Viking Night: Stanley Film Festival II Part II
Stanley Night Fever, 2014 Edition
By Bruce Hall
April 30, 2014
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Even before penning V/H/S, Ti West had already drummed up quite a bit of good will for himself. For better or worse, he remains best known as director of The House of the Devil, 2009’s breakthrough babysitter death-flick/nostalgia trip. It won the kind of broad critical (if not financial) acclaim that gives a man at least a little say in the things he gets to do next. So being the uncompromising men they are, West and producer Eli Roth have joined forces to spend what remains of that creative capital on The Sacrament. West himself described this film as "left of center", implying it was made for his own satisfaction rather than that of any specific audience.
That's good to know, because you won't get far into the film before you'll find yourself asking: "Who the hell was supposed to enjoy this?"
The Sacrament dances on the fringe of several recent trends/gimmicks, depending on your point of view. We can't exactly call it a "found footage" movie, for reasons I can't specify without spoiling a super fun final act. In some ways it succeeds as a faux documentary, but the film never truly commits to this. Frequent transitions between first and third person are often inelegant; leaving you less worried about what’s happening on screen than in how you’re meant to perceive it. There’s also a “ripped from the headlines” vibe to The Sacrament, as the story takes its inspiration from the 1978 Jonestown Massacre. So when I say “headlines”, I mean “something that happened back when humans still used paper”.
But while elements of real life tragedy underpin the narrative, the real story is about Sam (AJ Bowen) and Patrick (Kentucker Audley), documentary filmmakers for a fringe news organization called Vice (which actually exists). It just so happens that in an incredible instance of pure journalistic gold, Patrick’s troubled sister has fallen in with a secret religious cult in the remote jungle of an unspecified South American country. She’s reached out to Patrick, who’s now eager to travel to the Republic of Madness and bring his sister back. Aware that this is exactly the kind of story they usually cover, Sam makes the trip as well, bringing along Jake the Cameraman (Joe Swanberg) to document this macabre double feature for posterity.
When they arrive at the compound, they’re greeted by gun toting mercenaries. Patrick’s sister Caroline (Amy Seimetz) appears and explains that the leader of this pacifist wonderland - a man they call “Father” (Gene Jones) - has many enemies. Later, while Patrick reacquaints himself with his sister, Sam and Jake interview a handful of colonists. They discover the place is called “Eden Parish” and that it’s like one of those Star Trek episodes where the “perfect society” turns out to be run by an evil supercomputer that doesn’t know the difference between “murder” and “love”. This is probably why, when Sam finally meets Father, the man turns out to be much more than just an enigmatic preacher. And when a desperate mother approaches the journalists for help, Father’s Big Secret slowly begins to unravel.
And of course, the tension brings out each character’s worst flaws. Sam seems more interested in an easy scoop than a good story. Patrick just wants his sister back. Jake looks like Mark Wahlberg.
All of that is fine, and I was actually curious about the story up to this point. But I’m not sure how to judge the rest of the film because I'm really not sure what the goal was. The Sacrament borrows significant chunks from the Jonestown story, but it doesn’t seem to do so for any particular purpose other than the grim voyeurism of it. The movie makes no attempt to pass judgment, but it doesn't offer any perspective, either. Imagine if someone filmed a make-believe documentary about a 9/11 type event except they fictionalized almost everything - except the exceedingly graphic loss of life - and called it “6/26”. I'm just not sure what the point of that would be unless you were trying to add something to the conversation. Why drag your audience through something we all know really happened without giving them something to walk away with?
Ti West has a clear passion for what he does, and a proven eye for detail. So the tone of his movie works – I truly believe these people are where they are, but I’m not sure I completely believe in who they are. For all the attention paid to the physical aspects of the film, there wasn’t enough meat on the story to make me believe that Sam was an experienced field reporter and not just an arrogant schmuck, in way over his head. Gene Jones certainly plays a disarming and charismatic cult leader, but at no point was I convinced that his character had earned it. So at the climax of the story there was sadness for what I was seeing, but there was precious little context behind it. I thought, “You’re showing me this just because you can, but not because you have anything to say about it.”
I’m willing to give The Sacrament credit for sticking to its vision, whatever that was. It makes no compromises with its structural choices, and while there clearly wasn’t a huge budget, great care was taken to put every penny of it up on screen. I think Ti West has a lot of potential, and it’s entirely possible that years from now I’ll look back on this film in the context of his illustrious 35 year career and finally understand it. But today, I walked out of The Sacrament feeling ugly and unenlightened. I don’t see that changing down the road, but feel free to print this out and show it to me three decades from now. If I’m wrong - and still alive - I’ll be happy to own it.
Going for Three
Two days at the Stanley Film Fest was better than one, but not as good as three. Next time for year three, this will be my goal. That and to find a hotel room where I don't feel like I might get murdered in my sleep.
More time means more movies, and that reminds me – I saw more than three films. Honorable mention must be made of Housebound, another New Zealand film by director Gerard Johnstone and starring Morgana O'Reilly. It’s an insanely fun horror/thriller that would have been my favorite thing all weekend were it not for certain other Kiwis in attendance (and that delicious rum/ginger beer concoction they serve over at the Stanley). Still, if you like Raimi-esque wit, or old school Peter Jackson comedy/horror hybrids like The Frighteners or Dead Alive, check this one out. And if you’ve ever wanted to know what it would look like if Bruce Campbell and Gina Gershon had a daughter, look no further. O’Reilly is a marvel. She’s as dangerously endearing as her (fake) mom and can carry a two minute scene with nothing but facial expressions – just like her (fake) dad.
I also had the chance to attend a fun panel with Ti West, Larry Fessenden and Travis Stevens. Their perspectives on the horror genre and filmmaking in general – the creative and the business sides, were illuminating. And of course, it’s always fun to get a look at someone when they’re discussing a passion. That kind of honesty is only possible when you’re among friends, and that’s really the best part of these things – everyone’s into it. My God, if we can just get Putin and Obama into a screening of Housebound, the world might change overnight. You're welcome, Earth. Now, I’m off to pick out what I want to buy with my Nobel Peace Prize money.