Eye of the Beholder

I haven't seen a film at this year's SIFF as beautiful as the Ausralian surfing melodrama Newcastle. Basically a coming of age story about two brothers, one of whom is dealing with his sexuality and the other trying to step out of the shadow of their former surfing phenom older sibling as he attempts to embark upon his own career, who ultimately must face a tragedy and find some way to overcome it without destroying both themselves or their family, the movie isn't exactly anything we haven't seen numerous times before.

But that photography! Cinematographer Richard Michalak and his four-person water photography team do an absolutely magnificent job of bring the beauty of both the sport and of the local to luminously dynamic life. Every time the movie hits the waves my eyes literally popped right out of my head, the camera bobbign and weaving over and under the waves like a porpoise knifing through the currents before making an energetic leap towards the heaven only to crash back into the sea after its majestic arc into the air has come to its end.

"[Richard and I] basically set up a science, an approach, as to how we were going to shoot this," said writer and director Dan Castle during a brief post-screening chat. "I really wanted this surf film to be different than any other surf film that I'd ever seen. I wanted every shot to be tehre for a reason, every cut to be there for a reason. We set up this whole logic that every shot would be from somebody's point of view, I wanted to make a film from the surfers' perspective from in the water so that [the viewer] was experientially inside the water with these guys."

If that was what Castle was going for, without any sort of question or hesitation he absolutely nailed it because every single surfing or underwater moment in Newcastle feels alive in ways I'm not sure I've ever seen before. I really did get the feeling I was right there with these guys, their euphoria, their apprehensions, their tensions, thier playful giddiness, all of it came through so loud and so clear I'm sure the smile on my face was beaming so brightly it probably annoyed a few of my fellow audience members.

Too bad the rest of the picture is hackneyed tripe not even worth talking about. Let's just say that, for all the director's talent in orchestrating these monumental - almost transcendent - surfing scenes, his ability to do anything new with the melodrama running through the tale borders on the anemic. The film is "One Tree Hill" only on water and sporting a twangy accent, and for all its mesmerizing images when all is said and done Newcastle is unfortunately still nothing more than a bit of an underwhelming mess.

In other film festival news, I saw another good documentary, this time a locally produced effort about the Seattle Burlesque scene called A Wink and a Smile. It's weird when you watch a movie and suddenly discover you know one or two (or, in the case of this film, four or five) of the participants, but after that silly, almost embarassing moment of self realization passed I was able to focus on the movie and watch it for what it was.

Thankfully, what it turns out to be is a highly entertaining journey into feminine stereotypes, confidence and the ability to grab people's perceptions with both hands make them something distinctly your own. Considering how much I tend to wilt into corners at parties and sit on bar stools and observe when I go out with friends a part of me can't help but wonder if I'd have the courage and strength of will to do what these dynamic ladies do, and while I doubt I'd never take the Bourlesque 101 class the documentary concerns itself with just the thought there is one here in the Emerald City can't help but make me feel even better about myself and my place of residence then I maybe did before.

As the clock striked 11:30 p.m. here I have come to the conclusion that, even with so much more to write (I haven't even mentioned Ben X, see it, Epitaph, skip it, or Blind Mountain, find it and watch immediately, yet, and I also want to give you a preview of the great interview I conducted with some of the guys from the wonderful new L.A. story Garden Party I conducted over the weekend), but I'm having so much trouble keeping my eyes open I should probably call it a night. Tomorrow has a kid-friendly kung fu fighting animated panda, Johnny To's latest crime (this time also blackly comedic) epic Mad Detective and Hong Kong drama Sparrow that hopes to channel the spirits of Cary Grant and Stanley Donen. I'm feeling good about each of them, so here's hoping I get a good night sleep tonight so I can have a great time at the movie theater tomorrow.