FilmRoar

I was contacted earlier this year by independent filmmakers Alex Ferrari and Jorge F. Rodriguez who wanted a review of their fifteen minute short Broken (2005/I). A view of the trailer (available at the film web site: http://www.whatisbroken.com) showed a lot of promise but made me wonder if the quality could be maintained through the whole short given the movie’s very small budget (it was made for under $8,000). I am glad to say that it does… and more.

The story for Broken is intentionally vague. The center character Bonnie (Samantha Jane Polay) finds herself captive and scared in a disturbingly nightmarish world. She is threatened by Duncan (Paul Gordon) and his band of killers. Duncan, like a good movie bad guy, monologues to Bonnie… things happen and by the end neither Bonnie nor the audience is quite sure exactly what is really going on, which is really quite fine because Broken is not a showcase of a great story but rather of great story telling.

What makes Broken work is the superb visual style. The mood of the movie is established in the opening scenes by strong camera work, art design and lighting/cinematography. The look is consistent, enchanting and so appropriately disturbing that it allows the viewer easy sympathy with the protagonist. There are small details that are included with enough subtlety to not be evident on a first viewing and add to the feeling of the mood of the piece such as the well crafted soundtrack and the great look of the props… In short Broken is beautiful and effective; a craftwork of loving artistry.

People who know me from the annual guerilla filmmaking workshops or from the low budget movies I have worked on know I have a passion for effective low-budget movie making. I recommend viewing Broken to anyone interested in high production values / low budget film work. The short is inspiring and proof that you can make a great looking movie on a limited budget. I would not be at all surprised if the The Enigma Factory were offered a larger budget for a feature film. I hope they do get the funding and look forward to seeing the result.

I just returned from a matinee showing of the last Star Wars movie, Episode III – Revenge of the Sith and I have some thoughts I would like to share. I may write a more detailed review later:

• George Lucas can be a decent director (he showed he could back in American Graffiti (1973)) but all 3 recent Star Wars movies have suffered from bad directing, this one as much as if not worse than the last two.
• The dialogue still sucks… in a bad way.
• The timing of the movie felt at times to be right on and at other times to be off. Curiously this was happening within scenes. For example the opening space fight had good rhythm and moved right along, however the scenes that take place right afterward felt off beat and lacking in motion.
• That opening fight looked awesome. I want to see that again.
• There is some very poor acting, which is made worse by some very good acting:
• Ewan McGregor and specially Ian McDiarmid did a great job which unfortunately made Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman look all that much worse. I KNOW Natalie Portman can be a very good actress but she seems to require a good director which is absent in these movies. Hayden Christensen does better in Episode III than in II which is to say he does badly but does not make you want to wretch in your seat…. as much.
• Lucas thankfully showed some restraint in using characters (the droids) purely for comedic relief. There are still some hokey and unnecessary scenes but they are shorter and seem to belong more than the ones from episodes I and II.
• I prefer puppet Yoda to digital Yoda. Puppet Yoda looks more real.
• One wonders if George Lucas has ever had a good relationship with a woman because the romantic scenes he writes and directs are gut-wrenching bad. Portman and Christensen show all the screen chemistry of water and oil.
• I was thrilled to hear Vader’s first breath.
• I enjoyed myself.

*SPOILERS BELOW*
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