Northfork (2003)
A disappointing effort from The
Polish Brothers whose "Twin Falls, Idaho" really impressed
me a couple years ago. Sad to say, I missed their
sophomore effort "Jackpot," so I have no idea if this
film is a continuation of a slump or the first misstep
in what will surely be an interesting career.
There's nothing here as far as plot
or story goes and what little there is has all come
before. I really see no reason for this film to exist
except that someone out there, apparently a producer
with money to burn, thought that the quirky characters
and the Polish family's keen eye would add up to something.
(For what it's worth, several people with the last
name Polish work on the aesthetic of the film).
"Northfork" reminded me a lot of
a weird little film called "The Reflective Skin."
But that film is much more engrossing and more unique
and interesting than what we have here. While "The
Reflective Skin" seemed new and cool and odd and dangerous,
this film seems redundant, familiar and pointless.
"Northfork" is about the death of
the American city and this is reflected not only in
the storyline about a town being flooded for a man-made
lake and electrical dam but also in the concurrent
plot about a small orphaned boy looking for a family
to adopt him. It's sad really because in no short
order we can figure out exactly what is going on with
the boy. And it's a story that's been done a million
times before and a million times better.
Quirky characters exist in both
storylines. When it comes to the flooding of the city,
we meet James Woods and five other similarly dressed
gentlemen, including one of the Polish brothers, who
seem more like funeral directors than the re- settlement
committee that they supposedly are. The Polish brothers,
while behind the typewriter, think it is clever to
name two of the pair Eddie and Arnold (an homage to
an old country singer) and have all the characters
meet and then name the other five characters out loud,
as if acknowledging their presence. It's dumb and
silly.
You ever heard the one about the
religious people stranded on a roof who keep waiting
for a God to save them and turn down help from a boat
and a helicopter? That old saw is turned into a part
of the plot of the film here. Another strike against
the originality of the script. That's what passes
for clever and quirky here.
As for the young boy's storyline,
the cast of characters includes several oddball types,
including Daryl Hannah as a hermaphrodite named Flower
and Anthony Edwards as an odd eccentric with microscopic
glasses and porcelain hands. Although the brothers
don't give us the final clue as to who these characters
are until the end of the film, it is obvious early
on exactly where they are coming from.
The look of the film is its only
saving grace. Stepped in mid-50's retro monochromatic
images, the film seems almost black and white in color.
The art direction and set decoration here add infinite
ambience to the feel of the film. Notice that the
props are almost all in black and white, as are the
cars, the buildings and the costumes of the characters,
so that only the natural colors of grass, sky and
water seem realistic. It is this amazing look, and
only this, that makes the film watchable at all. Like
the 50's in which it is set, "Northfork" is all about
the appearance of things, about assimilating into
the conformity of death.
By the end of the film, the audience
has assimilated into the conformity of the sleepy.
Note:
Also with Nick Nolte, Claire Forlani,
Peter Coyote, Ben Foster, and Kyle MacLachlan.
The film premiered at Sundance in
2003.
Third in the Polish Brothers trilogy
of films with town names, following "Twin Falls, Idaho"
and "Jackpot" (which was supposedly in Nevada). "Northfork"
is set in Minnesota. The second film was a bomb, by
the way, making less than $50,000 on its initial theatrical
release.
Viewed at the Dobie in Austin in
August 2003 with Christian. I saw a girl who works
at the Dobie named Rebecca there who has always been
nice to me and we talked a little bit. She pointed
out Luke Wilson and Larry Charles who were coming
out of the theater after doing a Q&A screening of
"Masked and Anonymous" for a sneak preview audience.
I had seen the film earlier that morning at a press
sneak and therefore did not attend the nighttime sneak.
