Synopsis
Jane (Renee Stahl) drifts through contemporary LA. She wants to be a writer, but is reluctantto share her uncompleted work in her writing class. She makes a living typing up term papers.She has a model boyfriend, who is off doing a shoot in Italy and misses her terribly, but she isn’tsure what she feels about him (if anything at all). Then there’s the memory of a car crash thattorments her. Enter an young artist, with whom she begins an affair…
This is very much a… interior journey for our protagonist and narrator. Her oblique voice-overs complement an oblique plot, which is supplemented by oblique flashbacks and soundeffects. This is clearly a heart-felt project, and the pieces fit together well, but the result is, Ithink, a bit too successful in conveying its our heroine’s alienation. We feel distanced from hertoo.
Audio
A very odd soundtrack. For the most part, it sounds like mono. And just as I was decidingthat this is, in fact, what it was, a startlingly loud car crash rocks the speakers in full surround.Neat effect. Unfortunately, the voice-over also appears to be in full stereo, and though it doesn’tbleed into the rear speakers, it is afflicted by a certain harshness. In the end, you have music andthe Symbolic Sound Effects in surround, and everything else in what might as well be mono. Seewhat you think.
Video
The aspect is not indicated, but looks like either 1.85:1 or 1.78:1 to me (I lean towards thelatter). In any event, it is not anamorphic, and so there is an increase in grain and softness whenthe picture is blown up to 16×9 screens. Some of the grain is also due to the fact that the film wasshot on Super-16 mm, so one can’t expect the same resolution as 35 mm projects. The coloursseem strangely old, with an orange/pink tint becoming quite pervasive (except in the B&Wmoments, which look fine). The print is really quite dirty, and there’s speckling to boot.
Special Features
You have a still gallery, and, instead of the biographies mentioned on the case, productionnotes. These are quite fascinating, detailing the various obstacles that stood in the project’s way,and the guerilla filmmaking that was required. The notes are also plagued by typos and spellingmistakes (Martin Scorsese’s last name should, one would think, be spelled correctly). The menuis basic.
Closing Thoughts
Definitely not for everyone’s taste (and I can’t say it was to mine). One might call itpretentious, or one might call it personal and subjective. Your 111 minutes.
Special Features List
- Still Gallery
- Production Notes
