Directed by: Amy Seimetz.
Written by: Amy Seimetz.
Starring: Kate Lyn Sheil (Crystal), Kentucker Audley (Leo), Kit Gwin (Terri), AJ Bowen (Highway Angel), Mark Reeb (Boatman).
Amy
Seimetz has been a very busy actress in indie movies over the last few years,
but it wasn’t until Shane Carruth’s brilliant Upstream Color earlier this year
that she really made an impression and me – and what an impression it was, as
her performance was wonderful. Now comes her directorial debut – Sun Don’t
Shine – that she actually made before Upstream Color, but finally found a
limited release (as well as VOD release – I saw it off iTunes) this year.
Although the film is very, very different than Upstream Color – it does share
two things in common with the other film. The first is that it is heavily
inspired by Terrence Malick – the film really is a low key take on Malick’s
Badlands – and the second is that it is one of the must see films of the first
half of 2013.
The
film opens on the face of Kate Lyn Shiel (another very busy indie actress) as
she seems to be gasping for breath. She’s seemingly out in the middle of
nowhere, with only a man (Kentucker Audley) with her. Is he friend or foe? Is
he really trying to strangle her, as she will later accuse, or is it something
else? The scene is one of the great things about the film – Seimetz throws us
right in the middle of the story, and only gradually reveals the details. Shiel
is Crystal, an almost childlike woman, and the man with her is Leo – her lover.
They are travelling across Florida with a body in the trunk of their car, on
their way to a “friend” of Leo’s who can help. Almost immediately, the two
characters paranoia is palpable – and yet they seem to be paranoid about
different things. Leo is paranoid that someone will discover the body in the
trunk, or that Crystal will blow it and let someone in on their secret. Crystal
is paranoid that this friend – Terri – isn’t really a friend at all, but another
lover. You would think you should trust your lover, who has helped you kill
someone and put them in the trunk of the car, but Crystal isn’t all that
bright. Like Sissy Spacek in Badlands, she doesn’t seem to fully comprehend
everything that is going on around them or just how serious the situation is.
She is as insecure as a teenage girl.
Or
is she? One of the things I admired most about Sun Don’t Shine is how we are
never quite sure of what to make of Crystal. We understand Leo – he’s not
overly bright either, but he has a plan, thinks it will work, and is trying
hard to make sure it does. But with Crystal, we are never quite sure if she is
as simple-minded as she seems, or if everything she does is an elaborate ruse.
Is she as in love with Leo as she says she is, or is she simply using him to
get him to do what she needs him to? Its credit to Shiel’s wonderful
performance that right up to and including the final frame of the movie, you’re
never quite sure. Because Leo’s plan isn’t precisely a good one – it’s
certainly not one that would stand up to any kind of scrutiny, especially if
Crystal is as simple as she seems. But if Crystal has a plan, it’s pretty
brilliant.
It’s
clear in this movie that Seimetz had almost no money to make the film, yet her
movie shows why you don’t need a lot of money to make a visually interesting
film. For much of the running time of Sun Don’t Shine, Crystal and Leo are in
the car together, and Seimetz finds oddly angles intimate angles at which to
shoot the two of them – and the nature or rundown small towns that surround
them. She creates atmosphere in the movie, when many directors with a similar
script, wouldn’t have been able to come up with anything visually interesting
to do.
In
short, Amy Seimetz is having a great year. She has delivered the best
performance of the year so far in Upstream Color, and has made a remarkably
assured directorial debut in Sun Don’t Shine – one of those films that simply
gets deeper the more you think about it.
No comments:
Post a Comment