| | Mama and Damian
The most important thing to say about this film is that it is original, fun, memorable, and you definitely have never seen another movie like it.
The movie is full of on-the-edge humor. The filmmakers deliberately pose the "adult man in the bear costume" as an adolescent who is actually half-bear, half-man. The fact that the characters in the film take the absurdity of it as gospel defines the movie. Is this a tale of an ordinary, if somewhat dysfunctional, German family in Delaware? Is it the tale of a domineering (or dominatrix) mother who refuses to let her baby become a man, dressing him and treating him like the very bear-boy-toy he cuddled as a child? Is it a nod to the insanity of broken families; the desperate and the homeless? Or is it purely a fantasy, and the coming of age of a boy who is half-bear, who finally takes that step that leads him out beyond his doorstep? W.G. White, as Damian, stole the show. He played a seemingly impossible role (of an adult man in a bear costume, speaking in a falsetto voice) with tenderness, seriousness, and great childlike wonder. Kathi Lehmer, aka Hesta Barron, had the difficult job of wearing virtually every hat on the film, including one of the lead roles. The writing is as good as it gets; very sharp, concise, and deliberate. The directing and cinematography worked well thoughtout. She has a very good eye for this. The costumes were perfect, accenting the "grounded peculiarity" of it all. The colors and decorations in the home of Damian were perfect; stark, bold, and slightly unsettling ... reminding me at times of Stanley Kubrick. I was also reminded of Kubrick with some of the camera angles and shots, again, most noticeably in Damian's home. There were moments of subtle (and not-so-subtle) social commentary and introspection throughout; playing with stereotypes against a backdrop of philosophy. By the filmmaker's admission, it was done on a very minimal budget, and shot over the course of a year. For a digital video camera, the film quality is largely quite good. The moments when you are reminded that the camera is digital are usually excusable because the artifacts work in those particular scenes. Apart from W.G. White, the acting was usually slightly less-than-perfect, but always excusable. The character of Damian's nanny, Wolfgang (played by Ashley Cleaver) was another bright spot in the acting; creating a character which had such a spark to it, it often felt improvised which added a certain charm. Outside shots were slightly marred with noise from the wind. There were also moments that some might call continuity issues; for example, one extended scene where they were supposed to be pursuing a car, but every time the camera pulled away, they were parked in the same spot, with the same white car across the street from them. Strangely, because of the nature of the movie, I had to wonder if even THAT was deliberate. The original film music was comprised of maybe a dozen or so different short themes, played over and over in the background, one per scene, setting the mood for each scene. The music was simple, light, and with twinkle-in-its-eye. It was very nice, and definitely added to the flavor of the movie. There was not a single scene where I thought the music did not add to the mood of the scene (though I did occasionally think it was a touch too loud when there was dialog.) In a couple rare moments, there was some extraneous noise during scene cuts/transitions. In a perfect world, it wouldn't be there, but I've heard the same from much larger budget films as well. There were also a few moments, especially nearing the end, where a couple minutes could have been trimmed (a few seconds here, a few seconds there) to keep the pace moving as it headed toward the finale. All in all, this was a great independent offering. If you like film, you should see it. If you like the unusual and the absurd, you should see it. I am pleased to have my own official copy of it on DVD. In closing, and without giving any spoilers; some of the most memorable moments of the movie are: Damian with the costumed girl on the bus; the little man on the bed, the Nazi grandfather imprisoned in the basement making lampshades; Damian and the neighbor girl's "twin"; and perhaps the somewhat sad depiction of Damian on stage, trying to be a good "dancing bear."
See it. Michael (Max) Larson |