2013 SF Indiefest Day 3: Desire Inc., Be Good, Wrong and More
I arrived at the Roxie Theater on Saturday afternoon prepared for a huge day of films, and that’s exactly what my third day at SF Indiefest delivered. The first presentation of the day was a trio of shorts by newcomer Mary Helena Clark, paired with Desire Inc., a provocative short by Bay Area filmmaker Lynn Hershman. Next up, I shuffled over to the Roxie’s sister theater, Little Roxie, to watch Todd Looby’s charmingly honest Be Good. After filling my belly with delicious eats from the tapas place across the street (yum), I returned to the main Roxie theater to watch Quentin Dupieux’s playfully bizarre Wrong.
The night was capped off right around the corner from the Roxie at 518 Gallery with white Russians, mini-bowling, Dudes, Walters, and Jesuses, with SF Indiefest’s 10th annual Big Lebowski party, along with a 35mm screening of the film. The devoted Lebowski faithful came out in full force, and gathered to form a raucous orgy of Lebowski love. It was a memorable night that cemented for me that SF Indiefest is an absolute must-go event for any and all film enthusiasts.
The night was capped off right around the corner from the Roxie at 518 Gallery with white Russians, mini-bowling, Dudes, Walters, and Jesuses, with SF Indiefest’s 10th annual Big Lebowski party, along with a 35mm screening of the film. The devoted Lebowski faithful came out in full force, and gathered to form a raucous orgy of Lebowski love. It was a memorable night that cemented for me that SF Indiefest is an absolute must-go event for any and all film enthusiasts.
Three experimental shorts from Mary Helena Clark
Mary Helena Clark (who was in attendance) presented her experimental shorts And the Sun Flowers, Sound Over Water, and By Foot-Candle Light, all of which elicited long-forgotten memories and feelings from my childhood. Clark’s films linger on beautiful abstract images long enough for the hazy sights and sounds to transform in their meaning, cling to your mind, and become yours. Sound Over Water, the best of the trio, comforts with serene underwater images, while simultaneously creating a growing sense of claustrophobia.
And the Sun Flowers RATING: 6.8
Sound Over Water RATING: 8.9
By Foot-Canle Light RATING: 8
Desire Inc.
Experienced filmmaker Lynn Hershman (also in attendance) followed up with her thought-provoking look into technological fantasy Desire Inc. Filmed in 1985, before the internet had taken over the world, Hershman shares a set of ads she created and ran in the Bay Area, in which a seductive model urges viewers to call her. We are then shown footage of actual men who responded to the ads and the fascinating effects the ads had on their minds. It’s a deeply explorative work of art that contemplates the “phantom limb” we all utilize to reach into our television screens and interact with our most personal fantasies. When asked in the Q&A that followed the film if she would have made the film differently in the internet age, Hershman stressed that Desire Inc. and all films are portraits of their time and forever live just in that place.
RATING: 9.5
Be Good
Director Todd Looby’s Be Good follows independent filmmaker and stay-at-home dad Paul, his wife, Mary, who reluctantly returns to work but would much rather be at home with their newborn baby girl, Pearl. Paul wrestles with the reality that caring for the sleepless Pearl is stifling his filmmaking career, his friendships, and his marriage. Mary is frustrated with inhabiting the role of sole provider for the family and begins to resent Paul for not being able to contribute to the family financially and for being able to stay home with Pearl when she cannot. The rift between the couple grows as they use Pearl to escape one another, both emotionally and physically.
The situations Looby puts Paul and Mary in feel genuine, the pacing of the film hits the right rhythm, and Looby’s directing is tasteful. In scenes where Mary’s eye wanders to a male co-worker, Looby uses just the right amount of suggestion to where the situation doesn’t feel manufactured or contrived, but earnest and real. Neither parent is vilified, and their reactions to each other are completely understandable and believable thanks to sharp writing and two great performances. Thomas Madden and Amy Seimetz (as Paul and Mary, respectively) create a refined, naturalistic portrayal of a couple that is faced with the difficult juggling act that is parenthood.
Be Good is one of my favorite films of the festival so far. Looby is fair to his characters and treats them and their dilemma with respect. Their difficult situation is presented plainly and tastefully, and it’s clear that some of the scenes were plucked right out of Looby’s own life. He uses his own apartment, his own baby, and his own life experiences to inform the film, and what results is a deeply personal work. As a newlywed and future father, Be Good was a truly touching film.
RATING: 9.2
Wrong
Quentin Dupieux, director of the absurdist horror flick Rubber, delivers an equally nonsensical and wacky film with Wrong. We follow Dolph Springer, who wakes up to find that his beloved dog Paul is missing. In his search for his best friend, we are shown the wacky world Dolph lives in and the kooky eccentrics that inhabit it. As Dolph unravels the mystery behind Paul’s disappearance, his faith and connection with his pet are tested, and his problems begin to have damaging effects on the people surrounding him.
Dupieux’s film resembles a lighter, sillier version of a David Lynch dreamlike mind-bender, exchanging Lynch’s deep shadows and terror for bright, natural lighting and frivolous absurdity. Most of Wrong’s gags and wacky imagery are good for some laughs, but the effect comes and goes. We see things like a clock that strikes 7:60, a video of Paul’s shit’s memories (yep), and a man painting another man’s truck blue without permission. Unlike in Lynch’s films, none of the images stick and are soon forgotten, though they are fun in the moment.
What does stick are the great performances by the talented cast. Jack Plotnick plays Dolph with complete sincerity and dryness. While the film has a light, silly tone, Plotnick does a good job of reminding us of the true pain the absence of his Paul has caused Dolph. The rest of the cast do a good job as well, and deliver the dry dialogue with skillful comedic timing. William Fichtner is a standout as a spiritual guru who is an expert on making astral connections with other beings as is Regan Burns, who plays a jogger who will deny to the death that he is a jogger. Watching the characters’ hilarious conversations with each other is the main strength of the film. Wrong is a fun exercise in nonsensicality, but fails to resonate in any significant way.
RATING: 6.2