Dana O'Keefe has created a very strange film--one that most Americans probably wouldn't understand because it's about one of our country's founding fathers, Aaron Burr, and most have no idea who the heck he was. As an ex-American history teacher, I am quite familiar with him and the reasons he became a rather infamous figure. Oddly, while the film re- imagines Burr as a sort of hipster version of James Bond, much of the film is also based on real events! While Alexander Hamilton (the man Burr killed in a duel) is today revered and Burr is forgotten, in reality Hamilton himself was a bit of a @#$%! Now I am not particularly fond of Burr--but Hamilton was indeed a man who often got himself into trouble because he was so very rash. The duel could have been avoided-- but like affairs with married ladies, Hamilton was actually a guy who was awfully self-destructive! Now I am not saying the film is 100% accurate--far from it. But it does put an interesting spin on the case and also makes you laugh--provided you have some idea who these two guys were!
The film is generally well made, though the battle scene could have been MUCH better had the strobe light been used more effectively. Worth seeing, however, and the sort of short that history teachers at least are bound to love!
The film is generally well made, though the battle scene could have been MUCH better had the strobe light been used more effectively. Worth seeing, however, and the sort of short that history teachers at least are bound to love!