"In five features over two decades Christopher Munch has cultivated a singular career on the margins of the independent film world," begins Dennis Lim in the New York Times. "Although his debut, The Hours and Times (1991), was grouped with the emerging New Queer Cinema, Mr Munch, 49, has never fit in with a movement, and it's hard to think of another working American filmmaker with a similar sensibility or array of interests."
Writing in Filmmaker, Howard Feinstein suggests that Munch "explores that chaotic region where two forms of desire butt up against each other: the wish for a more perfect world, for one, usually depicted as majestic nature and whatever beauty man might have put into it (the old, deserted railroad in Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day [1996]) — an American version of classic German Romanticism, or blood and soil when taken to a nationalist extreme; and two, the physical attraction...
Writing in Filmmaker, Howard Feinstein suggests that Munch "explores that chaotic region where two forms of desire butt up against each other: the wish for a more perfect world, for one, usually depicted as majestic nature and whatever beauty man might have put into it (the old, deserted railroad in Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day [1996]) — an American version of classic German Romanticism, or blood and soil when taken to a nationalist extreme; and two, the physical attraction...
- 11/11/2011
- MUBI
Movie lovers with a prolonged case of the Munchies could soon be sated. Indie-pure director Christopher Munch is back, in fine form, with his latest film, Letters From the Big Man.
Munch imbues his works with a distinct nostalgic longing. The Germans have a precise word for it: Sehnsucht. He explores that chaotic region where two forms of desire butt up against each other: the wish for a more perfect world, for one, usually depicted as majestic nature and whatever beauty man might have put into it (the old, deserted railroad in Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day) — an American version of classic German Romanticism, or blood and soil when taken to a nationalist extreme; and two, the physical attraction of one living being toward another. The latter might be a gay man’s unrequited feelings toward a disinterested straight man (The Hours and Times), or even two brothers...
Munch imbues his works with a distinct nostalgic longing. The Germans have a precise word for it: Sehnsucht. He explores that chaotic region where two forms of desire butt up against each other: the wish for a more perfect world, for one, usually depicted as majestic nature and whatever beauty man might have put into it (the old, deserted railroad in Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day) — an American version of classic German Romanticism, or blood and soil when taken to a nationalist extreme; and two, the physical attraction of one living being toward another. The latter might be a gay man’s unrequited feelings toward a disinterested straight man (The Hours and Times), or even two brothers...
- 11/6/2011
- by Howard Feinstein
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
PARK CITY – Style trumps substance in "Between", a boggling metaphysical mystery set in Tijuana, of all places. This dramatic competition entrant seems like several parts of a Bunuel film stitched together in random order. Add the words "A rock and a hard place" to the tile, and you've got this stilted story's commercial prospects.
In this Byzantine scenario, a beautiful blonde lawyer, Nadine (Poppy Montgomery) is compelled by nightmares to search for her sister, someone she hasn't thought of in four years. Still, Nadine is hell-bent on tracking her down, fearing she is in danger. And, in Nadine's nutty frame of mind, she believes her sister is in Tijuana. So, she darts off, much to the concern of her husband. Once south of the border, Nadine harangues local officials to help her with her quest.
Unfortunately, "Between" is a dud from the beginning. Screenwriter Robert Nelms fails to muster any concern or sympathy for the agitated, pushy Nadine. Our interest in a high-strung woman on an obsessive quest for a sibling she barely knows is less than minimal.
Snapping back and forth between nightmarish sequences, Nadine's childhood and some hocus-pocus snippets involving a strange-looking child, filmmaker David Ocanas' hyper-active histrionics leave one cold. There's also some Doppelganger mumbo-jumbo which merely creates more confusion. Further mudding the slick sheen and convoluted narrative are are some stock story parts – the cops may be in on it. What is going on? Who cares?
On a visual level, "Between" is mildly interesting for the sole reason that Tijuana is such an eye-catching dump and that cinematographer Rob Sweeney has a flair for lush interior lighting. Unfortunately, the direction is so helter-skelter and the story such a cryptic crock that the aesthetics, like the film, simply doesn't add up.
Between
Opus Films
A David Ocanas Film
Producers: Margot Rogers Ocanas, David Ocanas
Director: David Ocanas
Screenwriter: Robert Nelms
Co-producer: Frank Donner
Director of photography : Rob Sweeney
Editor: Fritz Feick
Production designer: Candi Guterres
Cast:
Nadine/Dianne: Poppy Montgomery
James: Adam Kaufman
Detective Campos: Jose Yenque
Hotel Clerk: Danny Pino
Mrs. Gonzalez: Patricia Reyes Spindola
Nadine's mother: Alana Stewart
Mexican Woman: Lola Anthony
Mexican Doctor: Rene Pereyra
Adriana: Rebecca Isabel Torres
No MPAA rating
Running time – 91 minutes...
In this Byzantine scenario, a beautiful blonde lawyer, Nadine (Poppy Montgomery) is compelled by nightmares to search for her sister, someone she hasn't thought of in four years. Still, Nadine is hell-bent on tracking her down, fearing she is in danger. And, in Nadine's nutty frame of mind, she believes her sister is in Tijuana. So, she darts off, much to the concern of her husband. Once south of the border, Nadine harangues local officials to help her with her quest.
Unfortunately, "Between" is a dud from the beginning. Screenwriter Robert Nelms fails to muster any concern or sympathy for the agitated, pushy Nadine. Our interest in a high-strung woman on an obsessive quest for a sibling she barely knows is less than minimal.
Snapping back and forth between nightmarish sequences, Nadine's childhood and some hocus-pocus snippets involving a strange-looking child, filmmaker David Ocanas' hyper-active histrionics leave one cold. There's also some Doppelganger mumbo-jumbo which merely creates more confusion. Further mudding the slick sheen and convoluted narrative are are some stock story parts – the cops may be in on it. What is going on? Who cares?
On a visual level, "Between" is mildly interesting for the sole reason that Tijuana is such an eye-catching dump and that cinematographer Rob Sweeney has a flair for lush interior lighting. Unfortunately, the direction is so helter-skelter and the story such a cryptic crock that the aesthetics, like the film, simply doesn't add up.
Between
Opus Films
A David Ocanas Film
Producers: Margot Rogers Ocanas, David Ocanas
Director: David Ocanas
Screenwriter: Robert Nelms
Co-producer: Frank Donner
Director of photography : Rob Sweeney
Editor: Fritz Feick
Production designer: Candi Guterres
Cast:
Nadine/Dianne: Poppy Montgomery
James: Adam Kaufman
Detective Campos: Jose Yenque
Hotel Clerk: Danny Pino
Mrs. Gonzalez: Patricia Reyes Spindola
Nadine's mother: Alana Stewart
Mexican Woman: Lola Anthony
Mexican Doctor: Rene Pereyra
Adriana: Rebecca Isabel Torres
No MPAA rating
Running time – 91 minutes...
- 1/27/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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