Circulation (2008/Cinema Epoch)
Picture:
D Sound: C- Extras: D Feature: C-
Along
with the recent rise in independent filmmaking, there has been an unfortunate
parallel rise in badly written movies. Circulation follows the journey of Gene
and Ana as they make their way through Mexico. They might be dead. I don’t know. But for some reason he’s a spider, she’s a
caterpillar/moth, and a lot of random people are flies. Normally a plot progresses by explaining and
resolving the situation that the characters are in, but the filmmaker of Circulation seems to think that neither
are particularly necessary. At the end
of the movie, nothing is explained and nothing is resolved except for a few
dead characters.
The
picture quality in this film is sub-par either because of low-quality video,
poor encoding onto the disc, or maybe the cameraman just never learned to
focus. The frame is in a 16:9 aspect
ratio. The sound, in either 5.1 or 2.0
Dolby Digital, is decent but has issues with reverb on the dialogue. This makes it very apparent which scenes where
recorded on set and which were redubbed in postproduction, and neither sounds
very good. However, it should be noted
that audio mixing is very good at times, and the periodic use of stylized
visual effects is one of the highlights of the film.
The
special features menu on the disc looks like a list of the features that you
would normally skip on other films. There is the transcript of an interview with
the filmmaker that was conducted by a podcast called Voices En Español, a slideshow of production stills, storyboards of
a few scenes while the script is read in voiceover, the audition tapes for the
lead actor, and a still gallery that has the same production stills that were
in the slideshow.
I applaud
anyone who manages to follow his or her dream and make a privately funded
independent film. But next time, have
someone read the script first.
- Matthew Carrick
