uber-indie: Home

pryor15 · #1 03-14-2007, 08:18 PM

starring: E. Jason Liebrecht, Nicol Zanzarella, Erin Stacey Visslailli, T. Stephen Neave, Pavol Liska, and Minerva Scelza
cinematography by: Jonathan Wolff
written and directed by: Matt Zoller Seitz[1]
91 min/Brooklyn, NY

Filmed almost entirely in his own Brooklyn brownstone, Matt Zoller Seitz's Home (2006) follows various interpersonal relationships as they unfold over the course of a party. The cast is large and diverse, from a brash salesman (T. Stephen Neave) to a writer of some acclaim (Pavol Liska) to musicians and philosophers and music aficionados, and Seitz takes us room to room, conversation to conversation, canvassing the proceedings, as if he's making sure there isn't something interesting he's ignoring.

When I'm at a party, I do the same thing.

This allows us to follow the Altmanesque web of stories Seitz has created while staying true to our two leads, Bobby (E. Jason Liebrecht) and Susan (Nicol Zanzarella), and their tenuous potential pairing. Bobby, as played by Liebrecht, is a bit of an introvert, often content to stand on the outskirts and just watch (he tells Susan that he's a great observer) when perhaps the best course of action would involve being a bit more proactive. And Susan? Well, Susan isn't over her ex, just yet. They intersect numerous times over the course of the evening, then withdraw, and each time we hope for that crucial moment where they'll really connect. So wonderfully elliptical is the dialogue that we're never quite sure when that might happen, if it will at all. Still, we hope.

When they do withdraw, Jonathan Wolff's camera floats around the room, more often that not finding the poetic images that are so often inherent in these types of situations. Some of them fall flat or seem to be the result of not having a good place to put the camera or not having fully thought out what the framing is trying to convey, but these are a minority. Likewise, with a cast this big and a budget this small, there are performances that are, let's say, less than good, but mostly those are the smaller roles. The key characters handle themselves well, their performances are largely solid.

At the end of the day, there's little that's extraordinary about Home (although there's several short stretches that are close), but a whole lot to like. Seitz displays a real talent, a grasp of the medium. Clearly, a filmmaker to watch.

[1] Matt is a fellow blogger I read on a regular basis.

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Pretty much, you can get Home all over the place. It's on Netflix, for example. Or, you can go to the Official Homepage. Matt Zoller Seitz's blog writings can be found at The House Next Door.

Got a film you'd like to submit for the uber-indie project? Go here for details.

Sniper · #2 03-14-2007, 09:26 PM

pryor, I think I was at that Party...

pryor15 · #3 03-14-2007, 11:34 PM

[ QUOTE ]
pryor, I think I was at that Party...

[/ QUOTE ]

what a night

rothko · #4 03-15-2007, 12:27 AM

pryor, i'm sorry that these flicks aren't available so that we could participate better and respond to your efforts.

pryor15 · #5 03-15-2007, 12:44 AM

[ QUOTE ]
pryor, i'm sorry that these flicks aren't available so that we could participate better and respond to your efforts.

[/ QUOTE ]

oh well. if the reviews shine a light on some of these films, then they've totally done their job

rothko · #6 03-15-2007, 12:50 AM

looks like this one is a little easier to find than the last one you talked about. will make an effort to try and get my hands on it.

pryor15 · #7 03-15-2007, 12:53 AM

[ QUOTE ]
looks like this one is a little easier to find than the last one you talked about. will make an effort to try and get my hands on it.

[/ QUOTE ]

gotta love Netflix

Sniper · #8 03-15-2007, 01:24 AM

[ QUOTE ]
pryor, i'm sorry that these flicks aren't available so that we could participate better and respond to your efforts.

[/ QUOTE ]

One Option

rothko · #9 04-26-2007, 04:46 AM

pryor, as promised, managed to have a view of this here pickcher.

from the first minute, thought the movie was going to be quite enjoyable, but then the talking starting. i absolutely hate bad acting and there was plenty of it in home.

there were a few characters that i liked, however and was able to derive some enjoyment out of the experience.

not a bad effort for a no-budgeter.

rothko · #10 05-03-2007, 01:31 PM

pryor, i suppose you're the only one that will be amused by this story, being that you saw the film.

forgot to tell you this in the last post. started watching the movie late at night and i fell asleep halfway through or so. at one point i woke up for a few seconds, looked at the screen and thought to myself, "huh, the party turned into a big orgy? that's insane." it was like this uber-indie caligula or something. it's not that i imagined seeing something that i didn't, it's simply that my understanding of what i saw was just a tad skewed from reality. it was all rather weird. then i went back to sleep.