“Red White & Blue” (2010)
“Red White & Blue” conjures in my mind the best of docu-horror, the one of many sub-genres of horror that is not necessarily based on a true-life event, but made in such a way that you feel like you’re watching a documentary; something you shouldn’t be watching, don’t want to be watching. “Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer” and “Angst” (both based on real life events) and “The Blair Witch Project” (the ultimate ‘was that real?’ fiction) are some of the very best.
The irony of “Red White & Blue” is that it’s essentially a raw, complex and very moving love story, two of them in fact. The first one, and the true heart and driving force behind the film, is the love story between Monica (Amanda Fuller) and Nate (Noah Taylor), two down on their luck characters living at the same halfway house, each for their own mysterious reasons. Monica seems to be living two lives. In one of those lives she goes out to dive bars at night to hook up with whatever guy she can find only to leave immediately after, telling one of her suitors, “I never fuck the same guy twice”. During the day her second life is doing whatever menial job she can get her hands on while remaining distant from just about anyone that approaches her.
One of these people is Nate, a wiry loner and war veteran, who claims to be pondering a job offer from the CIA, which seems rather ludicrous based on his appearance and current living situation. Nate carries a quiet, bristling intensity deep behind his eyes and seems to have some sociopathic tendencies that, despite his small stature, leave no doubt that this is not someone you would want to cross. He watches Monica from afar and even helps her get a job, despite her constantly rebuking his awkward attempts at friendship. There is a slow, natural build to their odd relationship that is ultimately intimate and quite touching.
The other love story in the film is that of a mother and son. Franki (Mark Senter) is a young, hard drinking miscreant who is in a metal band going nowhere with little else in the way of ambition. Franki is a character that in a lesser film would be a one-note bozo, doomed for failure and most certain death, but writer-director Simon Rumley gives us much more than initially meets the eye. We get to see Franki’s love and devotion for his mother who is slowly dying from cancer, as well as the pain, torment and depression it saddles him with.
How these two stories, which on the outset seem to have very little to do with one another, connect and ultimately collide, is something I would not dream of spoiling for you here. Suffice to say, when they do, this is when the horror in this film comes suddenly and violently crashing through the screen, leaving us shocked, stunned and out of breath.
With any movie that has a docu-vibe to it, performances are the most essential aspect to the success of the film and the effect it will have on us as viewers. The camerawork and lighting are raw and naturalistic, the sound design and score are unobtrusive and bare. What we’re left with is the believability of the characters and this is where “Red White & Blue” rises above the average, into the very best the genre has to offer. Senter is just right for the part of Franki, bringing heavy emotion to the role without going too far and giving a sympathetic performance despite some questionable actions. It is the powerhouse performances by Amanda Fuller and Noah Taylor, however, that take this film to another level. Fuller manages that insanely difficult task of invoking compassion for someone who makes seemingly awful decisions and manage to be rude and cantankerous to almost everyone around her. She endures some heavy physical and emotional damage and her pain is palpable, even under her exterior of not giving a shit. Noah Taylor (whom you may or may not recall in the vital role as the young Geoffrey Rush character in “Shine”, for which he deserved half of Rush’s Oscar accolades) gives one of the most memorable performances I’ve seen in the past two decades. He brims with intensity without moving a single facial feature, yet brings an unexpected tenderness and openness that throws us off-balance. When the horror unleashes, Noah Taylor is like a caged and rabid dog, ready and waiting to be unleashed, and the results are absolutely terrifying.
Simon Rumley’s “Red White & Blue” is brilliantly and exquisitely directed. It is a film not for the faint of heart and all the more successful for it.
Comments