Celebrating its 30th year anniversary, the 2014 edition of the Sundance Film Festival kicked off Thursday afternoon in Park City for a 10-day celebration of independent film. It was a rather unique start to the festival this year, as the opening day press conference (which I wasn’t able to attend due to conflicting travel arrangements) took place shortly after the Oscar Nominations announcement. Now in any year, this wouldn’t normally be a big deal (except for journalists covering both grounds, of course), however this year Robert Redford was a major contender in the Best Actor category with J.C Chandor’s All Is Lost, and from what I hear, his snub (and a consequent question from a journalist regarding his snub) temporarily stole the thunder away from the real reason everyone was gathered in the Egyptian Theater that afternoon. As reported by various outlets (and as it can be watched here in the press conference video), Redford mentioned that he wasn’t upset, and said he is very proud of the truly independent film he’s made with JC Chandor, as it allowed him to go back to his roots as an actor. “I don’t want that to get in the way of why we’re here,” he said. “Let me just speak frankly about how I feel about it. Hollywood is what it is, it’s a business and so when these films go to be voted on, usually they’re heavily dependent on campaigns. In our case, I think we suffered from little to no distribution. And so as a result, our distributors – I don’t know why -- they didn’t want to spend the money, they were afraid, they were just incapable, I don’t know. I’m not disturbed by it, I’m not upset by it because, like I said, it’s a business.”
It looked like all was water under bridge when Redford showed up to the screening of Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash later that evening to officially kick off the festival and received a thunderous response from the audience. He jokingly said he wanted to come on the stage in a giant cake and jump out of it to celebrate the festival’s 30th landmark year but that the idea wasn’t very well received by his colleagues. After the screening, the audience granted an even grander response to the film itself. Whiplash was some way to kick off the festival. I was rather impressed by the craftsmanship of the film, and I think Damien Chazelle (who was nominated for ‘Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You’ with Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench at 2009 Gotham Awards) is a remarkable new talent to watch, but I didn’t necessarily share the collective enthusiasm for the film as some of its themes and lessons were confusing and questionable on my end. The film also shifted gears often tonally, and while I welcomed the twists and turns for a while, I got to a point where I started to doubt whether the film exactly knew what it wanted to be. Telling a rather traditional-looking story of a tough master/ambitious apprentice in a musical setting, Whiplash follows a young jazz drummer who attends one of the most prestigious music schools in New York and crosses paths with a teacher who’s known for his abrasive methods. The film is incredibly intense –at times, plays like a thriller- and features some amazing jazz drumming by the multi-talented Miles Teller of The Spectacular Now (he apparently did all drumming himself). J. K. Simmons’ performance as the teacher is also pitch perfect, yet the film suffers a bit from frequent tonal shifts and ultimately, taking itself a bit too seriously, as the grand closing number shows. The film’s international distribution rights have been grabbed by Sony already.
The second opening night film I was able to fit in was Todd Miller’s meticulous documentary Dinosaur 13. It tells a rather fascinating story of a group of paleontologists discovering the fossils of a T-Rex in late 90s, in Dakota’s fossil-rich Badlands (the most complete T-Rex skeleton discovery in history), and later on facing a series of logistical and legal obstacles that turns a historic event into a nightmare for all involved (which even costs them their freedom). The documentary is passionately put together by the filmmaker and primarily features a number of talking heads interviews. Although it reads like an Indiana Jones-type story on paper, the running time puts a dent into the film, making a remarkable story the subject of a semi-engaging film. Dinosaur 13 is also already sold, with distribution rights going to Lionsgate and CNN. It is an important film that needs to be seen; I just wish the theatrical cut gets tightened up and potentially shortened.
Friday was quite a busy day for my schedule, with five films spread around town. One note to make here is that the first weekend of Sundance –as fun and high energy as it is- can be a little nightmarish if your planned screenings are spread across various different venues and rely on shuttles running on time. As it is the festival’s busiest time, you need to give yourself plenty of time, plan for getting stuck in traffic and you don’t want to learn your lesson the hard way (e.g. I almost didn’t get into a screening earlier today even though I was holding a ticket, because I was a few minutes late). In any case, I started my day with Steven Knight’s superbly executed and visually stunning one-man drama Locke, which played at Venice and London Film Festivals in late 2013. Locke basically forms a storyline through a series of phone calls Ivan Locke (a metaphorically named character, played with exceptional precision and control by Tom Hardy) has to take from his car, while he is driving from Birmingham to London for a reason we later on find out (the story reveals itself little by little). During the drive, he needs to deal with business (he is a successful businessman), with family drama, personal issues and a lot more. Ivan Locke is the kind of role actors dream of I suspect, and Tom Hardy’s performance is noteworthy. Locke will be distributed in the US by A24 films this coming April. I continued my day with Michael Rossato-Bennett’s compassionate documentary Alive Inside, which explores how music connects Alzheimer patients with their former selves and asks vital questions around the broken healthcare system along the way.
The rest of Friday revealed some of the festival’s big guns, three of which I was able to see. Kat Candler’s Hellion –starring Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul and an impressive ensemble of child actors- is a heartbreaking drama of a struggling single father and his unruly yet misunderstood young son (played by the first-timer Josh Wiggins in a potentially career launching performance) who is a motocross enthusiast. Hellion is the kind of movie that screams tragedy from its early moments; yes, it’s not a story you haven’t been told before, but in Candler’s caring hands, the film works and feels refreshing. Plus, the post-screening Q&A was quite a colorful one (you can only imagine the number of Aaron Paul fans in attendance).
My second to last film was Lynn Shelton’s warm and insightful Laggies, starring Keira Knightley, Chloe Grace Moretz, Sam Rockwell and Kaitlyn Dever (of Short Term 12). This film was a no brainer for me to see, as I have deeply connected with all of Lynn Shelton’s previous work. Funny enough, Laggies took some time for me to take shape –I wasn’t even sure if my response was going to be positive during the first 20 minutes. But then the film –competently written by Andrea Seigel- took some surprising turns (which I came to expect from Lynn Shelton’s movies) and turned into a late coming-of-age tale of a 20-something misfit. Don’t be fooled by its conventional premise – Laggies was a complete delight to experience.
Lenny Abrahamson’s truly original and a bit hard-to-explain Frank was the perfect note to end the day on. I am not sure how to put some proper words to package this uncontainable little movie. The story is of a musician who one day finds himself as the member of an avant-garde band, and records his experience of living and practicing with them (in total isolation) through social media. Have I mentioned the lead of the band –the title character played by Michael Fassbender- wears a mask that he never takes off? Frank is weird, goofy, unique and very funny. It’s an artifact that will mean different things to different people. It will surely have its haters; but the ones who love it will do so with great passion. One aspect of the film that I can see getting lost in the chatter of disagreements is its tenderness. Let it be known that Frank is a film with beautiful humanity and Michael Fassbender is unforgettable during the film’s final moments. I hope this beautiful work lands on a major distribution deal very soon.
I will be here at Sundance until Thursday, and the next few days won’t be any less busy. A couple of the hot tickets will be Life Itself (the Roger Ebert documentary directed by Steven James), and Richard Linklater’s long-awaited Boyhood. Happy to report I was able to secure both.
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