By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com
Sundance Day One – Pt 2 – Alone In Four Walls
I was blown away, with some restraint appropriate to the material, by Alone In Four Walls, Alexandra Westheimer’s shockingly beautiful and shockingly apolitical documentary about a juvenile hall in Russia.
The film really feels like a Kubrick documentary. The images are so stark, and well framed, and powerful that it is almost hard to believe at times that this isn’t staged… though I don’t think it is. The steady hand behind the camera is Westheimer’s husband and co-producer, Inigo. And he proves once again the power of a human face and a simple steady frame.
The film doesn’t really explore the juvie system itself, so much as a handful of boys who are in it. And even then, with a 100% absent narrator and a visual style that never feels like Q&A, you feel a bit like you are in the confessional with these boys.
It has to be 20 minutes before you actually see an adult anywhere in the film. The boys go through various aspects of their day like machines, perfectly tuned to the actions they are doing. They confess crimes to us as we see them going through the paces, no one watching too closely, no guards screaming and cursing. Of course, we will eventually see some supervision. But there is an almost creepy sense that these boys completely get that they have done wrong and that they like the discipline, once they get used to it.
But will they actually make it in the world?
As we ultimately meet some parents, spend time with the camp dentist, and watch one kid get his pillow just right on his perfectly made bed, just what we ARE seeing is not 100% clear. We are, I think, being invited to really let it seep in… to wonder… to hope… to fear.
The film doesn’t have the dramatic flourish of Born Into Brothels or Deliver Us From Evil, but it is complex documentation. And the images… my God… some of those images are the kinds that feature film makers dream of creating. Two boys washing a floor… it could have been The Shining.
It is one of the true oddities of the last few years that Ms. Westheimer did this film and another Alexandra, Alix Lambert, made The Mark of Cain, a fascinating look at prison tattoos in the Russian culture that was used by David Cronenberg and Viggo Mortensen as a guide to that world for Eastern Promises. For female filmmakers to put themselves in the situation of being so close to dangerous men is not to be discounted. And to get these results… to be applauded loudly. It’s like they can see past the machismo… even if we are being a little manipulated… amazing.
As for the rest, there are still two more films on today’s schedule for me… and a 1:30am Lunch With David interview with a living legend. Yippee Kay Yo!
I’m guessing Redford.
“Hey kid…how good are ya?”
dp — another nice spot on ‘aots’ (it looked like you might have flummoxed pierera with the olivia / cancer line)….. why don’t you promote these appearances here?….just wondering…..