FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Contemporary films don't get any darker than "Notes From Underground", a faithful but updated adaptation of the Dostoevski novella that will delight misanthropes everywhere. Although the film faces an extremely rough ride commercially, it is an intense and riveting experience that boasts a superlative performance by Henry Czerny. The picture was one of the highlights of the recent Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival.
The story revolves around the Underground Man (Czerny), who narrates via a series of videotaped confessions. He is confessing to the camera the most painful episode of his life, which took place 12 years earlier. The story is told as a series of flashbacks, beginning with his job as a low-level building inspector, where he takes great delight in the petty abuse of his power.
One day, he shows up at a friend's house, which is filled with college acquaintances who are clearly less-than-delighted to see him. Inviting himself to their dinner party to celebrate one of the clan's new job, he proceeds to thoroughly humiliate himself in his desperate quest for their friendship; when spurned, he reacts with hostility and indignation.
Despite their clear rejection, he follows the party to a local brothel and soon finds himself in a close encounter with a beautiful prostitute, Liza (Sheryl Lee).
He senses her discomfort with her occupation and, in an impulsively nice move that he instantly regrets, offers her a place to stay. When she suddenly shows up at his door one night, a relationship is formed, but he soon finds that he cannot help himself from his compulsively lacerating behavioral patterns.
His brutish treatment of her culminates in a sexual encounter that is shocking in its hostility and intensity.
What is surprising in this compelling and haunting tale of a self-described "spiteful man" is the generous amount of dark humor. Anyone who has ever had a negative thought, who has ever felt uncomfortable or inferior in a social situation, who has ever taken delight in some small degree of power or control over someone else, will find something to relate to in this insightful and witty black comedy. Gary Walkow's meticulous screenplay and precise direction never hits a false note and never pushes too hard. This is a truly elegant piece of work.
Lee, in a performance of striking emotional and physical honesty, is quite moving as the Underground Man's victim. But the film belongs to Czerny, a truly fearless actor who is absolutely mesmerizing here and who makes his character alternately sympathetic and hateful, funny and horrific. It is a fascinating performance that deserves wide exposure.
NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND
Walker/Gruber Prods.
Director-screenplay Gary Walkow
Producers Frank J. Gruber, Alicia A. Dollard,
Chris Beckman
Executive producer Gary Walkow
Director of photography Dan Gillham
Editor Peter B. Ellis
Color/stereo
Cast:
Underground Man Henry Czerny
Liza Sheryl Lee
Simon Eamonn Roche
Jerry Charlie Stratton
Tom Geoffrey Rivas
Zerkov Jon Favreau
Running time -- 88 minutes
No MPAA rating...
The story revolves around the Underground Man (Czerny), who narrates via a series of videotaped confessions. He is confessing to the camera the most painful episode of his life, which took place 12 years earlier. The story is told as a series of flashbacks, beginning with his job as a low-level building inspector, where he takes great delight in the petty abuse of his power.
One day, he shows up at a friend's house, which is filled with college acquaintances who are clearly less-than-delighted to see him. Inviting himself to their dinner party to celebrate one of the clan's new job, he proceeds to thoroughly humiliate himself in his desperate quest for their friendship; when spurned, he reacts with hostility and indignation.
Despite their clear rejection, he follows the party to a local brothel and soon finds himself in a close encounter with a beautiful prostitute, Liza (Sheryl Lee).
He senses her discomfort with her occupation and, in an impulsively nice move that he instantly regrets, offers her a place to stay. When she suddenly shows up at his door one night, a relationship is formed, but he soon finds that he cannot help himself from his compulsively lacerating behavioral patterns.
His brutish treatment of her culminates in a sexual encounter that is shocking in its hostility and intensity.
What is surprising in this compelling and haunting tale of a self-described "spiteful man" is the generous amount of dark humor. Anyone who has ever had a negative thought, who has ever felt uncomfortable or inferior in a social situation, who has ever taken delight in some small degree of power or control over someone else, will find something to relate to in this insightful and witty black comedy. Gary Walkow's meticulous screenplay and precise direction never hits a false note and never pushes too hard. This is a truly elegant piece of work.
Lee, in a performance of striking emotional and physical honesty, is quite moving as the Underground Man's victim. But the film belongs to Czerny, a truly fearless actor who is absolutely mesmerizing here and who makes his character alternately sympathetic and hateful, funny and horrific. It is a fascinating performance that deserves wide exposure.
NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND
Walker/Gruber Prods.
Director-screenplay Gary Walkow
Producers Frank J. Gruber, Alicia A. Dollard,
Chris Beckman
Executive producer Gary Walkow
Director of photography Dan Gillham
Editor Peter B. Ellis
Color/stereo
Cast:
Underground Man Henry Czerny
Liza Sheryl Lee
Simon Eamonn Roche
Jerry Charlie Stratton
Tom Geoffrey Rivas
Zerkov Jon Favreau
Running time -- 88 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 11/25/1996
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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