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matt-torgerson
Reviews
The Quietest Sound (2006)
For Recovering Big-Budget Hollywood Film Buffs: Here's Your Cure
Is movie making an art, or is it simply a get-rich-quick scheme within the greater "entertainment industry"? That is the question I'm pondering after viewing The Quietest Sound. If you are among the seemingly few who believe movie making is an art, then Quietest Sound is your opportunity to support the arts -- and maybe send a message to Hollywood at the same time, knowing that this satisfying piece of art was created with a $50 budget.
The Quietest Sound is a provocative story of a single mom (Catherine Johnson) who, like all of us, struggles with insecurities, in her case born of a not-so-distant past that includes challenges against her parenting skills. It could be said that she is among the many passive souls who live on the wrong side of a dog-eat-dog world. The mom's past, insecurities, and passivity are exploited and seemingly lead her astray as she's confronted by a more formidable -- certainly more clever and manipulative -- criminal justice system.
This is the perfect film for the recovering Hollywood picture buff. The average viewer who has been desensitized and rendered deaf and blind to the sublime artistic component of film, after viewing so many standard big budget films, must be patient with this thoughtful film, with open mind and willingness to accept the challenge of doing what so many great novels require one to do, which is to fill in the author's purposeful or intended blanks. In short, Quietest forces you to think. Trust me, accept the challenge, as it pays off in the climax. Yet all that comes before it, though seemingly mundane at first, is necessary and ultimately exquisite.
Film making is an art, and this film has me looking forward to supporting the independent film community.
Two Harbors (2005)
Like A Great Novel
It's been a long time since I've seen a movie that warrants analytical or critical discussion. James Vculek's Two Harbors demands such discussion. Like any great novel, Vculek purposefully avoids obligatory statement of the obvious and, through clever dialogue and subtle yet stunning black and white imagery and scene selection, allows the audience to draw its own conclusions concerning a great number of things. This certainly cannot be said for most over-produced Hollywood films of today's era, which all too often insult the audience's intelligence, by not only stating the obvious, but placing style ahead of substance. There is great style and substance in this masterful independent film.