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Show - RIO - THE REEL RED JAN21 - 1999 biocfzbiic'ior BttiWffiWflTillft it rf w 533 Director James Merendino: From Cannes to Sundance began at the Cannes Film by MATT THURBER weekend. The Film Festival kicks This in Park City with open- ing night celebrations featuring Robert Altman's "Cookie's For- tune" and the Rosie Perez-ridde- n Woman." premiere, "The While most film enthusiasts will rush to the Eccles Theatre in hopes of catching a glimpse of Glen Close or Chris O'Donnell, there's a scathing new movie about the glory days of punk in Salt Lake City by Judge High graduate James Merendino called "SLC Punk!" Since the release of Neil Labute's "In The Company of Men," which came out of Sundance the same year Merendino was writing the screenplay for "SLC Punk!," many people have taken notice of the quality of work coming from oppressive institutional facilities such as Judge Memorial High School or Brigham Young University. For James Merendino, the opportunity to make cutting-edg- e films came from the film makers who risked everything they had in the 1950s or 1960s to make controversial movies that opened the doors for independent directors. "It was guys like Buck Henry and Mike Nichols who made "The Graduate' or Stanley Kubrick making 'Lolita' which really blazed the trails for guys like me," said Merendino who's currently working in Los Angeles on a film called "The Magician." "SLC Punk!' is about a youth rebellion that was undocumented and disregarded back in the early 1980s. A lot of the attitudes towards punks were condescending and it was a group which was looked down upon." With the current buzz that 24-Ho- ur bad-bo- y ("Independence Day," "Doom Generation"), Merendino recreates the relationships between the various cliques which were popular throughout the 1980s, such as "Rockers," "Mods," and Whether it's the rockers fighting the posers, the punks fighting the rOckers, or everybody wailing "SLC Punk!" on the the captures beauty and horror associated with growing up in "Posers," new-waver- ." s, Just like a lot of the kids today who drink 3.2 percent beer, "SLC Punk!" shows how punks back in the 1980s had to drive to Wyoming in order to buy "real" beer. With many similar references, Merendino's film makes fun of all the little screwy things with which punks dealt in such a conservative environment. In the movie, Merendino follows two full-opunk rockers Steve-and Heroin Bob, as they roll around Salt Lake City looking for weed, beer, or just a good fight with the local rednecks or n 0 police. But capturing Flag their head," said Merendino, who admits there was a thrill factor which kept people coming back. "The violence back then was a lot worse than it is now. If people were slamming, there was a good chance of getting hurt, and I think the events that happened at concerts are a lot worse than what you'll see in the movie." In addition to pinpointing a lot of the obvious behaviors of punk rockers, "SLC Punk!" also examines some of the motives and ideologies that influenced early punk rockers. Themes about anarchy, politics, and loneliness are important issues for characters in the movie. Just like The Dead Kennedys or Bad Religion singing about the clandestine role of the government, the people in "SLC Punk!" have conversations about what they can do to change corrupt elements within the system. In "SLC Punk!," Merendino also takes viewers to certain shops where punks hung out, like Cosmic Aeroplane, The Blue Mouse, and Raunch Records. "Cosmic Aeroplane was still pretty hippie back in the 1980s, but there was a girl who worked there who kept the punks informed about what was going on." Merendino visited the head-shoafter watching underground movies like "Liquid Sky" at The Blue Mouse. "There was this poster board behind the shop which had information on all the punk concerts and often times you'd run into your friends down there." While James Merendino currently resides in Los Angeles he will continue to make underground movies. And since "SLC Punk!" was picked up in France by Sony Picture Classics during the Cannes Film Festival, he plans on touching up a screen- th p the purity and essence of the early punks wasn't an easy task for Merendino. Growing up in a punk environment, Merendino recalls how violent and aggressive the punk scene was back when they held concerts at venues such as The Old Mill, The Maxim, and The Indian Center, which attracted legendary punk bands like Black and G.B.H. "Usually at the end of shows people would end up in ambulances or people would constantly have beer bottles broken over the pianist and conductor, Daniel Baren-boiwith the same wantonness that might prompt another wife to ask her husband, "Would you still love me if I shaved Even people from Utah can rage against the machine. play he wrote for a forthcoming picture. In addition to having an outstanding distribution deal for the movie, Merendino signed a deal with the folks at Miramax, so he'll start working on other new projects later this year. It's been about 10 years since James Merendino left Salt Lake City to make movies, but he feels that Utahns shouldn't feel limited or sell themselves short due to the conservative forces surrounding them. "Utah is a place rich with creative people and ideas because of the nature of the town. In any oppressive environment, you will find an underground group of individuals who have something to say," said Merendino, who made "SLC Punk!" to show people outside of Utah that Salt Lake City isn't the hick town that everybody thinks it is. "I don't think anybody at the two-pictu- re University of Utah in the film department should think they can only make documentaries or little things. I've been around the world and seen a lot of pretentious people, but when somebody from Utah has something to say, they say it with a lot of balls." If you want to see a movie at Sundance this year which was shot in Salt Lake City and has a lot to say about the state, don't miss the opportunity to see "SLC Punk!" Since the movie is probably the next biggest premiere to "The War Zone," it's bound to sell out pretty quickly. For the unfortunate souls who couldn't buy tickets, don't worry, because Sony Picture Classics will release the show later this spring. There's also a great soundtrack on Hollywood Records featuring Minor Threat, The Velvet Underground, and Adam Ant, with many other punk bands. old-scho- ol m (out of four) by EMILY DAVIS w "New-Wavers- Salt Lake City. "Hillary & Jackib" Director: Anad Tucker Producers: Andy Paterson & Nicholas Kent Writer: Frank Cottrell Boycb Starring: Emily Watson, Rachel Griffths, David Morrissby, James Frain V. Festi- "features an outcast made from the standing crew. With a Hollywood little help from Matthew Lillard ("Scream") and James Duval val, "SLC Punk! ould you still love me if I couldn't play?" renowned cellist Jacqueline du Pre asks her equally renowned husband, n my head?" However, there is an implicit seriousness in Jackie's question: small things are beginning to go wrong with her mind and body which are potentially crippling. In an insightful and wrenching look at the career of Jacqueline du Pre, Anad Tucker's debut film "Hillary and Jackie" traces the relationship between Jackie (Emily Watson) and her sister Hillary (Rachel Griffths). Diagnosed with multiple sclero sis at age 28, du Pre achieved incredible recognition in the world of classical music (her recording of Elgar's Cello Concerto in E Minor haunts the film). But the film does not characterize Jackie as a Jr If only they gave an Oscar for "best smite'' and hair accesory. selfish monster; rather, Watson's emotional performance and Frank Cottrell Boyce's screenplay present her as a victim of her own abuses. "Hillary and Jackie" is itself like a concerto in three movements. Shining Sisters, Oscar Ahoy! The opening movement begins with the two young sisters competing for both each other's love and recognition of their musical talent, and follows them through their youth and early adulthood, until Hillary's sudden marriage and Jackie's growing success separate the two for the first time. The film's second movement focuses on Hillary, who has given up her musical studies for the pastoral life that she creates with her husband and family with Jackie's absence. However, their peace is unexpectedly shattered by Jackie's appearance, who has come with both an impossible request and a firm determination to prove that she can be happier and more ordinary than her sister. Returning to the scene where Hillary and Jackie separate, the final movement retraces Jackie's lonely tour throughout Europe on which she meets Barenboim. Dubbed the "Arthur and Guinevere of music's Camelot" by the press, the couple turns their joint tour into a frantically romantic honeymoon. But everything comes to a sudden halt when Jackie is diagnosed with MS. Through painfully terse scenes, the film follows the gradual worsening of Jackie's condition and the gradual changes in her marriage. As she sits alone in her apartment, Jackie quietly tells her mother with aching honesty, "When you play, everyone loves you. When you stop, you are alone." While the film is the double biography of the sisters, it is also a subtle exploration of the intense rivalry between siblings and lovers. Feelings of love and resentment, dependence and competitiveness are entangled amongst the relationships of these characters. Both Hillary and Jackie try to escape the burdens of their mutual dependence, but they have trained each other from childhood to bend to each other's wills. The scences in which Jackie assumes Hillary's role as both wife and mother are incredibly honest (partially because they are shot as if they were home movies), but more so because they reveal Jackie's ability to destroy Hillary's Though Watson is billed as the film's . lead actor, her performance is entirely dependent on Rachel Griffth's Hillary. Both actors bring out their character's emotional vulnerability: they are incredibly strong and malicious, but fragile to each other's control. "Hillary and Jackie" is a bittersweet portrait of two complicated and celebrated lives. self-estee- long-sufferi- 1 |
