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Hollywood Reporter
Jan 22 2011
SUNDANCE REVIEW: HERE
11:44 AM 1/22/2011 by David Rooney
The Bottom Line
If a road trip through the rugged Armenian hinterlands sounds like it
might generate only intermittent pleasures, it does.
Venue:
Sundance Film Festival, U.S. Dramatic Competition
Cast:
Ben Foster, Lubna Azabal, Narek Nersisyan, Yuri Kostanyan, Sophik Sarkisyan
Director:
Braden King
PARK CITY - (U.S. Dramatic Competition) The subtle calibrations of Ben
Foster's performance give "HERE" an intriguing center. But Braden
King's meandering semi-experimental road movie about two travelers
whose paths briefly converge is too enraptured by its own dusty
exoticism.
Hatched out of a non-narrative multimedia piece that screened in
Sundance's 2008 New Frontier section and was subsequently developed
through the festival's feature lab, the film bumps into some
interesting ideas. It explores the process by which experience becomes
memory, how the physical becomes intangible, how land - be it home or
terra incognita - can yield both truth and deception. Ultimately,
however, these reflections never acquire the weight to be much more
than artsy embellishment on a two-dimensional story of fleeting
romance between underwritten characters.
Those protagonists are Will (Foster), an American satellite-mapping
engineer under contract in Armenia, and Gadarine (Lubna Azabal), an
expatriate photographer back in her homeland on an arts grant and
faced with her family's ambivalence toward her fledgling success
abroad.
After parallel glimpses of these solitary outsiders, they meet in a
restaurant. A second chance encounter cements the bond, and Gadarine
suggests she accompany Will to the remote borders and to a disputed
territory within Azerbaijan where she has always wanted to shoot.
King and his co-writer Dani Valent appear to be aiming for a dreamy
Lost in Translation vibe, but they neglect to anchor the mood piece by
giving substance or depth to their central characters.
Despite the humor and heart Foster breathes into the role, Will's
function is too heavyhandedly symbolic - a mapmaking wanderer in
search of definition. Azabal has a nice naturalistic ease in front of
the camera, and some lovely interludes with Gadarine's parents. But
the character is more or less Will's schematic opposite - a woman who
has distanced herself from her roots and is now rediscovering them.
The film captures some impressive landscapes and layers an eclectic
mix of original and traditional Armenian music over its unhurried
travel time. But unless you count doing a lot of vodka shots, this is
a dramatically uneventful two hours. No significant conflict surfaces
until roughly 90 minutes in, when an unpleasant brush with border
military officials, a nasty hangover and a minor road accident sour
the romance.
The chief carryovers from the project's trans-media evolution are
experimental interludes by various filmmakers, accompanied by
ponderous voiceovers from Foster on the poetics of scientists and
explorers. Some of these are quite beautiful, notably a fast-moving
collage of film frames that suggests Gadarine dreaming back through
the generations. Elsewhere they feel inorganic to the film.
Like the all-upper case title (which is almost as irritating as
all-lower case), the abstract imagery adds little and smacks of
affectation.
Screenwriters: Braden King, Dani Valent
Producers: Braden King, Lars Knudsen, Jay Van Hoy
Executive producer: Julia King
Director of photography: Lol Crawley
Production designer: Richard A. Wright
Music: Michael Krassner, Boxhead Ensemble
Editors: David Barker, Andrew Hafitz, Paul Zucker
Interlude filmmakers: Daichi Saito, Garine Torossian, Paul Clipson, Julie Murray
Sales: Preferred Content, K5 International
No rating, 121 minutes
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/sundance-review-74627
From: A. Papazian
Jan 22 2011
SUNDANCE REVIEW: HERE
11:44 AM 1/22/2011 by David Rooney
The Bottom Line
If a road trip through the rugged Armenian hinterlands sounds like it
might generate only intermittent pleasures, it does.
Venue:
Sundance Film Festival, U.S. Dramatic Competition
Cast:
Ben Foster, Lubna Azabal, Narek Nersisyan, Yuri Kostanyan, Sophik Sarkisyan
Director:
Braden King
PARK CITY - (U.S. Dramatic Competition) The subtle calibrations of Ben
Foster's performance give "HERE" an intriguing center. But Braden
King's meandering semi-experimental road movie about two travelers
whose paths briefly converge is too enraptured by its own dusty
exoticism.
Hatched out of a non-narrative multimedia piece that screened in
Sundance's 2008 New Frontier section and was subsequently developed
through the festival's feature lab, the film bumps into some
interesting ideas. It explores the process by which experience becomes
memory, how the physical becomes intangible, how land - be it home or
terra incognita - can yield both truth and deception. Ultimately,
however, these reflections never acquire the weight to be much more
than artsy embellishment on a two-dimensional story of fleeting
romance between underwritten characters.
Those protagonists are Will (Foster), an American satellite-mapping
engineer under contract in Armenia, and Gadarine (Lubna Azabal), an
expatriate photographer back in her homeland on an arts grant and
faced with her family's ambivalence toward her fledgling success
abroad.
After parallel glimpses of these solitary outsiders, they meet in a
restaurant. A second chance encounter cements the bond, and Gadarine
suggests she accompany Will to the remote borders and to a disputed
territory within Azerbaijan where she has always wanted to shoot.
King and his co-writer Dani Valent appear to be aiming for a dreamy
Lost in Translation vibe, but they neglect to anchor the mood piece by
giving substance or depth to their central characters.
Despite the humor and heart Foster breathes into the role, Will's
function is too heavyhandedly symbolic - a mapmaking wanderer in
search of definition. Azabal has a nice naturalistic ease in front of
the camera, and some lovely interludes with Gadarine's parents. But
the character is more or less Will's schematic opposite - a woman who
has distanced herself from her roots and is now rediscovering them.
The film captures some impressive landscapes and layers an eclectic
mix of original and traditional Armenian music over its unhurried
travel time. But unless you count doing a lot of vodka shots, this is
a dramatically uneventful two hours. No significant conflict surfaces
until roughly 90 minutes in, when an unpleasant brush with border
military officials, a nasty hangover and a minor road accident sour
the romance.
The chief carryovers from the project's trans-media evolution are
experimental interludes by various filmmakers, accompanied by
ponderous voiceovers from Foster on the poetics of scientists and
explorers. Some of these are quite beautiful, notably a fast-moving
collage of film frames that suggests Gadarine dreaming back through
the generations. Elsewhere they feel inorganic to the film.
Like the all-upper case title (which is almost as irritating as
all-lower case), the abstract imagery adds little and smacks of
affectation.
Screenwriters: Braden King, Dani Valent
Producers: Braden King, Lars Knudsen, Jay Van Hoy
Executive producer: Julia King
Director of photography: Lol Crawley
Production designer: Richard A. Wright
Music: Michael Krassner, Boxhead Ensemble
Editors: David Barker, Andrew Hafitz, Paul Zucker
Interlude filmmakers: Daichi Saito, Garine Torossian, Paul Clipson, Julie Murray
Sales: Preferred Content, K5 International
No rating, 121 minutes
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/sundance-review-74627
From: A. Papazian