I've delayed writing about these movies for a couple of reasons - (1) they are flawed, a fact David Baker readily admits, and I didn't want my criticism of these films' faults to get in the way of my tremendous appreciation for their creative and material successes - and (2) I wanted to talk about these films outside of the context of their online marketing campaigns, which I actively supported, and talking objectively about these films could have been seen as contradicting my enthusiasm for both filmmakers and their projects. But today feels like the right time to be talking about what these films mean to me, and why they more than anything else I saw last year made me step up my game...
"INK" 2009 DOUBLE EDGE FILMS
Directed by JAMIN WANINS
I had the good fortune to see "INK" at Cinema Village in New York last July. I knew very little about the film, other than it was getting a lot of buzz on Twitter, and that the film was produced on a shoestring by Jamin and his wife Kiowa. I'd seen their short film "Spin" and so I knew I was in for something that would be as polished as their means allowed. But I've also seen a lot of independent feature films by first time directors that fall short of their promise, and knowing how hit-and-miss this experience can be I had pretty low expectations. I simply wasn't prepared for the sheer ambition of the film that I saw that night.
"INK" is a love-letter to every movie that delighted me as a fan-boy in the 80s and 90s - Alex Proyas' "Dark City," Terry Gilliam's "Time Bandits," and the Wachowski Bros' "The Matrix" are the most obvious parallels that leap to mind, though there are many others. There's a fine line between "inspired by" and "derivative" when it comes to movies, and Winans walks that line precariously at times. But what is abundantly clear, certainly once the film really gets going, is the affection Wanins nurtures for the material that's inspired him, not to mention the lengths that he will go to in order to honor his inspirations.
While Winans' strong suit isn't his script, what he DOES have is real cinematic flair. Winans' visual vocabulary is extensive, and when "INK" works best it's when the characters are doing instead of saying. What first took my breath away was the fight scene in the suburban home... very physical, very inventive... I hadn't seen anything this fun in a low-budget movie since Ryuhei Kitamura's "Versus." The film really flies once the action starts, and there's a fair amount of action. The car crash is surprisingly effective, and the dazzling third act in the hospital still boggles my mind... How did he get access to that location, with 20 characters running around kicking the crap out of each other...? The action scenes alone are a triumph of staging and logistics.
The other aspect of the production is how EPIC it feels. Winans has his characters racing through a wide array of impressive locations, using the inherent beauty of the Colorado landscape superbly as a backdrop for many scenes in the second act. While Winans wouldn't divulge the size of the budget at the screening I attended, it's clear the bulk of the budget went on the production, while pre- and post-production were handled by Jamin and Kiowa on their own. Every dime they had to spend is up on the screen where it belongs. What "INK" showed me was the value of commitment and the investment of sweat equity into a project you utterly believe in. For all it's flaws, "INK" has a lot of genuine integrity that I find absolutely inspiring.
"MISSION X" 2009 WILD ONE ENTERTAINMENT
Directed by DAVID BAKER
I didn't know anything about "MISSION X" or David Baker before I started following him on Twitter last summer. I was supporting a lot of indie films at the time, and David had the added novelty of being Scottish - I like to support the home team, after all. But what drew me into the project was David's passion, and his commitment to his career and to his audience. I had to wait until December before I could actually see the movie itself, but I had six months of David's engaging online campaign to soak in before the DVD arrived.
David's story is already well documented - check out Joke and Biagio's extensive three part interview with David here. David's achievement, quite apart from shooting a heist movie for next to nothing, has been his clarity of purpose. David opened my eyes to the power of high-concept filmmaking, to knowing who your audience is and where your film fits into the grand scheme of things. When the "MISSION X" DVD arrived, I knew EXACTLY what I was getting into.
While "INK" has an epic sweep, David takes the opposite approach with "MISSION X." This is a small, intimate movie - very few locations, a largely loose and improvised feel that underscores the faux-documentary format, and a structure that hangs the film less on action than on the interactions of the characters in the build up to the heist itself. The film starts really strong - with an opening sequence that shows eye-witnesses talking about the heist in the past tense, and an introduction to the principle characters that sets up the stakes quickly.
Once we meet the gang the film starts to wander, faltering during a repetitive sequence of scenes that fail to either raise the stakes or develop the characters. But the real joy of the film is the supporting players David cast along side himself and co-star Grant Timmins. Their naturalistic interactions at the bar, and in the warehouse before the heist, have some real moments of freshness and honesty. There is a real sense of being in the moment with this film, and perhaps the only crime this film commits is portraying the crushing banality of waiting for an event to happen TOO convincingly.
In the last year David Baker has become a champion of self-distribution for independent filmmakers. He's an advocate who practices what he preaches, which is inspiring to watch unfold and, in some small way, be part of. David has embraced participant filmmaking and leads the way. As he said in his Live For Films interview last year:
"The secret is to 'move.' People will follow you if your script is good, you have drive, and you know exactly where you are going with it."
Amen.
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