analogzombie

Under discussion:

Manda Bala  (2007)

Is a cold blooded gangster capable of becoming Robin Hood? When a government fails its people, does kidnapping the rich and holding them for ransom qualify as barbaric? Does a Senator who embezzles billions of dollars, yet manages to use their connections to escape justice deserve to remain in power if his people will it so? Manda Bala (Send a Bullet) is a look into a society that is in near collapse. It’s politicians look out only for themselves. The good and noble of the system run into numerous road blocks in their vain attempts to hold those in power accountable. The poor see no future except for crime. The middle class view the whole situation as somehow fated, and the upper middle class are looking to protect themselves by any means available through their privilege. Such is modern Brazil. From The City of God to Favela Rising, tales of the woes of the Brazilian people have become bankable subject matter. Manda Bala hones in on one very specific issue and uses that national experience to illuminate the lives of a cross section of modern society in Sao Paulo.

            Jader Barbalho, a powerful senator from the impoverished area of Para, is the core focus of Jason Kohn’s film. Barbalho came to power by dominating his region through the control of radio, television, and other media outlets. By bribing the populace with food, building materials and medical goods, he has found a way to maintain his position. In the late 1980’s Brazil developed a plan to help the poorest of it’s citizens. SUDAM was to be a grand investment project that would develop homegrown industries and small businesses with the intention of braking the cycle of poverty. The money never filtered down to the people that needed it. Through an elaborate series of faux companies, and laundering fronts, Jader Barbalho managed to steal over $2 billion in the course of a decade. Many of the companies Jader was responsible for investing the government’s money into only existed on paper. Others, like the frog farm the film spends a lot of time with, were fronts. Actually costing only $300,000, Barbalho pumped nearly $3 million into it.

            In a country in which elected officials are protected from prosecution in criminal courts can anyone expect someone like Jader Barbalho not to become a bandit? So to in such a place, can one honestly expect the poor and disenfranchised slum dwellers not to turn the tables on the rich and create a cottage industry out of kidnapping? These are the ideas Manda Bala raises. Through interviews with representatives from every facet of society Kohn explores the topic. Special police who have lost faith in their work, rich men who hide in bulletproof cars, judges who can only laugh at the state of events, and kidnappers using their ill gotten gains to build waterlines and health clinics in the slums, the film delves into the heart of their motivations and desperations. It is truly a sad state of affairs, but Manda Bala never over reaches itself. The film never proposes any answers. It merely shines a light on one of the greatest financial scandals in modern politics.

It’s clear that Kohn is styling his film after the social conscious and entertaining films of Errol Morris. While he does capture the flow of Morris’ narrative, and the maestro’s penchant for colorful characters, one thing is missing from Kohn’s effort, namely the entertainment. While Manda Bala is insightful, sometimes humorous, and very timely, it manages to be bland for long stretches. The use of voiceover translation works in places, but more often than not, the speaker would have been better served by more traditional subtitles. It seems that translators weren’t always available as there are parts of the film in which subtitles are used exclusively. The immediacy of the images and body language of the interviewees are better conveyed in this fashion, and Kohn would have done better to stick to this method. It is the sometimes disjointed nature of speaker to translator, cut to imagery and stock footage, and then back to speaker and translator that can bring a sense of urgency to the translation that is not met by Kohn. It is these languid pauses of information that are Manda Bala’s greatest misstep.

Slight misgivings aside, the film works. It works amazingly well. It would have been easy, and familiar, for the filmmakers to present the SUDAM scandal in a PBS style. The engaging personal interviews, rich South American color palette, and countless instances of humor work to disarm the viewer and give pause between revelations. Sometimes these pauses lean on the boring, but when they are executed well the effect is subtle. Between laughs the absolute terror and exasperation of all those involved begins to sink in. Understanding what happened is one thing, understanding the circumstances that would allow such a thing to occur, is different, and much more important. Director Jason Kohn manages to pull all his loose threads into a coherent and comprehensive look at the ills of a society in which the SUDAM scandal could happen.

Under discussion:

You're Gonna Miss Me  (2007)

The 13^th Floor Elevators are one of those bands you know, even if you aren’t aware of it. Emerging from Austin, Texas in the 1960’s, before it was the absolute Mecca of North American Independent Music, the band quickly rose to prominence in the turbulent landscape of San Francisco. Holding down dates at the Filmore, the 13^th floor Elevators helped to craft and define what we know today as Psychedelic Rock. Like most movements, adherence to the philosophies espoused by those at the center of the height Ashbury scene required a little give and take. In this sense, the band, and lead singer Roky Erickson, took all the LSD they could find. After all the pioneers of psychedelia, who would be massive influence on everyone from Janis Joplin to the Beach Boys had to practice what they preached. As Kevin McAlester sees it, this massive drug use, while not the supreme cause of Roky’s decent, was the point at which it all began to fall apart.

            “You’re Gonna Miss Me” is not so much a rock biography, as a portrait of Schizophrenia. It just so happens that in this instance the man in question is not just a nameless face at the bus stop, or a haggard pan handler. He happens to be one the most influential rock musicians of the last fifty years. If anything McAlester forces us to rethink our perceptions of the men tally ill, and homeless, by giving this, decidedly ragamuffin, character a history.

            Filmed in 2004 and 2005, the film finds Roky living in Austin, completely removed from his music, and trapped in his psychosis. His mother is his primary caretaker who seems to indulge his neurotic whims. She has her own personal psychological demons to deal with. It’s obvious that Roky’s mom is the seat of a lot of the instability in the lives of her children. Her ramshackle abode mirrors his own. The scattered trash and clothes of their homes is a reflection of their cluttered minds. In one of the most poignant scenes of the film, Roky comes home to take a nap. He wanders from noise emitting electronic device, to noise emitting electronic device finally coming to rest in a recliner. As he places dark sunglasses over his face the hum, buzz and whine of innumerable televisions, radios and oscillators fill the air. To this cacophony he announces “Okay, I’m taking a nap now.” His mother merely slips out the front door, leaving her son without medication.

            Fortunately for Roky, the rest of the family does not feel the same way. While many of his siblings have led self-destructive lives in the wake of his success, Roky’s youngest brother, Sumner, has emerged from strange upbringing to be a member of the Pittsburgh Philharmonic and moderately well-rounded. About halfway through, the film becomes Sumner’s story, as he attempts to wrest control of Roky from his mother. While this would seem a perfect chance to take the documentary into an exploration of a family coming apart, McAlester instead focuses on the healing that a life with Sumner can offer Roky. This is precisely the type of narrative choice that elevates this film beyond an HBO special.

            The film nuances the real characters of Roky, Sumner, and their mother without ever feeling like it’s openly mocking them. These are very eccentric people, all of them. There are a few instances in which you can’t help but laugh at them, but these are always of their own creation. You get a sense that the director’s camera was just lucky to catch them at these moments.

One can only imagine the amount of time it took for the Erickson’s to open up to the film crew. In the film a British rock writer who is working on a biography of the band visits Roky. It’s obvious that he has been working closely with the other members of the Elevators. He fails to illicit even the tiniest bit of confidence from his subject though. Of course his time with him was brief, and McAlester must have spent months, if not years with Roky. It is this dedication to his subject that ultimately comes through in “You’re Gonna Miss Me”. The film is as deep a portrait of a tortured soul as has ever been committed to film.

Under discussion:

This is England  (2007)

    I may have grown up a continent away and a decade removed from the events in This Is England, but I know a few things about skin culture. Obviously, so does Shane Meadows. He captures the turmoil of working class 80's Britain and the rivalry between the two Skin factions; Primarily the more militant and zenophobic National Front and what would become the SHARPs (Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice). The SHARPs were a direct reaction to the ferocious racism and nazi iconography that crept into the scene.

    All of this is neatly contained within a poignant and touching coming of age story. A proper follow up to Dead Man's Shoes, This Is England is an illuminating window into a neglected facet of English society. The film is about a fight for the soul of Britain, told through the fight for the soul a young fatherless boy. A grand achievement.

    I just received the excellent new Eclipse Kurosawa collection. Kurosawa was my passport to Japanese film. I'm sure I saw Seven Samurai at some point, but the first time I became aware of one his films was in 2002 during the traveling retrospective at  the High Museum here in Atlanta. SInce then I've devoured every Kurosawa book and Criterion release. So much so that Donald RItchie has become a personal hero.

    For the longest time Kurosawa's early works have remained almost unavailable here in the States. Reading about Scandal In The FIlms of Akira Kurosawa, or importing The Idiot is all well and good but to have the chance to own the five pre-Drunken Angel films that formed Kurosawa's bedrock is a dream come true.

Under discussion:

The Orphanage  (2007)

Finally, a film that is genuinely creepy, that isn't Asian, and doesn't rely on gore or blood. It does cover the jump scare pretty well, but it's mood is so well maintained throughout that I'll forgive it that minor horror convention. It's one of the best ghost movies in a year with several other notably understated freak outs (the Mist, 1408). I wonder what sort of condition the project was in when Guillermo Del Toro got involved? His name definitely carries weight, it is the only reason it's gotten any kind of major release here in the States, after all. Or maybe it isn't, I'll have to look into that.

Suffice to say, you could find a lot worse ways to spend your movie money. 

Under discussion:

Out of Balance  (2007)

    These days you can throw a rock and hit any number of anti-Bush, anti-corporation, or environmentally conscious documentaries. Some are better than others, but most are completely horrid. Out of Balance: ExxonMobil’s Impact on Climate Change falls somewhere in the middle. The film attempts to tackle an extremely huge issue by focusing on one company’s history of irresponsible and often abhorrent business practices. The central point of Tom Jackson’s film is that Exxon is so mega-large that they alone have the industrial might to negatively affect the entire Earth. What’s even worse is that the corporation actively seeks to block environmental legislation and fund pseudo-scientists to act as the voice of skepticism on the issue. The film makes some large claims and assertions about just how evil Exxon truly is and, for the most part, they ring true.

            Jackson trots out the familiar torrent of scientists, authors, and politicos to help explain the science and make his point. None of them carry massive weight on their own, but collectively they create a very cohesive image of what the planet is going through, how it’s happening, and who’s making it happen. The film spends a large amount of its time on the general topic of climate change. From it’s science and history, to possible future effects of continued global warming, every facet imaginable is covered. This forms the bedrock of the film and allows Jackson to explore the real villain.

            Special attention is paid to the history of ExxonMobil aka Standard Oil, It’s legacy of monopolistic business practices (John D. Rockefeller), and environmental disasters (Exxon Valdez). This back story is disturbing enough but the film really hits its stride with the investigation of the company’s funding of hack science meant to create a debate around the idea that A) climate change is occurring, and B) that humans are responsible for it. It’s the “jury is still out” line of thinking on the subject. This perception is absolutely key to the strategy of oil corporations and their continued record profits. As global temperatures rise, CO2 levels keep in step, and so do oil profits.

            The only real flaw of the film is the budget. Production values are extremely low. Stock footage is used throughout like any documentary, but the quality varies wildly. Often extremely dark and grainy, transitions can be jarring. Furthermore, the scientists and other talking heads are done disservice by the use of PowerPoint title graphics. I can’t believe no one told the filmmaker to just use a title dissolve instead of the extremely ugly fly in style. It’s amateurish at best. Still, these are middling problems, and they don’t detract from the core message.

The sad underlying truth of any business enterprise is that ethics in the corporate world only extends as far as the law. A company’s role is to make a profit, period. Out of Balance asserts that no entity has ever embraced this philosophy as much as ExxonMobil has. I for one, agree with that assessment.

With the release of Berlin Alexanderplatz I, like many others, have the chance to see Rainer Werner Fassbinder's magnum opus for the first time. While the talk of incorrect color correction by Juliane Lorenz and the Fassbinder Foundation has me skeptical about the authenticity of the release, it in no way mars the film as a whole. I can't wait to start getting into this 15 hour+ work. Fassbinder made this film (he has always declared it a 15 hour film and not a mini-series) for Bavarian Tv at the height of his powers. The entire production was shot a break neck pace with Fassbinder rarely giving his actors more than one take. Made only two years before his death, the film is a melding of his German Hollywood films (Lola, Veronika Voss), and his earlier melodramas (Fear Eats the Soul, Martha).

What I am going to do with this blog post is simple. As I watch Berlin Alexanderplatz I'm going to post my thoughts on each hour of the drama. Hopefully I'll be able to put it into the perspective of Fassbinder's entire body of work, as well as it's relation to post Nazi Germany's reestablishment of its culture. This film not only bridges the gulf between Fassbinder's Sirkian melodrama phase and his German Hollywood cinema, but also across the gulf of Weimar and West Germany. The exploration of this time period (the second Reich) was instrumental in Germany coming to terms with its past. Because of this, Berlin Alexanderplatz is uniquely important to film culture, as it was to Fassbinder himself.

Under discussion:

Sun Dogs  (2007)

Sun Dogs is the story of a rag tag group coming together to create Jamaica’s very first dog sled team. Does that sound familiar at all? Cool Runnings with dogs immediately comes to mind. While the basic concept of overcoming impossible odds to have the Caribbean islanders competing in snow sports is no different from that mediocre effort, the form is. Sun Dogs eschews the stoner comedy milieu in favor of heart warming documentary.

The film focuses on the batch of strays selected for the dog team, and the men who came together to make it happen, including Jimmy Buffet. After the initial investment from some enterprising locals, American trainers are brought down to seriously engage the animals. It’s basically the training sequence from Best of the Best sans montage.

The film spends a lot of time dealing with the plight of average Jamaicans and the wreckage of their economy. If you’ve ever been to the Caribbean and traveled inland from the beach resorts you have probably come across the utter poverty that plagues the region. The film makers attempt to draw a line between the street mutts and their streetwise trainers. Through the dog sled team everyone gets a second chance I suppose. Too bad this part of the film falls flat. It’s hard to know where the focus is exactly, and splitting between two species doesn’t really resonate the way it could have in more adept hands. Director Andrea Stewart attempts to play the heartstrings, but sudden shifts in tone just become annoying.

The strongest note in the film is without a doubt the dogs themselves. Coming from the streets or abused homes there is something gratifying in watching the wayward animals develop from confused and frightened shadows of themselves into working athletes. To this end Stewart spends time with the Jamaican Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and other animal enthusiasts. These sequences are very effective and feature some of the best interviews in the film.

Just as soon as she creates some sympathy for the animals though, she attempts to once again trade it in for human sympathy. Jamaica sucks, I get it. It has been in a downward spiral for decades with little hope of overcoming its wasted potential. I know, I read The Economist. It’s nice that through the dog sled team many under privileged participants like Oswald and Newton, the dog trainers, and received opportunities to travel the world and succeed. Honestly I just don’t care. I found myself just wanting to watch the dogs.

Sun Dogs tries very hard to be all things to all people. It’s as if while filming the director became increasingly distracted and decided to follow as many sub plots as possible. Unfortunately it doesn’t work. If you love dogs, or are interested in the plight of the crime ridden island, Sun Dogs may be worth a look, otherwise just skip it.

Under discussion:

DOA: Dead or Alive  (2007)

Ok so this movie has a couple cheese bases covered right off the bat: 1) video game adaptation, 2) straight to DVD, and the most important of all, 3) Eric Roberts. Yes Eric Roberts, Julia's brother, and star of the immortal "Best of the Best" series of Tae Kwon Do films stars as the head baddie. This film feeds my bad sci-fi action guilty pleasure. Movies like Robot Jox, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, and Arena (the alien space gladiator film) are amazing for the simple fact they got made. While DOA doesn't fall into their specific category it is a stupid film that knows how ludicrous the plot is and so doesn't waste your time trying to convince you that it's serious business (Mortal Kombat I'm looking at you). I may be shamed to say it, but I enjoyed watching most of DOA, it does lag near the end. Still the intentional and unintentional laughs will keep most people watching, but only once.

The film also features Devon Aoki, who you remember from SIn CIty as the ninja star wielding Miho. She doesn't look quite the same without the black and white computer color correction though.

Under discussion:

God Grew Tired of Us  (2007)

By now everyone should be familiar with the genocide and civil war taking place in Sudan. The roots of the conflict stem from the era of Anglo colonization of the continent. As England retreated from its former colonial territories it merged separate ethnic communities into unnatural nations, much like Iraq. The wounds of ethnic struggles have erupted into the current wave of war and atrocities sweeping Sudan. One of the by-products of this new hostility are the so-called “Lost Boys”. 27’000 young men fled the country en masse, navigating open savanna, desert, and the wilds of Africa. They found refuge in makeshift tent cities littered throughout Kenya and as far south as Johannesburg.

God Grew Tired of Us follows the progress of three lost boys; Daniel, Panther and John, from a refugee camp in Kenya as they attempt to integrate themselves into the American Dream. At every turn they are overwhelmed by new sights and experiences, and are always wistful for the home they may never go back to.

The filmmakers take care to let the “Lost Boys” speak in their own voice. They relate the horrors of what they endured and experienced in a matter of fact way, letting the truth of everything carry the impact of their story. The youths come across as strengthened by their ordeal. Having survived the worst they are hopeful about their future, and just a bit nervous. Some of the greatest moments in the film come from their naïve innocence as they talk about moving to Philadelphia, the capital city in the nation of Pennsylvania, and question the filmmakers about the details of a shower.

The one drawback of the film is the consistently nagging narration of Nicole Kidman. I understand that she has made it her personal celebrity mission to call attention to this crisis, and I commend her for it, but it’s also an act of self-importance. I assume since she subjected us to the wretched film The Interpreter, which covers some of the political issues surrounding the genocide in Sudan, she feels she is now an authority on the subject. Her tone comes of as a scolding mum, rather than a scholar seeking to educate. Perhaps, we should be scolded for basically ignoring one the greatest atrocities since the holocaust, but no one deserves to be scolded by Nicole Kidman. Luckily she doesn’t totally coat the film with her acidic vocalizations.

God Grew Tired of Us is engaging, enlightening, and entertaining. It flows naturally from laughs generated by Daniel mashing Ritz crackers with a hammer and mixing it with milk to make himself dinner to the deep emotional territory of his homesick laments. This mix of ups and downs draws you into the film until the central message reverberates within. We in the West have the ability through economic clout and military might to end the horrors in Sudan. That we don’t is a sign of our lack of political will. If this film doesn’t inspire self-reflection and shame you must truly be heartless.

Under discussion:

The Great Match  (2006)

If the idea of Mongolian nomads (Shag Humar Khan, Abu Aldanish, Kensiileg Alen Khan), a few Tuareg tribesmen of the Sahara (Attibou Aboubacar, Mohamed Hassan Dit Blinde, Mohamed Telit), and a bunch of Amazonian natives (Wirapitang Kaapor, Pirihaa Kaapor, Chay Kaapor, Kinchiran Kaapor) trying to find ways to watch the final of the World Cup sounds funny to you, this is your movie. Laugh with them as they attempt to reach their goal through any means necessary. Find humor in their quaint ways, and revel in their ancient social hierarchies as old world meets new in this “The Gods Must Be Crazy” style comedy of the third world.

            Most will find enjoyment from the film in its portrayal of indigenous cultures as every bit the same as those of the first world. This is, unfortunately, a new concept for most of the movie going public. The film truly succeeds in this respect. It’s too bad then, that the majority of the intended comedy falls unconvincingly flat. Director Gerrado Olivares relies too heavily on slapstick, and not enough on the personalities of the characters. The funniest moments are born out of the interactions the football obsessed protagonists have with their tribes and friends. A typical scene of this type involves our Amazon friend hunting monkeys in a Ronaldhino (forward for the Brazil national team) jersey complete with match style play by play. When his scream of “Goal!” disrupts his aim, his friends chide him for knowing little about either football or hunting.

             The journey to good reception areas takes up a lot of the film and Olivares uses this opportunity to flesh out everyone’s motivations and eccentricities. By the time all involved make it to their respective viewing locations they have only gotten halfway to the match. The real trial is in attempting to get their tv sets working. When everything gets moving the film weaves the three stories into a cohesive tale through the use of dramatic action in the match. Running gags also come into play as rivalries develop between supporters of the opposing teams. Small comedies develop around the charismatic personalities, and the film finally hits its stride as the momentum of the game builds. The inability of the one American character (a rather fat Coca-Cola guzzling missionary) to relate to the Amazonian’s desire to watch the game is a notable highpoint for the character driven nature of the film.

The Great Match is not just focused on laughs, it has some very culturally engaging moments. When one of the Mongolian nomads reflects on his family and life we see scenes, it doesn’t matter that they aren’t documentary shots, of his contemporary nomadic lifestyle. Poignant and moving in their authenticity, it is these sections of the film that achieve for the film what the comedy fails to do; connect you with the protagonists. It is a struggle for these peoples to find a way to watch the World Cup. They cross deserts, traverse mountains, infiltrate rainforest logging camps, and cross paths with local state officials, just for the opportunity to view something that Americans don’t really care about. These are the true diehard fans.

Gerrado Olivares is obviously indebted to the “Gods” films when it comes to style. The Great Match overcomes this direct influence in many places, but it fails to have a lasting impact because it trades possible emotional resonance with the characters for comedy clichés. However, two global truths emerge from this movie; football does indeed have the power to unite the people of the Earth, and watching Mongolian horseback border guards kick a football into a nomad’s hunting eagle is funny in any language.

Under discussion:

Climates  (2006)

    Nuri Bilge Ceylan is Turkey’s premiere film maker. His movies are often melancholy stories about interpersonal rifts. The depths that he mines within the human heart are sometimes disturbing, but his works are always compelling. His newest film Climates, details the dissolution of the relationship between Isa: an older photographer, played by Ceylan himself, and Bahar: a much younger TV series art director, played by Ceylan’s real life spouse. It is often hard to find two actors with enough personal chemistry to make the inner workings of their dysfunctional life together believable. Perhaps this is why Ceylan opted to draw from very personal reserves to craft his couple.
    Climates begins with the final days of Isa and Bahar’s relationship. On an excursion to the beach outside of Izmir Isa finally finds the inner strength to end it. The opening contains some of the most potent and excruciating scenes of the film. At a dinner party with friends the strife of the relationship boils over into the sort of snide banter common between two people who are disgusted with one another. Ceylan captures the uncomfortable feeling that occurs during such situations so perfectly you can feel you skin crawl with repressed memories of such subdued battles.
    The film finds a lot of its power in the knowing glances of the women in Isa’s life. He is a very flawed man, and both his mistress and Bahar see right through his dishonesty. His dishonesty isn’t borne out of any kind of malicious intent though. It comes from a deep seated personal disloyalty. Isa finds it hard to be honest with himself, and thereby, with others too. The thesis he is constantly working on, but never finishes is a prime example of this self deception.  It’s no surprise then that one of the major themes of the film is the inscrutable differences between men and women. The way women always seem to know the secrets of a man’s heart even when the men aren’t self-actualized to point of knowing it themselves. The women of Climates hold all the cards, but they still let Isa make his mistakes.
    Ceylan, like his alter ego, is a photographer. Having had a very prolific career before ever getting involved in film, his works are shown around the world and are currently touring Europe in a major exhibition. He uses the same stylistic choices for film as he does in his other artistic endeavor. Often relying on a static shot for scenes, Ceylan constructs images of absolute beauty for his characters to inhabit. This aids his film style immensely; as he lets most scenes play out in extended form to capture the quiet brooding moments between protagonists. In Climates it’s what is left unsaid that matters most.

Under discussion:

Sweetie  (1989)

Rushmore  (1998)

Igby Goes Down  (2002)

I Heart Huckabees  (2004)

The Rage In Placid Lake  (2003)

Director Tony McNamara’s debut feature, The Rage in Placid Lake is a mixed bag. It instantly conjures comparisons to any number of American and Australian indie coming of age comedies, I (heart) Huckabees, Sweetie, Igby Goes Down and Rushmore, being the most obvious. Like those films, it shares a central character adrift in self crisis as he begins to navigate the adult world. Unlike those films, it creates a wholly believable series of personal tragedies and triumphs for its characters.

Placid Lake (musician Ben Lee), as his name suggests, is seemingly nonplussed in almost every situation he encounters. Saddled with new age parents more interested in their own personal discovery than helping to acclimate their son to mainstream society, he is forced create ever more elaborate ways to assert his independence and identity. Like all anti-heroes, he is beset upon by the pressure to conform. This pressure is manifested as three bullies that make it their life’s goal to humiliate and isolate Placid at every opportunity.

He must also confront his long simmering love for next door neighbor and best friend Gemma (Rose Byrne). Gemma has problems of her own. An obsessive and over bearing father directs his genius daughter’s life at every step. Gemma, unlike Placid, has everything mapped out for her. From the time she was a child she has been groomed for scientific greatness, “the next Marie Curie”. She offers a counterpoint, both in lifestyle and world outlook to Placid. The film revolves around this relationship and it is Placid’s desire for her that acts as a catalyst in his most ambitious plan to date: an attempt to become a “normal” person.

 For him this means taking a job at an Insurance agency and modeling his appearance on that beacon of style, George W. Bush. Needless to say this action constitutes outright rebellion in the eyes of his parents. They have never bothered to notice the bruises, internal and external, sustained by their son. It takes a double breasted pinstripe suit for them to finally take notice of the turmoil seething just beneath the surface.

By making the parents outsiders, McNamara turns some of the conventions of this genre on its ear. It creates a different kind of dynamic between the character caught in crisis and the rest of the world. Placid wants to be a part of society. He has had nothing but encouragement to do the opposite, however. With the way things have been turning out so far, it’s no wonder he wants to reinvent himself as a corporate lackey. He believes this will bring structure to his life. For him it represents escape from rejection, and a chance to set himself apart from his parents. Sure it’s mundane, but it also offers stability. Something he has never had. 

To McNamara a place like Icarus Insurance is a place to hide. Not from the world at large, but from yourself. Unfortunately the cold truth is that living a lie isn’t rewarding. Doing so will only bring greater tragedy. This theme dominates The Rage in Placid Lake. What’s interesting is that it’s all treated with humor and subtlety. Although the plot and character development may be familiar, the story of someone trying connect to the world resonates. Placid, like all of us, wants desperately to be accepted for who he is. In the face of rejection he changes tactics and becomes what he feels society wants him to be. This concept has been explored, as previously mentioned, in many recent films. What stands The Rage in Placid Lake apart from something like Garden State is its unpretentiousness. Ben Lee creates a smug, yet likeable character in Placid who feels real because his smugness, as well as his self-deceit, gets him no where with society, but succeeds in liberating him from a lot of his own demons.

There isn’t anything groundbreaking about The Rage in Placid Lake. It’s a mid-level indie comedy that at times makes you think you’ve seen it all before. It can surprise you though. Often hilarious, what the film really has going for are great supporting characters, in particular Placid’s parents (Miranda Richardson and Garry McDonald). This, combined with the reversal of the typical teen rebellion archetype is more than enough to keep you going through some of the more mundane sections of the movie.