EDI T H
K U I ~ZWE I L
91
T he scene ry in
DClp
Crill/so li
is equ all y brea th ta kin g and eve n mo re
go ry. T he love rs are j ust as debauched and th eir killings just as perfun cto–
ry as Nikki 's and AI' s. Co ral, an ove rweight, half- deranged nurse wh o li ves
in a wo rld of mov ie- related visio ns, mee ts C harl es 13oye r's look-alike
thro ugh a lo nely hea rts ad in a newspape r. After a ni ght of heavy love mak–
in g she d iscove rs th at he preys o n lo nel y w idows and spi ns ters and , rather
th an be ri d of him , abandons her home, he r j o b and he r children to be wi th
him . Wi th Co ral's help, th ey meet love-s ick wo men wh om Ni co las sedu ces
and w ho m th e in sa nely j ea lo us Co ral ends up murderin g. After th e las t vi c–
tim 's child w itn esses her mo th er's dea th , she kill s her as well. That is w hen
Ni co las ca lls th e po li ce to end their way o f life. After a mad chase and
eventual arres t in a god- fo rsa ken loca li ty, still un abl e to grasp th eir vill ainy,
th ey are sho t in co ld bl ood by th e M ex ican po li ce.
Fast, Chcap alia
0 1/1
0(
CO lltrol
d epi cts th e ac tiviti es o f four dedi cated
one- trac k minds: a li o n train e r, a ga rde ner, a roc ket buil de r, and a behav–
io ral sc ienti st. Thi s full -sca le expl o rati o n of the similariti es of th e worlds
of animals, metaphysics, and humanity tel ls us mo re th an we wa nt to know
about mo le rats and li o n tamin g, the growth o f bushes, and th e constru c–
ti on of ro bo ts. Th e other docLlmentari es at thi s fes ti va l we re sho rt pi eces
whi ch in th e press show in gs mostl y preceded the fea tures . To me th e mos t
memo rabl e o f th ese are
Brcc,:::e,
~/i):; y(h (',
The Rockill,l!.
Horse, TrisIc,
and
SYllopsis.
13ut all of th e sho rts, primaril y sustain ed by visual impress io ns,
fa ntas ies and sOLlnd effects, o r to tal sil ence, belo ng to th e ava nt-garde. So me
are intenti o nall y siknt.
It
seem s as if th eir directo rs-youn g experim ental
film makers-are g raphi ca ll y fillin g in 13arth es' spaces betwee n wo rds.
Sin ce film wo rks o n and thro ugh emo ti o ns, usin g images, colors, sounds,
and acti o n, film studellts in ev itabl y try to proj ec t th eir own un consc io us
onto th e sc reen . Thus th e bu zz befo re and afte r each showin g has every–
thing to do wi th th e busin ess o f Ill aking film , w ith how and w hy o ne
direc to r bun gled an ending, ano th er mi ssed a chance, and yet ano th er
splashed blood too fa r or too in effe c ti ve ly. And with ge ttin g into th e bi g
time, th at is, with th e bu sin ess o f reac hin g and entertainin g as large an audi –
ence as poss ibl e.
What th en is the commo n thread runnin g thro ugh th ese art films)
Does anythin g at all di stin gui sh th em from di ve rting movies? Certainl y
th ey all endeavo r to engage th eir viewe rs by putting new twi sts o n o ld
th elll es o r, prefe rabl y, to dramati ze somethin g totall y novel that startl es and
stuns. Consequ entl y , corrupti o n and debauchery, crime with o r with o ut
puni shment, wh e re th e fu sio n of ga iety and bea u ty with sexual scenes and
crimes prov ides the bes t chance to be crea ti ve, has been a mo re dominant
th eme at thi s fes ti va l th an w hat we conve nti o nall y understand as fa mil y.
Altho ugh
I
do no t wax nos tal g ic fo r th e littl e house o n th e prairi e,
I
did
