(Goran Dukić, UK/USA, 2006, 89 minutes)
After committing suicide, heartbroken Zia (Patrick Fugit) finds himself in an even worse place than before -- a depressing landscape of broken-down buildings, industrial carnage, dead-end jobs, dark bars, and other aimless suicide victims. A land of no smiles, no way out, and no hope.
Discovering that the girl who caused his arrival has also killed herself and is somewhere in the same world, Zia enlists the help of his Russian friend Eugene (hilariously played by Shea Whigman) to find his lost love. Along they way, they pick up Mikal (the always lovely Shannyn Sossamon), a drifter claiming she landed there by mistake, and run into a camp of misfits run by none other than, Tom Waits.
Director Gorin Dukic paints a humorous picture of life after death, injecting elements of magic and mystery into a bleak landscape. Above all, this story has a lot to say about love, taking chances, and holding onto life. I enjoyed it very much -- and right now it's got the title of my favorite SIFF film seen this year.
Image from Tubi (Patrick Fugit, Shannyn Sossaman, Shea Whigham).
You know, there was a really interesting comic book from one of the American indie presses a couple of years ago. It shared the premise and as I recall the artist was Eastern European.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the Wikipedia entry for Israeli writer Etgar Keret, a comic book adaptation of Keret's story "Kneller's Happy Campers" was created by Asaf Hanuka, and the story is also the basis for the film.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etgar_Keret
Yeah! The director said the graphic novel was based partly on the original short story, and partly on his screenplay - because he added ideas that the graphic novel guys liked a lot. I am interested in getting ahold of a copy, for sure.
ReplyDeleteLike the black hole! That was a great idea. Speaking of which, "Brothers of the Head" was a novella (Brian Aldiss with Ian Pollock) before it became a film. I just ordered a used copy. According to co-director Keith Fulton, it's out of print, but he and partner Louis Pepe hope to do a tie"n with the movie, which opens in Seattle on 8/11. Aldiss also authored short story "Super-Toys Last All Summer Long," which became Steven Spielberg-by-way-of-Stanley-Kubrick's "A.I."
ReplyDelete