Tideland; Wristcutters: A Love Story

My very good friend, Luke The Baron Poulson, has reminded me I should start blogging about films I watched before I started the blog. So here I go.

Part one, Tideland. This is a Terry Gilliam film that is very much overlooked, it wasn't a blockbuster like Brothers Grimm, or a cult classic like Twelve Monkeys. In fact, I hadn't heard of it until Luke told me to watch it. I was apprehensive about it, as I was told I 'may' enjoy it, and that it was similar to Pan's Labyrinth. It was a good film, and really quaint in a Gilliam fashion (We'll ignore the etymology of quaint for a second), but it died on it's arse towards the end. It suffered from 'Little Miss Sunshine' syndrome, in that it killed off the best character too early. Jeff Bridges who plays the father of our young female protagonists, takes 'vacations' with the help of his daughter, ie she helps him shoot up. The mother dies and they decide to take a trip to Bridges' mother's farm in rural America and imagination ensues.
The scenes that explore the girls imagination are good, pretty enhancements of the real world, and accurate depictions of a childs wandering mind. She swims in the corn and has fashion shows in a deep wardrobe, all whilst talking to Barbie heads stuck to her fingers with obscure name.
The one thing the film lacked was not heart, nor idea, but a story. Once the characters are introduced and killed, we only meet one new person, and the weight of the film is on a young girl's shoulders and she, as cute as she is, is a weak little girl. Her friendship with her disabled neighbour is cute but is explored far too late in the film, and also in a very strange way. The 'wicked witch of the west' style character is also underused, and turns from nemesis to ally too soon.

In short, it is a good film, just not really much to keep one focussed on it once it becomes a solo piece, and it is not particularly strong when cast against Gilliam's other works.

Another film I watched recently is Wristcutters: A Love Story. I love american indies, and films of that vein. Sometimes they just hit nails on the head that I weren't even aware existed. For example, I was unaware my love life was meaningless and pathetic until I saw Garden State, and realised I lived in the wrong country thanks to Lost in Translation. Along those lines, I can say I was not thinking about committing suicide until I saw Wristcutters. The film centres around a limbo like world that is populated only by the dead who have 'offed themselves'. It is a horrible place, all grey and dismal, unkempt and mostly boring.
The protagonist, Zia, is seen killing himself in the opening sequence and we travel to this world with him. There he meets Eugene, an eastern european prick who is supposed to be Eugene Hutz of Gogol Bordello (complete with soundtracking). They hear that Zia's girlfriend from the real world has also killed herself so decide to go on a road trip to find her. Along the way they discover black holes in car seats, miracles, and meet Mikal, a girl who is in limbo by accident. Mikal joins them on their trip as she wants to find 'the people in charge' so she can go home.
Most of the film is set in a camp for people who can perform miracles, who include a throat singing inuit, which is run by Tom Waits. He plays Keller, a focal character from the novel on which the film is based.
Enough story, I shall say what I'm here to say. This film is lovely, just lovely. Mikal is beautiful, Eugene is annoyingly hilarious and Zia is a well-rounded human being. The story is funny, due to the nature of the world they inhabit, and the road movie feel is played off well. Keller's camp is a wonderful place, and the zany (I hate using that word but it really is apt) characters that reside there top of an already well charactered (Is that the right word?) cast. The plot doesn't twist and turn as you'd possibly expect from a film so abstract, but it has moments of laugh out loud comedy, but also pulls at your heartstrings. The inclusion towards the end of a character who believes himself to be the Messiah (basically a man who led a suicide cult, only to realise that all the people he forced to kill himself ended up in worshipping him again in limbo) is fantastic. He is another notch in the fantastic bedpost that is this film.

If you like road movies, indies and love stories, then see this film. It's awesome.com