States Of Control
Picture: C
Sound: C+ Extras: C+ Film: B
Lisa (Jennifer van Dyck) is an artist on the climb who
feels more trapped than anything else.
She is unhappy with her life, though she has a good man in her
life. She is supporting herself, but
just feels too gridded in routine and the usual, typical New York City life
that she starts to feel the need for something more and she will push various
limits in Zack Winestine’s States Of Control. This 1997/98 work is a decent film, but whether it is a truly
feminist film is another story.
This is not to say a woman trying to find empowerment is
male or female, but her sudden interest in XXX tapes, sudden bursts of physical
violence, isolationism, depravation, confrontation and questioning all the
sudden of her very existence is something either gender can relate to. Writer/producer/director Winestine has at
least some understanding of the human condition and does not try to compensate
for gender, which is why this film works as often as it does. There may be some missed opportunities in
places, but he actually achieves a kind of unisex result that does not seem to
have occurred to most filmmakers mired in redundant film theory classes and
other pretensions.
The supporting acting by semi-known indie actors like John
Cunningham, Stephen Bogardus, and Ellen Greene is solid, along with the rest of
the cast. Part of the reason is because
they have a script that gives them something to do. This is a mature, intelligent film like the more recent French
entry The Pornographer that is made for adults with the idea that they
are intelligent, well read, mature and have a life. Most Hollywood product of late, including some awful boutique
independent works, treats the audience like they are infantile and idiotic in
the opposite direction. Lisa becomes an
existential hero of sorts and States Of Control is worth going out of
the way to see.
The letterboxed 1.85 X 1 image lacks depth and has some
color limits, but was shot on film and has its moments thanks to the
naturalistic approach taken by cinematographer Susan Starr. It could be argued that she is supplying
some female persona to van Dyck by the way she captures her on film. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is not bad for
a low budget production, though it has no surrounds and was an analog Ultra
Stereo release. This is a system that
has more distortion that even Dolby analog A-type, so when these films show up
on DVD, they often lack surrounds for possible technical reasons. Richard Termini’s score is also very
good. Extras include stills, text
filmmaker interview, text biographies, trailer, isolated audio-only song
selections and the short film On Some Consequence Of A Passage By Guy Debord
by director Winestine. Winestine is
doing cinematography and camerawork again, but he should get the chance to helm
another film. We can’t wait.
- Nicholas Sheffo
