Last week San Diego hosted their 9th annual film fest at the Gaslamp Theater. The event included five days of premieres, feature length films, documentaries and shorts for all preferences. Every night, complementary after-parties were held for attendees at different hotel locations.
Wednesday night went smoothly with the premiere of Morning.
Morning- Written, directed and staring veteran character actor Leland Orser, affectionately known as ‘panicky guy’ by his fans from his very memorable scenes from ER, Seven, Bone Collector and Alien Resurrection. It begins as a pedestrian indie film at the crossroads of a marriage when faced with an unknown crisis. From the moment we see the couples anguish we know that only a death in the family could be at the center of this problem. Not knowing exactly what the problem is doesn’t add mystery in this case; all the problems have already been established. Mark (Orser) stays at home and is pretty much a mute character paced intermittently with Alice, his wife. Morning is Alice’s (Jeanne Tripplehorn) story; we empathize and understand what goes on with her as she spends the next four days at a hotel after the death of her son. She hits every note so well that it just highlights the scripts heavy handedness. Supporting cast members are terrific and break up the intensity. The strongest element to Morning is its pace of time and lack of urgency as you glide into these people’s lives. Morning serves as a presentational devise for two actors experimenting with tragedy, unfortunately that don’t leave a lot of room to breathe.
The final screening on Saturday night, Nowhere Boy, is about the early days John Lennon beginning in 1955, after a death of a family member leads to an encounter with his estranged mother, Julia. Being raised by Julia’s older sister, Mimi, both sisters are still close yet have unresolved issues regarding john. Kristin Scott Thomas has careful restraint as Mimi, at the moment that she worries John might get too close to the compulsive Julia she begins to speak with a love and concern that deepens as more it progresses. Julia loves the attention of John, now much older than when they last met and fueling his inspiration into rock ‘n’ roll leads to self realization and identity. Everything is natural, and though relationships are never simple their intentions are always clear, not obvious. This is true for Paul and John’s relationship as well. Though Thomas Brodie Sangster doesn’t look the part but the feeling that casting was chosen for their natural ability rather than looks. The battles are small and the stakes are modest but over inflated biopic are tiring and boring. There I no hero-worship for John Lennon at this time he wasn’t an artist or even a marginal talent. The less is more treatment is complemented by tight editing. Film lovers will enjoy seeing one of the best bio pictures this year and Beatles fans might get more incite into this pre-Beatle legend with a story that most people wouldn’t know
On Thursday, film shorts from SDSU showcased a wide assortment of young talent to display their potential as filmmakers.
The heftiest was Day Labour coming in at about 20 minutes. While using a topical story and a somewhat cliché approach to the characters and their situations the pacing does the story a favor and gives it enough room for empathy. An illegal immigrant supporting his family and two kids is having all kinds of trouble getting work as well as being taken advantage of at some of he job sites. The checklist of problems the story goes down can feel simplified but there’s enough time spread out so that it doesn’t lay itself on too thick.
Appart form the shorts presented by SDSU and a set of shorts Local Love, from up and coming local natives this year short films were placed together by category of thermometric dilemma. Crush, includes romance stories of all variety, heartbreak and happiness. Twist features unexpected endings. Film Rocks all included music anecdotes and documentaries of bands.
Saturday featured the Torn collection, a series of dramatic events around the subjects of loss.
The Pool stars 4 adolescent friends that sneak into a pool late at night, testing who can stay underwater the longest. The natural and rude dialogue sets the totem of hierarchy with in the group. All tension is set by language and it’s natural. “Whose turn is next?” and “You think you can beat me?” are obvious lines to get the ball rolling but the characters revel themselves with such honesty. Recognizing one another’s fears and exploiting them is fun to watch. The tension never leaves once it starts moving the story along and these kids know how to play it. There’s no race to find out what happens at the end.
After Hours is where the Torn series really starts and gets the crowd warmed up. Tight editing, sharp cuts and shaky camera seem appropriately framed for this one act play. In the basement an angry high school reveals his plan to another kid he has tied up of what he is going to do. The hand held camera opening, the source florescent lighting, delivery and tone might be a bit familiar but the acting and more importantly the script lifts out of that. We never leave that room and everything we get is revealed from the two students, we’ve seen the stage before but through all the intensity people these that guide us into their history. It doesn’t wow, but it works.
The Long Hard Walk is the technical winner in terms of production but the contrast of each story to each other is a bit steep. Three different people in three very different states of urgency are preparing them selves for some life defining moments. A boy walks up to a girl he likes. A specialist preparing to disarm a bomb moments before it’s detonation. An old woman walking to her husbands hospital room for the last time. For about ten minutes it feels like a real movie with nice editing, good acting and smooth transitions and then it over. Adding ten more minutes would have been a nice step to see what this director could do with his material. You’ll notice every dollar on the screen but really the stakes are not as high as it wants itself to believe.