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INSANIAC
Produced and Directed by John Specht
Written by Robin Garrels
Edited by Eric Stanze
Director of Photography - Jeff AtwaterAutumn - Robin Garrels
Hart - Chris Grega
Dr. Lumen - John SpechtI can tell before hand that this will be one of the those reviews that will be incredibly hard to write due to my fence-sitting regarding the movie at hand, John Specht and Robin Garrels' INSANIAC. On one hand it excels on the textual qualities - lush soundscapes permeate through with a hallucinogenic nightmare visuals to create a world that reflects a young woman's dementia. These elements are intelligently thought out and intricately constructed. On the other hand, and I have to be honest here, the movie is long-winded and often downright dull - I fell asleep on 6 different attempts to make it through. It wasn't until I went back through the film listening to commentary that I was able to complete it in one sitting.
Those viewers used to the shockvalue found in other Sub Rosa Extreme titles will be sadly disappointed. INSANIAC is first and foremost a drama, the kind of which I wasn't prepared for. At times it can be excruciatingly talk-heavy and is often hard to follow, other times it meanders on for moments on end without a word being said only to rely on abstract imagery to convey emotions and themes. This is where the film excels and moves into the realm of pure artistic expression. Like Kubrick's 2001 or David Lynch's ERASERHEAD, the elements of sensory manipulation overpower the loose narrative to create a state of being which is ultimately lost whenever the filmmakers try to ground them with tangibility.
INSANIAC's rough plot revolves the various levels of reality surrounding Garrels' character, Autumn. The closest instances to true reality occur between Autumn and her psychiatrist. Through sessions of hypnosis we see Autumn's romanticized future and bastardized past comprised of half-truths and self-delusional lies. The center of all this is her relation with fellow student, Hart, played by Chris Grega. As romance blossoms, or withers, Garrels corrupts the memories to soften life's painful blows. Doing so allows her to suppress any guilt she might be holding for past mistakes. As an audience, it's our job to piece the fact from the fiction and construct an accurate picture of what actually might have happened, and often that's easier said then done.
Compared to Garrels, Grega is given little to do other than woo the girl and eventually offer her sympathy and comfort. He's the core of emotional stability that gives Garrels all the Jack Nicholson-like moments in spotlight as she covers the emotional gambit from tormented addict to total lovesick school girl. She reminds me of a softer version of another Sub Rosa Extreme and Wicked Pixel Cinema regular, Emily Hack. Garrels is utterly convincing and natural in her performance. The added effect of the occasionally handheld camera often gave the feeling of watching a documentary capturing Garrels at her most vulnerable and real.
The cast and crew commentary truly lends itself to the viewing process as visual cues and thematic elements are explained, such as the importance of peaches or the specific emotions certain colors are supposed to represent. Maybe I'm just a big dummy needing the explanation of unclear aspects, but it helps appreciate the lengths the filmmakers went to craft the INSANIAC experience. Perhaps if I were able to get through the film 6 times as a whole, instead of in pieces, I could have figured all this out for myself. The commentary also dispels the belief that Garrels' hair is her own. What originally looks like the most beautiful mane of red hair I've ever seen is in fact the most beautiful weave I've ever seen. I guess some things just shouldn't be revealed during a commentary track as they truly take away the cinematic magic.
Included on the Sub Rosa DVD are three SRX trailers, information on the music used during the production of the movie, and a short film directed by William Clifton titled SATAN EATS LUNCH which depicts the age-old theme of money corrupting all religious morals. Just once I would like to see a churchgoer depicted on film as being truly good and uncompromising. This type of stereotyping is becoming uninspired and mainstream.
On a whole, the DVD presentation of INSANIAC is pretty weak when compared to some of the other top-notch discs put out by Sub Rosa. The movie itself is a mixed blessing of through-provoking intellect and bad pacing. I can't recommend to casual viewers looking for light entertainment, or to the suicidally depressed, only to those looking for experimental narrative who are willing to put time and thought into a participatory viewing exercise.