In theory, from this point on, I will be screening films every Tuesday at the Cavia. So I hope you can make it this coming Tuesday for this special film by Andrew Bujalski....once again this is a great film which has never been given a proper screening in Holland!
- Jeffrey
TUESDAY DECEMBER 1st
MUTUAL APPRECIATION (2005)
Directed by Andrew Bujalski
110 minutes
In English
Another great example of the American independent cinema that's happening right now. This film is a favorite of many, but because of its lack of spectacle it was deemed uncommercial and has therefore rarely been shown....which is a pity because its a great film that needs to be seen.
The story? Alan is a musician in a band called The Bumblebees and when the band breaks up he moves from Boston to NY. The film follows him as he drifts through New York City bars and a string of unbearably small apartments where he is trying to connect to something but he doesn't know what.
The director Andrew Bujalski (Funny ha ha) has noted that his films are largely about "well-educated people who cant even express themselves." There are scenes where you just cringe from recognition. A nuanced shyness, awkward situations, broken discussions and painful silences. Lines that never quite converge, trajectories that are never quite fulfilled, people who can never quite say what they mean. People who are trying to have fun, but never quite making it there. But what is also amazing, given this palette to work from, the film is never negative or heavy.
Many people who have seen this film feel that its been influenced by cinema of the 60s and 70s, specifically the result of the blending of methods and interests of Eric Rohmer and John Cassavetes. Bujalski's film is a wonderful grainy black and white, shot on 16mm...and the look is rough, the scenes are improvisational and almost documentary in style. Another obvious reference to Bujalski's filmmaking is the early films of Jim Jarmusch...but to tell you the truth I find Bujalski's way so natural that it makes Jarmusch's film feel terribly stylized now.
Behind all this it seems the key is that Bujalski has a totally unique way of working with actors, a way where they aren't acting anymore, and which makes almost every other film feel stage-like, and, in a way, pretentious. It's something totally different than anything you will see in any other cinema today. And like I said, as far as I can tell this will be the Amsterdam premiere of this wonderful film!
Wanna see the trailer? Click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-P_Fn2eaois&feature=related
Cin INTERZONE
Filmhuis Cavia - Van Hallstraat 52-B
Time: 20:30
Nightly membership - 3 Euros
Filmhuis CAVIA is a non-profit volunteer organization committed to the importance of cinema
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