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7.05 The Sound of Stillness in SOUND OF METAL

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In Sound of Metal, Riz Ahmed plays Ruben, a heavy metal drummer who’s left traumatized when he suddenly loses his hearing. Unable to perform and looking for answers, Ruben becomes a part of a Deaf Community that welcomes him in as he struggles with his new reality. This week, we welcome Catherine Erskine and first-time guest Deb Whalen to talk about what it means to be ‘fixed’, dealing with trauma and the difference between silence and stillness.

You can stream the episode on podomatic, Alexa (via Stitcher), Spotify or Amazon Podcasts! Or, you can download the ep on Apple Podcasts!

Want to continue to conversation at home?  Click the link below to download ‘Fishing for More’ — some small group questions for you to bring to those in your area.

7.05 Sound of MetalDownload

Princess of the Row – Love on Skid Row

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In Van Maximillian Carlson’s Princess of the Row, the model of familial loves is boiled down to a teenage girl and the love she has for her father. That may not seem a very difficult concept, but the father in this instance is problematic.

Alicia (Tayler Buck) has been bouncing around the foster care system. Not because she hasn’t been placed in good homes, but because she constantly runs away to join her father Bo (Edi Gathegi) who lives on L.A.’s skid row. Alicia loves her father unconditionally. But to the rest of the world Bo (actually Sgt. Beauregard Willis) is the kind of person we avoid at all costs. While the homeless in films are often shown as noble, unlucky, or kindly, Bo is threatening and even a bit disgusting. He suffered traumatic brain injury in Iraq and also suffers from severe PTSD. He mutters to himself, stares off into the distance, and suddenly erupts into violence. But for Alicia, he is the only family she knows.

When Alicia is with her father, she has to assume the parental role, making sure he is safe and has food. There are brief moments when he recognizes her and says something loving to her. She tells him, “I love it when you come back to me”, but those times are fleeting. Alicia, who wants to become a writer, has written a story about a unicorn that expresses something of her feelings for her father. That metaphor is really about her own dream, a dream that may be as unlikely as a real unicorn.

When Alicia tries to get help for Bo at the VA, the foster care people try to separate them. They go on the run. The one person they find willing to help, ends up being a child trafficker. In time, Alicia will need to find a way to live her own life without being tied to her father.

The film has won a number of festival prizes, both for the film itself and for the actors. It is an interesting coincidence that the film is coming out on Thanksgiving weekend in the midst of a pandemic in which we are being asked to forego family gatherings. This is a film that can remind us that the bond of family is something that is precious, but also may require letting go of each other for life to grow into maturity.

Princess of the Row is available at select theaters and on VOD.

Photos courtesy of Gravitas Ventures

Stardust: The Charismatic Enigma of David Bowie

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Who is David Bowie?

Though many of us are familiar with the iconic performer and his body of work, the true soul of the charismatic enigma that became Ziggy Stardust largely remains mysterious to the general public. Known for his unique style and poetic lyrics, Bowie carved out his own place within the music scene of the 70s and 80s, using creative expression as a weapon to challenge social norms. 

But that still doesn’t answer the question.

In his new film Stardust, director Gabriel Range delves into the mind of the legend in an effort to understand his musical genius. Set in 1971, Stardust explores the challenges of a young David Bowie (Johnny Flynn) as he attempts to break into the US music scene. Travelling with his US manager, Rob Oberman (Marc Maron), Bowie experiences culture shock as he travels through America’s more puritanical culture while wrestling with his own insecurities about fame and mental health. As a result of his trip, Bowie would emerge as one of his most well-known incarnations, Ziggy Stardust.

Unfortunately, Stardust is a film with lofty ambitions that doesn’t fully make it into outer space. A blend of the fantastical whimsy of Rocketman and the more realistic (but playful) look at history of Bohemian Rhapsody, Stardust never completely embraces either style and feels as though it’s treading much of the same ground. Instead, the script suffers from the lack of cohesion and the film never manages to float in the peculiar way that one would expect from any Bowie narrative. 

Even so, the film can be engaging, primarily due to solid performances by its cast. Anchoring the film with their relationship, Flynn and Maron have genuine chemistry onscreen together. Portraying Oberman with an ornery likeability, Maron provides the film with a much-needed energy and enthusiasm that balances out Flynn’s quieter portrayal of Bowie. While Bowie may be the spark, Stardust wants you to believe that Oberman is the kindling that keeps the fire going. As the two men attempt to bring out the best in each other, the relationship between them grounds the film and provides the foundation for some intriguing moments together.

By focusing on Bowie’s initial failure to break into the American market, Range has selected a unique period in the iconic singer’s career where he appears to be caught between the now/not yet. Though he had enjoyed success with his debut album, this particular moment finds Bowie frustrated that others do not seem to understand or embrace his musical exploration of madness. However, at the same time, this period of struggle in his life becomes necessary to give birth to Ziggy Stardust shortly thereafter. As a result, Stardust seeks to highlight this segment as his life as the watershed moment for Bowie, languishing in an identity crisis before he ultimately re-emerges as his most iconic incarnation.

Having said this, identity becomes a central theme within Stardust as the young musician struggles to fully embrace himself (and his inner demons). In a fascinating contradiction, Bowie embraces his sexuality and bizarre personality yet dreads the creeping history of mental illness that afflicts his family. At the same time, Bowie is also constantly reminded that his European expression of sexuality is unwelcome in the more traditional United States, leaving him to further question his value and persona.

By creating a new public image, Bowie seemed finally able to both discover his true self and embrace the madness that he feared so deeply. (“If you don’t know who you are, be someone else,” Oberman counsels.) However, in doing so, Stardustmay be admitting its greatest truth: that no one—potentially even Bowie himself—really understood who the musician truly was. Strangely, underneath the ‘space alien’ persona, Bowie never seems more at peace with himself yet he also never seems more distant. 

Who is David Bowie? While Range may not have the answer, Stardust certainly wants to lean into the question itself. In this way, there’s an ambition to the film that is both admirable and enchanting at times. Sadly, unlike Major Tom’s famed spaceship, Stardust never really knows which way to go.

Stardust is now available in theatres and on PVOD.

Fear of Dancing: You Can Dance… If You Want To

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“It’s not lost on me that, if robots learn to dance, they may be more human than I am.” – Michael Allcock, Fear of Dancing

Written and directed by Michael Allcock, Fear of Dancing follows his trek around the world to understand why so many others are terrified of expressing themselves through dance. In a touching and funny documentary, Allcock challenges his own inhibitions and explores the roots of this fear in himself and others. In the process, his journey brings him into contact with celebrities, scientists and other chorophobes as he delves into a world of sexuality, spirituality and virtual reality.

What Fear of Dancing does very well is highlight the importance of dance at a cultural level. From the First Nations communities of North Bay to heart of African villages to the salsa energy of Little Havana, dance seems to have always been embedded within certain social groupings as a way to communicate with one another, whether sexually or otherwise. However, does that create expectations that everyone should be able to dance? Or is it simply an optional recreational choice? Fear of Dancing seems to indicate that both statements are true at some level. There’s an almost divine importance to the creative expressiveness that stems from dancing that both gives life and provides an emotional release to those who are willing to join in. However, at the same time, the quality of one’s ability to dance often can itself towards awkwardness and even create further social distance.

There’s an honesty embedded within Allcock’s work here that makes it endearing. With each new testimony that ‘dancing is life’, Allcock’s greatest fear increases and seems to be that his lack of ability means there is something intrinsically wrong with him. He wants to ‘let himself go’ and experience what others speak about yet he seems… stuck. (One hilarious but poignant scene where he dances alone in the wilderness shows his earnestness, yet wields mixed results.) As he genuinely explores his fear of dancing, his inner quest seems like it could be anyone’s who does not feel like they meet the standards of accepted social practices. As a result of his authenticity and openness, the film becomes much more than a study of the impact of dancing. 

It becomes an inquest into what makes us human.

Interestingly, it’s this sense of human identity that seems to be on trial here. Meeting people from around the world who are embedded within rhythmic culture, Allcock is genuinely interested about the experience yet appears resistant. However, as he encounters more people who fear the dance floor, Allcock seems to find a new community and discovers as much beauty within those who don’t dance as those that do.

While Allcock may not look to become a contestant on Dancing with the Stars anytime soon, his openness and willingness to step onto the dance floor are admirable. Though dance may be one of the key manners of creative expression throughout history, Fear of Dancing shows that it is not the defining form for humanity. As his subjects grapple with their own fears, it becomes apparent that dance may be ubiquitous within our culture yet it may not necessarily be for everyone either.

And maybe, that’s okay too.

To hear our interview with director Michael Allcock, click here.

Fear of Dancing is now streaming on CBC Gem. 

Nimic – Short and Deep

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We may not expect an Oscar nominated writer/directorto bring us a short film. But then we don’t often know what to expect from Yorgos Lanthimos (three nominations between The Lobster and The Favourite). Nimic is twelve minutes worth of the kind of surreal weirdness that makes Lanthimos’s films attractive to some (including me) and off-putting for others.

Matt Dillon plays a cellist and father. One day coming home on the subway, he asks a young woman (Daphne Patakia) for the time. A strange connection takes place which will affect their lives in a very bizarre way. The film could be categorized as either dark comedy or light horror.

Lanthimos often seems to deal with people who are losing their sense of identity and their place in the world. (Or maybe it’s really about finding a new place in the world.)  In that way, this is very much in line with The Lobster and The Favourite. The surrealism of Lanthimos’s films leads us to some very existential questions of what it means to be who we think we are and who we are if we are not that person. Of course, such depths often surprise us in short films. Just as we settle in for a brief entertainment, we have to ask ourselves what it all means.

Photos courtesy of Mubi.

Nimic can be seen on the streaming service Mubi.