The Frontline (1993)
Picture:
C Sound: B- Extras: B- Film: B-
There was
a time not too long ago when independent films really were independent and many
of them were proudly shot in 16mm. Give
or take the move to Super 16mm, which has some more picture area, much of this
independence has been lost to either usually bad digital video excursions or
boutique films dubbed “indie” but as bad as any blatantly shallow commercial
film that at least does not try to pretend to be art. Paul Hills’ The Frontline (1993) is a true independent that works.
James
(Vincent Phillips) comes out of a mental hospital he has been in for a while,
and the first thing he does is to seek out former girlfriend Marion (Amanda
Noar), who has become a heroine addict.
Her time spend as a disc jockey on an illegal radio station is not
paying anything either, so the road to self-destruction is set, though James
believes he can help. When her fatal
implosion happens, everyone assumes it is a mere suicide/’overdose, but James
senses he knows better and starts to look into what really happened, not caring
if anyone will believe him or not.
That is a
strong scenario about the kind of people we used to meet in motion pictures all
the time, but rarely do now. It is
tragic that we now meet mostly predicable, shallow, tired mannequins standing
in for people that you could care less about, and more disturbing that a film
like this with hardly any budget does this well enough to be far better than
what we see all the time now. Hills even
makes a conscious effort to be British and not follow formulaic Hollywood
conventions, making this a raw, rare British film that makes Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting (1996) look polished by
comparison. Hills is an original, and
despite some choppiness, The Frontline
is a remarkable feature film debut by a filmmaker who has talent, knows how to
apply it, and cares.
The full
frame, color film was, as noted, shot in 16mm, by cinematographer Martin Perry. It is letterboxed at 1.85 X 1 and is grainy
throughout, but that is actually part of the look of the film, which has the
distinction of being shot on all three major 16mm brand name stocks of the
time: Agfa, Fuji, and Kodak. With that said, Perry does a remarkable job
of pulling this all together. The Dolby
Digital 2.0 Stereo actually has Pro Logic type surrounds and holds up very well
for an independently-produced film of its time, despite some brief warping of
the magnetic sound produced for the original film. Extras include a very valuable commentary by
Hills, which all film fans and especially filmmakers should hear, an on camera
interview with Hills that actually adds to the commentary, the trailer, stills,
and deleted scenes. Like the original Night Of The Living Dead and Texas Chainsaw Massacre before it, The Frontline proves that regular 16mm
filmmaking is truly something special, especially when done right. It may not be classics like those films are,
but at times, it has moments worthy of both.
- Nicholas Sheffo
