the stuff that dreams are made of
I'd never seen a movie by the Polish Brothers until this morning. I'd never heard of them until yesterday afternoon, when I read a passing reference to Northfork in an A.V. Club article on the new film Kabluey. The reference ("its dry absurdity is unmistakably Lynchian-or at the very least, Northfork-ian") sent me hunting at Movie Madness, and sure enough, there it was.
And so now I have seen one Polish Brothers film: Northfork.
What an unusual poetic film to have slipped right by me. Ebert (who gave it four stars) compares it to Days of Heaven and Wings of Desire, and I think that's definitely apt, but there's also something a little like a toned-down Coen Brothers going on here. It's so far from comedy but so hand-in-hand with absurdity... But its tone seems a little tough to pin down -- Should I laugh? Should I feel? Should I think? Just as I recently and unrelatedly said of The Amazing Screw-On Head pilot, I can sort of see why this wasn't a raging success, but I'm still a little disappointed it wasn't. Not that I suspect it was considered "a failure" by any means.
The elements of this film all tell such a unique story, skirting between what is literal and what is expressive, what is happening and what is metaphor. It's tender, and it's not without some subtle commentary. Throughout, James Woods's character seems completely at odds with what he's doing but makes almost no attempt to do otherwise; and my favorite of all: Nick Nolte the tragic preacher staying alongside his dying orphan ward, who speaks of being witness to miracles and is the only main character never to see one. The parallels and contrasts, the visual images like things from dreams, and the somber, gray tone (both in dialogue and cinematography) all leave an impression. I'm also reminded of Carnivale in a lot of ways, another period piece hinging on fantasy elements that left me unsure if I should be feeling, or thinking, or just going along for the ride.
Now I'm going to have to seek out the Polish Brothers' other films, Twin Falls Idaho (siamese twins where one is dying?), Jackpot (a man on a karaoke tour?), and the more recent and heretofore passed-over The Astronaut Farmer, which I have seen on the shelf, almost picked up, moved on, then seen in Netflix, almost queued, then moved on. Now I have reason to look it up.