Seattle Dispatch. 2.

There isn't a simpler plot or a more modest production in the festival catalogue than Kelly Reichardt's Old Joy [site], a true-to-the-core American indie overshadowed in its Sundance premiere by bigger stars and high-concept scripts. Reichardt's intimate and easy-going piece, about Mark (Daniel London) and Kurt (Will Oldham) heading out of town for a weekend jaunt to a hot springs hidden along a rural forest highway in the Oregon Cascades, captures the soothing spell of a lazy road trip and the ephemeral pleasure of the company of old friends with lucid simplicity. Nothing really happens on the trip, partly because Kurt, the free-spirited (and apparently unemployed) navigator, tokes up soon after pulling out of town and quickly loses his way (though never his confidence in giving directions), but Mark, at the wheel, doesn't care. It's the company and the journey that frees him from the pressures of life (he's soon to be a father) and the noisy clutter of the city, at least for a few precious hours. Modest, intimate and quietly candid about the moments between the drama when we do most of our thinking and feeling and living, it's as honest and affirming portrait of the real joys of life I've seen in years.

Andrew Leman's silent film adaptation of HP Lovecraft's The Call of Cthulhu [site], shot on video in an obsessively antiquated style that pays tribute to 1920s cinema, is more than simply a love letter to the stylized artificiality of silent expressionist horror. Leman resists the temptation to construct a linear narrative around the eerie recounting of the investigation of supernatural phenomenon surrounding the mysterious cult of Cthulhu, making it the most faithful screen translation of the author's work to date. It's an admirable approach and a qualified success, at least on a dramatic level - even a simple flourish might provided the anti-climax with narrative bite - but his dedication is commendable and his execution is so exquisite that he creates an atmosphere with a drama all its own.

Leman has an innate feel for silent movie texture and probably comes as close as humanly possible to achieving it, given his budget and his choice of equipment. The simple, uncomplicated digital effects that take the place of the trick photography and glass mattes of the silent era artisans is admittedly distracting in a film that otherwise evokes the subtle qualities of silent movie style. It's forgivable, given the intricate sets he creates on a starvation budget (the ritual sacrifice scene in the jungle and the island altar to Cthulhu are deliriously unreal and wonderfully weird spectacles), and the lovingly sculpted totems and icons to Cthulhu is a mark of his team's craftsmanship and devotion to the spirit of the material. The drama is in the atmosphere and the beautiful evocation of Lovecraft's constant theme: the more you investigate the secrets of the dark dimensions, the more power you feed the hungry god Cthulhu at the expense of your own sanity. That which does not kill you only makes you madder. The 47-minute short feature is also available on an independently produced and distributed DVD.

Posted by dwhudson at June 1, 2006 12:50 AM