Orphans *
Ry Russo-Young, 2007
US
@ Barbes (Brooklyn Independent Cinema Series)
This seemed to be much more focused on the actors than form or visual style. I guess much the same has been said about other "mumblecore" films, though I would say a very definite director's touch comes through in stuff by Andrew Bujalski, Joe Swanberg, or Frank V. Ross. I also get the sense with those directors that a dramatic structure kind of takes shape during the filming and eventually asserts itself in the mind of the contemplative viewer. I didn't feel quite the same here. I like the ideas behind it--the director mentioned Winter Light during the Q&A--and the scenario presents some interesting possibilities.
The scenes didn't seem to flow, but rather congealed together in a sequence that's difficult to remember. This isn't a complaint that I would normally make, but I never got the feeling, like in Syndromes and a Century or the Bergman film mentioned above, that the action was taking place slightly outside conventional time, nor that the action was moving in a particular direction, just an uncomfortable in-between.
The dialogue in films like this is often uneven and incoherent, but tends to add a humorous realism, and generally seems to constitute a stylistic decision, but I'm not so sure here. Mostly, the dialogue here feels dramatic, but maybe suffers from too few shifts in tone. Almost every scene is either uncomfortable or sullen or humorous because/inspite of one of those two moods.
Maybe what I'm getting at here is that Orphans is, despite its small cast and limited setting, more ambitious than most of the films I love about slovenly, indecisive twentysomethings. That is, its themes are more traditional and the drama more high-pitched. That would be enticing to many or most other commentators on this stuff.
See also: Ry Russo-Young's website
Ry Russo-Young, 2007
US
@ Barbes (Brooklyn Independent Cinema Series)
This seemed to be much more focused on the actors than form or visual style. I guess much the same has been said about other "mumblecore" films, though I would say a very definite director's touch comes through in stuff by Andrew Bujalski, Joe Swanberg, or Frank V. Ross. I also get the sense with those directors that a dramatic structure kind of takes shape during the filming and eventually asserts itself in the mind of the contemplative viewer. I didn't feel quite the same here. I like the ideas behind it--the director mentioned Winter Light during the Q&A--and the scenario presents some interesting possibilities.
The scenes didn't seem to flow, but rather congealed together in a sequence that's difficult to remember. This isn't a complaint that I would normally make, but I never got the feeling, like in Syndromes and a Century or the Bergman film mentioned above, that the action was taking place slightly outside conventional time, nor that the action was moving in a particular direction, just an uncomfortable in-between.
The dialogue in films like this is often uneven and incoherent, but tends to add a humorous realism, and generally seems to constitute a stylistic decision, but I'm not so sure here. Mostly, the dialogue here feels dramatic, but maybe suffers from too few shifts in tone. Almost every scene is either uncomfortable or sullen or humorous because/inspite of one of those two moods.
Maybe what I'm getting at here is that Orphans is, despite its small cast and limited setting, more ambitious than most of the films I love about slovenly, indecisive twentysomethings. That is, its themes are more traditional and the drama more high-pitched. That would be enticing to many or most other commentators on this stuff.
See also: Ry Russo-Young's website
Labels: 1 Star, 2007, Ry Russo-Young, US
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