We’ve reached that awkward time of year for cinema-going – that in between stage where the summer blockbusters are over and yet we’re not quite into the awards season. Indie film picking is getting increasingly slim at the moment and before we know it the cinemas will be packed full of Christmas movies. Now I’m all for a bit of festive fun but sometimes you need something a bit more substantial.
With the weather being so dark and miserable and funds severely lacking what with Christmas shopping and it being a whole week until pay day yet, I’ve taken to staying in and catching up on the DVDs that have been piling up on my bedroom floor. So this week I thought I’d recommend some of my favourite indies that you might have missed.
You Can Count On Me and The Savages
I’m lumping these two together because they both star Laura Linney (one of my favourite actresses) alongside two of my favourite actors (Mark Ruffalo and Philip Seymour Hoffman) and focus on somewhat estranged sibling relationships. In You Can Count On Me, single mum Sammy (Linney) finds her simple but satisfactory life turned upside down when her wayward brother Terry (Ruffalo) comes home. The Savages stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as Linney’s on-screen brother but here the relationship is more strained as they are both struggling writers, constantly competing with each other. They have to put their sibling rivalry on hold when they discover it is time for their father to move into a nursing home.
In both films, Linney plays the more stable and responsible sibling that everyone depends on which I think is what I find so appealing about her performances. Regardless of the symmetry with my personal life, these films are so engaging and affecting because of their simplicity and everyday quality. Linney, Ruffalo and Hoffman have the kind of quality that make us see them as real people rather than film stars which makes it all the more easy to identify with them and their stories.
You Can Count on Me...
The Savages...
The Station Agent and The Visitor
Both of these indie dramas were written and directed by Thomas McCarthy, one of my favourite directors despite the fact that he has only made two films to date (although another is currently in post-production).
The Station Agent was the first indie film that I can remember falling in love with. Sure, most people my age obsess over The Blair Witch Project, but McCarthy’s feature debut was subtly quirky and the kind of story you could fit on the back of a postage stamp (guy inherits an abandoned train depot and moves to New Jersey where he meets a hotdog vendor and a lonely divorcee). Put simply, it was understatedly perfect and boasted fantastic supporting performances from Michelle Williams and Patricia Clarkson. In fact, this is the film that first introduced me to Clarkson and it was the first non-Dawson’s Creek role I saw Williams play. This film really shaped my indie film viewing experiences.
McCarthy’s follow-up, The Visitor, is a touchingly poignant film about the effect a single person can have on your life. Richard Jenkins plays a widowed college professor who travels to New York to attend a conference. When he reaches his apartment he discovers a couple has moved in during his absence. He invites the unlikely inhabitants, Tarek and Zainab, to stay with him but after an incident in the subway, Tarek is taken to an immigrant detention centre. McCarthy’s drama is quietly affecting and bittersweet in its handling of the treatment of individuals in a post-9/11 world and it is thanks to his cast that we feel so strongly for his characters.
The Station Agent...
The Visitor...
Eagle vs Shark and In Search of a Midnight Kiss
I’m admittedly a massive rom-com fan but in recent years I’ve grown to prefer more ‘quirky’ relationships. Eagle vs Shark fits the bill perfectly. Remember the unlikely pairing in Napoleon Dynamite? Double that. No, quadruple it. Lily and Jarrod are a couple of socially awkward misfits who fall in love. The story is simple, there’s no walking hand in hand into the sunset, there’s no public declaration of love… it’s an honest portrayal of what it’s like for two complete and utter dorks who fall for each other.
Yes, I’m a dork and that’s probably a big part of why I love Eagle vs Shark, but when it comes to relating to leading women in films, I like to think of myself as more of a Vivian in In Search of a Midnight Kiss. In a way, this film is a bit like an LA-based version of Before Sunrise: two twenty-somethings meet and spend a night walking around a city talking. Alex Holdridge’s film has a more modern edge however as the couple meet after the guy posts an ad online in order to avoid spending New Year’s all on his lonesome. No, it’s not one of those You’ve Got Mail-type rom-coms. Packed full of witty dialogue, with likeable leads and a gorgeous location, In Search of a Midnight Kiss is one of my favourite movies of the last decade. Sara Simmonds’ Vivian is one of my favourite female characters of all time, on a par with Amelie and Eternal Sunshine’s Clementine. She puts up a front as this tough, independent young woman who doesn’t need to rely on anyone else to make her happy but as the film progresses she lets her guard down and you realise just how lonely and vulnerable she is. When she first meets Wilson she plays the drama queen and wears these enormous sunglasses but in their first really intense scene, she removes her glasses towards the end and you can see the sadness in her eyes. This film never fails to captivate me even after seeing it a dozen times.
Eagle vs Shark...
In Search of a Midnight Kiss...
I really hope this week’s Indie-credible column has convinced you to watch something a bit different over the next week. And if you happen to have already seen any of the above films, then congrats on your awesome taste and get cracking with the rest of the list!
Emma Farley a.k.a. filmgeek
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