions of “Cry Baby” and “Tell Mama” will cause physical pain when you realize how incredible she was and what a great loss her death was. I was also thrilled to see the powerhouse footage of The Band in their prime. My all-time favorite concert film is THE LAST WALTZ, but that’s a bit more subdued. In FESTIVAL EXPRESS, these guys are on fire. “The Weight” has never seemed more immediate and necessary as it does here. Buddy Guy absolutely destroys the stage with his blistering performance of “Money,” and although I’m not a huge fan of The Grateful Dead, even they impressed me with a couple of tunes in the film. Interspersed between the concert material are two things: modern interviews with musicians and behind-the-scenes types who made the train trip; and film of the jam sessions that took place on the train. Jerry Garcia always seemed to be at the center of these, and his smiling face never failed to make me feel good. There’s one moment when he, The Band’s Rick Danko, and Joplin are all sitting together in one shot; I admit I got a little misty eyed when I thought, “All three of these great performers are dead.” But FESTIVAL EXPRESS isn’t a funeral, it’s a celebration of a lost piece in music history that has been blessedly found. The film opens in many major markets August 13.
VANITY FAIR
William Makepeace Thackeray’s novel VANITY FAIR has been made into movies and mini-series many, many times since the early 1900s, so a fresh and more vibrant approach has long been overdue. Thankfully, the masterful Indian director Mira Nair (SALAAM BOMBAY!; MISSISSIPPI MASALA; MONSOON WEDDING; and HBO’s HYSTERICAL BLINDNESS) has breathed new life into this epic story of romance, class differences, and war. And Nair is able to do this with a stellar performance by Reese Witherspoon playing Becky Sharp the woman who rises up from the depths of British poverty to consort and marry men of stature and influence in society. The cast is teeming with great UK actors, including James Purefoy, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Gabriel Byrne, Jim Broadbent, Rhys Ifans, and Bob Hoskins, all clamoring to add a little extra spice to the proceedings. Nair clearly embraces the story’s references to and brief moments in India, but she has no trouble establishing her flair for fleshing out some of the stuffier characters in this story. One thing I found slightly distracting was the very obvious fact that Reese Witherspoon is very pregnant in certain scenes. Sure, they try to hide it be having her carrying this in front of her bulbous stomach or by placing her behind a piano or piece of furniture, but you can see it in her face. They even add in scenes where Becky is supposed to be pregnant so they can celebrate the plump Reese for a few minutes. I know I’m supposed to suspend reality, but this particular reality is shoved in your face for nearly two-and-a-half hours.
Still, I won’t fault Witherspoon’s performance. She’s amazing here as a driven, intelligent woman who finds herself manipulating and guiding the situations that better her life as often as forces beyond her control drive her into unpleasant circumstances. I also really liked Rhys Ifans (Hugh Grants creepy roommate from NOTTING HILL) in a decidedly non-creepy role of a career military man in love with Becky’s best friend. Gabriel Byrne does a great job slinking around London like a vampire looking for a victim. Why we finally get to know him, we realize that this characterization isn’t too far off. I had great fun watching VANITY FAIR. There’s a great deal of humor, tremendous acting, and a marvelous, time-honored story at its heart. The film opens September 1.
Capone
