By David Massey
After a late
night (and having watching 1:59am change to 3:00am before my eyes), I was
totally shattered this morning but all set to drag myself downtown early to
catch the screening of Richard Linklater's epic new film, and then call it a
day. Fortunately, that screening was such a great experience that it compelled
me to keep going; I also caught a unique performance from a cult hero and
mustered the energy for a documentary about a band that formed a prominent
bookmark in my life as I crossed into my 20’s. The culmination of these films
sent me into a downward spiral of aged nostalgia… but in a good way.
'Boyhood' (directed by Richard Linklater)
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| Boyhood cast Q&A at SXSW |
Once a year, over the last 12 years, Richard Linklater
(‘Waking Life’ / ‘Before Sunset’) has reunited the same cast and shot segments
of a feature film following the life of a boy (played by Ellar Coltrane – who
literally grew into this part and became an actor of substance) from the age of
5 through the age of 18; the result is both fascinating and inspired. The only
other project that comes close in comparison is Michael Apted’s ‘Seven Up’
series which documents the lives of a collection of school children in 7-year
intervals, starting in 1964 and still going as of the latest edition in 2012.
What’s so unique about ‘Boyhood’ is that these individuals (including Ethan
Hawke, Patricia Arquette, and Linklater’s own daughter, Lorelei Linklater)
evolve and age within a scripted narrative that is not 'like' a time capsule,
this is a completely authentic period piece that retraces an era from the
cultural response to September 11th, through the election of Barrack
Obama, and into the age of social media saturation. As you watch these actors
morph through more than a decade of their lives within a few hours, the story becomes
as engaging as its concept. Throughout my life and travels, I’ve heard so
little enthusiasm for Linklater outside of Austin and it’s a shame because he is
a unique force within the industry and quite an American gem. The director
received a well-deserved standing ovation from and elated audience having, once
again, set a new standard in the exploration of film’s potential and
reinforcing the limitlessness of DIY filmmaking.
'Joe' (directed by David Gordon Green)
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| David Gordon Green at SXSW |
David Gordon Green, who’s versatile career has swung from
the sublime (‘Snow Angels’ & ‘Undertow) to the completely absurd
(‘Pineapple Express’ & ‘Your Highness’), has swung back once again with
this adaptation of Larry Brown’s bleak novel, ‘Joe’. The thriller follows the
lives of country drifters surviving on the fringes of modern America’s mid-west.
The title character, played by Nicolas Cage, is a man with a troubled past and
a short temper that has found a respectable - if teetering - balance in life.
When he hires a young drifter, played by Tye Sheridan (‘The Tree of Life’ /
‘Mud’) as a day laborer and tries to take the boy under his wing, that balance
begins to tip when the boy's vagabond father becomes jealous of his income and
his friendship with Joe. This is a film about fighting against your own nature
and, though his more serious roles are often overshadowed by his over-the-top
gonzo-ness, this is, by far, Cage’s most subtle success to date. Don’t worry
though, he still gives the camera ‘crazy-eyes’ at least once.
‘PULP’ (directed by Florian Habicht)
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| Pulp Q&A at SXSW |
In 1997, when I moved to London, beyond a song on the
‘Trainspotting’ soundtrack, I had never heard of the band ‘PULP’ (who released
their first album in 1983). That gap in my musical knowledge was swiftly
corrected by the locals and I was soon swaying and gushing with empathy to
anthems like ‘Mis-Shapes’ and ‘Common People’. The year after my arrival, the
band released the controversial ‘This is Hardcore’ album (which I adored) and
largely fell from the limelight. In the UK, at least, Jarvis Cocker and his
bandmates have not been easily forgotten and the band, which hasn’t toured or
played together since shortly after the turn of the century, decided to
organize a final concert as a bookend to their career. Kiwi filmmaker Florian
Habicht (‘Love Story’) has created a ‘concert film’ as unique as the band
itself. Instead of providing a sleek chronology of the bands history, full
performances of their fan favorites, and back-stage antics, he’s focused his
attention on the ‘common’ residence of PULP’s native city, Sheffield, and made
pensioners the center of his study. To the credit of the ‘Veronica Mars’
audience that I scorned yesterday, this too may be a film for the fans but, for
the sake of pop music history, the greats that didn’t quite make it stateside
(largely because they weren’t macho enough), and because there isn’t yet a
trailer for this documentary, I give you the ‘Disco 2000’ music video for your
own educational enjoyment:
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