Far Too Gone
Picture: C
Sound: C+ Extras: C Main Program: C-
The nightmare continues.
People keep picking up camcorders and think they are filmmakers. In Europe, it was the pretentious Dogme ’95
movement. In the U.S., all they needed
was The Blair Witch Project and filmmaking was brought to yet another
sad low. Brian Labrecque’s Far Too
Gone (2004) starts out with a wacky premise that might have worked if had
been taken more seriously. A group of
videomakers go to see a guy who thinks he is Tori Amos.
Miss Amos is certainly taking herself far too seriously
and has so for years to come.
Unfortunately, what could have been a great send-up with lines like
“Kate Bush called, the cease and desist order is on the way” or the like,
everything looses focus quickly and the program disintegrates into amateur
hour. That’s a shame, because there is
some energy here, but the need to get all the clichés of bad behavior overrule
any kind of script. I will be curious
to see what might be left when all involved get the rest of such “ya yas” out
of their system. Until then, forget it.
The full frame 1.33 X 1 image was shot on low definition
digital video and is not always in the best of shape. The editing is nothing great and the shots are far too often
static and equal the pointlessness of the non-story. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is adequate at best. Extras include a stick-drawings short by
Labrecque, a trailer for this and two other projects by friends of his (you
read that right), an opening night presentation, deleted scenes, a mock
interview with the director and some other silly bits not worth getting
into. As far as telling a story is
concerned, it sure lived up to its title.
- Nicholas Sheffo
