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ARCHTYPAL FILMMAKER
When it comes to independent film careers, there are few more interesting than that of E. Elias Mehrige's. In 1991 he finished his years-in-the-making Begotten, a Stygian montage of primordial imagery, summarized thusly by Marty Cassady, a reader at Imdb.com: "God disembowels himself with a straight razor. The spirit-like Mother Earth emerges, venturing into a bleak, barren landscape. Twitching and cowering, the Son Of Earth is set upon by faceless cannibals." Mehrige worked with a tiny crew and hand treated the film to give it a look like it had been around for centuries.The film, which played at underground and experimental venues, became something of a cult classic and was championed by Susan Sontag. Five years later Mehrige completed a promo doc on Marilyn Manson and then, in 2000, released Shadow of the Vampire, a witty meditation on the filming of Murnau's Nosferatu. Although it featured stars Willem Dafoe and John Malkovitch, the film was a modestly budgeted affair, though, which makes Mehrige's new film, Suspect Zero, such a surprise. (Check out the link for the Web site which includes the just-released trailer).
A big-budget serial killer movie starring Ben Kingsley (pictured in the film at above right) and Aaron Eckhardt, the film has some pedigreed participants. Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner are producers, Raging Bull cinematographer Michael Chapman shot it, Aronofsky-regular Clint Mansell did the score, and Zak Penn and Billy Ray are credited with the script.
Mehrige's films have been consistently fascinating, so I'm looking forward to seeing whatever mark he's managed to leave on what looks like an uncommonly dark summer release.
# posted by Scott Macaulay @ 7/3/2004 10:52:14 PM Comments (1)
HANDSHAKE DEAL
Via Pitchfork Media comes this news blurb about The Guatemalan Handshake, an indie film currently shooting in Eastern Pennsylvania starring musician Will Oldham (Palace, Bonnie "Prince" Billy) and directed by Todd Rohal. Previously, Rohal designed the DVD packaging for Dianne Bellino's short Slitch and, in the process, met Oldham, who starred in that film as well.
Writes Pitchfork: "The Guatemalan Handshake -- which bears no apparent relation to The Dirty Sanchez, as far as our sources can tell-- is presently in production, and follows a 10 year-old boy named Turkeylegs as he searches for his friend Donald (played by Oldham), who has mysteriously disappeared following a power failure.
Co-producer Marissa Ronca spoke to Pitchfork via email about the film, saying,
'The cast is a really wild mish-mosh of people, so I'm not even sure if we know what to expect." No wonder-- even the locations in the movie are fuckin' weird. Ronca says the crew plans to shoot at "a quarry, a demolition derby (where our car, The Bitchkisser, will get smashed), a roller rink, and some gorgeous farms.'
The Guatemalan Handshake begins filming this Friday in Eastern Pennsylvania, so if you're in the area, be on the lookout for a yellow-and-brown-striped RV traveling with a short bus filled with cast and crew."
A Web site containing a production journal is devoted to the film: www.guatemalanhandshake.com.
Speaking of music, I've been in L.A. a lot recently and one thing that makes the driving a lot more pleasurable is the new "indie 103.1" FM. I ran into filmmaker Helen Stickler (Stoked) at the closing night party for the IFP L.A. Film Festival (where else can you get pitched a San Francisco punk-rock period piece while standing next to The Rock?), and she told me that the station, which has only been on the air since February, has rapidly drawn a passionate audience akin to the one shared by L.A.'s old "Z Channel" back in the '80s. Listening to "Jonesies' Jukebox" (am I spelling that correctly?) tonight, in which host Steve Jones (formerly of the Sex Pistols) described his colonscopy, I felt back in the comforting arms of free-form, idiosyncratic radio.
# posted by Scott Macaulay @ 7/2/2004 12:15:45 AM Comments (0)
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