Brick (2005)—What’s the one thing someone writing a film critique is least likely to say? “I didn’t understand the film.” Generally, this would mean “I didn’t get what the story was about” or “I couldn’t follow it.” But Brick gives us a new meaning: “I simply could not understand the English language.” This is a shame because the film is a good one, and I don’t think making it comprehensible to a wider audience would have lessened the impact. I couldn’t understand the English for a variety of reasons. First, the characters speak extremely fast. I remember hearing on CBC Radio a few years ago that the speech in words-per-minute on television was almost double that of the 1960s. In Brick it is even faster, particularly by the main character, Brendan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), the high school kid who is trying to find out who killed his ex-girl friend. Second, some of the characters mumble. Again, Brendan, the protagonist we rely on in order to follow the plot, is the worst. Part of the incessant mumbling is his world-weary character, part normal teen talk, and part a reflection of film noir detectives of the 1940s talking with a cigarette in the way. Third, some of the dialogue is poorly miked. I leave it to the techies to explain why, but a low-budget film (about $475,000 US) shot almost entirely on location means difficulty getting good sound quality. Finally, the teenagers talk in a slang difficult for the uninitiated to understand. The film distribution company handed out vocabulary sheets at initial screenings. Some film critics admitted having a little trouble with the esoteric vocabulary. Ben Walters of Time Out London writes in a highly favourable review, “The self-consciously mannered rat-a-tat-tat dialogue also mines a neat overlap between teen slang and noir patois, both of which can be indecipherable to non-initiates (the press notes helpfully include a glossary).” Similarly, Desson Thomson of the Washington Post noted that “even as you struggle to keep up with its speedy chatter and multi-character complexity, Brick is always entertaining.” But at least one critic simply could not take being excluded from the story: “The unspeakable dialogue is so incomprehensible it seems like a whole new language.”—Rex Reed, New York Observer. In a creative move, A. A. Davidson of Independent Culture reviewed in the language of the movie. Here’s a sample, which, by the way, after only an hour of studying the movie’s language, I actually understand:“That’s the culture of it so here’s the program: the title is the bait, and the school wants to feed, so The Pin, who is 26, fishes for yegs to get the jake across the Burg. The fish want the hop bad because social studies is just a front. Brad Bramish has leather sleeves and complains a lot, but gets invited anyway. The coach doesn’t let him play but The Pin let’s him start. Laura (Nora Zehetner) writes a version of the game for everyone, but can’t quite flush out Brendan. She’s “hard luck in a red kimono,” which Brad Bramish can’t smell, because he’s just a reef worm wearing a letterman costume. Despite what the invite says, in the Burg it’s always Halloween in January.” For the entire review, check out: http://www.indiecult.com/2006-04/brick So we have high-speed mumbling in subculture patois which is poorly miked. It says something for the quality of the rest of the movie that I still liked the film. Jim Bell
|