Slamdance Film
Festival

Wednesday, January 24

Slamdance began
today with the U.S. premiere of Swedish filmmaker Alexa Wolf's documentary The
Shocking Truth (59 mins, color, subtitled), which takes on the international
porn industry. It purports to explore the destructive effects of making pornography
on the 'performers' involved. The film's basic thesis is that porn stars have
been abused as children, are delusional about their choice to participate, and
are further damaged by a system devoted to human degradation.



Wolf claims that The Shocking Truth has been screened for the parliaments
of Norway, Sweden and Poland, and that it has 'changed the stock market and
laws in three countries.' Despite her obviously sincere approach to the material,
her documentary is executed in a rambling manner. The narrative framework for
her story is the attempt by a Swedish woman, Lisa Nelson, to write a personal
essay on the evils of porn. Toward the end of the movie, it is 'revealed' -
in a stagy and unconvincing fashion - that Lisa herself is a formerly abused
porn star. This surprises no one, and its depiction is so patently false as
to push the film from the realm of documentary into fiction. In Ms. Wolf's pre-screening
remarks, she said " I can't say that I hope you'll enjoy it, because I don't
think you will, but I hope that you stay until the end."



The short that preceded The Shocking Truth was Seth Wiley's The Good
Things, filmed in color Cinemascope. "I know that people have made 27 minute
films which premiered just before a provocative Swedish porn documentary," said
Wiley, "I just never thought it would happen to me."



His film tells the story of a Kansas toll booth attendant contemplating his
next move in life. The film never leaves the toll booth, but it feels remarkably
open due to the lush wide-screen photography, which highlights the enormity
and beauty of its midwestern landscape. The Good Things stars Wil Wheaton,
known for Star Trek and a number of low-budget indie films.



This great-plains story provides a thoughtful study of ennui and inertia, as
well as a showcase for its director's talent for geometric pacing and languid
composition. The print was fresh from the lab and
deeply saturated with color, rich blacks, and the infinitely variable spectrum
of the Kansas sky. The film was shot and projected on 35 mm; most of the actors were Kansas natives, as is director Wiley.
It's fresh, funny and confidently made.



Later in the day came the British short film The Caller, whose director
was unable to attend, but which told a tightly scripted story of a regular Joe's
telephonic communication with Death. The understated British humor and the mostly
visual storytelling made it a winner.



The evening's best-attended feature was The Trouble With Lou, a feature
comedy by an L.A. filmmaker with a one-word name: Gregor. This film had strong
buzz and careful publicity. It's about a young man with a compulsive masturbation
problem. The entire story is presented in the format of a spoof on 1950's education
films, and it's set in 1958. (And shot in the period-appropriate black-and-white.)
Performances were excellent, and the film was funny for long stretches, if a
bit overwrought toward the end. It might turn out to be a tough sell, however,
for its lack of color and for the feeling that its a one-joke premise is stretched
out to 85 minutes. Whatever its commercial outlook, however, the lead actors
(Lou Romano and Kathryn Cain) delivered career-making performances.



The Trouble With Lou was not screened in its finished form, but in a
rough Avid output with visual time code, poor picture quality, and a temp soundtrack.
It's a testament to the film's quality that the audience soon forgot these technical
limitations. It may have been the first Slamdance screening with no audience
walkouts.



Filmmaker Gregor was seen later in the evening at the Atom Films 'barn party',
being thrown off the mechanical bull.

George
Wing

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