Glasgow Film Festival: Independent State

In a period of Hollywood obsession with comic-book heroes, the fantastical and digitised animal anthropomorphism, “The State of Independents” provides a welcome retrospective of a year in American Independent Cinema, embracing transgressive and marginalised views of a modern America left sadly untouched by the current trend to distance mainstream US movie experiences from social reality. Films such as Charlie Levi’s directorial debut Childless appear to be actively attempting to redress this imbalance. Centred on the death of teenage Katherine (Natalie Dreyfuss), Childless records the reactions of the adults around her (and Katherine herself) through a series of offbeat soliloquies that strive to create a vivid picture of their own selfish interests and drives. Unflinching and innovative in the form of its critique of the society the girl has departed, Childless seems to epitomise the festival’s promise to provide the “grittiest and wittiest” American film has to offer. In stark contrast, Bart Got a Room appears influenced by more recognisable, outrageous American coming-of-age comedies. Evoking recurrent themes of first love, sexual conquest and social inadequacy, the pressures of adolescent romantic life form the basis of protagonist Danny Stein’s (Steven Kaplan) comedic quest: not only must he find a date for the prom, but a hotel room to take her to afterwards. Whilst this appears a familiar formula for an American Pie-esque juvenile gross-out offering, the self-proclaimed autobiographical elements channelled by filmmaker Brian Hecker provide a source of authenticity that has garnered the film near-universal acclaim, aided clearly by performances from the ever-impressive William H. Macy and Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Cheryl Hines. Prince of Broadway returns “The State of Independents” to more serious territory. Relocating the much-maligned image of the American single mother in the form of a Ghanaian man, Lucky (Prince Adu), Sean Baker’s Independent Spirit Award-nominated film attacks subjects of family and immigrant life in Manhattan, aided by the stylistic naturalism of the handheld camera and his use of unprofessional actors. Continuing “Indie” trends in empowering alternative perspectives on prominent American social fixations, this unflinching depiction of a young man’s struggles with the shock of unexpected responsibilities will hope to tap into the same zeitgeist that propelled Juno to unprecedented popular and critical success in 2008. Ballast transposes an equally sombre take on the family from the streets of Manhattan to the Mississippi Delta, as Lance Hammer’s slow-burning tale of three individuals coping with the shock of a violent suicide lays bare the complexity of alienated personal relationships in the rural heart of the United States. Single mother Marlee (Tara Riggs) attempts to find salvation from her harsh domestic setting by moving into a shared dwelling with Lawrence (Michael J. Smith Sr.), a local man with whom she has never seen eye-to-eye, himself struggling to come to terms with the death of his twin brother. Winning multiple awards at Sundance (including Best Director for Hammer and Best Cinematography) and procuring prominent critical endorsements from Roger Ebert and Kenneth Turan, Ballast promises to be a moving, visually stunning highlight of this year’s festival.