The Guitar (2008)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Amy Redford

Writer (WGA):

Amos Poe (written by)

Genre:

Drama | Music | Romance

Plot:

The life of a woman is transformed after she is diagnosed with a terminal disease, fired from her job and abandoned by her boyfriend. Given two months to live, she throws caution to the wind to pursue her dreams.

Plot Keywords:

Guitar | Electric Guitar | Terminal Illness | Pizza Delivery | Shopping Spree

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Saffron Burrows	...	Melody Wilder
Isaach De Bankolé	...	Roscoe Wasz
Paz de la Huerta	...	Constance 'Cookie' Clemente
Mia Kucan	...	Young Mel
Adam Trese	...	Mr. Laffs
Janeane Garofalo	...	Dr. Murray
Owen McCarthy	...	Himself - Everyothers' Singer
Joel Cannon	...	Himself - Everyothers' Guitar Player (as Joel B. Cannon)
Ben Toro	...	Himself - Everyothers' Bass Player
John Melville	...	Himself - Everyothers' Drummer
Reg Rogers	...	Brett
David Wain	...	Phone Man
Elizabeth Marvel	...	Ma Wilder
Bill Camp	...	Pa Wilder
Richard Short	...	Loser Musician

MPAA:

Rated R for sexual content, nudity and some language.

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Mandarin | Punjabi

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Australia:M | Singapore:R21

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Apple Creek Productions

Trivia:

This film was shot in 21 days.

Subtle and tender

The Guitar starring the stunning Saffron Burrows in a low-fi take on changing gears. A parable of the drudgery of modern life, the cancer we discover she has in the first minutes, is almost an allegory for modern life: slow death at the office. She then becomes both a recluse and a free spirit - out of touch but via the power of the credit card very much in touch with who her superego would want her to be.

What we love in this was the pacing - rather than slow a better word would be tender - the Guitar uses film to draw us into the perspective of a dying woman through sound, sight, and feeling and for a directorial debut this is powerful stuff.

it has a simplicity in the film-making. This far outweighs any nudity - and it does have an eroticism to it which is well handled - but really does not make the viewer feel like a voyeur. I felt an initial disappointment at how the ending is set up but it is, on reflection, well-handled from that point on. There is a quality to the ending which colors how you see the whole film let's the plot devices slide by.

If I were to choose two words for this they would be subtle and tender - and from my point of view I can't think of no better praise for this particular type of drama than that.

An auspicious beginning for Robert Redford's daughter Amy in her directorial debut.