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| Candace
Evanofski, Donald Holden, Damian Jewan Lee, Curtis Cotton
III |
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Anamorphic
widescreen |
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Dolby Digital
5.1 |
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DTS |
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Trailer(s) |
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Featurette(s) |
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Documentary |
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Audio commentary
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Deleted scenes
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Concept art
/ storyboards |
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Multi-angle
feature |
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Nasia (Brenda Evanofski):
That's all guys do... They just break up with you so they can hang
out with other girls, and then before you know it they wanna get
back together again. They all do that.
An eventful summer for a mixed group
of young kids in a rundown Southern town.
Stylistically, George Washington
is a film that wears its inspirations (as well as its pretentions)
on its sleeve. Its languid, semi-poetic cinematography and its lack
of a strong, driving narrative immediately brings to mind the work
of directors like Terrence Malick, who allow atmosphere and natural
details to lift the yoke of purely plot-driven storytelling. But
although first-time director David Gordon Green has got the visuals
down pat, there is so little structure in his film, so little clear
meaning to any of the seemingly random set of events, that his picture
ends up drowning itself in style. Fifteen minutes into the film,
it already seems like every other shot has been in emphatic slow-motion,
and the lazy, drawling voice-over narration (always an indication
of the distance between perceptions and reality in Malick's films)
sounds unconvincingly trivial, never drawing the viewer into any
kind of sustained narrative situation.
The film does have some excellent scenes, and its veritably soaked
in a languid, post-apocalyptic atmosphere of small-town waste and
decay. But the cast (most of whom are non-professionals) seems to
fall in and out of their roles, making for an awkward mix of naturalistic
detail and outright amateurishness. Like indie enfant terrible
Harmony Korine's Gummo, it comes across as a mix of documentary,
visual poem, and oblique symbolism, the point of which was - again
- pretty much lost on this reviewer. It makes one wonder in any
case where this talented but somehow not quite focused director
will be going in his next project. |
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The Criterion
Collection release (which served as a basis for this review)
available for Region 1 carries the largest load of extras. A Region
2 edition is available in the UK with some of the extras from this
release, plus an additional 18-minute featurette with footage from
the film's promotional activities at the Berlin Film Festival.
The anamorphic widescreen image
is framed at an aspect ratio of approx. 2.35:1. As has been universally
noted, the film's low-budget roots are never evident in the richly
hued widescreen cinematography. The director-approved transfer is
flawless, containing no visible compression errors or other distractions.
The sound mix is presented in two-track Dolby Surround, with dialogues
clearly understandable and well-anchored in the matrixed center
channel, and the rear channel put to occasional use for minor ambient
sounds. It's a modest, understated soundtrack that might have stood
out a little more had it received the benefit of a DD5.1 mix, but
this audio track is also perfectly competent and will bring forth
few complaints.
It's nice to see a young, ambitious
filmmaker be given such an impressive platform on which to present
his début feature. The many solid extras on board this release
mostly serve to probe into Green's background, history and inspirations
as a filmmaker. Whether or not one agrees that Green truly merits
such eloborate attention, it's an encouraging thought and one that
will inspire young independent filmmakers. First up among the wealth
of extras is a screen-specific audio commentary
in which writer/director David Gordon Green is joined by cinematographer
Tim Orr and actor Paul Schneider for an interesting discussion of
the development of the scriptand the inspirations and concepts that
served as guiding lights to the production. Unsurprisingly, Green
dominates the discussion, providing lots of affable, laid-back bits
of information about the project. For those unenlightened after
having taken in the movie and its oblique symbolism, the commentary
won't prove particularly helpful in furthering one's understanding
of the work, as Green's explanations of most choices he made reach
no further than a recollection of something he experienced or was
told, or just that he thought a particular shot would 'look cool'.
The section 'Finding Clues' delves into Green's past development
as a filmmaker, including two short subjects he directed in film
school. The first is a 15-minute student film Pleasant
Grove shot on video that already reveals many of the same interests
(and actors) as can be observed more fully in George Washington.
It has optional audio commentary from the director, who focuses
on the similarities with his longer feature. The 20-minute short
film Human Pinball has more of a narrative than
either Pleasant Grove or George Washington, but
it does also suffer from the same amateurish quality, most notably
among the cast. Rounding out this section and accompanied by some
explanatory notes from Green is Clu Gulager's rather obscure 1969
short A Day With The Boys, which was apparently a source
of inspiration for the film. It's a rather trippy 18-minute 'experience'
typical of its time, which hasn't dated very well.
The 'Mysteries Made' section houses a single deleted scene
that runs a little over eight minutes in length. It's a fairly humorous
sequence portraying a town meeting in which the rather intellectually
challenged adults try to deal with the situation. It seems at odds
with the rest of the film as far as tone is concerned, as is also
explained in the optional commentary that accompanies it.
There's a little under fifteen minutes of interview footage
with the film's young cast, that were conducted by Green after the
shoot had concluded. They offer little of substance, but it's interesting
nonetheless to experience the kids' own personalities, as it is
often obvious how their own stories and input found their way into
the final film. A fifteen-minute interview with Green himself from
the Charlie Rose Show holds an interesting discussion
of the production's major points, though it will seem redundant
to those who have already listened to the audio commentary, as much
of that material is repeated here. Finally, the theatrical
trailer rounds out the disc's extras.
The nicely designed booklet holds a brief director's
statement as well as a text introduction to the film by film critic
Armond White (which some might find just a tad pretentious). All
in all, an intriguing set of extras that offer something different
than the usual bunch of promotional vapidity, and that dares to
offer young filmmaker an exquisite platform most young independent
directors can only dream of.Menus are presented as static 4:3
screens that incorporate some subtle fading in and out of colors
and shades. Navigation is as carefully and consistently designed
and annotated as is usually the case with Criterion
Collection releases.
Dan
Hassler-Forest
Reviewed: May
20, 2002
Click
here for IMDB info on George
Washington .
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