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MR. BLACK
Chances are I might have invalidated anything this award might have meant by not being able to choose a single film for the title of Underground Film of the Year for 2002. The quality of films reviewed this year weren't up to par with last year's releases and only two features really stuck out, the urban drama THE HITT-MAKER and the horror-action film NECROPOLIS AWAKENED. They both stand on their merits and they both deserved the title, so they both are being crowned.Why THE HITT-MAKER? Because no movie sent in for review this year has shown even one-tenth the heart of this one. I can look past any technical issues and see the movie for what it is, a heart felt attempt at capturing a specific moment in time during a desperate man's life. The movie doesn't cover any new ground in terms of what cinema is, but filmmake's passion shines through all the same.
A friend of mine likes to remind me that everyone has an angle, even those that seem perfectly content in life. THE HITT-MAKER just goes to show that nobody is perfectly content and the straight and narrow doesn't really exist, but angles are everywhere. It's a bleak portrait.
As the story unfolds it becomes clear that the director, known only as Mr. Balln Big, knows each and every character personally. He pulls from his own life to tell a story about the struggles he's seen and dealt with. I've always said that if you have a story worth telling, then tell it, and Mr. Big does just that. The film is deeply personal and deeply moving.
The epic horror and action title known as NECROPOLIS AWAKENED. might seem like an odd choice to be cast with an urban drama, but it has just as much heart as THE HITT-MAKER, and considering past winners, a title like this should come as no surprise. As I've said before, NECROPOLIS AWAKENED. goes to show how ambition and determination can make up for that lack of money in a filmmaker's pocket. When you look at what the White Brothers were able to achieve, the result is absolutely stunning.
Like past winner MEAT MARKET, NECROPOLIS AWAKENED. uses the horror genre to comment on society. At its heart, this movie is a satire. The White's are able to make a movie that's as entertaining as it is intellectual. That's not something altogether easy to do. I know, I've tried. If you talk to Garrett White he'll even be happy to point out a few elements I missed in my initial review. I don't always agree with the White's political stance, but that's totally beside the point. While they entertain, they educate, and that's something only the best films can do.
This year I've started giving a title to a short film that exceed my expectation of what a filmmaker can achieve in a limited amount of time. Of the winners this year, MR. BLACK has the most in common with the past features to win the Underground Film of the Year title in that it's about more than just its subject. MR. BLACK is about movies themselves. Concepts like plot and character take a backseat to themes, ideas, and cinematic self-awareness. Some would call MR. BLACK a parody of all that cinemaphiles hold dear, but I would like to think of it as a natural outgrowth of modern cinema trends. It's takes various genres and cliches and molds them into something new and exciting. It doesn't push the envelope, it bursts right through. If MR. BLACK were a feature, it would probably be the sole taker of Underground Film of the Year title, and not just Underground Short Film of the Year, as it's the reason why I watch movies.
Below you'll find the original review I wrote for each respective film. I hope you take the time to seek out these movies as well as the past winners, they are all worth your time and effort. At the very least, they can teach the novice filmmaker what is possible to achieve with the medium and that the most important aspect of all is to put yourself in your work. If it's not heartfelt, it's nothing more than light entertainment.
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
Directed by Jamie Heinrich
Janine - Melissa Edwards
Darkman - Jessee Myers
Mr. Black - Tommy Hane, Leo Cartelleri, and Rian BahlmanJamie Heinrich is my cinematic soulmate.
His film, MR. BLACK, is an homage to all things cult cinema. Heinrich describes the movie as a horror-action piece, but he's really selling himself short. MR. BLACK is avant guard narrative that lovingly embraces 70's kung-fu flicks, crime noir, films by Bergman and Antonioni, racquetball, and 80's new wave music.
Throw in mom's lasagna and you've pretty much have a list of all things I hold dear.
MR. BLACK is a product of popular culture, as am I. Whether MR. BLACK lovingly embraces pop-conventions or scathingly mocks them, is open to interpretation. Like the works of David Lynch, or the previously mentioned Bergman and Antonioni, viewers take away what they want from the experience.
The film falls into a gray area somewhere between post-modernist expressionism and experimental hyper-narrative; it's a film where the very language of cinema is at question as genre boundaries are crossed, or even obliterated entirely.
MR. BLACK works because you don't need to be a film school uber-geek spouting techno-jargon to enjoy it, or more importantly, have fun with it. A casual acquaintance to various genres is all one needs to understand where the film is headed and what it's trying to do.
Consider the plot synopsis taken directly from the box:
"Enter the realm of an evil drug lord and his contrasting daughter Janine, and their opposite reality's turn into a blood bath over the pure, black darkness that dwell's in the shadows."The box-quote is generic enough to represent anything from 1970's blaxploitation to Hong Kong action to modern b-grade noir. MR. BLACK could fall into all three genres and be embraced by fans of each. References to other works and filmmakers are in abundance, but never overtly obvious. Picking them out is half the enjoyment.
For me, MR. BLACK is more than throw-away lines and quick homages. MR. BLACK takes these various genres and subverts them to create something raw and invigorating: cinema without boundaries or definition. It is nosecandy for both intellectuals and fanboys, where each viewing is a new fix to a more pleasurable high.