Chicago Underground Film Festival
“I have always known who Rimbaud was,” Jim (Al Shannon) insists when his disillusioned girlfriend claims she introduced him to the 19th-century poet and contemporary icon of pretentiousness. Jim’s a poet who hangs out at the Electric Urn nightclub and uses his poems like drugs or cash–depending on whether he’s trying to exploit someone or just pay for a drink. He’s an irksome, pathetic poseur who gets the girl at the end, confirming the self-indulgence of this flat, insidery hang-out movie written and directed by Dean Bivins (1996). The other characters, played by various other New York City personalities, aren’t very interesting either, with one significant exception–“Lulu” (Michael Cavadias, aka Lily of the Valley) is an aspiring actress who’s as formidable as a Fassbinder creation–her megalomaniacal behavior, self-effacement, and sheer physical presence are a continual source of fascination. (LA) On the same program, Slain Wayne’s Super Thrill Over Kill. (5:30)
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In this road movie about unrequitable love, writer-director Craig Sclattman puts in motion a plot that sends an adolescent girl and three used-car salesmen to Texas in a Volvo wagon. Bart (Brian Brophy), for reasons that are a brilliantly confused conflation of selfishness and empathy, encourages Melissa (Kathy Morozova) to become attached to him, and when they exchange the Volvo for a red convertible the act is a perfect metaphor for their relationship–a rite of passage for both. Brophy, Morozova, and the work of directors of photography Wes Llewellyn and Bubba Bukowski share the spotlight in this astonishing fusion of stark landscape cinematography and wildly compelling close-ups, especially of Brophy as he delivers hypnotic monologues that seem to be about everything and nothing at once and that lay bare his character’s internal processes without demystifying them. In a supporting role that provides perspective on Brophy’s oddly self-actualized fanatic, Arthur Roberts brings stability to the volatile story; by calmly observing Bart and Melissa but not judging them, he enables us to identify with characters whose vulnerability and manipulativeness might otherwise be far too threatening. Schlattman has rarefied emotion instead of breaking it down–his characters are indelible because they retain their mystery even as they let you inside. (LA) (7:15)
The Films of Jeff Krulik and Friends
A program of short films by Ken Hagen, Psychelicious-N-Junkman, Michael Dante DiMartino, Craig Wallace, Alvin Ecarma, and Joel Watson. (9:45)
Charlie’s Family
Gang of Shorts
