Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day (1996)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Christopher Munch

Writers:

Christopher Munch (writer)
Caveh Zahedi (script consultant and additional dialogue)

Release Date:

2 May 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

The Yosemite Valley Railroad, which runs through the breathtaking scenery and stunning vistas of Yosemite National Park...

Plot Keywords:

Railroad | Train | Railway | Character Driven | Tenderness

Awards:

2 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Jeri Arredondo	...	Nancy
Henry Gibson	...	Albert Robinson
Michael Stipe	...	Skeeter
Diana Larkin	...	Wendy
Alexandra Bokyun Chun	...	Angela
John Diehl	...	Pinchot
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Peter Alexander	...	John Lee
Tom Challis	...	Drunken Sailor
Joan Newmark	...	Mrs. Hopper

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Matrix Surround

Company:

Stark Productions

I found it dull

I remember seeing this at the Toronto Film Festival in 1996, in the then still small Varsity 1 Cinema on Bay & Bloor (the teensy Varsity 1 was a great place to see a movie, being the place where I saw "Dawn of the Dead" for the first time, y'know, the censored version) - What can I say about "Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day" ? It is very dull, not unlike watching paint dry, or attempting to summarize Proust.

I have no idea what the director Christopher Munch was getting at with this plodding, though beautifully photographed film; he has a knack for making very slowly-paced films, witness his first film, the fairly impressive "The Hours and the Times", which was about an imagined (though frequently rumoured) affair between Brian Epstein and John Lennon - That film is scarcely an hour long, but seems much longer.

"Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day" has something to do with trains, as far as I can recall (I fell asleep), and it's 87 minutes seem like an eternity; bonus points for an odd Micheal Stipe performance, where he seems to be channeling Andy Kaufman.